It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The clocks went back last night here in the UK so whilst this heralds the official arrival of winter, it also means an extra hour in bed - bliss! It's the fifth week of the month and the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week. She has a tic-tac-toe board to challenge our creative juices:

Tic-tac-toe week is always fun as the gallery is full of so many different creations as each of us work with a different combination of squares. For once I knew exactly where I was going with this one: straight across the middle. I took the opportunity to make another Christmas card, this time a larger 6" x 6" square card - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Leaf Punch Wreath - I used my leaf punch to create the oversize Christmas wreath on my card today. I stamped a whole bunch of leaves using each of the stamps in the 'Painted Harvest' stamp set in Garden Green onto Garden Green cardstock, then punched them out and layered them around my heat-embossed sentiment. Whilst this punch is part of the Painted Autumn Suite in the seasonal catalogue, today's card proves it will stretch beyond autumn into spring, summer and winter seasons too. 

Watercolor Christmas - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Watercolor Christmas' stamp set, that co-ordinates with the Christmas card kit of the same name. I love the big, bold scripted sentiments in this set! I know this set will be a 'keeper' for me, long after this catalogue is gone. I decided to heat emboss my sentiment in gold onto Basic Black cardstock, to tone in with the rich colours of my designer series paper border.

Grab Some Tartan -  The tartan border on my card uses one of my favourite patterns in the Around the World Designer Series Paper pack. This is one of the packs of paper that is included in the 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' designer series paper promotional offer. This offer runs until the end of October so you have three more days to take advantage of this offer - why not stock up today? Just click on the links in the table below to go straight to my online store.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

This card really isn't post-friendly because of the depth and fragile nature of the wreath and bow, however will be perfect to hand-deliver to someone special - it really is very pretty in real life and makes a great statement card.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our board this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Bundle	Watercolor Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper	Real Red 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Solid Ribbon	Versamark Pad
Embossing Buddy	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Hearts & Stars Elements	Brights Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Leaf Punch	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set

I've had a busy week which has necessitated a few days off from blogging, however since today is Sunday it's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my sweet friend Claire to host this week and she has my favourite kind of challenge, a sketch, for us to work with:

I love this sketch - so many creative possibilities! I took the opportunity to combine with this week's colour challenge over at Global Design Project and create a Christmas card using one of my favourite Merry Little Christmas papers - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Merry Little Christmas - I love a gingham pattern, and this Merry Little Christmas paper pack has two gorgeous ones. This modern, festive black and olive combination was the starting point for my card today. I paired with a banner of retired black glimmer paper for some added understated festive sparkle.

Tags & Trimmings - I decided to make the sentiment the focal point of my simple layered panel, so that I could make the holly and bells embellishment really stand out. I stamped two of the holly leaves and added a simple line with a marker pen to the other two and embossed three berries in white onto Old Olive cardstock for some co-ordinating holly berries. 

Trim Your Stocking Jingle Bells - I cut out my stamped pieces along with two gold foil jingle bells with the Trim your Stocking Thinlits Dies. These are perfect for embellishing the stockings that you can make with the dies in this set, but are also useful as card embellishments too. Finally I added a little gold thread to finish my card.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your interpretations of our sketch in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are at the start of a week's half-term school holiday for both James Juniors so our weekend is an unusually restful one - bliss! I'll be back tomorrow with another project that also uses today's sketch; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Tags & Trimmings Clear-Mount Bundle	Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper	Banner Triple Punch	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Old Olive A4 Cardstock	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Gold Metallic Thread
Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Embossing Buddy

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the queen of diecuts, the talented Laurie, to host this week and she has a timely clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I haven't bought any new Halloween sets this year or any of the Spooky Night Designer Series Paper, so I had to get creative with existing (and a few retired) supplies coupled with a few stamps from some multi-occasion sets. I used the sketch over at Paper Craft Crew and the colours at Stamp Ink Paper and managed to create not one but two spooky Halloween-themed projects for you. The first one is my card - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Festive Phrases - I focused both of my projects today around the 'pick your potion' stamp in the Festive Phrases stamp set. I actually bought this set for the elf (who can resist him?!) however the other three stamps in this set will also get plenty of use for other festive occasions. It's difficult to se on my card, but having stamped the cauldron in black, I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder for a lovely added shine.

Add Colour - I used a couple of alcohol-based markers - one of my Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities and a! lime green Sharpie - to add colour to my project: I coloured the white dots green on my retired Halloween paper border, I coloured in the dots on the cauldron and then my favourite part on this card - I coloured a few White Perfect Accents with each colour and added them around my cauldron to look like potion bubbles. I love the shine that they have! I also stamped my sentiment again onto a piece of Lemon-Lime Twist cardstock and cut it with my banner punch add another pop of colour and finally a couple of diecut bats using the retired Halloween Scenes framelits for just the right amount of spooky!

Pick Your Potion - I decided that this card needed an accompanying treat that would fit with the 'pick your potion' theme, so whipped up a little test tube holder using a piece of cardstock and my Scalloped Tag Topper Punch to hold a pair of test tubes (love these!), one filled with a green potion and the other with an orange one. The Scalloped Tag Topper Punch was the perfect width and all I needed to do was punch a couple of 3/4" circle holes into the folded-over piece to slot my colourful potions into - here's my treat holder and card together:

I just love this pair of cute projects and they really didn't take long at all to put together; I'm definitely going to make a whole bunch of these in different colours ready for trick-or-treat time!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have been having unseasonably warm weather here in the UK these last couple of days - a good ten degrees warmer than usual. I'm sure it won't last so since we have a reasonably sport-free day, I'm hoping to get out and spend some time in the garden before the autumn chill returns. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Festive Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Treat Tubes
Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents	Lemon Lime Twist 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon	Basic Black Baker's Twine	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I am your host this week and I have a colour challenge for us to work with:

I took the opportunity to make a fall-inspired thank you card this week that works for a few additional challenges too; I used the sketch over at Just Add Ink, the middle vertical column of the tictactoe board over at Paper Craft Crew and the theme challenge over at Global Design Project:

My starting point for today's card was this gorgeous patterned paper from the Painted Harvest designer series paper pack - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Even More Painted Autumn For Your Pennies - You all know how much I love designer series paper, and the Painted Autumn collection is definitely up there as one of this season's favourites. Bold, watercoloured images in beautiful autumnal colours what could be better? How about more for less? Yes, Painted Autumn is one of the designer series papers that is included in the 'Buy 3, get 1 free' sale that is running throughout October. You can read more about that here or purchase directly from my online store - I for one will be stocking up for sure. 

Give Thanks For Labels To Love - I used the sentiment and border stamp from the 'Labels To Love' stamp set on my card today. This set, on page 45 of the seasonal catalogue, is an additional set that coordinates with the Everyday Label Punch besides the 'Merry Little Labels' set that the punch is bundled with. There are some great sentiments in this set but I think this one is my favourite - we all have so much to be thankful for. I added a couple of the Touches of Nature wooden flowers that I heat embossed with some now-retired Crushed Curry embossing powder to my label, along with some vellum leaves and a leaf-embossed stitched circle behind to create a bit of a collage of my focal point. 

Not Just An Everyday Label - The Everyday Label Punch is proving a very popular choice for many of my customers and it's easy to see why: in addition to punching out the standard shape, there are a number of ways the punch can be used to make either shorter or longer labels, to create layers or even to create different shapes. By shortening my punched label I created more of a square shape for the sentiment on my card today. I love a punch that is versatile and has lots of alternative uses! 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; my niece is celebrating her 18th birthday this coming week so we are off for a family gathering of 'cake and cocktails' this evening to celebrate, which we are all looking forward to.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper	Labels To Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Touches Of Nature Elements	Leaf Punch	Everyday Label Punch
Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Crushed Curry Solid Baker’S Twine	Crushed Curry 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon	Vellum A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday, the start of a new month and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The queen of beautiful florals, the talented Sandy, is the hostess this week and her passion is reflected in her chosen theme this week:

I had the best of intentions of producing a fabulously over-the-top floral to honour the lovely Sandy today, but the last minute preparations for my stand at the Crafting Live Exhibition at Stoneleigh Park this weekend meant that my time rather ran away with me this week and instead I've resorted to sharing much more of a clean and simple card that I already had 'in the bag' as it were. Today's card uses one the runaway success bundles from the current seasonal catalogue - Painted Harvest. Take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Painted Harvest - What can I say other than I LOVE these sunflowers! The sentiments in this set are lovely but it's the sunflowers that get me: it is a two-step stamp set that gives a beautiful watercoloured effect and as they are photopolymer it's so easy to stamp. They are so forgiving - they look great however you line them up! If you're a first-time stamper, this would be a great set to cut your teeth on. 

