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

My card is all about the winter blues today - perfect for the Double D challenge (thanks for the heads up on this one LeAnne!) I really liked LeAnne's sketch layout this week and decided to use those panels to highlight one of the photographic images in the Feels Like Frost designer series paper pack - take a look:

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

I chose a lovely image of frosty seed heads against a blue background and cut out the panels using my Rectangle Stitched Dies before piecing back together to create the finished layout:

I brushed the frosty elements with my clear Wink of Stella brush which is difficult to see in the photo but give it a lovely subtle sparkle in real life. I added a sentiment from 'Snowflake Wishes' and a mat border of silver glimmer paper and finished off the inside with a sentiment from the same set:

The most tricky part of today's card was cutting the stitched rectangles and aligning them to the image. Otherwise, a pretty straightforward card!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

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

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

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

Enjoy your day; today is officially 'Stir up Sunday', an old tradition when home cooks spend the last Sunday before advent 'stirring up' their Christmas pudding and in modern times their Christmas cake and homemade mincemeat too.  The day gets its name from the beginning of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people". We had a day of preparation yesterday and made a batch of mincemeat and some mince pies; today we are making Christmas puddings and cake - yum! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FEELS LIKE FROST 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)

RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)

SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£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 an interesting 'fill in the blank' challenge:

I'll confess I found this a big challenge! There aren't many colours I actively avoid using, although there are definitely some I use far less than others! Orange only features during pumpkin season (or for snowman carrot noses!) but a review of my back catalogue showed me there was another colour that I rarely use - and it might surprise you! I don't often use colour as a starting point on a project either - so making one languishing at the bottom of the pile and making it the focus of my card was a real challenge! I still had a helping hand, in the form of the current Fusion sketch and this week's hot drink theme over at Global Design Project to create my card - take a look:

So did you spot it? Yes, it's Rich Razzleberry! I love purple and often feature it in my creations, however this particular purple is not a favourite for me. But I went for it! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Plaid Tidings - I knew that Rich Razzleberry was one of the colours that featured in the Plaid Tidings designer paper (and that I had all of this particular pattern left!), so I decided I would do something that featured this paper as a starting point. I decided to wrap a purple coffee cup and pair the card base with a mat layer in Mango Melody, one of the other colours that feature in the plaid pattern and do all my stamping in Rich Razzleberry too.

Go Large - In order to fit the proportions of the sketch, I needed to 'go large' with my takeaway coffee. With the coffee cup in the 'Press on' stamp set, this is actually really easy to do: take your black Stampin' Write marker and extend the sides and add another horizontal line for the base. Simple!

Added Texture - I added a little extra texture to my cup by adding a textured coffee collar and a couple of wooden elements, for some added detail since the whole thing has a kind-of autumn feel I think:

So what do you think? I like the end result, but I don't love it. When my discerning teenager saw the finished result, she declared that whilst she loved both colours separately, she did not care to see them used together! Perhaps I should have gone monochrome ...

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 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 Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

Enjoy your day. I for one is glad it's Friday and I'm looking forward to a slightly quieter evening than I've had for the rest of this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PRESS ON CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
IN GOOD TASTE ELEMENTS (£6.00)	WRAPPED IN TEXTURE EMBOSSING FOLDERS (£7.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Thursday already - where does the week go?! Today I'm sharing a card that I meant to blog yesterday, but simply ran out of time! It uses this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and the current Colour Inkspiration colour palette:

Firstly, I would like to say an big 'thank you' to the CAS(E) This Sketch team for choosing my entry last week as their winner - always an honour as the competition is stiff, with so many notable entries! If you missed it, you can see that card here. Now onto my card for this week! I thought long and hard about this sketch, especially because I couldn't come up with a design solely with words that I liked. I did come up with one non-Christmas idea that I am still playing around with, but as my challenge entry I decided to settle on creating the overall shape and mix some images in with my sentiments - after all, a sketch is for inspiration as a starting point, right? Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used the various festive owls in the 'Have A Hoot' stamp set and created my pyramid of owls and sentiments to follow the sketch layout. I used my Stamparatus to help with positioning and stamped the whole thing onto my card (minus the mistletoe above the pair) and then stamped the owls again and diecut them, so that I could pop them up on dimensionals. This was largely because my card is otherwise one layer, and I didn't want my Blends to bleed through to the reverse. I added a few snowflake sequins, and my card was complete - a #simplestamping Christmas card, save for the diecutting of the owls!

