Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

In the run up to Christmas, for this challenge we are celebrating 'Christmas Festive Food'. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used white, brown, red and candy cane and this is what I came up with:

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

A treat instead of a card today! At this time of year, quick and easy decorating ideas to add personal touches to festive treats are a great idea; I added a label and tag, featuring the cute candy cane-holding beaver from the 'Festive and Fun' stamp set to decorate a candy cane - here's a close up:

Small images that are quick to colour are perfect for the personal touch; add some festive foliage and a ribbon bow to complete the look:

How do you like to decorate your treats during the festive season? 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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FESTIVE & FUN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (25.00)	SOMETHING FANCY DIES (27.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	REAL RED & GARDEN GREEN 3/8" (1 CM) RIBBON COMBO PACK (7.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)
REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	PECAN PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	JOY OF NOEL DIES (28.00)

It's been a quiet week here on the blog - I have been enjoying some post-exam time with the James Juniors to have some fun and blogging hasn't been high on the agenda - although I do have two posts for you today! First up 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:

Not only do we have a sketch challenge, this layout, chosen by my friend and teamie Jan, is my all-time favourite 'go to' - if you peruse my blog you will find lots of cards that follow this layout style. What's more, in a complete stroke of fortuitous serendipity, the ladies over at Color Throwdown have one of my all-time favourite colour combos too, so I just knew I would have to combine the two! I used my favourite Gorgeous Grape purple for my card base and decided to go full-on bright florals - take a look:

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

I created an arc of flowers using the Paper Florist Dies, to frame my sentiment from 'Something Fancy'. The Paper Florist Dies are a set of standalone dies easily overlooked - you can find them on page 165 of the annual catalogue and they are showcased on projects on page 33. They make fabulous large flowers that are great for 3D projects, home decor and to decorate gift packaging. I made up a tone of flowers so that I could experiment with the shapes, sizes and flower combinations, but settled on these three for my card:

A trio of enamel dots and a simple happy birthday sentiment inside was all I needed to complete today's card. I just love this card - is it ok to send a card to yourself if you love it so much?!

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 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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SOMETHING FANCY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	PAPER FLORIST DIES (35.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	REGALS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

We are having a two-post Tuesday today since in addition to my regular CAS Colours & Sketches post, I am guesting with the team over at The Colour Hues Challenge following my win for challenge #62 with my purple and green card - you can see that card here if you missed it.

So their new challenge is an interesting one for this time of year - take a look:

Yes, orange and slate grey - a combination I rarely consider outside of Halloween season, so I found this one a challenge in the true sense of the word! I love the slate grey, but what to do with the orange? Having had a little play, I finally came up with something that I think works - take a look:

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

I decided to use the slate grey for my card base, adding some tone-on-tone splatter with a grey marker, and added a double sprig of flowers from Dainty Delight with a trio of white daisies. I used retired Pale Papaya for my stems, that I added Pumpkin pie ink to with a blending brush to bring out the orange tones, and used the true Pumpkin Pie Orange sparingly for small flower heads and daisy centres: 

A sprinkling of gems and a white embossed sentiment complete my card. So what do you think? Did I successfully manage to use the orange to add a pop of colour to my otherwise sombre sympathy card? I hope so, 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAINTY DELIGHT DIES (34.00)	SOMETHING FANCY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

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

Isn't that a great colour combo? I used the layout over at Sketch Saturday and went with some Around The Bend Dies florals with a focus on the pink - take a look:

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

I decided to use my favourite pink form the Brights family, Melon Mambo, as the focus of my card, adding a couple of strips of retired Brights designer paper and a heat-embossed white-on-black sentiment from 'Something Fancy', before embellishing with hearts and flowers from the Around The Bend Dies set, some silver thread and rhinestones for a little sparkle:

I added another sentiment and a little extra detail inside my card:

I liked this card so much I made another one, this time using Flirty Flamingo and I switched out the rhinestones for pearls and sequins:

Here's a close up:

I used an alternative sentiment inside this card:

I'm linking this second version of my card up over at the Paper Craft Crew where I went down the first column of the tic tac toe board (flowers, sequins, hearts).

Here's one last photo of both cards together - which one do you prefer? My favourite is the Melon Mambo version, but the Flirty Flamingo version is fun too. Very girly and feminine!

Here is the visual summaries 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'm hoping to fit in a little crafting but otherwise it should be a fairly uneventful day. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

AROUND THE BEND DIES (31.00)	SOMETHING FANCY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)	IRIDESCENT PEARL BASIC JEWELS (7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)

Happy Monday everyone! I've spent the day in my office working on projects to share with you this week and amongst other things also managed to make a card for Karren's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches today so I need to blog it quickly before they close! Here's Karren's sketch:

I paired it with the colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and took the opportunity to play with another new-to-me bundle - take a look:

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

I thought the large circle of Karren's sketch would be perfect to showcase the detail of the die plate that is included in the Two Tone Flora Dies, so I cut an aperture using the largest of my circle Stylish Shapes Dies and adhered the diecut behind. I added a panel of (retired) Fine Art Floral designer paper behind it, that features a subtle Pool Party gesso effect, and accented my window with a single Blackberry Bliss flower:

Some Mint Macaron leaves, a trio of glossy dots and a birthday sentiment from 'Something Fancy' complete my card.

I've always loved the combination of Pool Party and Blackberry Bliss and this dies is just amazing - I can't wait to use it more! Both the Two Tone Flora stamp set and dies are carrying over to the new annual catalogue, but the bundle pricing isn't - so if you'd like to purchase both items and receive a 10% saving, you'll need to be quick and place your order for them before the end of the month.

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 another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TWO-TONE FLORA BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (53.00)	SOMETHING FANCY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	GLOSSY DOTS ASSORTMENT (7.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)