Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Colour Inkspiration where they are celebrating their 200th challenge - congratulations!

This card ended up becoming a set of 6 so I'm also entering the card set challenge over at TGIF Challenges - more on that shortly. First up, this was my initial card:

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

Real Red Forever - As my dear friend Jan said when she made her DT card for this challenge, being asked to choose your favourite SU colour is a little like being asked to choose your favourite child - impossible, right? I decided to answer this question, I would take a look at which colour of cardstock I had the most of - because this is a sure sign that this is a colour I use a lot! The answer was hands down, Real Red - which also happens to be one of the first three ink pad colours I ever purchased at the start of my SU journey (the others were Pacific Point - now retired although replaced in my affections with blueberry Bushel - and Old Olive - still current but usurped by Shaded Spruce, my favourite green ever!) I use the other reds too, but Real Red will always be my favourite - a true scarlet red that works for so many occasions. 

Having chosen my colour, this also gave me the opportunity to use my favourite sheet of red and gold poinsettias in the Traditions of Christmas specialty DSP pack that I had yet to cut into. I decided to use the paper as a base, then add a simple diecut label using the Branching Out Dies, and finish with a simple layered sentiment using my Concorde & 9th Holiday Sayings Dies:

Di you know that the poinsettia is a flower that is believed to symbolise peace? This simple greeting seemed therefore appropriate, layered in gold foil and the DSP behind. A simple sentiment completes the inside of my card - this is the only stamping on today's card:

Make The Most Of Your DSP - Having cut the pieces for my initial card, I was struck by how much of the pattern I was ultimately going to cover with my label; so before I stuck the pieces down, I cut another smaller label from the patterned paper and backed this with one in gold foil, to create a second card design that was the reverse of the first one:

This time, I added my sentiment in Real Red, backed with gold foil:

This is a great way to get two cards out of one piece of DSP. Here's a photo of both cards together:

A Card Set - I had cut a single length of paper from my initial 12x12 DSP sheet, which enabled me to make three cards. Using the above 2-for-1 principle, I managed to make a set of 6 cards, 3 of each of the 2 designs:

I really wanted the designer paper and the colour to take centre stage, so didn't add any thing else in the way of embellishments to my card. A great way to produce a set of cards that would make a lovely gift. Which card design do you prefer? I think I ended up liking the second card design even more than the first!

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 to my pilates class this morning and am going out for my first Christmas night out this evening with one of my closest friends, so looking forward to that. In between time, I need to stop making Christmas cards and start writing some! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.40)

BRANCHING OUT DIES (£27.00)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

WORDS FOR THE SEASON CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£13.20)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Happy hump day everyone! Today I'm sharing another card for this week's challenge over at Just Us Girls where it's anything goes Stencil Week:

I said on Sunday I had another idea that I wanted to try involving one of my Christmas stencils and since I managed to grab some crafty time today I thought I'd share it - take a look:

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

I used this stencil, called Christmas Bauhaus by Uniko, for a previous JUGS stencil challenge (you can see that card here if you missed it). Today I chose a blue and aqua colour scheme inspired by the palette over at Color Dare as I wanted to turn Santa into a snowman. During the Craft Room Clear Out (this is now worthy of capital letters, it is turning into an event of epic proportions!) I discovered part of a long retired accessory kit containing some fun snowman-themed enamel pieces, so I used these to overlay the stencilled face. I cut a base and mat in the same colours before adding my stencilled panel and a heat-embossed retired sentiment from the 'Christmas Messages' stamp set. I added a few other co-ordinating sparkly gems to complete my card: 

Isn't that just so fun?! I was unsure whether the orange carrot nose might disqualify me over at Color Dare, as those ladies run a tight challenge ship, but I notice that one of their DTs, Rebecca, has a few touches of orange on her delightful penguin, so I'm going to link up and take my chances ;-)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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 as it's the fifth Sunday of the month, she has a fun tictactoe challenge for us to work with:

I am still in Christmas mode so went both down the first column with white/Christmas/diecuts and the diagonal white/stencilling/sparkle for my card today. My card features another of my new stencils, the Berries and Leaves stencils by Kristina Werner and Concord and 9th - take a look:

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

I decided today's card would feature mistletoe, with green foliage and white berries, with a festive red background. I inked the background first, then the foliage, adding ink with my blending brushes to my white cardstock. Once I'd done this, I decided the berries didn't stand out enough, so added Heat and Stick powder with Versamark and covered them in Dazzling Diamonds glitter - a little on the messy side, but the finished result is oh so sparkly!

