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

With Thanksgiving just around the corner for our friends in the US, LeAnne's challenge is a timely one. It's always nice to send thank you cards to show our appreciation - I probably send more of this kind of card than any other. I decided that I wanted my card today to be in the spirit of Thanksgiving - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Not Pumpkin Pie - I still had 'pie' on my mind following my musings in relation to the 'harvest' prompt of Friday's card, so decided since pie is a big feature of the Thanksgiving feast (or so I am led to believe as a non native American) I dug out an old retired set called 'Sweets & Treats' for this sweet little pie image. Except I don't think this could be considered a pumpkin pie, as it has a pastry lid - and my research suggests that pumpkin pie is open-topped, more like a UK 'tart' - feel free to weigh in, American readers! So instead I decided that I would make my pie a cherry pie, cooked in my faithful Cornishware blue pie dish, with a cherry-coloured rosy hue behind:

Cherry pies have long been a feature in the James household at this time of year thanks to a dear long-time customer friend of mine who has generously shared her bounty over the years. She has now moved away to the coast, so I shall be sending this card to her as a thank you for the harvests of times gone by (thank you Gill!)

Follow The Leader - My super simple card today is inspired by Karen's card over at AAA Cards, where we are playing 'follow the leader' and invited to CASE Karen's card. I retained the CAS layout, with a single base layer and focal stamped image popped up on dimensionals, with a blend of colour behind, coupled with a punny sentiment. I'm also linking this card up over at Time Out Challenges where they are celebrating autumn festivities around the world - Thanksgiving is mine.

A Festive 'Take Two' - I liked this simple card so much, I decided to make another one to add to my Christmas stash and celebrate another festivity with another of the stamps in the 'Sweet & Treats' set: a Christmas pudding. Here's my second card:

I stuck to exactly the same design principles, but switched out the image and sentiment to feature this most delicious of Christmas treats. This stamp has a little more detail so allows for a little more colour to be incorporated - check out the jewelled candied peel and glace cherries in the mix:

I LOVE Christmas pudding (without white sauce though) and for me is a highlight of the festive season, but I think it is a peculiarly British tradition that is perhaps not shared with our overseas friends. I once visited some American friends shortly before Christmas and took one with me as a gift for them to try. Let's just say they much preferred the Terry's Chocolate Oranges I'd taken too!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference (the Blends colours are in the table below):

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; thank you for listening to my musings over all things pudding and pie! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (£10.25)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	TIMID TIGER STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

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

This is a great sketch for easy cards, with the opportunity to use up scraps for those banners and choose a single focal point. It's also great for quick cards - and since both of today's cards can be made in less than 30 minutes, perfect for the challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week! I used a circle in the sketch, but your focal point can be any shape you like. I was playing with my Christmas Tags and More papers and found the perfect focal point - take a look:

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

Christmas Tags & More - The Christmas Tags and More papers are full of pretty festive patterns, including a number of sheets featuring a variety of diecuts. I chose one featuring a wreath as my focal point; I added some peppermint embellishments and a gold twine bow for a little added festive detail:

I paired my wreath with a couple of banners in Garden Green and a banner from the paper pack, a trio of gold metallic gems and a pre-diecut sentiment from the Greetings For You. Easy!

Take Two - With all of the bits and pieces out on the desk, I made a second card using the same layout and other elements in the pack:

This one features a couple of trees, one a diecut and the other fussy cut from the DSP, to which I added a couple of silver foil punched stars, along with some clear rhinestones and a retired sentiment.

I much prefer the red wreath card, but the bits and pieces in this paper pack make for endless combinations using this simple sketch layout. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else interprets my sketch in the gallery this week!

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

You can see all of my 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'll be making the most of our extra hour in bed today as the clocks go back and enjoying an early Sunday lunch before returning Junior James back to university after a weekend at home, complete with clean laundry and extra food supplies - what a life! I'll be back tomorrow 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)	ADHESIVE-BACKED METALLIC GEMS (£8.50)	REAL RED & WHITE ADHESIVE-BACKED PEPPERMINTS (£8.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SILVER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

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

Clean and simple foliage - perfect for this time of year. Today I have a sneak peek for you of a new set that will be released with the November drop of Online Exclusives products - take a look:

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

Those pretty little foliage dies are part of a larger set called Friendly Foliage that consists of both a stamp set and dies. I had intended to use the main stamp and die in this set, which is perfect for a clean and simple card, however when I saw the inspiration photo over at Inspired By this week, I thought I'd have a go at creating some little panels inspired by those in the photo - can you tell which ones I chose? I followed the sketch too, using 5 diecut swirly rectangles in Basic Beige as my base (cut with the retired Beautiful Shapes Dies), masking each one and adding ink with a blending brush where required. I then added my diecut foliage, having paper-pieced in the sections in a variety of different colours:

I'm not going to lie, for a clean and simple card this did take quite a while to create due to all of the diecutting and piecing involved, but I'm very pleased with the result! A thankful sentiment (from the retired 'Good Greetings' stamp set) in Night of Navy completes my card - and also means I am linking up with the team over at Addicted To CAS where their new codeword is 'thankful'. The Friendly Foliage stamp set and dies make for beautiful and simple designs and you can be sure you will be seeing more if them in the coming weeks.

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. 

This card is headed to one of the lovely ladies that took advantage of this month's great joining offer to welcome her as a member of my Stampin' Up! team - I am thankful for her and all the other lovely ladies that have chosen to share their Stampin' up! journeys with me. A reminder that you still have a couple more weeks to take advantage of this offer - click here for a reminder of the offer details here or here if you're ready to enjoy all of the benefits that joining Stampin' Up! has to offer.

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 spent much of my day yesterday in the garden, preparing it for winter, so I'm hoping today once I've finished my ironing that I can squeeze in a little crafty time too! I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

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

Whilst these colours are great for Halloween, I don't have much call for Halloween cards so I decided to tone down the green and pair them with Judy's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and make a feature of some purple flowers - perfect for the current theme over at The Flower Challenge too. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Perennial Lavender - I decided that not only should the flowers on my card today be purple coloured, but they should actually be a purple flower - so I went with one of my favourites, lavender. The Perennial Lavender papers were perfect for the coordinated sections of the card's background - the real challenge was to decide which ones to feature. I decided on a floral pattern combined with the mottled purple to really emphasise the colour.

Painted Lavender - I added some sprigs of greenery along with some (retired) diecut lavender stems to decorate my sentiment circle, that I sponged with a variety of inks to add a little texture to them and tied them with a double linen thread bow:

The Right Words - I finished my card with a sentiment from 'The Right Words' - a great set for sentiments inside and out and a trio of sparkly gems. 

Purple is one off my favourite colours and I love the purple and green combo of this week's challenge.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

THE RIGHT WORDS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	PERENNIAL LAVENDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	PURPLE FINE SHIMMER GEMS (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

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

Halloween costumes - hmmm. This week's challenge really was just that; I don't have any current stamp sets or retired ones featuring Halloween costumes, so it was time to get creative! I took my inspiration from the photo in the middle of the top row on our challenge badge this week - a dog dressed as a ghost and grabbed the 'Long Time No See' stamp set to see if I could create something similar. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used both the llama and the sausage dog (reverse stamping one so that he faced in the opposite direction) and decided to use their striped clothes to dress each animal in his own Halloween costume. Can you guess what they all are? I added a hat and spectacles and with the red and white sweater, the llama is dressed as Wally/Waldo of 'Where's Wally?' fame. The sausage dogs are a bumble bee (complete with deely bopper antennae although missing his wings - a post photo oversight) and a bank robber (complete with eye mask) respectively. I showed each of them peeking through the diecut letters of the word BOO! and added some stamped images from the retired 'Spooky Fun' stamp set to add to the Halloween feel. Aren't these two cute?

So what do you think? Did I manage to mee the challenge brief this week? I'm looking forward to seeing what you make for our gallery this week.

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

You can see all of my 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; yesterday was the DH's birthday and we travelled across country to visit the James Junior and take him out for lunch, which was fun. Today we are out Nordic walking; we were supposed to be paddle boarding to the Burrito Boat restaurant again, but Storm Amy put paid to that! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	LONG TIME NO SEE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PECAN PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£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 Stef to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

This is such a great sketch with so many creative options! Go simple, go layered and use any shape you like as a central focal point. I stuck with the circle, but decided to go big on the layering and create with some pretty florals that I had yet to break out of the packaging - time to put paid to that so take a look at what I came up with:

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

Floral Charm - Today's card is all about the Floral Charm Suite, one of the Online Exclusive Suites available in the online store. The beautiful Floral Charm designer series paper is full of bright colours and fabulous watercolour-style floral patterns and I chose the pink and brown patterned piece as the inspiration and basis for the colour scheme for my card. I don't usually feature a whole sheet with such a bold pattern as a background, but I decided today was a 'more is more' card and went with it!

Charming Day - I used a diecut circle for the central shape, stamped with a simple sentiment from the 'Charming Day' bundle from the suite, then added a combination of diecut leaves and a stamped and diecut floral accent that I coloured with my Stampin' Blends. I stamped my image in Early Espresso onto Basic Beige cardstock before colouring; this did cause the colours to bleed more than they would have if I'd stamped onto Basic White, however I wanted my image to be more in keeping with the DSP and to have a more vintage feel, so I didn't mind so much. You can see what I mean when you look at the close up below:

I even added a rather showy Crumb Cake ribbon bow, which I'm sure I'll regret when it comes to posting this card but I felt like it didn't look as out of place as it usually would on my card, so I'm sure I'll work something out!

Finishing Touches - I stamped a single flower on the flap of the envelope and the same floral cluster inside to complete my card; I don't always make time for these details, but I think these finishing touches ae what sometimes set a hand finished card apart, don't you?

I made this card for someone I haven't seen in a while who I know will appreciate the extra detail, so I can't wait to pop it in the post and hopefully brighten her day!

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 has turned decidedly cold and grey here in the UK these last few days, so today I am going to make a fruit crumble - a sure sign that autumn has made itself known! The only question is whether to fill it with rhubarb or apples, both of which have been harvested this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLORAL CHARM 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	CHARMING DAY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BERRY BURST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PETUNIA POP STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my crafty friend Jan to host this week and she has an interesting clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Watercolouring - hmm, not something I do often for sure. I deliberated over how to feature this technique on my card this week and ultimately took my inspiration from Michele's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and those orange and yellow leaves against the grey of the Just Us Girls mood board this week - take a look:

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

Something Old - That cascade of circles on the FMS sketch this week reminded me of the now retired Leaf Fall 3D embossing folder so I decided that I cascade of embossed leaves would be the starting point for today's card. I embossed my folder onto a piece of watercoloured cardstock ready for the next stage. 

Watercoloured Leaves - I used my aquapainter to pick up a variety of oranges, along with a little yellow and brown (I squeezed a little ink into the ink pad lid) and used my aquapainter to watercolour the embossed leaves. Once my leaves dried, I added a light wash of Grey Granite ink around them.

Something New - I added an autumn sentiment diecut with my new Words For The Season Dies, popped up on foam and cut from Grey Granite cardstock to pick up the greys of the JUGS inspiration picture. I also added a few punched leaves for a little extra texture:

I'm not sure my watercolouring is going to win any awards on close inspection, but I do love the effect of the coloured cascading leaves and that diecut sentiment is going to get lots of use for sure in the coming months.

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 am paddleboarding today and aiming to make the most of the weather before it gets too cold. We are going to paddle to a restuarant boat on the river for lunch, so that should be fun! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WORDS FOR THE SEASON DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)	WATER PAINTERS (£13.00)	GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GRAY GRANITE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	TIMID TIGER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
DARLING DUCKLING CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PEACH PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.50)	FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.75)

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

Ann's trio of chosen colours is so fresh and pretty; they pulled me right back to spring/summer and some pastel florals, using this week's TGIF Challenges sketch for my layout - take a look:

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

I diecut a trio of flowers using the Delightful Wishes Dies and used one of my favourite tricks to create a variation of shades by colouring the cardstock with my Stampin' Blends markers. You could of course use two-tone cardstock for a quicker result, but by using markers you can get 3 different shades. I layered my flowers onto a trio of squares cut with my Stylish Shapes Dies: two squares were cut from Thoughtful Journey DSP (which I also used for the matting layer) and the central one which I stamped onto Lost Lagoon cardstock with one of the Elements of Text stamps for a tone-on-tone effect. There is a ton of detail in this small section of the card:

A simple sentiment from the same set and a tiny bee trinket complete my card.

I actually have a second card to share today too; these colours reminded me of some pretty floral paper I had in my retired stash that I thought I could use up in a quick card using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge layout this week:

Patchwork strip layouts like this are so great for using up scraps. The floral paper features Lost Lagoon and the retired colours Pistachio Pudding and So Saffron, so I grabbed some co-ordinating papers and made this fun 'use it up' card:

 I just added lots of 2cm strips to a panel of cardstock, then trimmed to fit my cardbase, adding a banner greeting from 'Impressions Abloom' and embellished with a couple of enamel dots and a linen bow:

Pretty, right? Super quick and I used up more of my retired papers, so win-win!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES DIES (ENGLISH) (£33.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	THOUGHTFUL JOURNEY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (£8.50)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SOFT SEA FOAM STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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 a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

Food and drink - I sense that the gallery is going to have us drooling this week! I don't have much in the way of food-related supplies currently - so I headed to one of my favourites, the Celebratory Sips designer series paper with my paper snips for some fussy cutting! This is what I came up with:

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

Today's card was all about that designer paper - and those refreshing looking drinks! I fussy cut a whole bunch of full size glasses and layered them onto my card. I had to go slimline, to fit them all in! Some simple layering with one of the glass patterns in the pack providing some border detail and a diecut sentiment courtesy of my retired Cheers Die:

A scattering of sparkly gems completed the front of my card. I couldn't resist adding a few extra offcuts to the inside for a little extra decoration too: 

That's all there is to it!

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

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

We have two reasons to celebrate today: the lovely Christy Stanford has agreed to join our design team at the Paper Players on a permanent basis. She has successfully guested with us a few years ago and we are delighted that she is now back for good! Do check out her blog, along with the other DT cards - we all appreciate some comment love! The second reason to celebrate today? Well, it's my birthday (cue "happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me ...") I know - any excuse for cake, right?!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CELEBRATORY SIPS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month I have a tic-tac-toe challenge for us to work with:

I made a board filled with the things I love to craft with, so there are plenty of creative combinations to choose from! I chose the middle column of flowers/free/word die and decided to make a colourful rainbow slimline card - take a look:

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

Floral Impressions - Whilst I've used both the stamps and dies from the Online Exclusives Impressions Abloom on previous projects, I had not yet been brave enough to cut into my Floral Impressions paper. As a DSP lover I had considered it several times, but it was just too pretty! In the end, I decided too pretty not to use so chose my favourite sheet, showcasing a rainbow of flowers, and got my paper trimmer ready! I may or may not have already purchased a second pack of this paper this month, as it's one of the ones that has 15% off during this month's in-color sale. Today is the last day when you are able to take advantage of the in-color sale promotion, so if you need a second pack of this paper too, or any of the other in-color products included in the promotion, here's your reminder to click on the link below and place your order!

CASE The Catalogue - The eagle-eyed amongst you might feel like there's something familiar about today's card - and you may well be right. Today's card is a CASE of one on page 41 of the current Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. To CASE - Copy And Share Everything - is a great way to take a project and use it to inspire something completely different, but where you can still see the source of the inspiration. An unwritten rule is that you should change at least 3 things for your card to be considered original and distinct from the project you are CASEing. So in my CASE, I retained the slimline layout, but I changed out my strips for a rainbow of flowers in a different paper pattern. I changed the stamped banner sentiment for one based around the Sweet Blooms 'Bloom' layered diecut (one of my favourites and the perfect encouraging sentiment to play over at Time Out this week) and whilst I retained the cluster of accent flowers, I incorporated more texture and detail (more on that below). If you compare the projects side by side, it's easy to see how the first card inspired the second one, even though my card today is my original work. 

Try Something New - In CASEing the card in the catalogue, it did cause me to try something new on today's card. The flower accent on the sample consisted of a mix of diecut florals and a flower fussy cut from the Florals In Bloom designer paper. Whilst I ordinarily wouldn't mix in this way, I decided to give it a go and in the end made an accent from a variety of diecuts and florals cut from another of the papers in the Floral Impressions pack, but also added in some large golden yellow enamel dots and a fuzzy flower middle from my stash that I thought worked well, having first coloured the edges of it with my Early Espresso marker pen to tone in with the diecut florals. It's difficult to pick up the detail in the main photograph, especially as the background strips are so busy - the close up below shows a little more of the detail:

This adds more texture and dimension and whilst this is something of a departure for me, I really like the effect - and I wouldn't have tried it if the catalogue sample hadn't inspired me to give it a go. What do you think? Do you ever CASE projects in this way? Leave me a comment below - I'd love to know where you find your inspiration.

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; we are hoping for sunshine here to round off this weekend's second cricket game, but I'm note sure we will be in luck. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLORAL IMPRESSIONS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.99)

SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)

IMPRESSIONS ABLOOM DIES (£32.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)