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

Nature's landscapes - these can take so many forms, the possibilities really are endless! I was tempted to go with some photographic papers, as I do have some with lovely autumn and winter landscapes, but in the end I decided to grab the sketch over at SUO Challenges and use that large square to create my own - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Winter Dreams - My colour scheme is the same as the one I used for last week's Paper Players card (you can see that here if you missed it) as I used another of the patterns in the Winter Dreams specialty designer series paper pack on my card today. This time I went for the falling snow for my sky - perfect for my snowy landscape. The snowflakes are graduated across the sheet of paper and I have used the 'busy' end on my card so it is looking a little blizzard-like, but that's OK - I do like the texture of this paper.

Welcome Noel - My landscape is made using the Welcome Noel bundle. There are rows of trees and houses, as well as a selection of standalone houses, trees and a deer. I've used a combination of all of them to build up the layers of my snowy landscape, using different papers, textures (I used white flocked velvet paper for the tree line and white glimmer paper for the foreground) to add even more texture and interest.

All The Layers - There are nine layers on today's card, each one adding more depth and detail than the next. I have taken some liberties: I added the run of houses in Secret Sea for contrast, whereas if it was a real landscape they would be white, given the falling snow. I also added the smaller diecut house on top of the larger one, whereas for a true sense of perspective it should sit behind the larger one, but that's creative licence, right? The photo below shows more of the detail of those layers and textures:

 I added a larger sentiment from the retired Framed & Festive stamp set to finish my card; I initially went with a skinny 'Merry Christmas' that was more in keeping with the sketch, but it just got lost amongst all the other detail, so I switched it out for something bigger. 

I really like this combination of dark blue and white for a snowy scene; those Welcome Noel dies would look great in lots of other colour combinations 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 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:

Enjoy your day; it is the hubby's birthday today, so we will be paddleboarding this morning and then returning home for a late lunch of homemade Italian ragu and a restful afternoon - bliss! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WELCOME NOEL BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)	WINTER DREAMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£13.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£6.75)

I managed to get a little crafty time this afternoon so today I have a quick post to share a card I made using Kim's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the warm orange and yellow tones and sunflowers in the Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo:

Here's my card:

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

I used a retired Mango Melody card base for a warm orange-yellow tone, added a square cut with my Stylish Shapes Dies and added a stamped and coloured little gnome dressed as a bee from the 'Buzzing With Happiness' stamp set by My Favourite Things, that I picked up recently in a sale. My nephew is a bee-keeper in his spare time and although this card is not destined for him, he is the reason I have acquired quite the collection of bee-related stamps! I added a strip of retired plaid paper that brought the yellows and oranges together and before I glued all of my pieces, I decided to add a panel embossed with the 3D Sunflowers embossing folder to my card base as it was looking a little plain - and I love the finished result! Here's a close up of my bee-gnome, clutching the single sunflower that inspired my embossed panel:

 Isn't he a cutie? And those sunflowers - they never fail to impress, the add so much detail and interest. I love Kim's sketch too; I've already used this for another upcoming card - it's a keeper for sure!

That's all from me; enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SUNFLOWER 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£11.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

It's the first of October - where does the time go?! Today I'm sharing a clean and simple card that I made to squeak in for the current 'circles' challenge over at Addicted To CAS using the palette from Color Dare:

I paired Secret Sea, a very dark navy, with Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight, for a clean and simple 'hello' card using a new die set that was gifted to me recently by my craft friend Elizabeth - take a look:

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

I decided to use a Daffodil Delight card base instead of white (it's ok for 'white' space to be coloured, although I suspect this sunny number might stand out in the ATCAS gallery!) and lightly ran the base through my diecutting machine with the Concord and 9th Pattern Play press plate to give a light pattern, before focusing the detail of my card across the bottom edge, creating a border that picked up in the circle/semi-circle shapes of the press plate in all three colours using the other die pieces in the set, and finishing it with a stacked hello sentiment (also from Concord & 9th - Big Type Greetings) in Secret Sea:

 And that's all there is to it - a colourful card with a clean and graphic design featuring circles to let someone know you're thinking of them. These dies are a lot of fun as there are lots of ways to create interesting patterns and will work in lots of colourways; they will be great for masculine cards in particular I think. 

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

Today I'm sharing my second card for 'anything goes' Stencil Week over at Just Us Girls that is picking up the 'stencils only' option for my kid-themed card over at Just Add Ink: 

My card today features pumpkins - which might seem an odd choice for a kid-themed card, but bear with me - all will make sense! So here's my card:

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

I stencilled a panel of colourful pumpkins using the Spellbinders Colourful Pumpkins layering stencils; I took my colour inspiration from the Painted Patch designer paper, as I liked the mix of pinks, oranges and yellows with blues, which were ideal for the masculine recipient of my card. I didn't have an appropriate sentiment stamp, so created my own custom sentiment using the Simple Alphabet stamp set. I must confess I have a ton of alphabet stamp sets, with letters in various case, shapes and sizes but couldn't resist adding another to my collection - the letter size in this set is in between my existing sets, so offers more options. It was perfect to create a 'hey pumpkin!' greeting for the centre of my card:

This is a term of endearment I have used with the James Junior since he was small and still call him 'pumpkin' occasionally, so I know this card will be sure to raise a smile when he receives it as happy mail now that he is back at uni - he is still a big kid at heart! I deliberately staggered the letters so that the weren't straight (just thought I'd best put that out there, in case anyone thought I was having trouble with keeping a straight line!) as I wanted to add to the playful feel. A few Secret Sea enamel dots complete my card.

