Welcome to my Sunday posting for The Paper Players where today Anne-Marie has a fun challenge to kick start us into the new year:

I also used Narelle's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for the layout of today's card. So "Everything Old is New Again" - use a recycled or re-purposed item on your project. So many possibilities! Here is my card for this week's challenge - can you see what my re-purposed item is?

I used the lovely bird stamp from one of the exclusive 2015 Sale-A-Bration stamp sets called 'A Happy Thing' which is perfect for colouring with Stampin' Up! Blendabilities. I'm not sure what bird this is supposed to be, but to me it looks like a kingfisher, hence my colouring with Pumpkin Pie and Bermuda Bay (yes, I know - a new colour coming in the Spring-Summer catalogue) Blendabilities. I cut my coloured image out with one of my circle framelits and mounted it on a window frame in Island Indigo. Did you identify my re-purposed item yet? It's my 'designer series paper' - the patterned paper is actually the inside cover of the Sale-A-Bration promotional wrapper that is attached to the outside of the new 2015 Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer catalogue! Take a look at the photo below and you'll see what I mean:

The moment I saw this paper I thought it would make a useful 'DSP' and it was perfect for the large expanse of background for today's card as the subtle pattern wouldn't detract from my stamped image and the blue-green colourway was perfect to suggest a watery scene for my bird. So not only does the new Spring-Summer catalogue have a ton of great new products for you, it comes with some free 'DSP' too! I have started distributing catalogues to my customers in readiness for this week's launch; if you are reading this and you don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like to be added to my customer mailing list, then please do get in touch.

I'm off to start de-Christmas-ing the house; before you go off in search of items that you can recycle on your projects this week, do visit the other design team members to see what interesting ideas they've had this week:

I look forward to seeing your projects featuring recycled and repurposed items in the gallery this week. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* 'A Happy Thing' stamp set - available 6th January - 31st March during Sale-A-Bration. Bermuda Bay Blendabilties - available 6th January.

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Alcohol Marker Color Lifter	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock
Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment

I finally feel like I'm nearing the end of our Christmas celebrations today: we have enjoyed our annual visit to the pantomime with friends (and Granny!) and as much as I love the holiday season, I'm looking forward to taking our decorations down, which is I think a job for tomorrow. Today I'm sharing a card I made for Julee's sketch this week over at Mojo Monday:

It is 'tall and skinny' week so I made my card to the dimensions 3.5" x 5.5" and since I'm having a complete run on 'Best Year Ever' Sale-A-Bration designer series paper, I just had to use it again on my card today:

I used the large polka dot embossing folder on my card base, then having first paper-pierced the edges of my strip of Crushed Curry, created a belly band to wrap around the front of my card to which I attached my focal point - the hello stamp from the '#hello' stamp set, stamped in Calypso Coral on Whisper White and mounted on two offset scalloped circles.

To finish, I even made a bespoke envelope to match my tall and skinny card, also using the Best Year Ever paper - so easy with the help of my Envelope Expert Tool, this makes any bespoke envelope size a breeze.

Back tomorrow with my first card of the year for The Paper Players, this time as a permanent member of the design team too - woohoo! We have a great challenge for you to start the year, so do come back and find out all about it tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

*Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper - available 6th January - 31st March 2015 Sale-A-Bration.

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	(Hashtag) Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	2" Circle Punch	2-3/8 Inch Scallop Circle Punch
Paper-Piercing Tool	Stampin' Pierce Mat	Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack	Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Project Life Corner Punch	Envelope Punch Board

I've had a fun day today, amongst other things transforming my kitchen table into a table tennis court and hosting a craft party for an enthusiastic group of ten year olds this afternoon. But enough about my day; I managed to make a quick card yesterday for the current challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

This is such a simple sketch layout with so many possibilities and it was perfect for a simple 'I love you' card featuring one of the stamps from Pictogram Punches:

I used a Whisper White card base and created my bottom panel from a piece of Real Red cardstock edged with the Hearts border punch and overlaid this with a piece of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock that I first dry embossed with the new Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, coming shortly in a few days time with the new Spring-Summer catalogue (I fussy cut the edge following the line of the hearts). I stamped my sentiment in Crisp Cantaloupe above the layered section, then using Real Red ink I overlaid a new 'love' stamp onto the heart - this stamp is from an exclusive Sale-A-Bration set called 'You Brighten My Day', available free with every order of £45 or more between January 6th - March 31st. It fits perfectly and makes the heart 'pop' a little. To finish, I added a thick baker's twine bow. 

I hope you like today's card. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* Happy Heart TIEF and You Brighten My Day Stamp set available 6th January.

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Hearts Border Punch	Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Baker's Twine	Pictogram Punches Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Happy New Year everyone! Today I'm sharing a Valentine's cad with you - there is method in my madness, as it's only January 1st: this card uses the 'love' stamp from the 'Seasonally Scattered' set in the current seasonal catalogue, which is only available for another 5 days. I've used the other two stamps in the set countless times, so am getting in an early Valentine's with this one:

I decided to make a fun shaker card, inspired by this festive version of Justin Krieger's from a couple of weeks ago, using a couple of new product 'sneak peeks' too: the background paper I used is from the new 'Stacked with Love' DSP stack and along with some silver and in-colour sequins, I punched some red hearts using the new Confetti Heart border punch to make the confetti for my shaker. Isn't it fun? 

