It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my fabulous friend LeAnne's turn to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

This week's challenge was indeed 'sew' much fun and I have not one but two super clean-and-simple cards to share with you this week! This is also something of a 'something old, something new' post for me and perfect for the current challenge over at As You See It where they are asking us to remember the first tool or stamp set we bought or the one that made us fall in love with stamping, so I have a story for you today! First things first though - here is card number one:

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

Take A Hoop - I've been wanting to use these cute little mini embroidery hoops in the seasonal catalogue and today gave me the perfect opportunity. Perfect for framing miniature works of art, they are just like the real thing. 

Cross Stitch With Hoop La La - The stamp set I've used today is an old set called 'Hoop La La'. It isn't the first stamp set I ever bought (that was called 'Sweetheart' I think and you could make treat cup cards with it - I still have it somewhere but couldn't find it anywhere when I looked this week!) but this was one of the first. I chose it because it combined two of my favourite hobbies: my love of cross stitch and my new passion for card making - I just had to have it and haven't been able to part with it since. On this card I used the house, coloured with my Stampin' Write markers in Pool Party and Bermuda Bay and added a red enamel heart. Another 'new home' card - I seem to be needing a lot of these lately! The stamp set includes a stamp of an embroidery hoop, but I love the dimension that the little wooden hoops give to the card.

Get Stitching - To continue the stitching theme, I used my stitched circle framelits to cut out my circle to sit inside the hoop (I popped it up on dimensionals). I also added a diecut needle from last season's Quilt Builder Framelits and threaded it with some Pool Party baker's twine. I also added a twine bow to the top of my hoop for decoration. 

Here's the second of my cards, this time using the smaller size embroidery hoop and adhering my stitched circle to the top of the frame for an alternative mount:

This one shows up a little better with the darker purple colour against the white - here is a close up of the hoop so that you can see the alternative mount on the smaller embroidery hoop:

I like this mix of old and new so much I think I'm going to have to get another pack of hoops and make up some more of these cards! 

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:

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Mini Embroidery Hoops	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Brights Enamel Shapes	Pool Party Solid Baker’S Twine	Silver Foil Sheets
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Happy Monday everyone! The James Juniors are on their half-term holiday from school this week so whilst they are likely to be enjoying some much-needed R&R, I will be juggling as usual! I did manage to grab some time over the weekend to write up a ton of blog posts, so hopefully a more regular blogging service is about to resume. Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch - take a look:

I haven't managed to play along here for a little while, so was super-happy to see this sketch as I immediately knew how I was going to tackle it! Now clean and simple my card might be, but it does include a fair bit of fussy cutting - take a look:

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

Bubbles And Fizz - When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of those mini bottles on the Bubbles and Fizz Designer Series Paper that can be yours free with a purchase of £45 or more during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. These papers are designed to co-ordinate with the Bubble Over bundle in the seasonal catalogue - more on that another day! Whilst the paper really makes the most of the stamp set, it also stands up on its own: fabulous bright colours, with both bottle and alternative patterns in the set. 

To Fussy Cut Or Not - Three of the papers in the Bubbles and Fizz pack have patterns that can be cut out using the co-ordinating Bottles and Bubbles Framelit dies - the design I chose to use for my card is not one of them though! Undeterred, I grabbed my paper snips and set to work. I love a bit of fussy cutting, I actually find it quite theraputic - but I know it's not everyone's thing. We had a lively debate on my Facebook page where I shared my work-in-progress at the weekend; the jury was split 50:50 between the lovers and the haters - which side of the fence would you be on? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to know! 

A Custom Banner - I played about with lots of backgrounds, colours and sentiment banners before finally deciding in white embossed on a Bermuda Bay banner for a bright pop of colour, courtesy of the Large Number Framelits. The sentiment is from the 'Colour Me Happy' stamp set.

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 haven't featured the 'Bubble Over' stamp set on my blog yet, despite having a ton of projects made with it as I was lucky enough to present this set at Onstage last November. I think this may be the week I put that right - look out for a ton of bottle projects to follow, including some 3D pieces.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bubbles & Fizz Designer Series Paper	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Large Numbers Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Laurie to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for you to work with:

I debated about where to take these colours and when I saw the current inspiration photo over at Inspired By All The Little Things I decided another Valentine's card was in order. All those red and white hearts, the love and even the bicycle against the neutral background - take a look:

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

Heart Happiness - Today's card like last week's features hearts-a-plenty: I stamped a whole bunch of hearts from the 'Hearts Happiness' stamp set in Real Red onto Whisper White cardstock, diecut them with the Sweet & Sassy Framleits, along with a few additional red glimmer ones, and arranged them across my cardfront, along with a couple of doilies and some linen thread.

Love(ly Words) - Whilst I didn't use a bicycle on my card, I was inspired by the bike in the Inspired By photo to add my 'love' sentiment in black amongst my plethora of hearts. The thin frame of my love heart, like the thin frame of the bicycle, was made using the 'lovely' diecut from the Lovely Words framelits set - I snipped the sentiment between the 'e' and the 'ly' to make 'love' and tucked it in between my other hearts so that only 'love' was visible. 

A Custom Sentiment - Whilst this card could be used as a Valentine, it is also my wedding anniversary next week and so I actually made this card for my husband with that in mind. Inside I stamped two of the sentiments from the Petal Palette stamp set, but customised one of them with another stamp in the same set to change the meaning - take a look:

I altered the wording from 'you' to 'us' on the sentiment in the bottom right-hand corner  - a great way to make this sentiment appropriate for a partner rather than another couple; I used the 'US' from the sentiment I used in the centre of my card. Here are the stamps circled so you can see how they look before they were altered:

I hope you like my clever trick - yet another way to make the most of this fabulous set!

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.  I'm also linking up today's card with the team over at CAS-ual Fridays - it is after all hearts, hearts and more hearts!

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'm off to the swimming pool today for the County Championships with one of my James Juniors - wish us luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Heart Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set	Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Lots To Love Box Framelits Dies	Lovely Words Thinlits Dies	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Petal Palette Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Linen Thread	Red Glimmer Paper
Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Delicate White Doilies

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my lovely and talented friend Claire to host this week and she has a rather timely theme challenge for you to work with:

February at last and Valentine's is on the way! I have both a card and gift box to share with you this week and hearts were definitely on my mind when I started creating - take a look:

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

Painted With Love - Whilst I used this week's sketch over at As you See It as the inspiration for the layout for my card today, the Painted With Love papers are most certainly the inspiration for my colour scheme. I couldn't wait to use these colourful papers with their gold foil accents on my project, and carried through the shades of purple and pink to the rest of my card design. Here's my colour palette in case you would like to save it for your future inspiration:

Hearts A Plenty - Both the teams over at CAS-ual Fridays and SUO Challenges are looking for hearts, hearts and more hearts this week. I've used a combination of hearts in all different sizes stamped from the 'Heart Happiness' stamp set and some diecuts using the Sweet and Sassy Framelit Dies, along with a sprinkling of gold metallic heart shapes for my full heart quota.

Love You - My sentiment is a combination of a 'love' diecut from the Sunshine Wishes Framelits and 'YOU' from the Sale-A-Bration 'Celebrate You Thinlits' - I love being able to play around and take bits and pieces from my collection to create the perfect combination. I also added a little stamping to the inside - this lovely stamp from the 'Petal Passion' set: 

I also created a co-ordinating box with a heart fold flat closure in the same paper, perfect to enclose a Valentine's treat - here it is with my card: 

I may well do another blog post on the box - it's very pretty and turned out even better than I hoped it would! 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:

I can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Blogland has lots of challenges with love in mind so I think this could be something of a theme around here in coming days! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We were out at a swimming gala yesterday and Ben has a basketball tournament today, so it's all go here. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Painted With Love Specialty Designer Series Paper	Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Heart Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set	Celebrate You Thinlit Dies	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad
Powder Pink 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon	Metallic Enamel Shapes	Gold Mini Sequin Trim	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets
Petal Palette Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Today I'm sharing a card using the sketch over at Fab Friday that also fits the theme over at Fusion:

I decided to break away from the heart shape on the sketch (and turned it through 180 degrees) and decided to give my Coffee Cafe set some love and feature a coffee cup instead, which led me to my second attempt at the current Fusion challenge - take a look:

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

Satisfy Your Coffee Craving - Coffee shops are so big right now; even in this nation of tea drinkers, coffee shops are continuing to take the nation by storm. So if you are a fan of the bean, the Coffee Cafe Suite is the perfect way to indulge and satisfy your coffee craving. There is a stamp set with co-ordinating framelits that are available as a bundle and some of the framelits fit the images on the Coffee Break co-ordinating designer series paper. You can also create your own textured coffee collar, as the framelit for this embosses too. The designer series paper has some great themed patterns and some good neutral patterns, such as spots and leaves that work well with other types of product too.  

Thanks A Latte - Always a sucker for a punny sentiment, and partial to a skinny grande latte, this sentiment is perfect for me! I also think it works really well for a gift card holder with a Starbucks gift card inside - and who wouldn't want a coffee and muffin as a treat once in a while? Just sayin' :-) The Coffee Cafe stamp set also has two other sentiments that are perfect to send to a coffee-loving friend.

It's In The Details - The Coffee Cafe Suite also includes some fun corrugated elements - I used one behind my sentiment - that are great for adding a little texture to your projects. My card also features some of the lovely Crumb Cake woven ribbon - no bow on this card though, as I think it will be heading to one or other of the James Juniors teachers, who are both male, so I didn't want it to look too feminine.

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:

Coffee Café Photopolymer Stamp Set	Coffee Cups Framelits Dies	Coffee Break Designer Series Paper	Corrugated Elements	Crumb Cake 3/8" Classic Weave Ribbon
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our wonderful team leader Nance to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

Whether you stay with the circle or use an alternative shape, this is a sketch with many possibilities. I decided to keep with the circle as it was perfect to showcase a new stamp I haven't used yet and have fun with a little colouring - take a look:

I've had a few friends that have either recently moved or are in the process of moving, so I needed to replenish my stock of 'new home' cards and the 'Flying Home' stamp set had the perfect image. Here's the low-down on today's card:

Flying Home - I was lucky enough to receive the 'Flying Home' stamp set at Onstage in November, but had yet to ink it up. This set is perfect for a new home card, or even a new baby card; in fact the whimsical line drawings work for lots of card types. The other great thing about this set is that it is made for colouring. I used my Stampin' Blends to colour in my main image and I stamped the little bird twice so that I could fussy cut one and pop him up on a tiny piece of a dimensional for added lift.

A Petal Garden Colour Combo - I pulled the colours for my stamped image directly from the Petal Garden designer series paper that I used for my background panel and added a co-ordinating ribbon trim too. I love these fresh colours, perfect for spring - here's the colour palette for you to save if you'd like to use it for your future projects:

New Home Congratulations - The 'Flying Home' stamp set is sentiment-free, so I decided to go on the hunt through my other sets for a small sentiment that I could add to my horizontal Pool Party strip. I found the perfect stamp in 'At Home With You'  - and followed up inside my card with 'congratulations'.

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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'm hoping to fit in a little more crafty time today along with some precious family time. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Flying Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Old Olive A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock
Old Olive 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon	Calypso Coral 1/8" Sheer Ribbon	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Layering Circle Framelits Dies
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Crumb Cake Light Stampin' Blends Marker

I've started the week with one of the James Juniors home from school with the dreaded lurgy, so no time to craft 'from scratch' today. Days like this are perfect days to work on a kit though, where all the hard work and prep is done for you. So today I'm sharing not one card but 5 - yes the five different all-occasion card designs that feature in the fabulous new 'Lots of Happy Card Kit' - take a look:

Here's the low-down on this kit:

Lots of Happy, Lots To Love - There's lots to love in this all-inclusive kit: with 4 each of 5 designs, you can create a total of 20 all-occasion cards using the included 'Lots of Happy' stamp set and then colour these using the Watercolour Pencils that are also included in the kit. two of the four pencils that are included are exclusive to this kits and not available with the standard pencil set. Here are each of the 5 designs individually:

A Fun Night In - The Lots of Happy Card Kit is perfect for a fun night in with friends - if ever you needed an excuse to get together on a wintry afternoon or evening and have some fun, this is it! No skill or previous experience necessary, so whether you consider yourself a crafter or a complete novice that just loves to send beautiful handcrafted cards, this kit is for you! The theraputic benefits of colouring are well-known (you can read all about that in my previous post here) - add some refreshments - tea and cake or wine and nibbles, either works! - and a fun night is guaranteed! If you would be interested in hosting a fun evening with friends, do get in touch - I would love to help you to host a night to remember! What's more if you invite 7 friends to participate during Sale-A-Bration - each kit costs £31.50 each - as the hostess you can get your kit for FREE!

And There's More - This fabulous kit also has a refill available, so if you enjoyed it the first time around, you can reuse your stamp set, block, ink and pencils and create even more cards! A refill costs just £19 - that's less than £1 per card, bargain!

Also the lovely people at Stampin' Up! have also produced a video showing this kit in more detail if you'd like a closer look:

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 know I often say this when a new kit comes along, but this really is a good one - the end results are so contemporary and pretty, I love it! Contact me to get one for yourself today!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lots Of Happy Card Kit

Lots Of Happy Card Kit Refill

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 topical clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

It's almost February and with Valentine's Day around the corner love is definitely in the air, so what better time to send a little love note or two to the one you love? I have a super clean-and-simple card to share with you this week that is also perfect for this week's challenge over at Less Is More - take a look:

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

Love You Panda - I couldn't resist using another of these cute little pandas on my card today - this time it had to be the one proudly holding his own little love note, perfect for my theme! I simply stamped him in black, coloured in the heart on his envelope and surrounded him with bright pink love hearts, from the Heart Happiness set. Inside I stamped my sentiment, also from the 'Party Pandas' stamp set, along with another spray of hearts:

And that's it - super simple, super cute!

The Perfect Note - I used one of the new Whisper White Narrow Note Cards for my one-layer love note today - they measure 6.4cm x 11.4cm, small and narrow and the perfect size for a note to tuck into a pocket, lunch box or gift package. 

Painted With Love Envelope Liners - My little note card was so quick and easy to put together, I decided to add another surprise pop of colour with an envelope liner on the flap of my envelopes. I simply punched a whole bunch of circles out of the Painted With Love Specialty Designer Series Paper using my 2" circle punch and adhered them to the inner flap of my envelope. 

I love my little note card so much, I made a whole bunch of them - I used a selection of papers and stamped my pandas both horizontally and vertically, with hearts in each of the colours that feature in the Painted With Love paper - here's a shot of a bunch of them together:

These are perfect for me to slip into the James Juniors' blazer pockets for a surprise note at school; we are also going to make a whole bunch more for the children to share with their friends too - it's nice to let your besties know they are loved too! They really are so simple to make - it's taken me longer to write this blog post that to actually make all of these cards!

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:

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Party Pandas Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White Narrow Note Cards & Envelopes	Painted With Love Specialty Designer Series Paper	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	2" (5.1 Cm) Circle Punch
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad
Heart Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players- what's more, it's the last one of 2017! It's the turn of my good friend, the lovely and talented Claire, to host this week and she has a bright colour challenge for us to end the year with:

This is a palette with lots of options - you could still craft for Christmas, or use these colours for a non-festive project, it's up to you. Our design team this week has done a little of both, so there's lots of inspiration for you. I took the opportunity to squeeze in another Christmas project, but went with a 3D gift box rather than a card today. In fact, a Christmas stocking - take a look:

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

Trim Your Stocking - These colours were perfect for a pink and girly Christmas stocking, complete with spotty heel, toe and cuff trim then finished off with a sprig of festive greenery. I've used the Trim Your Stocking Thinlits on this card previously but whatever your project, this set has an abundance of useful dies that are perfect for all kinds of embellishments. 

It's What's Inside That Counts - I love this sentiment! Whether it's a little chocolate - the content of choice of Rebecca - or money (most definitely the content of choice for my teenage niece!), the pillow box on the reverse of this stocking is just big enough for either. I haven't yet decided who this stocking will be heading for and for me how it looks on the outside is the most important thing, but one thing is for sure, for the recipient it's definitely what's inside that counts!

A Little Added Sparkle - I couldn't resist adding in a little sparkle to my festive stocking, with a silver foil bell, some mini sequin trim and a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella on the lime green pieces - I'm hoping Claire considers silver (almost) a neutral such that I can get away with it - I just couldn't resist, those jingle bell dies are my favourite! 

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. As I mentioned above, this is our last challenge for 2017; we will be taking a two week break before returning with a fresh new set of challenges for 2018 starting on Sunday 7th January 2018. Thanks to everyone who plays along each week, to this year's guest designers, Crystal and Valentyna, Deanne, Jan and Annie, and everyone of you who visits our blogs and leaves us encouraging comments each week - it's great to know that you enjoy our creations! We will be announcing our new guest designers for the first half of 2018 this coming Wednesday, in my mid-week reminder post, so be sure to check back then to see who will be joining us to kick off the Paper Players fun at the start of 2018!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are hoping to put our Christmas tree up and decorate the house tomorrow - then it really will feel like Christmas! I'll be back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Tags & Trimmings Clear-Mount Bundle*	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Silver Mini Sequin Trim	Silver Foil Sheets	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The lovely Laurie is the hostess this week and she has a rather delicious seasonal theme for us to work with:

I'm also linking up with the team over at Stamp Ink Paper this week who are looking at Christmas wrapping and packaging solutions. I love to make gingerbread at this time of year but it's still a little early for me to have baked and wrapped creatively, so instead I decided to share with you a little something that I've been preparing for Ben's school Christmas Fayre the week after next that fits Laurie's theme perfectly. They are having a 'Jam Jar Tombola' stall, so I've been busy making up jars of all kinds for the children to win, including some jars of dry ingredients that they can use for their own festive baking. Here's one of my jars for gingerbread cookies - take a look:

These really are so easy to make: you simply layer the dry ingredients into a kilner jar, then decorate and add a tag with the details of any ingredients you need to add and the method. 

I used the 'December Deliciousness' stamp from the 'My Little Things' stamp set to decorate my jar, using my markers to selectively colour each of the elements in and adding a heat-embossed sentiment banner across the middle to create a decorated top to my jar. I paired it with some retired paper that fits perfectly with my theme for a folded tag that includes the ingredients and recipe, some ribbon and a wooden spoon that I will be tying to the side of the jar too ready for stirring - you could also add a gingerbread cutter if you have one.

I'm a big fan of homemade gifts at Christmas and there is no limit to the things you can put in a jar; with a little decoration this kind of thing can make a thoughtful, presentable gift.

If you would like to make a jar like mine, I've included the details from the inside of my folded tag below:

Easy Gingerbread Biscuits

This jar contains:

• 100g soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ginger, ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp cinnamon, 225g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

You will need to add:

• 150g melted butter
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 egg yolk

Method:

• Mix 150g melted butter with 1 tbsp golden syrup and 1 egg yolk.
• Add to the dry ingredients, mix well, then knead to a dough.
• Chill for 15 mins then roll out.
• Cut into biscuits and bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 8-10 mins. Cool on a wire rack.

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's theme. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; my Christmas festivities have truly started in earnest this week and I am busier than ever! I am off to run a pre-Christmas Stampin' Up! party for a customer and her friends this afternoon, then will be returning home to put the finishing touches to my class preparations for my Delightful Daises Technique Class tomorrow and complete my 100 card challenge for the Ronald McDonald Christmas Cheer campaign that is happening in the UK this weekend.

I'll be back as soon as time allows with more projects; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

The Little Things Clear-Mount Stamp Set*	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Many Marvelous Markers	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock