Today it's Sunday (and I hope those of you reading this who are in the UK enjoyed a lie-in and remembered to turn your clocks back!) - time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a fun TicTacToe challenge for you to work with:

I have a very special card to share with you today! Lots of photos and news of an exclusive product pre-release that is happening this week on 2nd November, so time to buckle up and sit tight - here we go! I went along the diagonal of the TTT grid from bottom left to top right with foil/patterned paper/diecut for my card today, which is a fancy fold birthday card featuring the new Eden's Garden suite. Here's a first look at my card when closed and then I'll tell you a little more about the products in the Eden's Garden suite:

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

Eden's Garden - The Eden's Garden bundle, comprising the Eden's garden cling stamp set and Eden Dies, will be included in the January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue, however is being released for sale this week on Tuesday 2nd November, so this is the perfect opportunity to explore it before the official release.

Pre-Release Exclusives - In addition to the bundle, for the duration of the pre-release only, you will also be able to order a number of additional exclusive products, that will be available only while supplies last. The other items in the Eden's Garden Collection pre-release include 12"x12" specialty designer paper, cotton paper and garden gems. Here's the flyer detail so that you can see it in more detail:

Eden's Garden Fancy Fold - Now you've had the detail, it's time to check out my card! As I mentioned above it's a fancy fold; the talented Elizabeth Price had made a couple of cards with a similar fold that I just loved and she coined it a 'hokey pokey' card, because the back side is in front, the right side tucks into the left and there's detail inside that could in fact be the front of the card. To explain this in more detail, here's another photo of the card closed:

When you remove the belly band that holds the folds in place, you can start to see how it opens, and you can see the embossed detail:

This is what it looks like fully open:

My card base is Soft Succulent and it measures 6" by 12" and is scored along the long edge at 1", 6" and 10 3/8". All of the papers come from the Ever Eden specialty designer series paper pack - beautiful, soft serene greens of Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen with touches of gold foil detail. The sentiment on my belly band comes from the Eden's Garden stamp set, and I used each of the Eden's Dies in different ways on my project: the largest rectangle frame is embossed onto the front right panel of my card, with the smaller rectangle frame as the base for my belly band centrepiece, which also includes a banner piece in gold foil and some sprigs diecut from Soft Succulent shimmer vellum for added subtle sparkle and shine:

I used the edge border die to add detail to my fold out edges, cut in the beautifully soft Evening Evergreen cotton paper:

Inside my card, I used more of the paper and diecut foliage with another sentiment piece (this time from the 'Peaceful Moments' stamp set) for my pictoral panel and added some stamping of a repeating pattern using the main foliage image in the Eden's Garden stamp set:

 Here's the birthday sentiment embellishment in more detail:

The launch of the Eden's Garden pre-release coincide with my lovely Mums' birthday, so I thought this card would be perfect to send her my love and best wishes. For her version of the card, I also added another shortened banner to the outside panel, as show below:

The sentiment is from the 'A Wish For Everything' stamp set, which really does have a sentiment for every occasion:

I thought I'd share this additional detail with you as it's useful to see how you can add in a more personal greeting with this kind of card. I'm safe to blog my card today as my Mum rarely reads my blog so won't see this ahead of time; she loves greens and is a big fan of a fancy birthday card though, so I know she will love it. 

If you like the products in the Eden's Garden pre-release, do be sure to pop back Tuesday when these items will be available to order in the online store. the Eden's Garden bundle is also the focus for my online technique card class on Monday 6th December - do get in touch if you would like to join me, you would be more than 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 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 will be out at hockey this morning as Rebecca is umpiring at a junior tournament and am looking forward to an afternoon cosying up indoors with the family before we are back to school tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

To be updated on 2 November when these products are available for purchase.

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

So many ways to use this sketch! I decided to go with a larger slimline card and showcase one of my favourite paper designs in the current mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Whimsy and Wonder - I love the rather less traditional colours of the Whimsy and Wonder specialty designer series paper and I particularly love the iridescent foiling on some of the sheets, such as the snowflakes on the paper I am featuring on today's card. I cut three rectangular panels of DSP using my stitched rectangle dies and matted each with some brushed silver foil cardstock and a layer of basic white too.