Right, I'm off to finish my glass of champagne and watch the end of that all time classic love story - Titanic. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

*Confetti Hearts Border Punch and Stacked with Love DSP stack available 6th January.

Seasonally Scattered Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Medium Window Sheets	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for December (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right) and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Chocolate Chip 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Essentials Hardware Clips	Festive Paper-Piercing Pack	Fun Flower Punch
Hearts A Flutter Framelits Dies	Large Scallop Edgelits Die	Marina Mist 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Top 10 Photobook Template - Digital Download

Another great mix of offers this week - some chevron ribbon if you need to restock following all your Christmas gift wrapping, along with two of the most useful framelit sets.

Back with another creative post tomorrow; until then, happy shopping!

Today it's a special day: the Colour Me...! challenge is celebrating its first birthday and so the co-creators, the lovely Hayley and Tara, are hosting a party to celebrate! As one of the outgoing designers, I was invited to choose any previous challenge colour combination and create a card for this week's showcase. I decided to go with the creative choice from week 5, which enabled me to use some of the gorgeous new 'Best Year Ever' DSP from the 2015 Sale-A-Bration offering; I also used this week's sketch layout over at Create With Connie and Mary, as this layout was perfect for what I had in mind: 

As much as I've enjoyed making Christmas cards these past few months, I am so ready for a change! The colours of the promotional designer series paper and co-ordinating embellishment packs are like a breath of spring air - take a look:

I based the colour scheme for my card on the feature colours of the Best Day Ever papers - Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Sahara Sand, with white as my neutral - isn't it a gorgeous colour combination for Spring? I used two pieces of the same paper for my card, paired with a couple of blocks of solid colour, as the background for my card, then used another Sale-A-Bration promotional item, the 'Big Day' stamp set to create my focal point. What better than a birthday cake with a single candle for a first birthday?! The sentiment is from the same set. I stamped them both in Soft Suede, before colouring with my Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. Did you know that Stampin' Up! Blendabilities work with many of the standard Stampin' Up! coloured ink pads, in addition to Memento Black? Sometimes an alternative colour outline works really well and can give a different effect. I decided to create a little 'badge' to anchor my sentiment, using a punched circle, a number 1 cut with my retired Typeset alphabet Bigz Die (you could use the Perfect Print Bigz Number Die as an alternative) and a punched gold glimmer star. I coloured the envelope to match and I even created a fancy sentiment inside my card:

Both the Best Day Ever DSP and the Big Day stamp set are items that could be yours free with a purchase of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration; Slae-A-Bration starts early this year on 6th January, so not long to wait now! I made this card to congratulate Hayley and Tara on their first Colour Me...! anniversary, however it would work just as well for a child's first birthday I think in this colour scheme.

That's all from me today; do pop by the Colour Me...! challenge blog and see what other birthday delights are in store. I hope you have a fun New Year's Eve planned - mine will be a quiet one - and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* Best Day Ever Designer Series Paper and Big Day stamp set available 6th January.

Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Calypso Coral Assortment	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Gold Glimmer Paper	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

I've had a great work day today and managed to fit in some quality crafting time, so amongst other things I have a Happy new Year card to share with you today that was inspired by this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew:

Here is the card I created:

For a new year celebratory card some glitz and glamour were definitely the order of the day, so I layered a number of gold and sliver elements - glimmer paper, silver foil, sequins and gold vellum and topped with a silver embossed black pennant cut with my Banner framelits. The stamp I used is from the versatile 'Mingle All The Way' set from the Autumn-Winter Seasonal Catalogue; this set along with many others, is only available until January 5th when the catalogue ends, so if it's still on your wish list then don't leave it to late to order. I created a popped-up banner for the word 'cheers' having heat embossed this section in black on brushed gold cardstock, then cut it out and adhered with dimensionals. Some gold ribbon, a trio of rhinestones coloured with a black permanent marker and done!

We are having our traditional James family day on New Year's Day so I will be taking this card along with me for my mother-in-law; I'm hoping it will go some way to make up for the lack of Christmas card!

I'm also linking up to the new year challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments where this is the challenge inspiration photo:

Back tomorrow with a special 'extra' post for the lovely ladies over at Colour Me...! and a new set of weekly deals. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mingle All The Way Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Banners Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch	Basic Black A4 Card Stock
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
Silver Foil Sheets	Brushed Gold A4 Card Stock	Gold Glimmer Paper	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Sequin Trim
Gold 1/8" Ribbon	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Today I wanted to share with you a fun punch art card that I made for a special little girl for Christmas featuring the adorable snowman Olaf from the Disney movie 'Frozen'. I've made a few of these but never blogged one - so here's the most recent one that I made:

I most certainly can't take the credit for the Olaf punch art itself; to create mine, I always follow the excellent instructions by Michelle Suit - you can watch her video tutorial on how to create your own Olaf here. He is actually rather straight forward - the real key is using the Gift Bow Bigz die to get the right shape for his head. If you are a fan of Disney and like to create punch art every once in a while, I recommend you check out Michelle's blog Suitably Stamped - she really is a whizz!

On this occasion, I kept the design of my card really simple and used a piece of Nordic Noel DSP for the snowflake background and just added a pile of snowballs and a retired sentiment, which I stamped in Island Indigo directly onto the DSP. I have more of these to make this month, as I am the official party planner for a special birthday girl later this month who is having a Frozen-themed celebration; there is clearly no sign of the Frozen phenomena dying down any time soon! 

And now to my special announcement! As my regular readers will know, I was asked to join the lovely ladies over at The Paper Players challenge blog back last July for a 3 month guest designer stint. This was then extended to a 6 month stay, which I completed with the last challenge of the year earlier this month. This has always been one of my favourite challenges to play along with and I was delighted to be asked to guest with this talented and creative bunch and equally sad to leave them. So imagine my delight when I got a call asking if I would like to return - as a permanent member of their design team!! Woohoo! I am thrilled that these ladies think so much of me that they would want me to join them on a permanent basis and I am so looking forward to creating with them through 2015 and beyond. Our first post of 2015 will be next Sunday, so do pop back then to join us for some fresh design inspiration!

As for me, I am hoping to be back with you tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gift Bow Bigz L Die	Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch
2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Small Oval Punch	Large Oval Punch	Owl Punch	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky

Merry Christmas to you all, my lovely blog readers! After a welcome few days break hosting Christmas for my family, today I'm back to the blog! I have a couple of pre-Christmas makes to share still; do you ever find yourself so busy crafting in the run up to the big day that you spend more time 'in the moment' rather than recording it and sharing? Well, this year that was definitely me! Today I am being treated to a day of rest - my seven year old has declared that he is doing the cooking today, from his new boy's cookbook (doing well so far - fresh fruit and pancakes for breakfast, followed by shepherd's pie for lunch) - so whilst he prepares a feast of chicken dippers for tea, I thought I would take the opportunity to get back into my blog. 

Today's share is some lovely gift packaging made with the Gift Box Punch Board, Envelope Punch Board and the Big Shot and Banner Framelits. I decorated some gifts using boxes made with the gorgeous Under the Tree speciality DSP and the Gift Box Punch board and some easy die cut tags to co-ordinate:

If your gift fits the standard boxes that the Gift Box Punch Board makes, it is a quick and easy 'no glue' packaging solution. With some ribbon and a fancy tag they really look the part:

I also made some bottle tags using the Banner framelits and a circle punch, again decorating with some simple wreaths cut with the Wonderful Wreath framelits - here's a close up:

As my regular readers will know, I am a big fan of the Envelope Punch Board and it is still my tool of choice for creating custom boxes - this is so easy to do with my BoxBuster tool - it enables you to create the perfect box size first time with no paper wastage. Here's one I made for my niece's Christmas gift that is the perfect case in point, this time finished with a tag made with the tree punch to co-ordinate with the Under The Tree paper:

If you are a fan of creating easy, attractive gift packaging, you will be pleased to know that the Gift Box Punch Board is carrying over and will still be available when the current Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue ends. The Envelope Punch Board is always available as a standard annual catalogue item - phew, I don't know what I'd do if this tool was ever discontinued!

Back tomorrow with another of my pre-Christmas makes and a special announcement, so check back then for more crafting lovliness!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Gift Box Punch Board	Envelope Punch Board	Banners Framelits Dies	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch
Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Tree Punch	Gold Glimmer Paper
Red Glimmer Paper	Real Red A4 Card Stock

Sunday already?! Where are the days going??! I have been busy with my Christmas preparations and my focus has been on gift packaging these last few days, along with a few special Christmas cards. Most are going out of the door before they are even photographed though! Today I wanted to do a quick post to share a snowflake paper wreath that I made recently for a friend of mine:

It uses a whole bunch of retired product - the paper is from a couple of years ago (I can't even remember what it was called) and is decorated with snowflakes made from stamping Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green on Very Vanilla carstock using the Festive Flurry stamp set, that I then cut out using the Big Shot and co-ordinating framelits and finished with a paper bow made using my Gift Bow Bigz Die. 

My friend specifically wanted this paper pattern as she wanted her wreath to co-ordinate with other festive pieces she had - as such I had to include a few pieces of solid colour cardstock just to enable me to get all the way around the wreath base; I am now officially out of this DSP pattern! I am going to make another of these wreath types at some point as I think it's really effective, although will probably choose a more traditional blue/silver colour scheme with my snowflakes. It was also quite easy to achieve: about 22 strips of DSP measuring 12" x 1 1/4", adhered to a styrofoam wreath and then the ends flagged.

That's all from me today - back soon with another project when time allows. Until then, happy stampin!