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:

HAVE A HOOT BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	STAMP SET CLING HAVE A HOOT (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)
GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	JUST JADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SOFT SUEDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at CASology where I haven't played in a while that also uses the sketch over at Paper Craft Crew:

  I loved the sketch over at PCC this week and knew it would be perfect for me to use up some fun reindeer paper clips that I had lurking in my embellishment drawer - take a look:

Cute, right?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

I loved these little reindeer clips when they came out a few years ago and must confess to having hoarded a few containers of them when they retired. The sketch was just perfect to add one to a square of Soft Suede and embellish with some gold twine, a strip of brushed metallic cardstock and some gold gilded gems - oh and an 'All The Trimmings' red enamel dot to make my stag a Rudolf ;-) I paired it with a simple block 'MERRY' sentiment from the super-useful 'Peace and Joy' stamp set for for an additional pop of festive colour:

I added some simple stamping to the inside using other words from the same stamp set: 

And I was done! Quite simple really but I think the reindeer paper clip makes a fun focal point in and of itself.

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.

When I'd finished my card, I liked it so much I made a couple more - I also used glitter enamel dots on one of them:

I'm now building my Christmas card stash at a pace - hoping to get them all in the post nice and early this year for a change, I figure we could all do with a little early festive cheer!

Enjoy the rest of your day; I'm off to watch the Great British Bake Off semi-final tonight, so looking forward to drooling over their makes and bakes, especially as it's patisserie week! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	ALL THE TRIMMINGS EMBELLISHMENTS (£7.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	SOFT SUEDE CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	PEACE & JOY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	BRUSHED METALLIC CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a couple of cards for you - hence my somewhat random blog title! The first for the current colour challenge over at Color Throwdown, using the sketch over at TGIF Challenges and with a stamp and embossed background that also fits the bill over at Christmas Kickstart who are partnering with a new-to-me challenge Squash It this time around:

That is a fairly hefty set of linkups, but when you look at my card it's super easy to see how each and every one inspired my project - take a look:

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

Snowman Season - When I saw those Color Throwdown colours, I immediately thought 'snowman' and was delighted that they gave me an excuse to break out one of my much-loved stamp sets from last year, 'Snowman Season'. This set was carried over into the annual catalogue, but hasn't seen any love from me yet this season, with so many new stamp sets taking precedence! Today's card rectifies that though - how adorable is this chap, heat embossed in silver and carefully coloured with Pool Party and Poppy Parade Blends? 

Oval Centrepiece - The sketch over at #TGIFC290 was just perfect to showcase my snowman and it also encouraged me to use another shape I don't naturally gravitate towards - ovals! I went with a stitched oval to frame my snowman and added a Poppy Parade scallop-edged oval background mat, to allow it to pop against the Pool Party embossed background. 

Winter Snow - Lastly, to the embossed background! I ran my Pool Party layer through Stampin' Up!'s Winter Snow embossing folder to create a pretty background of delicately embossed snowflakes, which I felt complimented my snowman perfectly. Check out the detail on the angled shot below:

I love that something old can pair so well with something new - it's almost as if they were meant for each other!

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. 

And for my second card today I am playing along with this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge and the photo inspiration over at Just Add Ink:

Karren's FMS sketch is a real go-to for me (if you search my blog you'll see lots of cards with this layout) so I thought I would challenge myself to rotate the sketch and work with it in the horizontal orientation and, inspired by those brightly coloured trees in the JAI photo, I created an unconventionally coloured Christmas card, again pairing something old with something new - take a look:

Here's the lowdown on this card:

Pine Tree Punch - I decided to use my Pine Tree Punch to create some bold block-colour Christmas trees, and went with a layered white background to allow the colours to really pop. I used a single (retired) enamel star in an alternating colour to top each one.

