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)

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

I'm also linking up over at Festive Friday where I chose embossing, diecut and sentiment from the inspo list and decided to use our colour palette this week to create an unusually coloured Christmas card - take a look:

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

I was rather time-pressed this week, with class prep, in-colour club and I've been attending Stampin' Up!'s Onstage at Home virtual event, so I needed something I could pull together fairly quickly! I thought that the little seal from 'Freezin' Friends' would be perfect in grey, with a stripey pink bobble hat; I sat him on a little slippery patch of ice (hence the sentiment!) which I diecut from cardstock and layered with vellum brushed with clear Wink of Stella for a sparkly shine. The unconventional element to my card was the Flirty Flamingo card that I used for my card base, which I embossed with the Evergreen Forest Embossing Folder and added a sprinkling of adhesive-backed sequins with a pinkish hue to compliment my wintery scene:

So what do you think - does the pink tree background work for you? A little girly maybe, but I love 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 '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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FREEZIN' FUN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	EVERGREEN FOREST 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKEY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	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 my favourite, a sketch challenge:

For my card today I paired an old favourite with some new Christmas papers - a look:

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

Beautiful Boughs - The Beautiful Boughs Dies are in the annual catalogue as a carryover from the last Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and whilst I don't have the bundled stamp set (hence choosing a greeting from 'Itty Bitty Christmas' for today's card, that most useful of Christmas sentiment sets!) I do love the dies; their beautiful layered detail is great to add bold festive greenery to a project.

Pine Cone Poinsettias - The starting point for today's card was most definitely the designer series paper (no surprises there then!) I decided to use one of the papers that is on offer as part of this month's designer series paper sale (you can read all about that here) so I chose the Poinsettia Place paper pack and a pattern that I haven't yet used featuring pine cones, hence the fit with the Beautiful Boughs dies.

A Slight Confession - Whilst the layout of today's sketch is clearly visible on my card, I chose not to follow the suggested sentiment placement, instead making mine a feature of the circle. This is in part because I was originally going to use an alternative paper and use a diecut flower as the focal point, but in the end changed my mind at the last minute as I wanted to play with a new paper design. Either way, the sketch is a suggestion and does not have to be followed to the absolute letter; as long as the broad elements are visible, artistic licence is welcome!

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.

Both of the James Juniors are now officially on half-term for a week; I've spent the last few days enjoying some quality mother-daughter time with Rebecca as Ben was still at school, and tidying up some odds and ends, hence my lack of blog posts. They are both having a 'lazy day' today though so once I've battled my way slowly through the ironing pile, I am hoping to make a card or too later :-) Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL BOUGHS DIES (£33.00)	POINSETTIA PLACE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SUEDE CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON GEMS (£6.00)
SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR 1/4" (6.4 MM) RIBBON (£6.50)

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

I've been so short on time this week that a speed challenge was just what I needed! I grabbed some supplies in this week's Color Throwdown colours (what can I say - they chose my favourite - purple!) along with my 'Positive Thoughts' stamp set and this is what I came up with:

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

Positive Thoughts - Hmm, butterflies! I don't use them all that often but I have so many stamps and dies that feature them! I decided to go with 'Positive Thoughts', because I was persuaded to buy it having seen the wonderful makes of my As You See It teamie and Artisan friend, the lovely Jan Clothier, and yet I haven't used if much at all, but this is a great set for both simple and speedy stamping - with or without the co-ordinating Nature's Thoughts Dies. I love the slightly speckled nature of the stamps and as you would expect from the name, this set also has some wonderful uplifting sentiments - perfect for the current Time Out challenge too, who are all about cards with words of encouragement this week (I didn't go with the optional pink, but may come back for a second go to include this!)

Speedy Stamping - As always, the key to speedy stamping is keeping it simple. I had designed my card in my head and had everything out ready on my desk before I started the timer. Some quick cuts of my card and designer paper (from the 'Heartwarming Hugs' Christmas designer paper pack that is on offer this month - bargain!), only two colours to stamp and then one run through the diecutting machine to cut the edged panel and the butterfly and I was ready to start sticking together.