Add A Leaf - The leaves in the stamp set also match up with the leaf punch which is the other item that can be bought in the Painted Harvest bundle for a saving of 10% - that's why we all love a bundle!

Autumnal Colour Combinations - These sunflowers can be stamped in both traditional and less traditional colours; here is my sample board showing how they look stamped in a number of autumnal coloured floral combinations:

Which one is your favourite? I also made a whole bunch of these cards, minus the twine, to send out to my customers with my seasonal catalogues and as thank you cards to be included with my open house orders - here are some of them up close so you can see the colour combinations in more detail. 

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Daffodil Delight:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Peekaboo Peach:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze:

Lastly my favourite of all, this one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Cherry Cobbler:

This is by no means an exhaustive set of colour combinations. Let me know in the comments below which ones are your favourites or what other combinations you've tried that you would like to share.  

Also, if you live local to me in or around Northampton, I have a class using this set scheduled for Monday 6th November - read more about it here or contact me to book your place! 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's theme. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be spending a second day at the Crafting Live Show at Stoneleigh Park today - come and say hello to me on stand A10 if a visit is part of your weekend plans. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Bundle	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock
Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad	Linen Thread	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Everyday Label Punch	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! Our superstar leader the lovely Nance is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

I took the opportunity to make another Christmas card today, this time in a rather unusual colour scheme - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Iconic Christmas - I decided to feature the tree from the Iconic Christmas set on my card today. Now I think this set is a little like Marmite - you either love it or you hate it! With all those teeny tiny iconic festive images I loved it the moment I saw it; you can stamp just the outlines, or you can use one or both of the infill stamps and a little two-step stamping to colour them in. You also have the option to use the co-ordinating Ornamental Christmas Framelits Dies to cut out some of them so that you can see the detail on a second layer below, as I've done on my card today. I honestly think the biggest hurdle with this set is that it's difficult to see it's true potential in the catalogue - you need to play with it to see how it all comes together. The set itself is more versatile than it looks - I'll be back to share more makes with it in coming weeks I'm sure. I tweaked the base of Nance's sketch to a 6" x 6" square rather than a rectangle, as the tree is a little too large for this layout to work comfortably on a standard A6 card, but all of the main elements are there so it works.

A Quilted Christmas - I used a piece of the Quilted Christmas 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper for my background panel, making sure to cut the pattern so that it was even and centralised within the panel. I matted it in white - not something I do often, but it really helps define the edge of this patterned paper and makes it stand out from the Pool Party card base.

Unorthodox Christmas Colours - When I initially sat down to make today's card, I knew exactly how I was going to work with the sketch, however I hadn't decided which patterned paper I wanted to use for the right-hand panel. I flicked through my swatches and decided on this one from the Quilted Christmas set and it inspired my PoolParty base and Lemon-Lime Twist Christmas tree. Not the most traditional of Christmas colour combinations although I love the bright and zingy Christmas tree. Here's my swatch in case you would like to use it as inspiration for your festive projects:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So what do you think? Do these colours work or are they are little too non-traditional for the festive season? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we had our usual day of sport yesterday so today is about finishing our homework and then we have a change of sport this afternoon, with Ben going sailing with friends. Let's hope it stays fine, although I guess he will get wet whatever the weather! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Iconic Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set	Ornamental Christmas Framelits Dies	Quilted Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper	Banner Triple Punch	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my good friend, the awesome LeAnne, to host this week and she has a timely clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I'm also playing along with the team over at Stamp Ink Paper today as I'm just in time to link up with their CAS Fall challenge and the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where the theme is Autumn colours.