Plaid Tidings - In the absence of any dotty paper like the background trees in the inspiration photo, I decided to take inspiration for my bright colour combination from the trio of colours featured in my chosen design of Plaid Tidings designer series paper: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Seaside Spray. I love that this paper pack contains some unusual plaid colours and whilst unconventional, I like the effect of these colourful trees.

Banner Year Sentiments - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Banner Year' sentiment set, embellished with a silver-painted (retired) wooden star from my stash, and finishes inside my card as follows:

I really like the way this card turned out - unconventional colours on Christmas cards really change things up and I'm pleased I managed to stretch my use of this great layout 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. 

That's me done for today! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - Card 1:

SNOWMAN SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	LAYERING OVALS DIES (£33.00)	WINTER SNOW EMBOSSING FOLDER (£7.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - Card 2:

PINE TREE PUNCH (£17.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MELON MAMBO CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

A lockdown weekend with pouring rain gave me extra crafting time today so I thought I'd squeeze in a second post with a thanksgiving card that I made for a friend of mine, that was inspired by a number of challenges:

I used Julee's fabulous-as-always Mojo Monday sketch and the Card Concept inspiration photo with its rich oranges and browns and pumpkins galore inspired me to use the gold-embossed pumpkin paper from the Gilded Autumn paper pack for my clean and layered card. I decided to pair it with one of my favourite sentiments from 'Country Home' for a Cajun Craze monochromatic card - take a look:

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

My Gilded Autumn embossed paper was the starting point for today's card. I just love it! I added a stitched gold foil border and a layered pumpkin, made from one of my retired Patterned Pumpkin Dies and then with the pumpkin coloured with Cajun Craze Blends and splattered with gold shimmer paint, before adding some die cut leaves and vines:

I finished my sentiment banner with a double bow of Cajun Craze metallic ribbon and gold twine for some extra shine. So what do you think? I don't use Cajun Craze that often and there's a lot of it on this card, but I think the gold really takes things up a notch and compliments it beautifully. This almost feels like a Cinderella-esque rags to riches card, metaphorically speaking! I'm also linking this card up over at SUO Challenges where the theme is thanksgiving.

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:

GILDED AUTUMN SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	COUNTRY HOME PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	BASKET WEAVE & METALLIC RIBBON COMBO PACK (£7.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

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

Our theme this week is 'Hooray For The Holidays'. With Christmas just around the corner I decided to go with another card to add to my growing pile, but you could choose Thanksgiving or any holiday you like - as long as your card is clean and simple.  So what do we mean by Clean and Simple?

I decided to use the Sounds of the Season jingle bells again on my card this week, this week changing from silver to gold and pairing with red for the challenge over at Less Is More. I also used the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches which gave me the perfect opportunity to use a die from the Dove of Hope Dies that I haven't been able to find a good use for until now - take a look:

 The die was just perfect to create a couple of lengths of holes to show the gold foil below, to compliment my diecut bells and gold heat embossed sentiment. You can see the detail a little better on the angled shot below - the weather has been so poor here in the UK that I've struggled to photograph the foil without artificial light, which is never as clear as daylight:

 

 

 

A quick clean and simple check:

• Minimal layers and embellishments with one main focal point - yes
• Lots of open 'white' (or in my case red!) space - yes
• Simple and uncluttered - yes

I'd call that a result! 

 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

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

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

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

Enjoy your day; my day will definitely be spent indoors today, so I'm thinking cooking, crafting and a movie could be the order of the day! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON DIES (£20.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	RED & GREEN FOIL SHEETS (£9.25)	DETAILED DOVE DIES (£31.00)	POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

A busy couple of days but 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 Ashwini is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I decided to go down the centre column with blue, holiday and sparkle/shine and am sharing a clean and layered snowflake card with you today - take a look:

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

True Blue - The main blue that I chose to feature on my card today is Pacific Point - one of the first three ink pads I ever purchased when I started stamping (along with Real Red and Old Olive, in case you're interested!) and whilst, like my other initial purchases, this is a colour that is still going strong, it's also one I don't use as frequently in my general crafting. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I saw it feature as one of the colours in the Snowflake Splendor patterned paper - I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to give it some love!

Snowflake Splendor - There are so many beautiful patterns in the Snowflake Splendor papers it's difficult to choose just two, but choose I did! I went with a couple of complimentary patterns, both of which feature Pacific Point, to bring out the bold blue colour. I used white mats on my project, which is something I don't often do but is a great way to showcase a stronger colour such as Pacific Point. 

Glimmer and Sparkle - Pacific Point is not the only blue that I showcase on today's card though; the Balmy Blue glimmer paper is so full of sparkle I couldn't resist adding some to my festive snowflake showcase and I think it compliments the other elements beautifully. I also added a sprinkling of sequins for a little more shimmer; along with my sparkle-filled sentiment I think this card is perfect for the current Time Out challenge too, where the challenge word is 'festivals' with the option of added shimmer/glitter - yes please!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BALMY BLUE GLIMMER PAPER (£4.75)	SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)

So here it is - the card that I actually intended to blog today! This card was inspired by a number of challenges: the colours over at CAS Colours and Sketches, along with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout. It's also a great example of #SimpleStamping as it uses nothing more than stamps ink and paper which also just happens to be the theme of the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week:

What's more, this card is a sneak peek of a brand new Stampin' Up! stamp set that will debut in the 2021 Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue - take a look:

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

For those of you that follow me on social media, you will know that I attended the bi-annual Stampin' Up! Onstage event this past weekend, which because of Covid, was held virtually online, with some of my team #OnstageAtHome2020. We had a great time and as always it was still exciting to get a first view of the new catalogue and play with some of the new products. I received a new stamp set called 'Enjoy The Moment' in my Onstage swag bag and whilst I don't usually blog cards with new sets this far in advance of catalogue launch (I don't like to be too much of a tease!) I really like this stamp set and I thought it was perfect for the above challenges. I simply watercoloured 4 ovals using the challenge colours onto some Fluid 100 watercolour paper and then using my Stamparatus, I stamped four of the seed pods over the top of each one, stamping a few times to get them nice and black. I stamped my sentiment in black onto a strip of Bumblebee cardstock and added it to my card with dimensionals to finish. A great example of #SimpleStamping - sometimes stamps, ink and paper is all you need!

So what do you think? Have I wet your appetite for the new catalogue?! There are still a couple of months before it launches, so rest assured won't be tempting you too much at this stage. The only way you can get it sooner is to join my team - do get in touch if you really can't wait! Either way, I will be firmly back to Christmas cards tomorrow!

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:

BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	JET BLACK STAZON PAD (£9.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I had a fun card class this morning and encouraged by the ladies on my call (thank you Deborah!), instead of getting on with my household chores this afternoon, whilst the edited recording of my class video was rendering I decided to make a 'quick' card which has resulted in an extra post for today because I used the current Freshly Made Sketches layout so I'm squeezing in a link up:

I'd been mulling over what to feature on Judy's banner element and finally settled on some of the gorgeous Plush Poinsettia specialty paper - take a look:

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

This card wouldn't take long at all if I was to make it again from scratch, but I spent ages procrastinating over colours and backgrounds so it ended up taking way longer than it should have! It really is pretty straightforward: a banner of the lovely textured flocked white vellum, popped up on a panel of Real Red and a Whisper White card base, with a white-on-red heat-embossed sentiment from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set on some stitched rectangles, with a final embellishment of some sheer ribbon tied with two tiny (retired) jingle bells from my stash because I felt without it my card, whilst beautifully 'clean', was lacking a little something. 

Here's another view of that gorgeous paper, even though I'm not sure the camera really does it justice:

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 shortly with the post that I actually intended for today! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLUSH POINSETTIA SPECIALTY PAPER (£10.25)	REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)