Happy Friday everyone! I've had continuing blog and website issues to contend with this week, so all of my carefully scheduled blog posts have gone awry and you haven't heard from me in the timely manner I had hoped this week! This one should have gone live yesterday, but I'm pleased to be able to publish it finally because this is news of the release of an exclusive limited time collection of products called 'Snowflake Showcase' and trust me you are not going to want to miss it!

It seems following the success of the Blended Seasons stamp set and co-ordinating framelits a few months ago that you love an exclusive, limited offer - so here's another one: two stamp sets, one for Christmas and one all-rounder that both co-ordinate with the Snowfall Thinlits dies - available now until 30 November or whilst stocks last. What's more there are some co-ordinating Snowflake Trinkets and White Velvet paper sheets too. Here's a close up of the products in more detail:

I'm sure this set will be popular and I've taken orders for a few already having given the customers in my Facebook VIP Customer Group a sneak peek a few weeks ago (do get in touch if you would like to know more about the benefits associated with belonging to this group), so don't delay in placing your order - I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. Don't forget if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code RW3QD6VN to receive a free thank you gift from me too! 

For more information on this set, please see today's second post here, which also includes a 3D project made using this gorgeous suite.

If you have any questions on any of the above, then please do get in touch - I am always happy to help!

Back shortly with my second post of the day; until then, happy shopping!

 Links to purchase the above items in my online store:

Snow Is Glistening Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)

Happiness Surrounds Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)

Snowflake Trinkets (£7.50)

Snowfall Thinlits Dies (£36.00)

White Velveteen Sheets (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current Inspire.Create Challenge where they have a great sketch that I just couldn't resist:

I was tempted to go with a focal piece of designer series paper and one of the fabulous festive word dies we have for the horizontal element, but with some great Design Team examples of this, I decided to take a slightly different tack and explore options around the horizontal piece. I ended up making two cards, each with the same basic design, however one portrait and the other landscape - take a look:

And here's the landscape version that uses the whole of each of the diecut pieces:

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

Bethlehem Edgelits - I decided that the landscapes in the Bethlehem Edgelits set would make a perfect horizontal feature on my card and that informed my decision to make two cards: one in a landscape orientation in order to accommodate them completely and a second in a portrait orientation that necessitated me trimming them to fit. For each card, I layered a white top layer on a Night of Navy bottom layer and embossed the sentiment in white onto the navy base layer. 

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - You might be wondering how I created my atmospheric night sky; furthermore, you might be surprised to know that there was no sponging, brayering or splattering required. This rather realistic sky is courtesy of one of the patterns in the Twinkle Twinkle designer series paper pack. Part of a suite originally designed for baby and children projects, many of the starry papers in this pack work for plenty of other projects - especially this one. It is easy to overlook certain packs of papers and to be fair the catalogue doesn't always make it easy to see some of the detail. The lovely people at Stampin' up! have produced this great video though that shows these papers in more detail:

Here's the papers from the current seasonal catalogue too:

And of course you can continue to follow my blog; you all know how much I love patterned paper!

A Night In Bethlehem - With the exception of the 'O Holy Night' sentiment on the front of the landscape card (this comes from the 'Illuminated Christmas' stamp set in the current seasonal stamp set), all of the stamping on my card comes from the Night in Bethlehem stamp set, which also has this beautiful verse that is great for the inside of your card: 

The silhouetted images are great for easy decorating of your envelopes too - love a co-ordinated envelope! I do like to make cards that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas and this set is one of my favourites for reminding us why we celebrate at this special time of year. So which of these cards is your favourite - the portrait or landscape version? I like them both but would love to know what you think - do leave me a comment below with 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, however you choose to spend it. The James family is off to the dentist for our 6-monthly checkup followed by something special in store which I'll share with you later in the week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project though for sure. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bethlehem Edgelits Dies (£30.00)	Night In Bethlehem Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Twinkle Twinkle Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)

I've been enjoying a well-earned rest this week and some quality family time since the James Juniors are on their half-term break. Some time spent creating though so lots to share with you this next coming week - regular blogging may be about to make a comeback! Today I'm sharing a card using the current colours over at Global Design Project and the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

I'm also linking up with the Paper Craft Crew where the inspiration is trees and leaves. My card was a quick and easy card, using an old favourite - take a look:

I haven't used my Sheltering Tree stamp set in ages, but it is perfect for creating seasonal trees and great for clean and simple cards. I stamped the leaves twice, once in Pumpkin Pie and again, offsetting the image slightly, in Crushed Curry, to create my autumn leaves. I added a sprinkling of falling leaves and some leaves strewn across my swathe of Old Olive grass. I wanted the orange and yellow to be the dominant colours of my card today, so the only other place I've used green is to frame my central image, which I cropped quite tightly to accentuate those leaves and autumnal colours. 