When I think about harvest, I think about harvest loaves, vegetables from the garden ... and pumpkins! I love the photo inspiration that Nance found for this week's challenge and I decided I just had to have pumpkins on my card. I decided to go with something a little different - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Pumpkins Are For Harvest, Not Just For Halloween - Most of the pumpkin stamps I have in my set are ones with carved faces, all ready for Halloween. This stamp from the new seasonal catalogue is one of the few that I own that isn't - do you recognise which set it comes from? It's actually from the 'Seasonal Chums' set on page 47, but it's not the front of the face on the Halloween tag - it's the back piece of the same tag. I've circled it below so that you can see which one I mean:

This part of the stamp makes for a perfect pre-carved pumpkin - all I needed to do was mask off the front portion of the stamp and stamp just the back image. I also created a mask out of a post-it note to enable me to stamp my trio of pumpkins overlapping each other, to create depth and dimension.

No Line Watercolouring -  I decided to use a little no-line watercolouring to give my pumpkins a natural look. I love this effect and it's so easy to achieve: simply stamp your chosen image in a pale colour such as Sahara Sand onto watercolour paper, then use your chosen inks and an aquapainter to colour your stamped images normally, making the lines 'disappear'. 

Colours of Fall - Warm yellows, oranges, reds, browns and olive greens are the colours I associate with autumn and I chose to focus on orange and brown on my card today. Here's my colour palette should you wish to save it as inspiration for your fall projects:

To finish my card I added a little lace and ribbon embellishment (retired bits and pieces); not something I usually do with a CAS card, but I felt my card needed a little something just to balance it visually. I love this card!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; mine is sports-filled, with hockey, swimming and ice hockey yesterday and basketball and more hockey today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Seasonal Chums Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Aqua Painters	Watercolor Paper

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my fellow Brit turned Yankee teamie, the lovely Jaydee, to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for us to work with:

Before I get into my post today, you will notice that our esteemed team leader, the fabulous Nance Leedy, is off this week; she is currently battling with the effects of Hurricane Irma; we love you Nance and our thoughts and prayers are with you that you and your family are safe! The same goes for anyone else reading this who is impacted either directly or indirectly by the devastating effects of the hurricanes moving through the Caribbean and USA currently.

Back to my card. Whilst these colours made me think 'floral', I struggled to incorporate the silver into my floral design so decided instead to create an unconventionally-coloured Christmas card with my Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Card Front Builder Dies - With the exception of a one-word stamped sentiment, today's card focuses on the Card Front Thinlit Builder Dies. I used a trio of trees to edge my shaker window and the teeny tiny deer to create a simple wintry scene.

Softly Falling Snow - Today I've used another embossing folder - my all-time favourite, the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing folder. It provides great texture for my top card layer and my winter scene.

Shake, Shake, Shake - I continued my softly falling snow by creating a shaker card window as a focal point for my winter scene and filled it with white mica flakes. These were in last year's seasonal catalogue however you can currently snap them up on the clearance rack; they make a great alternative to sequins for a softer look and feel.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

These may be unusual colours for a Christmas card, but I think they work. What do you think? Are there any unusual colour combinations you like to try on your Christmas cards? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Glimmer Paper
Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Window Sheets	Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock
Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock	Christmas Quilt Photopolymer Stamp Set	Subtles Enamel Shapes	Mica Flakes Trio Pack

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! My dear friend Claire is the hostess this week and she has a fun and timely theme for us to work with:

I know some of my readers in other countries have already seen a return to school, but for us this week Wednesday is the day, so this week's challenge is a timely one. Is it me or do all Mums especially get just a little excited at the prospect of the start of a new academic year and a return to school after the long summer break? Don't get me wrong, I love having my two Juniors at home and am thankful for the break from the sometimes relentless activities that comprise the school routine, however all good things must come to an end and so it is that we are getting ready to begin a new school year, with the excitement, opportunities and challenges that this will undoubtedly bring.

