Hi everyone! I've been recovering from Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event and making the most of the Easter vacation with the James Juniors this week, so crafting time has been non-existent and blogging opportunities even less so! Today though the sun is shining and I am spending a glorious afternoon in the garden, so thought I would take the opportunity to share with you a card that I actually made as a second one that I made for the challenge set by my fellow Paper Players teamie the lovely LeAnne last week to use plaid or check on your card. Here's my card:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Christmas Plaid - Ok, so the irony of sharing a Christmas card on Good Friday isn't lost on me! However given that Stampin' Up!'s retiring lists were announced earlier this week (if you missed my post you can read all about it here) this is actually a great time to share this card as it showcases 2 products that are on that list and will be going away for good. The first of these is this fabulous plaid designer series paper that is from the 'Under the Mistletoe' pack. As is always the way, all of the designer series papers in the annual catalogue will be leaving us to make way for the new, so if you have a favourite then now is the time to stock up. If you're the type of person that 'does Christmas' all year round or likes to get ahead and work on Christmas projects during the summer months, then you should seriously consider stocking up on this paper as I can tell you that the new annual catalogue doesn't contain any festive Christmas-themed designer series paper designs, so it will be September before we have the new seasonal range on sale. You have been warned! 

Large Letters - The second retiring item on today's card are those fabulous Large Letter Framelits, which along with the co-ordinating 'Letters For You' stamp set are retiring with this catalogue. I know that the old has to make way for the new, but I will be so sad to see these go! They have been a staple in my craft collection and whilst they might leave the catalogue, they will always have a space in my die collection - they are SO useful! These will most definitely not be going into my retiring products BOGOF sale in July, so if you want a set, you need to order them now! 

A Festive Colour Combination - The paper really does do all the hard work on this card and sets the colours for each of the other elements with a can't-go-wrong festive colour combination. If this is a colour combination that appeals to you, feel free to save the image below for your future inspiration:

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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day. I'm off for a James family gathering for dinner. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Large Letters Framelits Dies (£92.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

Good evening! I was out late last night with the lovely Jane and friends who were hosting a Stampin' Up! party so have been busy placing orders for their goodies today and getting a few other jobs done. Last night we were all about the cupcakes and Easter bunnies, however today here on the blog I'm sharing a Christmas card - yes, a Christmas card! - for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge where they have an intriguing sketch:

I wrestled for ages on whether or not to tackle this sketch and how literally to interpret those sharp lines and then I had a brainwave and my Christmas card was done - take a look:

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

Ready For Christmas - Are you ready for Christmas? Me - not at all, but since it was the title of the stamp set I used for the sentiment and festive baugh on today's card it seemed a fitting eye-catching blog title too! This card is mostly diecutting rather than stamping, however I stamped my pine baugh for extra detail and stamped and fussy-cut my sentiment so that it didn't obscure too much of my festive scene. I also stamped the other part of my sentiment on the inside of my card:

A Christmas Staircase - A flash of inspiration led me to consider how the lines of the sketch looked very much like a staircase, so out came my Christmas Staircase Thinlits that form the basis for today's card. I decided to use the diecut rather than the stamp because I like the fine embossed detail and delicate spindles and wanted this to be the main feature to link it back to the sketch. The decorative pine baugh and diecut bows are from the same die set.

Under The Mistletoe Wallpaper - I used a little piece of Wood Textures paper for my hardwood floor and a piece of Under The Mistletoe designer series paper for my wallpaper to keep with the festive feel. Did you know that you can purchase Christmas supplies all year round from Stampin' Up!? The annual catalogue (pages 93-103) contains a selection of stamps, dies and even papers designed for the holiday season, so there's no excuse not to be Christmas crafting all year round! 

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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I'm putting my feet up this evening; enjoy yours too and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Christmas Staircase Thinlits Dies (£36.00)	Ready For Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players - yay! It's the turn of the lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

I decided to use this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout and by complete coincidence have another card for you using the Half Full stamp set I featured last week, although this week's is decidedly more festive - take a look:

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

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas -  When I came to make my card for today's challenge, I realised I actually don't own that many overtly funny stamp sets - clearly something to be rectified another time! However the principle reason that I purchased the Half Full stamp set that I used on last week's card was for the sentiment that I used on today's card - what a fun play on words! Along with some fussy cut holly it makes for the perfect festive tipple.

Humour on the Inside - The real humour in this set comes when this sentiment on the front of the card is combined with the one I used on the inside. I actually made two of these cards at the same time (I wanted to make a dent in my Christmas card stash!) which made it easy to photograph both the inside and outside at the same time to get the full effect:

I just love that - makes me chuckle very time I read it! So perfect for my wine-loving besties, who I know will appreciate the sentiment too.

Under The Mistletoe Plaid - I wanted to add some festive colour to my card and settled on this warming plaid from the Under The Mistletoe designer series paper set. The warm colours were just what I was looking for to go with my glass of wine - here's the colour combination if you would like to save it for a future project:

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:

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

Enjoy your day. I'm off for a day at the waterpark with a bunch of 11 year old boys to begin the birthday celebrations of the youngest of the James Juniors. To be followed by a BBQ, football and Nerf wars, so a fairly full-on day - wish me luck!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Half Full Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)	Pool Party Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)