Clean and simple autumn with just stamps, ink and paper - done!

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

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

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with a card (or two!) for the new challenge over at the Paper Players which begins tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

I have had a rare day off today following my hugely successful Creative Escapes Craft Retreat this weekend but wanted to pop in with a quick post to let you know that It's Stampin' Up!'s 30th birthday and to celebrate there will be a 24 hour sale from 22.50 tonight, Monday 22 October until 22.50 tomorrow night, Tuesday 23rd October when you can receive 15% off selected stamp sets. How about that? Here is a list of the stamps that will be on offer:

The discount applies to individual stamp sets (not bundles) and can also be used in conjunction with a starter kit. Place your order here through my online store or by clicking on the shopping bag icon in the menu on the right hand side - don't forget to include the current hostess code for an extra thank you from me. 

The 15% discount will run from 10:50 p.m. (GMT) Monday 22nd October to 10:50 p.m. (GMT)  Tuesday 23rd October. Don't forget to add the current hostess reward code RW3QD6VN for an extra little thank you from me; this will also ensure you receive a copy of the new Spring-Summer catalogue and Sale-A-Bration leaflet which will be on its way within the next couple of months!

I'll be back tomorrow with more news and pictures from my retreat and a little creative project with a sneak peek for you but in the meantime this is a 24 hour event only so you have to act fast to benefit from 15% off these amazing sets so time to go shopping - don't miss out! 

Hello everyone! I'm starting the week with a couple of news items for you.

Firstly, for papercrafters everywhere, to celebrate World Card Making Day on 6th October Stampin' Up! has a number of products that are available on offer from 1st-7th October with 10% off:

With discounts on cardstock and adhesives, it's a great opportunity to stock up on your cardmaking essentials. There are also some great offers on kits and stamp sets too - why not treat yourself and save a few pennies into the bargain? These offers last for just one week until Sunday 7th October, so get your order in today!

The second piece of news to start off October is that the first wave of Stamparatus accessories is here! The case/bag won't be available until later in the year, but for now you can purchase additional plates, magnets and foam pads, along with new custom-sized grid paper. Here's the complete list:

If you would like to know more about any of the above or would like to place an order, then please do get in touch.  I'll be back tomorrow with a creative post; until then, happy shopping!

Today I have an extra post for you - I've been trying to find the time to share this post since Wednesday but classes and life have gotten in the way! You can see my regular Paper Players post from earlier here. This is  a clean and simple Christmas card using one of my favourite background stamps that is perfect for this week's challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper:

My card also makes use of one of those useful products in the annual catalogue that at fist glance you might have overlooked - more about that in a moment. Here's my card:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

The Perfect Starry Sky - I used the starry background stamp from the Bokeh Dots background stamp set to create a colourful night sky behind the houses on my card. One of the things I like about the Bokeh Dots background stamps is that they are smaller in size and can be used a a feature in their own right on a card, without covering the whole of the cardbase. 

A Rainbow of Colour -  Did you spot the Uninked Spectrum Ink Pads on page 202 of the annual catalogue? Easily overlooked, they can be inked with 5 separate colours of your choice and are particularly handy when paired with a stamp such as the one I've used here to create a night sky with hues of purple through to blue.  What stamps do you have in your collection that you could use with a spectrum ink pad to create colourful ink effects?

Hearts Come Home - I used the smallest of the Hometown Greetings Edgelits to create my border of houses, cutting it out of Whisper White cardstock brushed with a liberal coating of clear Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle and shine. To finish, I stamped one of my favourite Christmas sentiments from the co-ordinating 'Hearts Come Home' stamp set in Night of Navy - never more approprate than at Christmas 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hometown Greetings Edgelits Dies (£30.00)	Hearts Come Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Bokeh Dots Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£14.00)	Uninked Spectrum Pad (£11.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I designed for this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink. I also used this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and coincidentally my card also features the current colour palette over at the Global Design Project:

Here's my card that I created - take a look:

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

Just Add K - I have been enjoying playing along with the team over at Just Add Ink lately but must confess that this week I nearly did not rise to the challenge! Just Add K - despite their helpful suggestions and lovely design team cards, when it came down to it, nothing beginning with K came to mind. Intrigued, since this really did now feel like a challenge, I got a pencil and paper and got my thinking cap on. Not only did I come up with one K, but three. Can you spot them? Yes, my three Ks are Kindness, Kraft and Knots! 

A Label For Everyday - The K for Kindness comes from the sentiment that can be found in the Waterfront stamp set. I stamped it in Blakberry Bliss onto Mint Macaron cardstock and punched it out with my Everyday Label Punch, snipping off the bottom piece and slipping it behind my horizontal coloured strip.

Three Colours - The three colours on my card were inspired by the Nature's Twine that I used for my knots around contrasting strips of coloured cardstock. I also used a piece of Nature's Poem Blackberry Bliss patterned paper for my mat layer. My third and final K is for Kraft (a handy storecupboard neutral). I found this piece of clear pre-embossed kraft cardstock in my scraps box (its retired and I can't remember what it was called) that I decided to use for my central panel for subtle pattern and interest. 

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. 

So what do you think of this card? Whilst it was fun to solve the 'k conundrum', I'm not sure about the end result. The knots are a little rustic for me and this trio of colours is a little harsh. Oh and did I mention that every time I look at the sentiment label I see a tombstone?! Must be the time of year!! Not my finest creation perhaps but I figured I'd share with you anyway to see what you think. Do leave me a comment below - I'm really interested to hear your thoughts!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Waterfront Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Nature's Twine (£8.25)	Nature's Poem Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Share What You Love A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Everyday Label Punch (£17.00)
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Firstly apologies to anyone who had difficulty accessing my Paper Players post early yesterday; there was a scheduling blip on my part which I hadn't appreciated until later in the evening, so apologies for that. Here's the link to yesterday's post if you missed it - it's a bumper project post too, so definitely worth a look! Back to today - I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays that features sequins and I'm using the colours over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

I decided to with a simple fall-inspired shaker card - take a look:

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

Seasonal Patterned Pumpkin Shaker - I have lots of spare sequins in my stash and just happened to have some in Pumpkin Pie, so decided to combine them with a few copper ones to create a simple shaker using the retired Patterned Pumpkin thinlits. I love the pop of bright green that the Granny Apple Green adds to the leaves and tendrils too! 

A Masked Sentiment - I wanted a simple sentiment in keeping with the theme of thankfulness (I could have gone with Halloween I guess, but I know this card will be more useful and these colours reminded me much more of autumn/fall) so inked one of the stamps in the 'Labels To Love' set with my Fresh Fig marker, omitting the branches above and below it. This is the only stamping on the front of my card, although I did use my markers to selectively colour a pumpkin from the 'Seasonal Chums' set to decorate the inside of my card too:

So Subtle Texture - The last feature of today's card is the subtle embossed texture that I added to my card base and orange banner piece, courtesy of the new Subtle 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I finally caved and bought this embossing folder as I've seen so many wonderful cards that feature it, many from my lovely Paper Players teamie LeAnne over at WeeInklings (thank for being my enabler LeAnne - I think!) I must say, I'm not at all disappointed; whilst a little difficult to see on the dark colours of today's card, it adds a wonderful subtle texture that 

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:

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Window Sheets (£4.75)	Foam Adhesive Strips (£7.25)	Metallics Sequin Assortment (£4.75)	Labels To Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)
Seasonal Chums Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Fresh Fig A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)
Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I had a busy day yesterday, having been treated to a rare breakfast catch up with my sister-in-law, and lots of work and prep in between chasing various items around the garden in the face of the terrific winds we've been having here in the UK at the moment. I finished my day by hosting a Stampin' Up! party for the lovely Jane and her crafty friends yesterday evening to share all things Christmas.

