It's a little while since I shared a 'one stamp set, three ways' post with you showing you three cards using one suite and how to use the products within that suite to create cards that range from simple to stepped up. Today is the first of two posts that will do just that - this time featuring the Christmas Around The World Suite and the Brightly Lit Christmas Bundle that you can find on pages 28-29 of the 2017 Autumn-Winter seasonal Stampin' Up! catalogue that I used in a class a couple of months ago.

The Brightly Lit Christmas stamp set has a fun collection of festive banners that co-ordinate with a basic lamppost design and when paired with the co-ordinating Christmas Lamppost Thinlits Dies can be used to make the most ornate and detailed 3D traditional lamppost designs. The set is great for quick and easy and more complex cards with a real 'wow' factor.  

Clean and Simple - Quick And Easy - If you're short on time or new to crafting, this set is great for a simple card like this one:

All you need to do is take a sheet of Extra Thick Whisper White for your card base and mat layer, stamp your lamppost and hanging banner directly onto the card front and sponge a little yellow ink for lamp light, use the wreath bauble stamp to add some snowflakes (stamp in Versamark and add Dazzling Diamonds glitter) and a red ribbon bow and your card is done. Festive red and the subtle sparkling snowflakes help this simple card to have a big impact.

Step It Up - If you have a bit more time and are feeling more adventurous, using a few extra tools and embellishments will allow you to 'step up' your card and create something with a little more depth and detail, whilst still relatively easy to make:

My second card follows the same basic layout as the first, still using just the stamps from the Brightly Lit Christmas set, however this time I've stamped only the top portion of the lamppost and masked off the lower portion and used the Carols of Christmas stamp set and co-ordinating Card Front Builder Dies to cut out some festive poinsettia flowers to adorn the lamppost, centred with some gold enamel shapes, added a couple of twists of red and gold ribbon behind and a couple of background banners using the Triple Banner Punch, one of which is a contemporary tartan to add a bold splash of colour. 

My third card is a real 'wow' - but you'll have to come back for Part 2 for that one!

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

Card 1:

Card 2:

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'll be back soon with the third card in this set, which is my absolute favourite. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Card 1:

Brightly Lit Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set*	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter	Real Red 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Solid Ribbon
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Card 2:

Brightly Lit Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set*	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Real Red 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Solid Ribbon	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Carols Of Christmas Clear-Mount Bundle*	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper*	Metallic Enamel Shapes	Gold 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Ribbon

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players- what's more, it's the last one of 2017! It's the turn of my good friend, the lovely and talented Claire, to host this week and she has a bright colour challenge for us to end the year with:

This is a palette with lots of options - you could still craft for Christmas, or use these colours for a non-festive project, it's up to you. Our design team this week has done a little of both, so there's lots of inspiration for you. I took the opportunity to squeeze in another Christmas project, but went with a 3D gift box rather than a card today. In fact, a Christmas stocking - take a look:

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

Trim Your Stocking - These colours were perfect for a pink and girly Christmas stocking, complete with spotty heel, toe and cuff trim then finished off with a sprig of festive greenery. I've used the Trim Your Stocking Thinlits on this card previously but whatever your project, this set has an abundance of useful dies that are perfect for all kinds of embellishments. 

It's What's Inside That Counts - I love this sentiment! Whether it's a little chocolate - the content of choice of Rebecca - or money (most definitely the content of choice for my teenage niece!), the pillow box on the reverse of this stocking is just big enough for either. I haven't yet decided who this stocking will be heading for and for me how it looks on the outside is the most important thing, but one thing is for sure, for the recipient it's definitely what's inside that counts!

A Little Added Sparkle - I couldn't resist adding in a little sparkle to my festive stocking, with a silver foil bell, some mini sequin trim and a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella on the lime green pieces - I'm hoping Claire considers silver (almost) a neutral such that I can get away with it - I just couldn't resist, those jingle bell dies are my favourite! 

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. As I mentioned above, this is our last challenge for 2017; we will be taking a two week break before returning with a fresh new set of challenges for 2018 starting on Sunday 7th January 2018. Thanks to everyone who plays along each week, to this year's guest designers, Crystal and Valentyna, Deanne, Jan and Annie, and everyone of you who visits our blogs and leaves us encouraging comments each week - it's great to know that you enjoy our creations! We will be announcing our new guest designers for the first half of 2018 this coming Wednesday, in my mid-week reminder post, so be sure to check back then to see who will be joining us to kick off the Paper Players fun at the start of 2018!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are hoping to put our Christmas tree up and decorate the house tomorrow - then it really will feel like Christmas! I'll be back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Tags & Trimmings Clear-Mount Bundle*	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Silver Mini Sequin Trim	Silver Foil Sheets	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Today I've been invited by my good friend and team leader over at The Paper Players, the lovely Nance Leedy, to be the Guest Designer over at Inspired By All The Little Things - what an honour!

I love this challenge, also set up originally by the creative powerhouse that is the lovely Lesley Croghan, and although I don't get to play along as often as I would like I can often be found browsing the gallery each week, for inspiration from the awesome team of designers, the challenge for the week and also to have a little nosey at the invited guest - you see they have a fun feature where they do a little interview  and you get to find out what inspires them, along with some interesting things that you might not know about the featured designers. Yes, that includes me - I included one or two fun things that even my regular readers might not know about me too, so hop on over and have a read if you'd like to find out more! You could even have a go at this week's challenge - I would love to see what you make of it!

And so to my card! Here is the inspiration photo for this week's challenge:

Now I must confess, I thought long and hard about this card and had a false attempt too before I produced something that I felt embodied the feeling of 'party' evoked in the inspiration picture. Here's what I came up with:

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

Inspired By All The Little Things - I thought I would give you a little insight into how I used the inspiration photo to get to my final card design today, as I often get asked "where do you start?" when making a card. The photo has lots of elements: black, gold, peach, vellum, white, confetti, hexagons, squares, circles, art deco, party blowers, glitter balls, happy new year, a rosette, a champagne glass to name just some -  and whilst I could have used any or all of them on my card, I chose to zone in on a few. I decided to major in on the black and gold colours for my colour scheme, with just a pop of peach, and create a card with a party theme that could be used for new year but would also work for any other kind of party celebration. Then I browsed my stamp sets and accessories to see what would work and set to work.

A Playful Background - I originally set about creating some rather fancy art deco-inspired hexagons using gold washi tape and black cardstock, but eventually decided these were too busy on my card so they are now waiting in my scrap box for another project! I decided to go with something less geometrical and create a background using one of the stamps in the Playful Backgrounds stamp set that mimicked the mat beneath the peach party cup in the photo (I selectively inked it so that the little dots on the stamp are omitted from my design) and heat embossed it in gold. I then did the reverse colour combination for my sentiment, i.e. black heat embossed on gold foil, so that it provides contrast yet is still in keeping with my theme.

A Picture Perfect Party - My card needed a focal point, so what better than a couple of party blowers? And a new stamp set that I acquired at Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event recently provided just the thing - the 'Picture Perfect Birthday' set has ribbon bows, candles, confetti and party sentiments galore, but also has the bits to construct a party blower - how fun! I made two and gave them each a vellum frill that I cut with my fringe scissors, as another nod to the inspiration photo. I wanted to make them stand out from the rest of the card, hence to addition of my Peekaboo Peach stitched circle behind; I didn't want peach to be a major feature of my design yet it serves a useful purpose here to highlight my blowers and ensure they don't get lost against the busyness of the background pattern. Picture Perfect Birthday is in the new Spring-Summer Stampin' Up! catalogue out on January 3rd - be sure to get in touch with me if you'd like a copy.

And that's how I did it! I'm also linking my card up with the team over at Freshly Made Sketches - what can I say, I love a good sketch :-)

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 for the last challenge of the year (gulp!) over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set	Playful Backgrounds Photopolymer Stamp Set	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Gold Glimmer Paper	Gold Foil Sheets
Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock

It's Friday and finally I've managed to squeeze in a blog post to share with you - hurrah! Today I'm sharing another card using the Snowflake Sentiments bundle - and just like my card for The Paper Players on the Sunday before last (you can see that card here if you missed it), it uses the thinlits in a rather unusual way. I'm also linking up with the team over at Stamp Ink Paper who are looking for snow-themed creations this week:

I decided to make an easel card  - this is what it looks like closed:

This is what it looks like open:

And finally here's another shot from above, that shows the detail of the front edge and my sentiment, which I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed onto a label punched with the Everyday Label Punch:

I wanted to make a special card that really showcased the versatility of the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies, so I used the edge thinlits to create two layered squares and finished it with a stitched square, onto which I stamped a snowflake from the co-ordinating Snowflake Sentiments set in Versamark and heat embossed it in gold. I finished with one of the super-sparkly faceted gems to create a focal centrepiece. Creating a card like this is not for the faint-hearted - it took a fair amount of partial die cutting and snipping of the gold piece to remove excess pieces in order to have a symmetrical design, but it was so worth it - the finished card has a real 'wow' factor, I love it!

I'm pleased to see that the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set and Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies are on carryover and will remain available beyond the end of the Autumn-Winter catalogue - this means lots more opportunities to create with this set! They won't be available as a bundle though, so if you want the 10% saving, be sure to snap them up before January 2nd - just click on the link in the supplies list at the bottom of today's post.

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 around lunchtime tomorrow with a special post as I'm the guest designer over at Inspired By All The Little Things this week. My project contains a Spring-Summer sneak-peek too so be sure to come back and take a look. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Bundle*	Gold Foil Sheets	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad
Embossing Buddy	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Gold Faceted Gems	Everyday Label Punch

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 rather delicious seasonal theme for us to work with:

I'm also linking up with the team over at Stamp Ink Paper this week who are looking at Christmas wrapping and packaging solutions. I love to make gingerbread at this time of year but it's still a little early for me to have baked and wrapped creatively, so instead I decided to share with you a little something that I've been preparing for Ben's school Christmas Fayre the week after next that fits Laurie's theme perfectly. They are having a 'Jam Jar Tombola' stall, so I've been busy making up jars of all kinds for the children to win, including some jars of dry ingredients that they can use for their own festive baking. Here's one of my jars for gingerbread cookies - take a look:

These really are so easy to make: you simply layer the dry ingredients into a kilner jar, then decorate and add a tag with the details of any ingredients you need to add and the method. 

I used the 'December Deliciousness' stamp from the 'My Little Things' stamp set to decorate my jar, using my markers to selectively colour each of the elements in and adding a heat-embossed sentiment banner across the middle to create a decorated top to my jar. I paired it with some retired paper that fits perfectly with my theme for a folded tag that includes the ingredients and recipe, some ribbon and a wooden spoon that I will be tying to the side of the jar too ready for stirring - you could also add a gingerbread cutter if you have one.

I'm a big fan of homemade gifts at Christmas and there is no limit to the things you can put in a jar; with a little decoration this kind of thing can make a thoughtful, presentable gift.

If you would like to make a jar like mine, I've included the details from the inside of my folded tag below:

Easy Gingerbread Biscuits

This jar contains:

• 100g soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ginger, ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp cinnamon, 225g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

You will need to add:

• 150g melted butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 egg yolk

Method:

• Mix 150g melted butter with 1 tbsp golden syrup and 1 egg yolk.
• Add to the dry ingredients, mix well, then knead to a dough.
• Chill for 15 mins then roll out.
• Cut into biscuits and bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 8-10 mins. Cool on a wire rack.

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; my Christmas festivities have truly started in earnest this week and I am busier than ever! I am off to run a pre-Christmas Stampin' Up! party for a customer and her friends this afternoon, then will be returning home to put the finishing touches to my class preparations for my Delightful Daises Technique Class tomorrow and complete my 100 card challenge for the Ronald McDonald Christmas Cheer campaign that is happening in the UK this weekend.

I'll be back as soon as time allows with more projects; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

The Little Things Clear-Mount Stamp Set*	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Many Marvelous Markers	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock

Now is the time to shop! Stampin' Up! is finishing this week's Online Extravaganza with one last offer for Cyber Monday: for 24 hours only, you can receive free shipping on all Stampin’ Up! orders.

Time flies, so don’t wait—the hours will be gone before you know it! Free shipping runs from 26 November 11:00 p.m. (GMT) to 27 November 10:50 p.m. (GMT). Don't forget to add the current hostess code NASJ4PVF for an extra little thank you from me!

Click here to go to my online store

I'll be back later with today's creative project - until then, happy shopping!

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 kind of challenge, a sketch, for you all to work with:

My card today is all about the snowflakes and uses the Snowflake Sentiments bundle - take a look:

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

Snowflake Inspiration - I used the piece of snowflake patterned paper from the Christmas Round The World DSP pack as the starting point for my card today; the dark grey reminds me of a snowy sky and is the perfect backdrop for those pale blue and white snowflakes.

Swirly Snowflake Border - The paper pairs beautifully with the stamps and thinlits in the Snowflake Sentiments bundle. I used the Swirly Snowflake thinlits to create my layered border and snowflake embellishment. The detail on these delicate cuts makes for some really pretty pieces, especially when cut from Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper - the snowflakes are so sparkly against the Pool Party layer and the grey of the background paper. The thinlits are designed to cut with a straight edge to one side of the border, but I wanted them to be a mirror image so I snipped away the excess from the snowflakes and cut the background piece in the same way.

Open To Interpretation - I added a ribbon and bow to my sketch as I don't often add bows to the front of my card, yet when I came to make my card, I chose not to add a bow as I didn't want to obscure the detail of those pretty snowflakes, although I did add a strip of ribbon between the border layers. I also moved up the position of my snowflake embellishment to provide a better balance with the positioning of my sentiment. These changes don't make my card 'wrong' - they are just one way to interpret the sketch. I can't wait to see how it inspires you!

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 my sketch in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are ice-skating later with the swimming squad - our first Christmas party of the season! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Bundle	Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Pool Party 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon	Rhinestone Basic Jewels	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock

I'm finally back with a post today! With my American friends celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought today a card that expresses gratitude was in order. Today's card also fits for a few challenges that are happening at the moment too (click on the badges to go to the respective blogs):

My card uses an incredibly useful bundle from the annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Be Thankful - I am thankful for many things and I love that the Label Me Pretty set has this wonderful sentiment that is perfect for giving thanks and showing appreciation to others - finished with a teeny, tiny heart - adorable! This is such a great set for layering, with so many options. I created a crib sheet for my open house ages ago which I've been sharing with my face-to-face customers in classes; it has been so well received I thought I would share it here so that you could all save it too:

Details, Details - In addition to my layered label, my card has some other neat details: the tiny scalloped edge on the left is courtesy of the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch and the scalloped edge was cut with the scallop thinlit in the Seasonal Layers Thinlits set; the curved flower detail from the 'Label Me Pretty' stamp set fits it perfectly, how convenient! 

Don't Forget The Pretty - My card has a very feminine feel to it, with the Powder Pink and Fresh Fig in-colours balancing beautifully against the white, along with the tiny florals and pretty detailing, all finished off with a tied Powder Pink ribbon. Not my usual style, yet nice to ring the changes once in a while.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Label Me Pretty Clear-Mount Bundle	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Powder Pink 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon	2017-2019 In Color A4 Cardstock	Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper Stack
Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies	1-3/4" (4.4 Cm) Circle Punch	Fresh Fig Classic Stampin' Pad	Decorative Ribbon Border Punch

Stampin' Up!'s Online Extravaganza is here! Starting tonight at 11pm GMT for one week only, 19-26 November, you can save up to 40% on select products. To sweeten the deals, we will be having 24-hour sales on the first and last day of the promotion, featuring special products available for that day only. 

Our first incredible offering of this promotion will be the 24-hour stamp sale. Select stamp sets will be 20% off for the first 24 hours of the Online Extravaganza. The Stamp Sale takes place on 19 November 23:00 (GMT) to 20 November 22:59 (GMT).

To close out the Online Extravaganza with a bang, there will also be a special 24-hour flash sale on 27 November, after other Online Extravaganza deals end on 26 November. I will be back with more information on this flash sale later in the week. Check back here for the announcement and more details!

Here is the full list of deals this week:

You can download a PDF version of the deals list by clicking here.

Don't forget, the first of the 24 hour flash sales begins tonight at 11pm GMT and includes the following stamp sets each with 20% off:

Some great deals there - plenty of opportunity to grab some bargains to add to your stamp collection or alternatively start your Christmas shopping in earnest! Local customers - I have an order going in tomorrow if you would like to add anything to it to save on postage. If you are purchasing online, remember to add this month's hostess code 2S4X3VQ6 to your online order for an extra thank you from me.

Happy shopping everyone!

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

I'm a little late with my post today - I am still struggling to keep up with everything as I am so very busy at the moment - but I couldn't miss the opportunity to join in with Sandy's clean and simple 'warm and cozy' challenge in this week's Global Design Project challenge colours - take a look:

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

Warm and Cozy - When I think of cold winter days, I think of mittens, gingerbread latte and woolly jumpers; so what better than a Christmas jumper to fit with the 'warm and cozy' theme? There are some fun sweaters in the 'Christmas Sweaters' stamp set; I decided to go with the simple striped one with a snowflake centrepiece for my clean and simple card. With a nod to the lovely Sandy who is such an expert colourer, I decided to get out my new Stampin' Blends to colour my sweater. I'm not sure I'm as good as Sandy when it comes to colouring, but it sure is fun and allowed me a peaceful 10 minutes in my otherwise hectic day!

Deck The Halls - I knew I wanted to use a few simple embellishments and I didn't want to add too many layers to my clean and simple card, so I decided to create a little patterned background with my sentiment to sit behind my sweater. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up my sentiment and just stamped it repeatedly in Cherry Cobbler ink. Keeping this detail to one area of the card allows me to preserve the 'white space' that is a key feature of a clean and simple card.

All Good Things Come In Threes - Along with the trio of festive colours that feature on my sweater, I have also used a trio of embellishments: a (retired) wooden snowflake, a Pool party twine bow and some Pool Party enamel shapes for some added fun detail. I tried to keep my embellishments to a minimum given this week's theme but couldn't resist these additional touches to complete my warm and cozy 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:

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back later with news of a fantastic week of promotions that will be starting tomorrow and hope to resume something like normal blogging service this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Christmas Sweaters Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack
Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Subtles Enamel Shapes	Pool Party Solid Baker’S Twine