Stitched Snowflakes - For the focal point to anchor my banner, I decided to create a large layered snowflake, using two snowflakes cut using my Stitched Snowflakes Dies and backed this with an additional iridescent snowflake. I added a large rhinestone and silver trim bow - here's a close up so that you can see just how pretty it is:

Finishing Touches - I heat embossed my sentiment from the 'Merry Snowflakes' stamp set in silver onto a banner of Blushing Bride on the front of my card, and stamped another sentiment from the same set onto the inside panel:

I added snippets of snowflakes both to the inside and beneath the panels on the outside of my card to complete the look - you can never have too many snowflakes, right?! I just love this card - so gloriously feminine, yet festive too!

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 are enjoying a restful day at home. If it stays fine we might go for a long walk this afternoon, and since it's the start of half term I may see if I can cajole the rest of the James family into completing a jigsaw with me on our return! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WHIMSY & WONDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	STITCHED SNOWFLAKES DIES (£32.00)	WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (£9.25)
BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

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 Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I decided to use Judy's Freshly Made Sketches layout for my card and having originally decided to go super simple, after yesterday's card I couldn't resist having another go at incorporating an interactive element so I'm having another go over at Just Add Ink too - take a look:

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

The stars of today's card are the 'Party Puffins' stamp set - my go to for fun birthday cards - and the Give It A Whirl dies, with a rotating wheel of sentiments and images. You can see the first one above; here's the second one:

And finally, the third one:

Here's a quick video clip that show how the wheel rotates through the images:

A piece of Patterned Party striped designer paper adds a little coloured border and I used these colours to co-ordinate my coloured images too. A sprinkling of sequins complete 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

These dies are super easy to use and whilst they do add layers to today's card, my overall design is still clean and simple, with minimal embellishments and lots of white space.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£36.00)	PARTY PUFFINS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BERMUDA BAY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a clean and simple card for the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'Spooky':

I'm also linking up with the ladies over at Retro Rubber where the theme is 'anything goes' and at SUO Challenges where the theme is Halloween too. Whilst digging around in my retired stamp collection the other week, since this is where most of my Halloween stamps are to be found, I remembered there were three different Halloween owls in last year's 'Have A Hoot' stamp set from September 2020 and decided to use it to try a really easy fun fold Peek-A-Boo style card that I had seen Jennifer McGuire make ages ago that I wanted to have a go at. Here's what the card looks like closed:

Then as you open the card, it reveals either another image or message - I went with a 'boo' courtesy of the owl hiding behind the pumpkin:

Perfect for the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week where they are all about moving parts too. Here's a short video clip so that you can actually see how the peek-a-boo mechanism works:

Isn't that fun?! I embossed the front of my card with my retired cobweb embossing folder to add to the spooky vibe; I'm hoping this doesn't take away too much from the CAS aspect of my card and my 'white space'. Here's a close-up of that mischievous owl:

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project since they are all retired; it was fun to take a trip into the retired box to create this super simple card to share with you today.

Enjoy your day; I'm off to the hockey pitch side lines! I'll be back tomorrow with my card for our new challenge at the Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

• Have-A-Hoot stamp set (retired)
• Cobweb Embossing Folder (retired)
• Stampin' Blends - various

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

I thought Anne Marie's colour palette was perfect for an autumn and decided to make another card using my Seasonal Swirls Dies featuring orange pumpkins; my card is much more about fall thanks than Halloween spooks this week though - take a look:

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

Seasonal Swirls - I'm a sucker for a good wreath die and the Seasonal Swirls Dies are no exception. On today's card I layered two of the leaf/twig dies, one in Crumb Cake and one in Early Espresso and decorated it with some cute pumpkins that I had sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink for a little added dimension and tied with linen thread bows.

Thinking Thanks - My extra-large sentiment across the front of my card is from the 'Thinking Thanks and Peace' stamp set. I stamped it in Early Espresso onto Pale Papaya cardstock (minus the wheatsheaf) and fussy cut it before adding to the centre of my wreath. I also did a little stamping on the inside of my card using a sentiment from the 'Sparkle of the Season' stamp set:

A Word About Colour - I used Crumb Cake as my fourth colour to complete today's colour combination. Technically this could count as a neutral so I could justify it as a 'free' colour, but I did deliberately choose it as I wanted to keep a brown/orange colour scheme on today's card. The background is a piece of retired DSP from my collection, but you could easily splatter a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with the tip of an Early Espresso marker and achieve the same effect:

I was quite sparing with my use of Pale Papaya on today's card, but in using it for my base and to ground my sentiment, I think it adds a nice freshness to these otherwise rich autumn colours. What do you think? Do leave me a comment below - as always, 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 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; no special plans in the James household today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SEASONAL SWIRLS DIES (£32.00)	THINKING THANKS & PEACE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

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

I was initially a little concerned that I would struggle this week; I don't make many Halloween cards as I rarely send them as it isn't a big thing here in the UK and I don't really buy many Halloween sets as a result. I didn't even have any current Halloween paper! What to do?! I decided to take stock of all current sets and pull out anything that had something Halloween-related in it, whilst also taking inspiration from a few other challenges too, and ended up making a card really easily. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Halloween Seasonal Swirls - The star of today's card is most definitely the Seasonal Swirls Dies. They have this fun star wreath (which along with my bat silhouettes fulfilled my 'Just Choose 2' for Just Add Ink this week) which I cut out of sparkly black glitter paper, then embellished with a trio of pumpkins and witches' brooms cut from some retired textured kraft paper I had, which along with my purple background uses this week's Color Throwdown colours which are perfect for Halloween.

Sparkle of The Season and A Wish For Everything - Alongside my diecut wreath, there isn't much stamping on my card: the sentiment on the front comes from the 'Sparkle of the Season' stamp set that is bundles with the dies; I also found this fun Halloween sentiment in the 'A Wish For Everything' stamp set that I used on the inside of my card:

Perfect for the inside of my card!

Spooky? - I wasn't sure that my sparkly wreath alone could truly be considered 'spooky', but luckily Narelle's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week came to my rescue on that front: I took that second circle shape behind, masked off and sponged in a moon with white craft and a little  silver metallic ink for shading, along with the splatter stamp in the 'Quiet Meadow' stamp set for crate-like detail and a trio of black bats from 'Sparkle of The Season' for added spooky:

A final diecut bat, along with some blended tone-on-tone colour around the edge of my purple layer, complete my suitably spooky card.

I felt like I needed a lot of help to get me going with my card this week, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Even more impressive is that it didn't include a single Halloween-specific stamp set! So if you are looking at this week's theme and thinking you don't 'do Halloween', check out the stamp sets on your shelf or get creative with some punch art - like me, you might be surprised at what you'll find!

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; today is a very special day in the James household! Tomorrow is a milestone birthday for my 'significant other' ( also known as the first Mr James! - if you missed his card, I already shared that here); since his birthday falls on a day that is filled with work, school and sport for pretty much everyone in the James household, we are celebrating today. We have cake, balloons, fizz, presents and more so whilst he is not one to make a fuss, the children and I are ready to celebrate his half-century in style!  I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SPARKLE OF THE SEASON BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	BLACK 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) GLITTER PAPER (£5.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£36.00)
UNINKED STAMPIN’ PAD & WHISPER WHITE REFILL (£8.75)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

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 my favourite, a sketch, for you to work with:

I designed this sketch months ago so had nothing in particular in mind when I created it. I actually intended to go with a Christmas card until I saw those lovely autumn leaves and trees in the Color Dare inspiration photo, which prompted me to go in a completely different direction - take a look:

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

Beauty of The Earth - I decided to use a strip of the Beauty of the Earth designer paper for my border edge as it contained lots of lovely greens, reds, oranges and browns in a mottled leaf pattern that fitted my theme perfectly.

Stitched Leaves - I used the three squares of my sketch (you don't have to use squares - these can be any shape you like) to create a trio of diecut stitched leaves in co-ordinating colours, two of them offset within a couple of stitched squares and one tied with twine to accent my sentiment:

I added a trio of brushed metallic dots to my card front too - love these!

Love of Leaves - The only  stamping on the front of my card is the sentiment, from the 'Lots of Leaves' stamp set; I did add a little more to the inside of my card, including a sponged leaf with diecut detail for decoration:

You may be wondering why my card base appears Garden Green in this photo, yet is Old Olive on the front; in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I started out with a Garden Green base, but it just wasn't working for me. I fiddled about with various card front colours, in the end settling on Old Olive - but instead of cutting a new card base just added a panel to the front of my card. I also experimented with texture and additional detail on the panel, but in the end decided to leave it plain. So there you have 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 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 - they created some fabulous designs inspired by this week's sketch:

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; no big plans here other than some cooking and collection of the youngest of the James Juniors following a weekend of hiking and camping as he completed his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition. Here's hoping for minimal blisters, a shower and an early night!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVE OF LEAVES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	BEAUTY OF THE EARTH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (£8.25)

Another Monday, another week! Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I made using this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout that I'm also linking up over at Addicted to CAS where the codeword is 'leaf':

This week's FMS sketch is courtesy of Cecile Ribon. If you are not a regular follower of Freshly Made Sketches, you should make a point of checking out her cards; I am in awe of her beautifully clean, elegant designs! I didn't get a chance to make a card to play along until today, but couldn't resist the opportunity to channel my 'inner Cecile' and have a go - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Painted Christmas - I decided to use designer paper for the trio of squares on the sketch and chose a selection of soft watercoloured patterns from the painted Christmas papers. I went mostly with patterns in greens and white with small designs, with one square that had red in too, which I picked up in my simple 'Joy' sentiment from the 'Merriest moments' stamp set. These papers are so pretty but not too overpowering - perfect in small amount for a clean and simple card.

White Holly - I chose to accent my card with a sprig of diecut holly in white; this was a deliberate move, albeit an unusual one for me. I used the (retired) Sweetest Borders Dies as I wanted to have something that was the right size with a little diecut detail, but there are plenty of current dies that could be adapted to achieve the same effect:

I was aiming for a single leaf for my Addicted to CAS entry, but because I used holly ended up with two; is it just me, but do you ever see holly leaves in ones? I only ever place them in pairs!

Finishing Touches - I added a trio of clear faceted gems and a silver twine bow to my white foliage for some simple finishing touches, along with a simple sentiment on the inside:

I liked this card and sketch so much, I made a second one too, this one with the centre square being the uppermost and popped up on dimensionals, rather than overlapped as per Cecile's original sketch:

I chose a couple of other prints too, with a little more pale green in the print pattern:

So what do you think? I love both of these cards and loved trying to channel my 'inner Cecile' to create my FMS entry 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. 

My day has been a topsy-turvy one, with plans upended and rejigged due to changes in school activities such that the restful day of crafting I had planned didn't quite materialise. No matter though - sometimes you have to roll with it and tomorrow may bring less upheaval; here's hoping! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PAINTED CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

MERRIEST MOMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (£7.00)

SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a timely Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I love our challenge badge this week and decided to embrace the fun of our challenge photo and go with a card that is all about playing with leaves - take a look:

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

I stamped this super-cute image of this little chap playing in a big pile of leaves with his kitty from the 'Seasons of Fun' current seasonal hostess set onto a panel cut with the Whimsy Dies (the swirly border reminded me of a breeze!) and coloured with my Stampin' Blends markers: 

That's all there is to it - super clean and really simple to achieve!

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 linking today's card up for another entry over at The Alphabet Challenge where they are on 'L is for Leaves' and over at SUO Challenges where the current theme is 'people'. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SEASONS OF FUN HOST CLING STAMP SET (£11.00)	STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today will be a two-post day as I have some news: I am joining the Festive Friday Challenge team! This is a fortnightly challenge that is inspired by a particular day of the year that I have played along with on a number of occasions. 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.

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Balloons Around The World Day' which is on 1st October. I often only use three or four elements when I play along, but when I saw this week's board I knew exactly what I wanted to create - and ended up using balloons, red, purple, clouds, sun, stripes, twine and paper-piecing!

This is the card I created:

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

I grabbed my 'Counting Sheep' and co-ordinating Sheep Dies, both freebies with the current Sale-A-Bration promotion and created a little scene. I used a (retired) stitched square for my scene and layered this onto a striped banner and then a stitched rectangle, to tie in with the stitched detail on the sun. The one thing you may be asking yourself is 'where is the paper-piecing?' It's subtle, but I assure you it's there: I paper-pieced my sheep's wool with the Snowy White Velvet Sheets - it gives the sheep's coat a fun, almost fuzzy felt, feel and you can see it better on the close-up below:

How cute is that?! And all the better for being made with free products too! If you'd like to get your hands on this bundle, you still have a couple of weeks to place your order before the Sale-A-Bration promotion ends. Bear in mind that products are only available whilst stocks last and as we near the end of the promotion, there is a chance that popular items will sell out, so don't leave it too late!

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 Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

Enjoy your morning and I'll be back later with my project for the new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

COUNTING SHEEP CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	SHEEP DIES (£0.00)	SNOWY WHITE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) VELVET SHEETS (£4.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)
HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)