I've double projects for you today as I needed some gift packaging for a teacher gift this week, so took the opportunity to create a fun gift box and co-ordinating card - take a look:

The gift box is rather large (approx. 18 inches long) so was something of a challenge to photograph but hopefully the detail below will enable you to see how I made it. Here's the low-down on today's projects:

A Window Turned Pencil Box - Having made an elongated box with my Window Box previously with the ladies in one of my technique classes earlier this year, I knew that I could use the same idea to create my pencil-shaped box. I cut one piece of the window box without cutting straight through and elongated this for the length of my sheet of A4 Crushed Curry cardstock. I then cut another piece that was the same length and the width of three sides, for the opposite 3 sides of my pencil, but without a bottom/lid. Instead I used some Maths to create a template for my pencil point in Crumb Cake, and adhered this inside the end of the tube to create my pencil point:

Here's a shot showing you how the main body of the pencil box opens to accommodate the main gift:

In addition to the main box, I also made a complete box using my Window Box Thinlits in Blushing Bride for my eraser and adhered this to the top of my pencil, which also opens separately - just big enough to add a little treat or two inside to accompany my main gift:

Finally I added a sleeve created from silver foil, to hold the pencil box closed securely - it just slides off to create access to the main box. A banner tag decorated with an apple - every teacher project has to have one, right? - finished my box. 

Pieces And Patterns For A Co-ordinating Card - I wanted a card to co-ordinate with my gift box, so decided to replicate the pencil design on a simple card using the pencil stamp from the Pieces and Patterns set. I masked a square and created my own repeating pattern - thank heavens for a stamp-a-ma-jig! - and then added a banner sentiment from the same set, again anchored with an apple (made using an old die I have in my stash):

Back To School Colours - My back-to-school pencil and apple colours fit perfectly with the colour palette and photo inspiration over at The Color Throwdown this week (I hope I'll be allowed my pink eraser and a few neutrals (the pencil really wouldn't be complete without it). I'm also linking my card up with the challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'apples' and both of my projects fit the bill over at Paper Craft Crew where they have extended their 'back to school' challenge for another week:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's theme. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Window Box Thinlits Dies	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Silver Foil Sheets	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Pieces & Patterns Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

I've been absent from my blog for a few days - once again precious time with my Juniors this week as we make the most of our school summer holidays hasn't left me time for blogging during the latter part of this week. Luckily for you today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The lovely Laurie is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

I tried a few different things for my card today, but kept wanting to put a sentiment in the circle! Since I was trying to be truly faithful to Laurie's sketch, I kept at it then it hit me - the answer was in a piece of paper I have been saving for just such an opportunity! Take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

What Birthday Memories Are Made Of -  In the end this card makes me feel like a little bit of a cheat, since there is very little stamping and the gorgeous sheet of Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper does all the hard work! There are some gorgeous papers in this pack, all of which contain intricate and colourful birthday imagery reminiscent of days gone by. The sheet I've used today is a design that covers the whole of the 12" x12" sheet and is really one that is hard to cut into. It makes a beautiful gift box lid or gift bag where you can see the entire animal parade.

Big Is Beautiful - I happened to have a half-width of this sheet of designer paper left over from another project, so decided to upsize my card to the larger size of 14.9cm x 21cm in order to accommodate as much of the design as possible, including those fun floating balloons. To emphasise the shape of the sketch, which I represented with the little racoon, I decided to fussy-cut another identical racoon out of one of the other sheets of DSP and pop it up on dimensionals, allowing it to hang over the edge of my central panel. 

Don't Forget The Envelope - The only stamping on my card front was for my sentiment I couldn't resist embellishing with a gift that I also cut out of the DSP too), and on the inside. I also used the 'Birthday Delivery' stamp set to stamp and decorate my envelope front and back though - a special handmade card shouldn't stop at the card front, although I don't often photograph mine to share with you. For some great examples of this be sure to check out my teamie Nance's blog - her cards always look as fabulous on the inside as on the outside :-)

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

This paper is truly gorgeous and it's almost as if it was made for Laurie's sketch this week. I love this card - I just need to find a special little person to send it it to now! 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are lucky that we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK so it's a slightly longer one than usual - I'm hoping for some sunshine! I'll be back this week with some of the projects from my last class and maybe even another sneak peak or two of some great sets from the upcoming Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue, so stay tuned. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper	Birthday Delivery Photopolymer Stamp Set	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad