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)

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 you to work with:

I'm also linking up with the challenge over at Festive Friday, where I used diecut, pattern paper, ribbon and sentiment from the inspo list. The colours I chose for this week's challenge are some of my favourite to work with when creating cards and projects for the festive season, and whilst you are free to create whatever you like with the palette, I couldn't resist creating a card and matching gift box ready for Christmas. This is a rather photo-heavy post, so here goes! First up - here's my card and co-ordinating gift packaging together:

Pretty, right? Let's take a close look at each on turn. First up - here's the card I made:

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

Sounds of The Season - A pair of silver foil jingle bells from the Sounds of the Season Dies are the centrepiece of today's card. I used these larger-than-life bells to frame my sentiment from the 'Wrapped in Christmas' stamp set and paper-pieced the holly leaves with a second set cut from green foil for contrast. I added Real Red Rhinestone jewels for my berries, added some diecut pine sprigs and finished with a Real Red sheer ribbon bow to each. These bows do make the card a little less post-friendly, but I think the extra detail is worth it. You can see the detail on the bells on the close-up below:

'Tis The Season - I used a combination of a Shaded Spruce/Real Red/Black/White plaid and a holly pattern from the 'Tis The Season designer series paper pack to compliment my silver bells and added a thin border of silver between the layers for added shine. I love the white splatter on the plaid pattern - and it's part of the design, no extra effort required!

Rectangle Gift Tin - I liked my card so much that I decided to create a belly band wrap for one of the silver rectangle tins that are in the Autumn-Winter catalogue. Available in packs of 4, they are great for a gift card or to hold a small item such as a piece of jewellery or item of make up, for example. Here's my finished tin:

I've decorated it in much the same way, strengthening the band with a piece of Real Red cardstock for the base layer and adding a wrapped bow in the wide Shaded Spruce ribbon from the Wonder Of The Season Ribbon combo pack. Here's a close up from another angle with a better view of the bell decoration: 

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

 And for the tin:

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; I'm hoping to do a little bit of crafting, a little bit of cooking and generally catch up on everything I've avoided doing whilst I've been at Stampin' Up!'s Onstage at Home virtual online event these past couple of days. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON DIES (£20.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	SILVER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	RED & GREEN FOIL SHEETS (£9.25)
WRAPPED IN CHRISTMAS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	RECTANGLE TINS (£11.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RED RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£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 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 it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Laurie to host this week and she has a theme challenge for you to work with:

I don't have any turkeys in my current stamp collection so decided to go with pumpkins and the overall 'thankful' theme, along with the layout of the inspiration photo over at Inspire.Create, to create my card this week - take a look:

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

Harvest Hellos - I used the 'Harvest Hellos' stamp set for my feature pumpkin on today's card, and highlighted the detail with Pumpkin Pie and Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends, before punching out with the Apple Builder Punch. 

Texture, Texture - There's lots of texture on today's card: a woodgrain background courtesy of the In Good Taste designer paper, wooden leaf embellishments, twine, linen braid and the lacy diecut panel from the Stitched Lace Die. Not very post-friendly granted, but the texture and dimension add so much interest and detail:

Word Wishes - For my sentiment, I snipped the word 'thanks' from the 'thanksgiving' die in the Word Wishes set and stacked it on the front of my card, and paired it with the word 'giving' that was masked from the full sentiment that I used inside my card:

I was really pleased with the way this card turned out. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges with another entry for their Autumn/Fall 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:

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; we will more than likely be spending the day indoors to once again escape the howling winds and rain - the weather has been dreadful here this week! With continued social distancing a focus during this half term, we resorted to an online escape room game on Friday afternoon; whilst not the same as doing one in person, it was surprisingly good fun. We bought a 3 game package so I think the James' may well be spending the afternoon breaking more codes and solving puzzles against the clock!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HARVEST HELLOS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	STITCHED LACE DIES (£33.00)	APPLE BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	IN GOOD TASTE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	WORD WISHES DIES (EN) (£33.00)
A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£36.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS PUMPKIN PIE COMBO PACK (£8.50)
STAMPIN' BLENDS CALYPSO CORAL COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	3/16" (4.8 MM) BRAIDED LINEN TRIM (£6.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	IN GOOD TASTE ELEMENTS (£6.00)

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: 

So much seasonal goodness to choose from on Felicita's board this week! I got so excited with all the elements and the lovely Julee's fab Mojo Monday sketch that I covered pretty much every square on this week's board except wreath and Thanksgiving! I paired the beautiful Gilded Autumn papers with lots of rust and one of my most favourite stamp sets to use at this time of year - take a look:

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

Country Home - My milk churn and autumn florals come from the 'Country Home' stamp set that has been around for a while, but I have to say is one of those sets that is a real keeper. I've made many, many cards with this set (and never featured it in a class, interestingly); I've coloured those florals many times and each of them different - search my blog for lots more inspiration using this set. I love the sentiment font and sizes too and they are great for thankful cards, whatever the time of year. My milk churn features a tiny 'thanks' and I saved one of my favourites for the inside of my card:

Rusty Colour - I decided to look at ways to incorporate the 'rust' element into my card and whilst I wasn't in a mood to get messy, I decided that the brushed brass foil (as opposed to copper) would add a nice metallic element and I embossed it using the Tin Tile Embossing Folder for some texture. I also majored on browns in my colour scheme and added some loops of coppery ribbon to my florals too.

A Little Bit Country - Having spent more time than anticipated deciding how best to layer those papers (I alternated each pattern for each layer before deciding), I wanted to keep with my country feel and added some wooden leaf embellishments and some green and white gingham ribbon to finish. A lot going on with this card, but sometimes it's really nice to move away from 'clean and simple' and see how far the layering can take you!

I'm also linking today's card up over at SUO Challenges too where the current theme is Autumn/Fall and my leafy, rusty creation definitely evokes the season for me! 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; half term continues in the James household with nothing much of interst to report! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

COUNTRY HOME PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	GILDED AUTUMN SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TIN TILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	BASKET WEAVE & METALLIC RIBBON COMBO PACK (£7.50)
FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	IN GOOD TASTE ELEMENTS (£6.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS MINT MACARON COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS CAJUN CRAZE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card inspired by the photo inspiration over at Fusion that is also well timed for the last-minute Halloween crafting over at TGIF Challenges:

I couldn't get to grips with the angled line of the sketch, but I love that inspiration photo and whilst I don't really send Halloween cards, I wanted to get some use out of the Halloween owls in the 'Have A Hoot' stamp set so set to work:

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

I decided to have a go at another sponged background, so took a variety of purple inks and gradually built up the layers to create my spooky night sky. I splattered it with water and then white frosted shimmer paint to complete. I used the tree from the  'Life is Beautiful' for my woods, stamping from both sides, then stamped my owl onto a partial circle and aligned the trees so that it looks as if the owl is in the trees, highlighted by the moon.

A heat embossed 'boo!' completes the outside of my card, with a further greeting on the inside:

So what do you think of today's card? Even if Halloween isn't your thing, I'd love to hear what you think of my sponged background. 

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:

STAMP SET CLING HAVE A HOOT (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	FROST WHITE SHIMMER PAINT (£7.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKEY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a super busy and productive day and am finally getting to today's blog post! Today I've a couple of cards to share with you for a couple of challenges, both featuring the Warm and Toasty stamp set. My first card features this week's Color Throwdown colours:

And the first animal to feature is the reindeer, resplendent with his red bow:

I've coloured the reindeer in the challenge colours with my Stampin' Blends and my card also features a couple of sneak peeks: the sentiment is from a new stamp set called 'Curvy Christmas' and is paired with a fabulous die from the Curvy Die set, both of which will be available to customers from the 1st November as a special release - exciting stuff! I couldn't resist adding a large red enamel dot to christen my reindeer Rudolf:

My second card uses the polar bear from the 'Warm and Toasty' stamp set, this time using this week's CAS Colours and Sketches colour palette:

I've seen some great examples of sponging recently, so wanted to have a go at creating a sponged background and decided that the blues would make a great backdrop for my iceskating polar bear:

I added a snow drift using my Freezin' Friends Dies and cut an ice rink freehand from vellum and coated it with a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella for an icy sparkle, before adding my polar bear to the finished scene.

I did a little extra stamping on the inside of this one too:

So what do you think? I think creating sponged backgrounds, whilst messy, is also quite addictive; and to that end, I have another one for you tomorrow!

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

And for the second one:

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 - Card 1:

WARM & TOASTY CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS BRONZE & IVORY COMBO PACK (£8.50)

WARM & TOASTY CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	FREEZIN' FRIENDS DIES (£27.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
FROST WHITE SHIMMER PAINT (£7.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)

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

Jaydee's sketch has three vertical images; it's a great sketch that is wide open to interpretation. I considered something that incorporated three panels but in the end decided on a much more liberal interpretation and decided on three candles - take a look:

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

Sweetest Time - I've used the 'Sweetest Time' stamp and co-ordinating borders dies before (here if you missed it), but had yet to combine with the candles. I went all-out on today's card, layering a piece of Feels Like Frost foiled designer paper (it has a pines pattern but that is obscured by the main panels), followed by the panel with the stamped candles, followed by the integrated holly border.

Borders in Blue - Whilst this border looks great in traditional reds and greens, I thought I would ring the changes and make a blue card today. I know that you don't get blue holly and berries but it's the cardmaker's prerogative to get creative with colour, right? That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it! 

Foil, Frost and Sparkle - The challenge over at Just Add Ink this week is to add two of foil, ribbon and sequins to your card. I did use some foil-embossed designer paper for my background layer to compliment my silver heat-embossed flames and sentiment, but I also added some loops of Seaside Spray/Silver metallic ribbon behind my paper-pieced holly border and since the diecut berries are obscured by my sentiment banner, I added a selection of clear epoxy droplets and a few Seaside Spray sequins for some added sparkle; you can see them better on the photo below:

So I inadvertently ended up incorporating all three - and I love the finished effect!

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. We have no specific plans; if the weather is as poor as it has been these last few days, we may hunker down for a movie afternoon. We watched Disney's live remake of 'Mulan' last week; have you seen it? We thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SWEETEST TIME BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	FEELS LIKE FROST 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	FROSTED & CLEAR EPOXY DROPLETS (£8.25)	WOVEN THREADS SEQUIN ASSORTMENT (£4.75)	SEASIDE SPRAY 1/4" (6.4 MM) METALLIC RIBBON (£6.50)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SEASIDE SPRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)

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 it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie, to host this week and she has a Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I actually have a few cards for you today! First up - cake! A quick review of my stamp collection told me I had no current cake or cupcake stamps - go figure! So I decided to use Linda's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

 myI used my current Playful Alphabet Dies, along with some retired Patio Party designer series paper and last year's 'Piece of Cake' stamp set to create a couple of clean and simple cake-themed cards. Here's the first one using the negative space of the diecut letters:

And a close up of that fun sentiment:

And here's the second card, using the same paper and alternative colour base with the actual diecut letters, popped up on foam adhesive sheets:

Both cards finish with this sentiment on the inside:

Perfect for birthdays or other occasions! Here's a picture of them both together:

The Patio Party paper actually dates back to 2013 so I'm thinking there won't be many of you with some of this on your shelves (unless you are a paper hoarder like me!!) so I also made a third card using current products and this week's Global Design Project sketch:

For this card I reached for my 'Nothing's Better Than' bundle and tweaked my sentiment to create a festive cookie card:

I paired my cookies with some festive plaid from the Plaid Tidings DSP pack (15% off in this month's DSP sale!); having photographed my card, I wish I'd added a sprig of holly too (maybe I'll go back and add one on before I send it!) but to be fair this card is less clean and simple than the first two, with a few more layers and elements so probably best I quit when I did!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on the above 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; we will be having a quiet family day today as we head into the start of the half-term holiday for one of the James Juniors at least (the other has another 4 days of school to go!). I managed to get some crafting done yesterday so will definitely be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

NOTHING'S BETTER THAN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.50)	BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)