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 Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the right-hand column with red or green (I used both), patterned paper and diecut, and paired it with the fabulously festive colours over at Colour Inkspiration and made a card that is perfect for the 'add glitter' challenge over at Inkspirational - there's definitely plenty of that! I'm definitely in full-on Christmas mode still, so couldn't resist another Christmas card - or two! - take a look:

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

Gorgeous Garden - I decided to use a die that you possibly don't immediately consider as a Christmas one. The Gorgeous Garden Dies feature both a leaf coverplate and a floral coverplate die. The floral die reminds me of amarylllis flowers, that are often associated with the festive season, so I decided to create a card using red and green as my chosen colours to add to the Christmassy feel. 

All That Glitters - Whilst my card looks quite simple and straightforward, it actually showcases a neat technique. I covered a two-ply cardstock panel with an adhesive sheet, then placed the die on top and ran it through my diecutting machine so that the adhesive sheet was cut but the cardstock based remained intact. I then firstly removed the backing paper from the green sections, and having diecut another floral plate out of the mottled Shaded Spruce pattern in the Joy of Christmas designer series paper set, added the negative space green diecut pieces to the adhesive background. The pattern is subtle, but it adds just a little more interest than a plain green. Next, I removed the backing paper from the negative space of the flowers themselves, then sprinkled this with some Real Red glittered embossing powder that I found in my drawer. I heated it to set the powder, then finally removed the main piece of backing paper and add a double-layered diecut coverplate in Real Red. I just love the finished effect - check out the sparkle on the close up below:

 I also made a second version of this card, this time using pure fine red glitter. This wasn't Stampin' Up! branded glitter, so the colour is slightly deeper. I gives a slightly more textured finish - just as effective though:

The glitter just needs to be pressed firmly against the adhesive paper; any stray excess can be removed with the sticky end of your Take Your Pick tool. I know glitter is ecologically out-of-fashion right now (although there are eco-friendly versions available), but if you have old tubs of fine glitter hanging around like I do, this is a fun way to use it up. Here's another photo of both cards together so that you can see the subtle difference between the two:

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Brightest Glow - Finally, the sentiment on the front of my card is from the oh-so-useful festive sentiment set in the annual catalogue called 'Brightest Glow', heat-embossed in white on Basic Black for a little more emphasis against that red and green background and added some black and white gingham ribbon too. I added another sentiment from the same set to the inside of my card:

So what do you think? I absolutely love these Gorgeous Garden Dies - I think they are one of the unsung heroes of the annual catalogue, since they are standalone dies. You will definitely be seeing more of them in the weeks and months to come - watch this space!

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. 

One last thing to mention: this will be my last challenge with the TicTacToe Challenge team. I have absolutely loved being a part of this team and will miss Felicita and everyone very much; moving into 2024 I will be reducing my design commitments to allow me to focus on other opportunities. 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: 

GORGEOUS GARDEN DIES (40.00)	BRIGHTEST GLOW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
LABELS AGLOW DIES (31.00)	BLACK & WHITE 1/4" (6.4 MM) GINGHAM RIBBON (6.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)

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 a festive colour challenge for us to work with:

Red, green and gold is one of my favourite festive colour combinations so I wanted to see what you would all make with it this week. You can add any other colour of your choice; for today's card I added a little Old Olive and using Jen M's square layout over at Freshly Made Sketches made a traditional Christmas card to add to my growing stash - take a look:

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

The sketch layout was perfect to showcase a large panel of designer series paper, so I chose a vibrant holly pattern from the Joy of Christmas paper pack. I used the slanted panel to feature my bold sentiment from the 'Joy To You' stamp set, which I stamped in Real Red onto a white panel cut with one of the Scalloped Contour Dies to which I added a holly and pine diecut embellishment:

I wrapped my panel of DSP with some gold simple elegant trim (great for saving bulk on cards that need to be mailed at this time of year) and added a bow to my foliage to complete my card. This card actually came together quite quickly once I'd decided on my elements; the paper does much of the hard work with such a busy pattern, it really doesn't need much else. So what will you make with this week's colour combination? Whilst these colours are my festive favourites, you don't have to make a Christmas project with them - the choice is yours!

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 had a super busy day yesterday, with a flying overnight visit for my university-loving daughter and a hockey match for the youngest of the James Juniors. My laundry service has gone into overdrive once more, so today will be spent ironing and baking and hopefully squeezing in a little crafting to finish a few projects that are in bits on my desk. I'm usually one of those people that makes one thing at a time, but since I've had to snatch a quick 30 minutes here and there over the last couple of days, I've started several things and am yet to finish a single one! Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to share one of them. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	CHRISTMAS CLASSICS DIES (35.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

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

So many lovely things to incorporate! I chose Christmas as my holiday and grabbed the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout (I flipped my sentiment/foliage panels) - take a look:

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

I added a split panel of Joy of Christmas designer series paper with a panel of white cardstock embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder, adding a wrap of festive red satin ribbon to join them together. I used a sentiment from the 'Christmas Classics' stamp set featuring the beginning of the Christmas carol of the same name and backed this with the square foliage die from the Christmas Classics bundle cut out of retired platinum foil - it has a matt shine that picks out the subtle grey detailing in the designer paper:

Some diecut greenery and a wooden textural element, along with a red ribbon bow, complete my card. I love the texture and dimension on this card - definitely one for hand delivering rather than posting, but so many interesting elements. 

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.

Enjoy your day; we are hoping to attend the annual fireworks display at school this evening, assuming it stops raining and we are spared from the worst of Storm Ciaran - keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (49.50)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	MERRY MELODY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	TEXTURAL ELEMENTS (7.50)	REAL RED & GARDEN GREEN 3/8" (1 CM) RIBBON COMBO PACK (7.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that's a little more involved so perfect for a spot of weekend crafting! I used the fabulous sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches for my layout:

I've made quite a few cards with my 'Joy of Noel' bundle and wanted to try something a little different with this slimline layout - take a look:

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

Joy Of Christmas - The colour scheme for today's card was inspired by the beautiful piece of Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper I used for the first layer on my card. A white background covered in red berries and festive holly and pine foliage, this paper is perfect for a traditional Christmas card. Whilst much of this panel is covered by the other layers of the card, enough of it can be seen to tie in the other elements. 

Joy of Noel - Most if not all of my other cards using the NOEL 'Joy of Noel' stamps and dies have positioned the letters in a square. This slimline format allowed for me to use the letters in a column (still broken with 'joyous') - this works really well. I originally stamped my letters in Real Red onto Basic White, but they didn't have enough impact. I swapped them for Real Red cardstock embossed with silver and liked this much better. The silver picks up on the grey outlines of the base DSP and the silver and red combo stands out much better and the red ties in with both the red frame I used for the sentiment panel and the two strips of Real Red cotton ribbon I used on the base DSP layer.  

Christmas Classics - For the square layers of the sketch, I used a couple of diecuts of the Christmas Classics foliage border square die. I originally used a sild colour of green for this layer, but it was too stark. Eventually I cut the layers out of a piece of (retired) Garden Green check paper that resulted in a softer, more interesting variegated look. I added some extra detail with a green Blends marker, along with a few red rhinestones for a little extra red berry detail:

This card has seven layers, but I think each of them serves a purpose and makes a valuable contribution to the overall design, which I love. What do you think - does this celebration of festive foliage remind you of a traditional Christmas? Do leave me a comment below - 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with my card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS DIES (35.00)	JOY OF NOEL BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (45.75)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)
REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)