I love those pumpkin stencils - such a fun way to create a colourful background and would work in lots of colourways and it's always fun to create a custom sentiment - the Simple Alphabet set is great for cards but will be especially useful for scrapbooking 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SIMPLE ALPHABET PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£23.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)
GOLDEN GLOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£14.00)	SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we overlay a trio of shapes and add a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I grabbed my Season of Celebration and Happiest Tags Mix & Match Ephemera packs and had a look through the diecuts to see what might work in place of those circles - take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used a circular sticker with a green chequered pattern, coupled with a diecut featuring a large poinsettia and foliage and a second one with a smaller pink flower that included a pre-printed sentiment too. These three elements came together so quickly, I couldn't just leave it there - I had to add a trio of gold pearls and some loops of gold twine for a little festive sparkle, even if it is pushing the CAS boundaries a little:

These Mix & Match Ephemera Packs make light work of quick and easy cards and add lots of detail to those three elements. They are great to have for making lots of cards, especially in the run up to Christmas. No stamping 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. 

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! color 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:

SEASON OF CELEBRATION MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (£7.50)

HAPPIEST SEASON TAGS MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (£6.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

As promised I do have a quick second post today to share a card that uses the colour combo over at Color Hues that is my first of two entries for the 'anything goes' Stencil Week over at Just Us Girls: 

So today's card is a first outing for some new product that I finally got to play with at the weekend - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I recently treated myself to Altenew's Winterberry Poinsettias Embossing Folder and co-ordinating layered stencil set. I know, I know - I'm not big on embossing folders, but this one is just lovely and the addition of the stencils mean that colouring it is much easier than without. For my first outing I couldn't resist the purple and mossy green combo over at Color Hues - I considered a non-floral Halloween card, but I don't really send many of those so I succumbed to florals. Yes, I know poinsettias are not traditionally purple, but I am personally partial to a bit of purple and I decided to exercise some creative licence! I used a base of (retired) Wisteria Wonder cardstock and inked the flowers in Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape, with the dark berries in Blackberry Bliss and the larger ones in white shimmer paint. Once I'd finished stencilling, I splattered the image with white craft ink and added a stacked Christmas diecut sentiment in silver foil (these are the retired Merry Christmas Thinlits Dies from Stampin' Up!). You can see the detail onthe image below, although my photos really don't do the embossing justice: 

I added a large diecut sentiment because I had used a 6" square card base, but next time I'm going to try it on a standard cardfront and go with something smaller I think. I think I can improve on my stencilling technique with this set, so I'm looking forward to trying it out in alternative colourways. Not bad for a first attempt though!

Enjoy your day; I need to crack on with a few other jobs, including a few outdoors as it's a lovely day today but the fine weather isn't forecast to last so time is of the essence. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Happy Monday everyone! It's a new week and today I'm sharing a second card that uses Donna's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

I still kept with the idea of a tree for the triangular shape, but for this card I was actually more inspired by the horizontal element - take a look:

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

I've had the Welcome Noel bundle since I placed my preorder, but not broken the seal on it, having been too preoccupied with other things! When I saw Donna's layout, it occurred to me that the horizontal element would be perfect for the row of houses in this set - and the large tree would work as the triangular shape. With that much decided, I set to work, although my card did evolve before I was sufficiently happy with it. I chose a small sentiment from the (retired) 'Joyful Tidings' and I had originally envisaged this card with a simple white base, but with only the three main elements it looked rather sparse and 'unfinished'. My first addition was to emboss the panel onto which I had stamped the houses with the (retired) Softly Falling embossing folder for a little added texture and interest; I then cut down the panel and mounted it onto a Popp Parade base with a Peaceful Pine mat for an additional pop of festive colour. Finally with the snow falling I thought the tree looked a little 'solid', so I added some tiny silver pearls to break up the green:

There - much better!  I didn't get around to making up my third idea using Donna's layout - so many ideas, so little time! I don't know why this sketch inspired me so much and in such different ways, but thank you Donna - a definite keeper for me!

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 may well be back later with another post to share one of my weekend makes, but for now I am off to my Pilates class. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WELCOME NOEL BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

PEACEFUL PINE CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD (£14.00)

PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and she has a my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I saw those two panels and my mind immediately thought 'designer series paper' (I know, you're not surprised!) They actually gave me the opportunity to use a paper that I hadn't broken the seal on to make a couple of Christmas cards - take a look:

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

Winter Dreams - The paper in question is called 'Winter Dreams' and is one of the September Online Exclusives products. I think this paper is highly under-rated - I say that, as I haven't seem anyone else use it anywhere in the blogosphere and it really is lovely! It's difficult to see, but the snowflakes are actually textured; they have the appearance of embroidery but are almost dry-embossed into the paper - so pretty in real life! The white is really sharp against the dark Secret Sea background and there are three patterns in the paper pack: this one featuring snowflakes, another featuring dots, i.e. falling snow and the third is a knitted pattern. For the panel that is peeking out behind, I used a piece of in-colour DSP to compliment the monochrome colour scheme. 

Texture All The Way - In addition to those snowflakes, I decided to use another snowflake as the focal point and I cut this out of white velvet paper. It's difficult to see in the photo, but this gives both the snowflake and the white bar behind a lovely, fuzzy feel:

The snowflake itself was diecut using the Stitched Snowflake Dies and the heat-embossed sentiment is from the 'Merry Snowflakes' stamp set; both retired, but they compliment the paper perfectly and give a fun mix of old and new. A couple of sparkly white sequins and an opal gem in the snowflake centre complete my card.

Inside Story - I used another sentiment from 'Merry Snowflakes' for the inside of my card:

That's another two Christmas cards for my stash!

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:

Enjoy your day; my Sunday is shaping up to be a quiet one; I may well go on a bit of a hunt for winter flowers at the garden centre, as we've had lovely weather this week and now that the end-of-summer tidying up is complete, I feel like I'm ready to get in gear for the winter months. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WINTER DREAMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£13.00)	2025–2027 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)
ADHESIVE-BACKED SPARKLE SEQUINS (£8.00)

Since it's the end of the cricket season and the James Junior is officially back at university, I have spent the whole day in my craft room - yippee! - so I'll have lots to share in the coming days. Today I'm sharing my third card of the week featuring Winnie The Pooh that I wanted to share a few days ago, but time to blog escaped me - this one uses the current layout over at Try A Sketch On Tuesday:

I was intrigued by those patterned borders and thought they would make a nice row of honey pots - take a look at what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

This card was actually quite simple to make, with the honey pots and the focal image all taken from the Silly Old Bear DSP. The card is larger than usual (A5) because I wanted to use this particular image and sentiment and didn't want my card to be overcrowded, but sometimes it's nice to have a bigger card if you are going to write a letter inside, which I sometimes do. I played around with this for a while as I couldn't get it to feel right; in the end it was the addition of a panel of Peaceful Pine embossed with the 100 Acre Woods embossing folder that gave the card that extra 'something' that it needed:

This is why I ultimately discounted it for last week's Paper Players challenge as not sufficiently clean and simple, but still love it and the card is definitely all the better for the embossed section for sure.

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 the rest of your day. I might catch up on my sewing this evening as I continue to watch the live simulation drama called 'Wargame' on Sky TV; I started watching it yesterday and I'm hooked! I'll be back tomorrow with my project for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge chosen by me:

We are at the end of September and with three months to go, thoughts naturally turn towards Christmas and the festive season. As crafters, we often tell ourselves at the start of the year we will build our stash of Christmas cards throughout the year, but how many do we actually make? I thought today's challenge would be a great time to find out, so whether this is your first Christmas card of the year or your fiftieth, do play along this week and let me know! I had a card made for today's challenge, but when I saw Donna's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week I had not one but three ideas with it, so I saved my original card for another day and had to get one of those ideas out of my head and into paper! Take a look at what I came up with and read on to see how I filled in our blank:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

So this is the 23rd Christmas card I've made this year so far! It's the 18th one I've shared here on my blog (the other five are for upcoming design team challenges that I will share in due course). I was actually surprised that I hadn't made more - so expect me to be doing more Christmas creating in the coming months. Donna's layout includes a Christmas tree-shaped triangle, although she points out that the shape can be anything - it doesn't have to be a tree. For today's card I went for something of a halfway house: I chose to use a tag from the Happiest Season Mix & Match Tag Pack for the main shape, but one that featured a diecut Christmas tree that I popped out to use the negative. I added a snippet of paper from the co-ordinating Creative Celebrations DSP Pack that I've been creating with lots lately that featured the same soft blue with a delicate snowflake pattern and added some silver twine and a trio of rhinestones, along with one of the new white felted stars, before finishing with a simple silver heat-embossed sentiment (from the retired 'Merriest Wishes'):

The tag and paper is a very pale shade of Hydrangea Hue, but the cardstock is much darker than this and was too bold for my mat. A rummage in the retired cardstock box resulted in a mat of Seaside Spray, which proved a better fit. This is such a simple card, yet it has an elegance to it I think. It's one of those cards where I feel like I've managed to channel my 'inner Celine', an homage to the fabulous designer over at Freshly Made Sketches, Cecile Ribon, who makes such fabulous clean and elegant cards - check out her fabulous feline this week here. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create Challenge where their current challenge is 'clean and simple'. I really like this card and you could use the layout with any of the tag shapes in the Creative Celebrations pack.

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 our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Fill In The Blank challenge, please tell us in your post how you completed the sentence.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day; I'm hoping to escape to my craft room this afternoon and try out another of my ideas using Donna's fabulous layout. If I get there I'll be back tomorrow with another project - fingers crossed. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPIEST SEASON TAGS MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (£6.75)

CREATIVE CELEBRATIONS MIX & MATCH 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£13.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)