Happy World Card Making Day everyone! Have you crafted today? Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenges over at Global Design Project and Double D Challenge where they are both about leaves:

I’ve changed things up a little for my card with a super easy shaker card to really make the most of those autumn falling leaves - take a look:

Isn’t it just the cutest? Here's the low-down on today's card:

Seasons of Fun - The little boy having fun playing in the leaves is from the ‘Seasons of Fun’ hostess set in the mini catalogue and was the perfect background for my shaker. I stamped him onto a stitched rectangle and coloured him in with a variety of Stampin’ Blends, matching the colours to those of my falling diecut leaves to create a seamless picture.

How To Create An Easy Shaker Card - The shaker card element on today’s card was so easy and straightforward to create: all you need to do is place your shaker pieces - I used leaves cut with the Seasonal Swirls Dies and some gold sequins for a little sparkle - onto your background image and panel and carefully slide into an acetate sleeve, the kind you sometimes put finished cards into for sale, and fold the sides and tape behind. This creates a flat pocket with less depth and freedom of movement than a traditional shaker card, which is better for posting, but still allows the contents to move around and ‘shake’. 

Pattern Party With Colour - I placed my shaker pocket onto a background of leafy paper from the Pattern Party hostess paper pack. This is a black and white paper, but I coloured the leaves in with my Stampin’ Blends to further continue my leafy theme tie in my frame with the central image:

I deliberately left the front of my card sentiment-free, as I didn’t want to obscure my shaker and central image. I’m also not sure who I’m going to send this card to so it made more sense to add one at a later date if needed.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEASONAL SWIRLS DIES (£32.00)	SEASONS OF FUN HOST CLING STAMP SET (£11.00)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm actually combining my design team card for both our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a sketch challenge and the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

It just so happened my card fulfilled both briefs, so I thought I would go with it as I've been time-pressed this week (nothing new there then!) At As You See It we have a sketch challenge and at Festive Friday we are celebrating World Apple Day - but if you check out my card, you'll see there's not an apple in sight! Take a look at my card and you'll see what I mean:

My card today is for a baker - and a Christmas baker at that! The fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used red, green, baking and gingham on today's creation.

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

Gingerbread and Peppermint - One of my many passions in life is to bake, and at Christmas time I am known for my gingerbread cookies, so the Gingerbread and Peppermint Suite from Stampin' Up! immediately appealed to my inner baker. I love the papers in particular, as they are perfect for fussy cutting and that's where I took my trio of gingerbread cookies from that are on my card today. If you're not a fan of fussy-cutting, the Gingerbread Dies fit some of the shapes on the designer series paper, but honestly they are super easy to kit by hand too. The gingham banner on my card is some old retired paper, as there isn't a pattern that is technically gingham in this paper pack. There are lots of check and plaid patterns, but since I was being a purist I grabbed some old papers, but if you wanted to CASE my card, I would totally use one of the other patterns in this paper pack.

Memories & More - One of the other things I love about the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite is that it features this season's Memories and More cards too. I will be using them to document my own festive bakes, but they are also great for cards too and on today's card, they really are the star of the show. So many of the elements that you see on my card come from the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories and More pack: The spatula, oven glove, foil embossed snowflakes, that fabulous metal cooling rack and even the sentiment, which I fussy cut from one of the cards in the pack. So many great elements to play with:

Look No Stamping - Did you notice there isn't a single stamp on today's card? Not even on the inside, where I decided to use one of the memories and More stickers:

They really do make for easy cards, but with so many bits and pieces you can have a lot of creative fun with them too. I will be sending this card to a friend along with some of my famous gingerbread cookies during December; I might have to make a few more too!

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. 

Here's a summary of the As you See It challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans 

Joanne James - that's me!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (£10.25)

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Jenny's final challenge this month is a sketch challenge: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to feature some designer series paper and went on the hunt for a pattern that lent itself to being split across three panels and accommodating a sentiment. This is where I ended up:

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

This design in the Blackberry Beauty specialty designer series paper pack is one of my favourite designs and since all of the pattern is along the outer edges of the paper, it was perfect to cut down for a blank piece behind my sentiment and then two rectangles with pattern below. This paper has beautiful foil detailing, so I decided to add some gold foil mats to my rectangles and behind my sentiment. My 'thanks' is from the Word Wishes die for 'Thanksgiving' where I cut the 'giving' off the end. The dies aren't layered, so I created a gold mat for my diecut by gluing the Early Espresso diecut to gold foil, then carefully trimming around it with my paper snips to leave a layered border: 

The front of my card is stamp-free, so I added some stamping to the inside of my card to remedy that:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BLACKBERRY BEAUTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

WORD WISHES DIES (EN) (£33.00)

BEAUTY OF TOMORROW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch, for you to work with:

I designed this sketch months ago so had nothing in particular in mind when I created it. I actually intended to go with a Christmas card until I saw those lovely autumn leaves and trees in the Color Dare inspiration photo, which prompted me to go in a completely different direction - take a look:

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

Beauty of The Earth - I decided to use a strip of the Beauty of the Earth designer paper for my border edge as it contained lots of lovely greens, reds, oranges and browns in a mottled leaf pattern that fitted my theme perfectly.

Stitched Leaves - I used the three squares of my sketch (you don't have to use squares - these can be any shape you like) to create a trio of diecut stitched leaves in co-ordinating colours, two of them offset within a couple of stitched squares and one tied with twine to accent my sentiment:

I added a trio of brushed metallic dots to my card front too - love these!

Love of Leaves - The only  stamping on the front of my card is the sentiment, from the 'Lots of Leaves' stamp set; I did add a little more to the inside of my card, including a sponged leaf with diecut detail for decoration:

You may be wondering why my card base appears Garden Green in this photo, yet is Old Olive on the front; in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I started out with a Garden Green base, but it just wasn't working for me. I fiddled about with various card front colours, in the end settling on Old Olive - but instead of cutting a new card base just added a panel to the front of my card. I also experimented with texture and additional detail on the panel, but in the end decided to leave it plain. So there you have it!

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 - they created some fabulous designs inspired by this week's sketch:

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; no big plans here other than some cooking and collection of the youngest of the James Juniors following a weekend of hiking and camping as he completed his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition. Here's hoping for minimal blisters, a shower and an early night!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVE OF LEAVES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	BEAUTY OF THE EARTH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (£8.25)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

Lots of options on the board this week and I was tempted to create something fall-inspired, but in the end decided to go across the middle with masculine/free/patterned paper and create a Christmas card - take a look:

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

Peaceful Prints - The current challenge over at CAS Christmas Card Challenge is to use plaid on a Christmas card, so the Peaceful Prints designer papers, free with an order of £45 during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion, were the perfect starting point. I'm trying to share as many of these fabulous free gifts with you as possible before the promotion ends next week on 30th September- just one more week to go so time to get those orders in!

Plaid Christmas - When considering plaid options for my card, I reached for that 'oldie but goodie' Christmas set from the annual catalogue called 'Plaid Christmas'. I ended up not using it on the front of my card at all - my small, block sentiment is courtesy of the 'Tidings and Trimmings' set - but I did use it to add a plaid Christmas tree to the inside of my card:

Pine Tree Punch - I love a good sketch and the current Sunday Stamps one is a keeper - so many ways to use this layout! I couldn't wait to play along and decided to keep things simple and used the central vertical panel to showcase the negative space of my punched Christmas tree so that you could see the lovely red and black plaid below. I added a simple scored border to my rectangle for added interest. 

No fuss or frills - this is both clean and simple and masculine, after all. 

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PEACEFUL PRINTS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	PINE TREE PUNCH (£17.00)	TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I'm sneaking in a card that I should have shared yesterday but got to the end of my day and was simply too tired to blog! Check out this cute card I made inspired by this week's theme over at TGIF Challenges:

So many lovely free items available during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion and I chose one of my favourites for my card  - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card: 

I have lots of little characters from the Penguin Playmates designer series paper - free with a £45 purchase - that I fussy cut whilst sat watching TV one evening, so I wanted to use some of them on my card today. I added a panel of stripes, also from the paper set, and a sentiment and strategically placed my animals and snowman around it:

The best bit? A number of these characters are incomplete and were cut from the edge of the paper; you should never throw these away though as designs like this one, where they peek around the sentiment panel are the perfect way to use them without anyone being any the wiser. Well, obviously you all know because I told you, but you get where I'm coming from, right?! 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 and I'll be back later with another project, this time for our new challenge over at TicTacToe. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PENGUIN PLAYMATES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)

STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)

MERRIEST MOMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week Jenny has a great colour challenge for us: 

I love Jenny's fresh colour palette this week! For my card today I decided to dig out one of my rather neglected annual catalogue sets to make an anniversary card for a friend's upcoming celebration:

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

I added some Coastal Cabana ink to my cardbase and then added the circular diecut from the Birds and More dies to create an aperture to go over the top. I threaded through a diecut branch in Granny Apple Green and a pair of Misty Moonlight birds popped up on dimensionals, with black matt dots added for eyes. A simple sentiment from the (retired) Itty Bitty Greetings set completes the front of my card:

I used the negative aperture of the branch die to sponge some green ink onto the inside of my card, along with another Itty Bitty Greeting:

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BIRDS & MORE DIES (£32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Another Monday, another week! Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I made using this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout that I'm also linking up over at Addicted to CAS where the codeword is 'leaf':

This week's FMS sketch is courtesy of Cecile Ribon. If you are not a regular follower of Freshly Made Sketches, you should make a point of checking out her cards; I am in awe of her beautifully clean, elegant designs! I didn't get a chance to make a card to play along until today, but couldn't resist the opportunity to channel my 'inner Cecile' and have a go - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Painted Christmas - I decided to use designer paper for the trio of squares on the sketch and chose a selection of soft watercoloured patterns from the painted Christmas papers. I went mostly with patterns in greens and white with small designs, with one square that had red in too, which I picked up in my simple 'Joy' sentiment from the 'Merriest moments' stamp set. These papers are so pretty but not too overpowering - perfect in small amount for a clean and simple card.

White Holly - I chose to accent my card with a sprig of diecut holly in white; this was a deliberate move, albeit an unusual one for me. I used the (retired) Sweetest Borders Dies as I wanted to have something that was the right size with a little diecut detail, but there are plenty of current dies that could be adapted to achieve the same effect:

I was aiming for a single leaf for my Addicted to CAS entry, but because I used holly ended up with two; is it just me, but do you ever see holly leaves in ones? I only ever place them in pairs!

Finishing Touches - I added a trio of clear faceted gems and a silver twine bow to my white foliage for some simple finishing touches, along with a simple sentiment on the inside:

I liked this card and sketch so much, I made a second one too, this one with the centre square being the uppermost and popped up on dimensionals, rather than overlapped as per Cecile's original sketch:

I chose a couple of other prints too, with a little more pale green in the print pattern:

So what do you think? I love both of these cards and loved trying to channel my 'inner Cecile' to create my FMS entry this 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

My day has been a topsy-turvy one, with plans upended and rejigged due to changes in school activities such that the restful day of crafting I had planned didn't quite materialise. No matter though - sometimes you have to roll with it and tomorrow may bring less upheaval; here's hoping! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PAINTED CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

MERRIEST MOMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (£7.00)

SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a timely Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I love our challenge badge this week and decided to embrace the fun of our challenge photo and go with a card that is all about playing with leaves - take a look:

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

I stamped this super-cute image of this little chap playing in a big pile of leaves with his kitty from the 'Seasons of Fun' current seasonal hostess set onto a panel cut with the Whimsy Dies (the swirly border reminded me of a breeze!) and coloured with my Stampin' Blends markers: 

That's all there is to it - super clean and really simple to achieve!

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. 

I'm linking today's card up for another entry over at The Alphabet Challenge where they are on 'L is for Leaves' and over at SUO Challenges where the current theme is 'people'. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SEASONS OF FUN HOST CLING STAMP SET (£11.00)	STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a card with the current challenge over at Global Design Project  #GDP309:

This is another of my cards using the Festive Foliage stamp as my background, this time paired with the robin from the Happy Holly-Days stamp set - take a look:

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

I kept to a black and white colour scheme for my background and sentiment label, with a pop of Real Red for my third choice - the perfect way to emphasise my lovely robin red breast and bring in a flash of festive colour:

I added some red sheer ribbon and rhinestone jewels to complete 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FESTIVE FOLIAGE CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	HAPPY HOLLY-DAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	RED RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£6.50)	REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)