It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the middle column with books/yellow/bird and using the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and the colours over at Color Dare (I went along the top row and used Toffee and Capri too) and created a good luck card for someone who is about to start the new school year at senior school - take a look:

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

The Sunday Stamps layout is a favourite of mine and one I've used previously in other ways. Today I thought that panel in the corner would make the perfect old-fashioned classroom chalkboard to ground my colourful bird from the 'Bird's Eye View' stamp set. I love the birds in this set - they are so quirky and comical and the addition of spectacles just adds to the sense of whimsy. I added some white swishes of chalk to my blackboard and stamped my Starry Sky base with some tone-on-tone books to add to the back-to-school feel and finished with a sentiment from 'Charming Sentiments':

Isn't that fun?! Good luck wishes to anyone embarking on new educational adventures in the coming weeks; this includes both of the James Juniors, one of whom will be starting Sixth Form and studying for A Levels having passed his GCSEs this summer and the other will be heading to the University of Birmingham to study Biochemistry, having achieved a fantastic set of A Level results. Exciting times!

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

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

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for this week's Just Us Girls Challenge - I may no longer be guest designer, but who can resist playing along with this fresh colour combo of pink and yellow that Nancy chose this week? Not me (waves excitedly to all my new JUGS friends!) I used the sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments for my layout and having chosen two new pastel shades for my florals I am also linking up with the current Flower Challenge:

To my card! Lots of new things on today's card - take a look:

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

Another Cheerful Daisies card - I am loving exploring the ways that these stamps and dies can be used together. For today's card I didn't stamp the daisies, instead opting to diecut them in 3 layers: the middle layer is the trio of daisies stuck together (leaves snipped away), which I inked with Lemon Lolly in the centres and Bubble Bath on the petal edges, the base layer consists of the three individual outlines in Basic White and adhered behind the middle layer, and this is finished with a top layer of individual pieces cut from vellum. By using all three layers, it creates a beautiful dimensional daisy - add in some texture from some diecut fronds, leaves and a scrap embossed with the timber embossing folder, along with a trio of Lemon Lolly faceted gems and you have a visual feast! 

A stitched square for the diamond, along with a sentiment on the diecut label that comes with the Cheerful Daisies Dies completes my card. This sentiment isn't supposed to fit the label, since it's the wrong shape, however given that I wanted to tuck my label into my arrangement and needed a blank portion, it worked perfectly. I adore this duet of new colours that joined the Subtles family following the colour refresh, so much so I even stamped my sentiment in Bubble Bath pink - I just didn't want black to intrude onto my otherwise wholly pastel 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. 

I am not generally a big fan of pastels, but I must say these two new colours are delightful additions to the Subtles family and I know I'll be using them lots more! Do you have a favourite colour family? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back shortly with a quick post for this week's TicTacToe Challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHEERFUL DAISIES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SOLID GEMS (7.50)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	TIMBER 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the sketch over at Sketch Saturday for my layout and went along the centre row of the board with wood/free/fall colours and incorporated the colours, leaves and acorns of the Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo for my card to welcome autumn - take a look:

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

Timber Texture - I ran my card base through the Timber Embossing Folder for my wood element, then added a piece of the now retired Sale-A-Bration Rings of Love designer series paper down the centre - the pattern is perfect to evoke an autumnal feel.

Chic Leaves - I added a sentiment from a retired set to a stitched circle and embellished this with a trio of diecut oak leaves curtesy of the Chic Dies - such a great die set, with something for every season. 

An Acorn Pair - I finished my card with a pair of diecut acorns from the Tree Rings Hybrid Embossing Folder and Dies and some retired Poppy Parade thick baker's twine. Here's a closeup of that diecut detail and those lovely autumn colours:

I love the vibrancy that is added by the pop of red from the baker's twine and the additional textures that always seem to accompany my autumn-themed 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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TIMBER 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.50)	CHIC DIES (£35.00)	TREE RINGS HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (£34.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SOFT SUEDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)