Today I'm squeezing in another entry for the current challenge over at at As You See It where the team are all about getting back to basics with stamps, ink and paper:

I always send a card out to my customers when I mail them a new catalogue with a 'sneak peek' of what's inside. This is one of my big mass production exercises of the year though, so it needs to be something simple to enable me to get a large volume churned out within a reasonable time frame - yet I still want it to be pretty and have impact. Here's this year's Autumn-Winter catalogue card:

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

Back To Basics - The theme over at As you See It this week is 'Back To Basics', creating cards using little more than stamps. ink and paper. There is something liberating though about creating with just stamps, ink and paper and it is fun to be able to share creations from time to time like this. They can be quick(er!) to create and show that it's still possible to create something pretty without needing a ton of supplies. My card uses only 5 items: a blank card base, two ink colours, one stamp set and one (optional) embellishment - basic supplies indeed! The 'Wishing You Well' stamp set is perfect for this kind of card; it's one of Stampin' Up!'s Distinktive stamps, where you can ink your stamp once yet create different opacities in a single stamped image, giving the illusion of dimension. The wreath and bow look layered, even though they have been stamped only once. Clever, right?

Mass Production Made Easy With The Stamparatus - My simple wreath with stamped bow and sentiment would be easy to stamp in multiples even if I did it 'freehand', but the days of that kind of mass-production are long gone for me now that I am the proud owner of the best ever stamping positioning tool, Stampin' Up!'s Stamparatus - this tool makes light work of this kind of stamping! I placed my wreath on one plate and my bow and sentiment on another, then inked and stamped without needing to reposition and got my simple stamping done in record time!

Add A Pearl - Or Thirteen - The dimensional inking of these stamps means that I could have just left my card as is, but I decided to add a sprinkling of tiny seed pearls throughout my wreath, a little like mistletoe berries, for some added interest. It seems despite my extensive ribbon collection, I'm more of a magpie - I can't resist a little sparkle or shimmer.

And The Winner Is ... I've been running a fun competition with my customers over on my Facebook page to see if they could guess correctly how long it took me to make 40 of these cards with the help of my Stamparatus. Well, the answer is just 17 minutes and 21 seconds - it took me longer than that to stick all of the pearls on afterwards! I'm pleased to announce the winner of my competition is Barbara Civil who guessed 17 minutes and 50 seconds - clearly already a seasoned Stamparatus user! Samantha Daglish gets the runner-up prize for her best guess of 7 minutes and 7 seconds; I'm afraid I'm just not that good however that is my new target! Congratulations both of you; look out for the postman as there will be a little something in the post to each of you to thank you for playing along 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I have another day of prep, in readiness for an in-home kit party that I'm hosting for a group of friends this evening, although I am minus one of my James Juniors as Ben has gone to the Peak District for a few days with school on an outward bound trip so have a few less school runs for the next few days. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Wishing You Well Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)
Stamparatus (£46.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink where the team have my favourite kind of challenge - a sketch!

I initially thought I would replace the diamond shape in the centre with a circular wreath, until I was browsing my stamp sets and realised it would work perfectly with the foliage square in Feathers and Frost, so I set to work. Here's what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Double-Embossing - I decided to heat emboss my leaves and sentiment on my card with silver embossing powder for some festive sparkle, adding a little more colour with my light Smoky Slate Blend pen, and also added some dry embossing to my white card base with the Layered Leaves dynamic embossing folder. Whilst this isn't especially Christmassy and is also quite difficult to see on the photograph, I love the extra texture and interest that it adds. 

Layered Shapes and Lots of Berries - I added a fussy-cut poinsetta from the same set to the centre of my leaves and coloured it with my Real Red Blends. I decided to use Real Red as an accent colour on my card, both in my layered mats and the many red rhinestones I used as berries. Yes, I used a ton of these sparkly beauties, however I wanted something more than flat colour and love the way they catch the light. Besides, there are 220 in a single pack - so plenty to go around!

Not Just Joy - I used the word 'Joy' as the circular element on the front of my card and completed my sentiment with two more sentiments from the set inside 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Feather & Frost Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Layering Squares Framelits Dies (£33.00)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£15.00)	1-1/2" (3.8 Cm) Circle Punch (£15.00)
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)
Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Cotton Ribbon (£6.50)	Silver 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon (£6.50)	Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£6.50)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)