Time To Step Up -  As I had glued on everything but my sentiment, I glanced at my stopwatch - 5 minutes and 33 seconds - a personal record and almost finished! I decided to spend a few more minutes to step things up a little, so grabbed some Gorgeous Grape cardstock and added an offset strip behind my sentiment before attaching to my card. I added some clear Wink of Stella to my butterfly, to blur the lines and add a little sparkle, a linen bow and a few clear epoxy drops to finish my card. Final time: 7 minutes, 59 seconds - still something of a record for me, maybe I should work with butterflies more often!

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 speed stamping challenge, time yourself and tell us how long it took you to complete your card.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

POSITIVE THOUGHTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	NATURE'S THOUGHTS DIES (£27.00)	HEARTWARMING HUGS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

Friday already - wow, that was a quick week! Thank you to everyone who placed orders during the 24 hour stamp sale - there will be lots of lovely bargains heading your way next week! For those of you that missed out - please be sure that you are following my blog and social media channels I'm sh to be reminded of special offers and events and make sure you are signed up for my newsletter by clicking here.

Back to today and I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a theme challenge:

I was struggling to be creative with my AYSI card this week (too many other things on my mind I think!), so I paired up with those intriguing colours over at Color Throwdown and the Autumn theme over at Paper Craft Crew and decided to go with some atypical leaves - take a look at what I came up with:

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

All About The Stitching - Today's card is definitely all about the stitching! I was tempted to use my most favourite of stitched items, my Stitched Shapes Dies, on today's card, but for once they don't feature at all! I decided to go with the Lovely Leaves bundle and Stitched Leaves Dies. Not only do they have those lovely leaf outlines with detailed dies for the centre, there is the fabulous stitched lines die that I used on the panel behind my leaves, which is great for adding interest on all kinds of cards. I also used my Rectangle Stitched Framelits to cut out this panel for added stitch detail. 

Beautiful Autumn - I could have used a sentiment from the Lovely Leaves set on today's card, but I had someone in mind for today's card and instead reached for one of my personal favourites from the 'Beautiful Autumn' stamp set, which is more appropriate. I stamped it in Early Espresso as opposed to black as it fitted in better with the autumnal feel of my card.

Stitched Detail Tip - The other lovely thing about the central stitched detail pieces is that they can be used to add detail to stamped leaves too, even if they haven't been cut out. I've shown this on my envelope flap before and I also added this detail onto my inner lining:

Whilst Cinnamon Cider and Sahara Sand are the dominant colours on today's card, the pop of colour from my blue and aqua leaves really brightens up my card, don't you think? It makes a nice change from the reds and yellows in my view, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
SAHARA SAND A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CINNAMON CIDER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	3/16" (4.8 MM) BRAIDED LINEN TRIM (£6.50)

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

I feel like I need to start off with an apology for the sheer amount of different stamp sets and general bits and pieces that I've used on today's card! The truth is, I pulled out everything I had that fitted the recipe ... then used most of it on my card! Take a look:

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

Blue Birthday Wishes - I couldn't resist the colours over at Global Design Project #GDP257 this week - they were my favourite colour duo that I used for the last AYSI Challenge, with the addition of Misty Moonlight, so I decided to use them on my card for this challenge, but this time to create a card that was anything but Christmas, even though it does use some seasonal product. I used the sketch at Paper Craft Crew for my layout, where the oval was perfect for showcasing a birthday 'B' from the Monogram Messages set. 

Butterfly Gala Beauty - I originally intended to use the little butterfly in the Monogram Messages set for my butterfly, but it was too small. Instead I went for a layered butterfly from 'Butterfly Gala', with one punched in Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper for a sparkly base and then another stamped in Misty Moonlight and clear embossed on vellum, with the detail coloured with Highland Heather Blends and embellished with a Balmy Blue Gilded Gem - so pretty:

Recipe Check and An Inside Finish - So that has birthday sentiment and butterfly covered, along with both diecut (stitched shapes oval) and punch. The circles were courtesy of the bokeh dots from another butterfly stamp set, 'Beauty Abounds'; I stamped them tone-on-tone in Highland Heather on my card base, and carefully went over each one with my clear Wink of Stella pen for extra sparkle. For my DSP I used a strip of Balmy Blue/Highland Heather watercoloured paper from the Snowflake Splendor pack, and overlaid it with some polka dot tulle ribbon (more circles!). That was my recipe complete - and as if I didn't have enough out on my desk already, I added a sentiment from yet another stamp set, 'So Sentimental', for my inside greeting:

A twine bow and some blue gilded gems as well, I really went to town with this card - you can only imagine the state of my desk when it came to clear up time!!

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. 

 A pretty result though that show the versatility of these colours I think too. An interesting challenge for me too - I've decided I don't use butterflies much on my cards these days, so I really need to try and use them more often!

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.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MONOGRAM MESSAGES CLING STAMP SET (£19.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BUTTERFLY GALA PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BUTTERFLY DUET PUNCH (£17.00)	BEAUTY ABOUNDS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)
BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (£21.00)	BLUE ADHESIVE-BACKED GEMS (£7.50)	BALMY BLUE GLIMMER PAPER (£4.75)	SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE 5/8" (1.6 CM) POLKA DOT TULLE RIBBON (£7.00)
WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CLEAR STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS HIGHLAND HEATHER COMBO PACK (£8.50)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)

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

There are lots of colour combinations that I love, but must confess that one of my current favourites is Balmy Blue and Highland Heather. I have always been a fan of purple, but the beautiful papers featuring this combo in the Snowflake Splendor Suite have me creating a lot with this colour combo at the moment. For today's card I decided to share one of the cards that I created on one of my live Zoom demonstration sessions with my lovely customers last week that showed them how to step up their shaker cards with embossing folders - take a look:

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

Snowflake Splendor - I've mentioned previously how much I love this suite; having started creating with it for my class last month, I am quite hooked and have been using it for lots of projects lately, some of which I've shared here already. I love the papers, that give the patterns a hand-painted feel, with wonderful watercoloured patterns too.  

A Fresh Winter Colour Combo - I love the way the colours combine in the Snowflake Splendor papers and I think the addition of Highland Heather amongst the blues really rings the changes and freshens up this wintery colour scheme. For my shaker, I paired a watercolour design frame with a background printed with white snowflakes, and added a fussy cut snowflake stamped in my colour duo (in the interests of full disclosure, I did also add a little Pacific Point to this particular snowflake), along with some diecut snowflakes in Balmy Blue glimmer paper for added sparkle:

A Winter Snow Shaker - Before mounting my shaker window, I ran my window sheet through the Winter Snow Embossing folder. This was a tip I saw recently shared by one of Stampin' Up!'s artisan designers, Stesha Bloodhart, using the Seabed 3D embossing folder, and couldn't wait to try it with the snowflakes. If you look carefully at the photo below you can see the snowflake impressions:

I think this is such a great way to step up a shaker card as it adds lovely texture and detail.

If you'd like to see a little video clip of my shaker in action, in all its snowflake shaker glory, you can see that on my Facebook page here.

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.
• Fill in the blanks with the words that are right for you and then create your project with those words in mind. Tell us, in your blog or on your site, what words you used.
• 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.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day. Mine is going to be a rather special one, as young Master James finally gets to attend his Year 8 Prize Giving Ceremony today. For him and the other year 8 pupils, this year has not been full of the post-Common Entrance Examination rewards that might have been in different times, but today we will have a special year 8 only socially-distanced Speech Day, with Prize Giving and picnic lunch, followed by family cricket (weather permitting) and then the children will be having a disco and hog roast in the evening, in lieu of their Leaver's Ball. They are all very much looking forward to it and it will be a wonderful way to end this special period of his educational journey before moving to his new school and the next chapter.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WINTER SNOW EMBOSSING FOLDER (£7.00)	SNOWFLAKE WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£51.25)	BALMY BLUE GLIMMER PAPER (£4.75)	WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)
VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLES DIES (£33.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)

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

Whilst sunflowers are by no means mandatory for this week's colour challenge, my card today was totally inspired by this week's challenge badge - take a look:

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

Not A Jar of Sunflowers - I used one one of the flower toppers featuring sunflowers from the Jar of Flowers set to create both a stemmed bunch and a layered group on today's card. For the layered bunch in the bottom window, I used my Stamparatus to stamp a mirror image, so that it would create a uniform display. I coloured them with my Blends (I used a combination of Dark Mango Melody and Dark Daffodil Delight to achieve a colour close to Crushed Curry) and fussy cut them, before popping them up on dimensionals. I tucked in some wooden stems and added a double-linen bow to my tied bunch for added decoration. 

Peek A Boo Florals - My florals and sentiment are nestled in the apertures cut using one of the new Peek A Boo dies; co-ordinating with the fabulous 'Have A Hoot' stamp set, I decided to use this window die piece to create a focal point for my florals and sentiment instead of owls today. I also embossed this panel with the Pinewood Planks 3D embossing folder for added texture, again inspired by our challenge photo.

Banner Year Greeting - Finally the greeting on my card comes from the new 'Banner Year' stamp set. This will be a super useful set with lots of teeny tiny images and sentiments for this time of year. Again, this set is designed to co-ordinate with the new Banners Pick A Punch punch, but I decided to mask it to enable me to stamp the words one under each other to fit my square. A Cajun Craze enamel heart from my stash finished my card.

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

You can see all of my '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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day. The temperatures are blissfully cooler in the UK today and this can only mean one thing - no excuse now to not do the cleaning! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PEEK-A-HOOT DIES (£32.00)	JAR OF FLOWERS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£21.00)	PINEWOOD PLANKS 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	STAMPIN' BLENDS BERMUDA BAY COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS CAJUN CRAZE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS MANGO MELODY COMBO PACK (£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:

I designed this week's sketch and decided to use some of the new in-colours and make a blue card - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Today's card features two different patterns from the Flowers For Every Season designer series paper stack. Some simple layering, a couple of co-ordinating floral embellishments from the Flowers For Every Season Memories and More pack and a simple heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Celebrate Sunflowers' set. And that's it - super simple! I must say, having seen the amazing cards from the rest of the team mine looks positively mediocre - they all came up with some fabulous takes on this week's sketch!

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

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

 I'll be linking up with the team over at Inspire.Create as my card today features three of the 5 new in-colours: Misty Moonlight, Just Jade and Cinnamon Cider.

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 sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table to follow

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

A card in under 10 minutes - always a challenge! I took my inspiration from the ocean scenes and beautiful shades of turquoise in the Hand Stamped Sentiments photo and set to work - take a look:

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

Seaside Notions - I purchased the stamp set 'Seaside Notions' a while ago, following so many marvellous cards that my friend and fellow AYSI teamie Jan Clothier had made with this set, but I had yet to ink it up so this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity. I love this seahorse and whilst my rough blue colouring with my watercolour pencils is not typical of these shy creatures in the wild, I wanted to contrast with my Crumb Cake background and white embossing. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges where their current challenge is 'Animals'.

Quickfire Crafting - As always, the secret of quick card making is to be organised! I got everything out on my desk before I started and I already had the stitched rectangle in my card box leftover from another project, along with the card base and mats, so my energies went into speedy stamping and heat embossing with a quick scribble of colour. I used my blender pen to even out the pencil lines and added a little Wink of Stella to the backbone of each seahorse for some added sparkle:

From The Mouths of Babes - So how long did my card take me? I squeezed it in under the wire at 9 minutes 24 seconds - and left the usual craftermath in my wake:

When having the discussion over dinner with the James Juniors as to who I would send this card to, they immediately agreed it should go to one of my scuba diving friends who lives in Canada, called Cathy. They then proceeded to question why I was making a card with three seahorses on anyway; as I explained that I needed three of something and my card needed to be completed in under 10 minutes, Rebecca promptly announced "Well that's easy - why didn't you just make a one layer Christmas card with the three wise men on it? You'd have been done in minutes!" Oh if only I'd engaged her earlier in the crafty process!

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.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEASIDE NOTIONS CLING STAMP SET (EN) (£21.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS (£15.00)
WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 2 (£11.75)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	BLENDER PENS (£11.25)