A simple layered diecut sentiment, from the Big Type Greetings Dies also by Kristina Werner, complete my card. As I mentioned previously, these KW Dies are HUGE so they make it easy to create two cards in one sitting - here are both my finished cards:

I absolutely love these KW stencils - so festive! I'm also linking today's card up over at Just Us Girls where they are celebrating stencil week for their last challenge of the year (all being well I am hoping to have a second card to share with them before the close later this week) and at Color Dare where they are featuring a festive red and green colour combo.

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; the hubs has gone paddle boarding this morning (a bit too chilly for me!) so I am getting on with a few household tasks before I hopefully squeeze in a little crafty time and some last-minute online Black Friday shopping. I feel much less organised with my Christmas festive planning this year, so need to get cracking, since my diary is getting fuller and the big day is officially less than a month away! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£13.60)

BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)

REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a sketch challenge designed by Jan:

As a lover of layers, I thought this sketch would be right up my alley, but I must confess I struggled a bit this week! I wanted to play with my Online Exclusives Friendly Foliage bundle; take a look at what I came up with:

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

Friendly Foliage - I have had my Friendly Foliage bundle out on my desk, waiting for an opportunity to showcase the main foliage stamp, so decided I'd try it with this sketch. This is a stamp that doesn't disappoint: the image is crisp and clean and the dies in this set are just fabulous, with the die for this main stamp set cutting out both the outline and the internal pieces too, which makes it great for layering. There are some great sentiments in this stamp set too. 

Timeless Plaid - Designer paper was an obvious choice for all those layers, however finding something with three different patterns that coordinated but didn't take away from my stamped image was tricky. In the end I settled on the Timeless Plaid papers, using two contrasting plaids for the bottom layers and taking my colour cues from the multi-coloured plaid. It makes for a rather unusual colour combo - (retired) Wild Wheat, Calypso Coral and Cherry Cobbler, but I think it looks OK. I don't love it (that's probably because it includes Wild Wheat!) but it's OK. 

Let's Talk About The Sketch - So I was a little economical with the sketch when I made my card. I did use all of the layers, but the third layer (the circle on the sketch) is the solid Calypso Coral panel behind my stamped image, and my sentiment piece is a much smaller horizontal. This worked better for me and since sketches are open to interpretation, that's fine. You can see the detail of the layering in the close-up below:

What do you think of this card? I love the stamp set, but I'm note sure I've done the sketch justice. I think a trio of DSPs and an alternative focal point might have been a better option, but there we go. The trials of a cardmaker lol!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDLY FOLIAGE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£36.75)

TIMELESS PLAID 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Deborah has asked that we incorporate a wavy line with a sentiment:

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

For my card today I used a sheet of my most favourite paper in the Christmas Tags & More Mix & Match Specialty designer series paper pack, featuring a bough of festive Christmas greenery:

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

I fussy cut the outer edge of the bough and adhered the designer series paper to a Real Red card base to highlight the red of the berries. The only other addition to my card was one of the pre-diecut gold embossed sentiments from the Greetings For You pack:

Super simple - just snip, stick and done!

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 in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS TAGS & MORE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) MIX & MATCH SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

GREETINGS FOR YOU MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (£8.00)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

So many possibilities with this sketch! I chose to keep the basic layout and showcase one of my favourite festive designer series papers that I've been waiting for an opportunity to cut into - take a look:

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

There are two patterns in the Traditions of Christmas specialty paper that I absolutely love: the gold embossed red poinsettia sheet and this pattern, combining red poinsettias with Christmas roses and foliage. The gold embossing, and unusual colour combination incorporating Secret Sea and Pool Party into the mix, make for a stunning pattern that should be showcased in all its festive glory, so the three panels of Ann's sketch were perfect. A simple base and a diecut Words For The Season sentiment in gold foil, popped up using adhesive sheet were all that I needed to really allow it to shine:

I liked this card so much I made a whole bunch of them, adding some alternative sentiments - this one was using another of my Big Type Greetings Dies by Kristina Werner:

I like this version because you can see even more of that fabulous paper! I am linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at Just Add Ink where they are looking for stencils, dies or both on their cards this week - for me it's just dies today, but great word dies nevertheless!

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; I have been taking a break from the craft room re-occupation over the last few days as I have been enjoying the company of James Junior, who has been home from university for the weekend. We will be heading back for his last stint before Christmas this afternoon, with him fed, watered and a fully laundered and ironed wardrobe of clothing - can't be bad! I'll be back in a couple of days with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£16.00)

WORDS FOR THE SEASON DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today I have a second post for you as I was lucky enough to win recently over at Colour Hues (you can see my winning card here if you missed it) so I am thrilled to have been invited to be their guest designer for their latest challenge:

It's Nancy's turn to host and she has a gorgeous colour combo to work with:

Teal and silver - beautiful, right? With this colour combo, I had to create something for Christmas - so I grabbed the sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments for my layout and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I decided to go full-on shimmer and shine with today's card and chose retired Bermuda Bay as my teal colour. I pulled out both foil and glimmer paper in both teal and silver, and a little white glimmer paper too, then layered up a couple of Christmas baubles using the retired Delicate Baubles dies. I backed these with a piece of Oh So Ombre paper in Bermuda Bay overlaid with the Feels Like Frost silver and white pine-patterned paper. This card is just so full of sparkle:

I didn't need to add a sentiment as one of my baubles included one, so added a snowflake embellishment with some silver twine, more glimmer and sequins and a few coloured pearls to finish. I don't usually use colour as a starting point for a card, so this is always more of a challenge to me but I just LOVE the finished result so thank you Nancy for the colour inspiration!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

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

Our favourite holiday image! I decided my card had to feature something that we truly associate with Christmas time so I grabbed Verena's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and an old favourite and set to work. Take a look at my finished card:

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

There were a few iconic images I could have used on today's card, but the one person who we definitely associate with Christmas time is Santa Claus - or Father Christmas, as he's more commonly known here in the UK. I have a few retired stamp sets featuring jolly St. Nick, but I settled on the Signs of Santa bundle and the coordinating Santa's Workshop specialty designer series paper. I stamped my sentiment and added a border using candy cane striped paper and cropped a Santa reading someone's wish list direct from the paper using the Santa's Signpost Framelits Dies:

I added a little shading beneath his feet to ground him and tied my card with some white baker's twine for a little extra detail, but then left it at that. The nice thing about this paper is that the white stripes of the candy cane pattern, and the brim and pompom of santa's hat are flocked with white velvet paper - difficult to see from the photos, but this adds a nice subtle touch of texture to an otherwise super clean and simple card. 

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

Enjoy your day; I'll be back later with another project for you - yes, this is a bumper Two Post Sunday! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal speed challenge chosen by Heather H:

My options were somewhat limited with only one apple in my arsenal of current stamps. So I grabbed that little apple from the 'Choose Happy' stamp set and some Stampin' Blends, set my stopwatch and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I needed to keep my design simple from today's card, especially as I had an image that required colouring, so the first thing I did was cut my panel, card base and stamp my sentiment (from the retired 'Biggest Wish' set). I then randomly stamped my white panel with apples, and used just three markers to colour them - no time for shading or blending on this card! I approached my colouring differently for this card, given that I was against the clock: once I'd coloured all of the partial apples that went over the edge, I adhered my panel to the base before I coloured in the remaining apples. Why? This meant I could quickly colour my apples, leaving the ones that were in the bottom right hand corner until last.

I decided if I was running close to the wire, I would forgo colouring any that would sit beneath my sentiment label to save time. As it was, I managed to colour in all my apples with no time to spare - yes, I used my full 10 minutes today! Are they perfectly coloured? Well, with more time I would do better, but they are ok for a speed stamping card, 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• 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 off to the hairdressers for some TLC but I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PECAN PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

I'm late, I'm late - for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I inadvertently made my card for the next challenge, as opposed to the this challenge, when I was working ahead and then because of Operation Craft Room I could not find the co-ordinating bits and pieces to make a card! It's taken me a few days, but I got there eventually! Deborah is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I used Kim's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches last week for my inspiration, and went with a simple embossed wreath - take a look:

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

I used the retired Seasonal Wreath Embossing Folder to partially emboss a wreath onto my white card base, then added a trio of stamped green holly leaves (courtesy of the retired stamp set 'Merriest Wishes') and cluster of Real Red sparkling faceted enamel dots as berries. I added some super-thin gold thread for a simple bow detail and a diecut sentiment from the Greetings For All Ephemera pack:

Super simple - when you can lay your hands on everything you need, obviously!

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:

GREETINGS FOR YOU MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (£8.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)