Happy Monday everyone! We are another week closer to Christmas, so no surprises that today I'm sharing a card for the occasion! I took my inspiration from the crate of pinecones on the Hand Stamped Sentiments  inspiration photo below:

I diecut some pinecones and greenery using the Christmas Pinecone Dies and snipped a section to frame my sentiment from the 'Christmas Classics' stamp set - take a look:

I used a piece of retired Painted Christmas designer series paper for my background; I love the fresh feel of this paper, and the white background allows the detail of the diecut pinecones to really shine:

A few sparkly gems complete my card. This card took longer to make than it took to write my post; those Christmas Pinecone Dies take a little bit of time to cut and assemble, but I think it was worth it. Plus I've still got enough leftovers to make another 2-3 cards - bonus! I'm also linking today's card up over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog, where they are currently on 'P is for Peace' - the world could definitely do with some of that at the moment, for sure.

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:

CHRISTMAS PINECONE DIES (42.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

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 a festive colour challenge for us to work with:

Red, green and gold is one of my favourite festive colour combinations so I wanted to see what you would all make with it this week. You can add any other colour of your choice; for today's card I added a little Old Olive and using Jen M's square layout over at Freshly Made Sketches made a traditional Christmas card to add to my growing stash - take a look:

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

The sketch layout was perfect to showcase a large panel of designer series paper, so I chose a vibrant holly pattern from the Joy of Christmas paper pack. I used the slanted panel to feature my bold sentiment from the 'Joy To You' stamp set, which I stamped in Real Red onto a white panel cut with one of the Scalloped Contour Dies to which I added a holly and pine diecut embellishment:

I wrapped my panel of DSP with some gold simple elegant trim (great for saving bulk on cards that need to be mailed at this time of year) and added a bow to my foliage to complete my card. This card actually came together quite quickly once I'd decided on my elements; the paper does much of the hard work with such a busy pattern, it really doesn't need much else. So what will you make with this week's colour combination? Whilst these colours are my festive favourites, you don't have to make a Christmas project with them - the choice is yours!

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:

Enjoy your day; I had a super busy day yesterday, with a flying overnight visit for my university-loving daughter and a hockey match for the youngest of the James Juniors. My laundry service has gone into overdrive once more, so today will be spent ironing and baking and hopefully squeezing in a little crafting to finish a few projects that are in bits on my desk. I'm usually one of those people that makes one thing at a time, but since I've had to snatch a quick 30 minutes here and there over the last couple of days, I've started several things and am yet to finish a single one! Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to share one of them. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	CHRISTMAS CLASSICS DIES (35.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

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

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Hello Day' which is on November 21st. 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 bright colours, patterned paper, envelope and hello/hi sentiment along with the layout over at Sketch Saturday and this is what I came up with:

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

Believe it or not I actually started out making this card with the little 'hi' sentiment from the 'Just My Type' stamp set. I decided since it was so tiny, it would either need a very clean and simple layout or a bold and colourful background - as you can see, I went for the latter! I used some retired 'Sunshine and Rainbows' paper in panels for my background, then picked out the colours and images to create a little embellished focal point around my sentiment using other stamps in the set and a few additional diecut pieces from the Give It A Whirl Dies:

Cute, right?! Just the kind of note to brighten someone's day - although they might need sunglasses when they take it out of the envelope, with not a drop of black and white in sight!

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:

JUST MY TYPE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)
MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

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 along the bottom left to top right diagonal with gold metallic/holly/vanilla and using the fab layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday (no optional plaid I'm afraid) I made a festive Christmas card that also has a direct nod to the Global Design Project #GDP419 theme this week - take a look:

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

I just love the Shining Brightly speciality designer paper - the vanilla and navy colour scheme with embossed gold is so luxurious and perfect for fancy Christmas cards and packaging - and this paper did kind of inspire my TTT board this week, so I couldn't not feature it on my card. I used a panel of the foliage pattern on the lower portion of my card, then added a simple gold border to neaten the join of my paper to my layered foliage cut using the Christmas Classics Dies that I used to decorate the upper portion of my card. I used a combination of Very Vanilla, gold foil and distressed gold paper for texture and visual interest, finishing with some pearls and gold elegant twine trim:

My sentiment from the 'Christmas Classics' sentiment was my direct nod the #GDP419 board - 'Tis The Season had me instantly singing 'Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly, 'Tis The Season To Be Jolly, Fa La La La La ...' (I hope that's not given you an earworm!) for my simple banner greeting. I love this gold and vanilla colour combo - so elegant. What is your favourite festive colour combo? 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 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'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (49.50)	SHINING BRIGHTLY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (4.75)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	IRIDESCENT PEARL BASIC JEWELS (7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I thought these colours would work perfectly for a Christmas card, but feel free to use them any way you choose. Here's my card for today:

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

Those bright red 'NOEL' letters will by now be familiar to my regular readers - the 'Joy of Noel' stamp set is my number one stamp set this Christmas. I added them to foam adhesive sheets before diecutting with the co-ordinating die. For today's card I've paired them with the other die set in the suite, the Christmas Classics Dies, and added them to the holly decorative label that I cut from Mossy Meadow. I added a little Boho Blue ink to my Basic White card base with a blending brush and added some Real Red (retired) glittered enamel dot berries to the stems for a pop of festive colour. Check out the sparkle when they catch the light:

This is one of those cards that really is so quick and easy - I think the simple design is really effective though and the label really draws the eye to those fabulous letters.

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS DIES (35.00)	JOY OF NOEL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BOHO BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)

Today I'm sharing a card using Jen T's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

This is a sketch with so many possibilities! I decided to make a contemporary Christmas card using one of the Christmas tree designs in the Merry Bold & Bright designer series paper pack - take a look:

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

I'm also playing along with my friends at Just Us Girls again this week who have my favourite festive colour combo, red and green, as their inspiration this week. I would ordinarily go with something much more traditional, maybe Real Red and Shaded Spruce (my all-time favourite festive combo!) however the contemporary Christmas tree design in the Merry Bold and Bright designer series paper pack changes things up and pairs Lemon Lime Twist with Poppy Parade and a little white. My card was actually designed around the sentiment in the first instance, as I wanted something that would build across the three strips of the sketch and I love the way the text on the 'Joy to You' stamps gets bolder as it builds. I used both retired Stitched Stars Dies and Stitched Triangle Dies to create my accent trees; you could punch these but I like the addition of the stitched detail:

An unusual colour combination, but I actually rather like it; so much so I made two cards whilst I was at it! Here's a peek at the inside too where I added another of the stamps from the 'Joy To You' set and added a leftover strip of paper to decorate:

Perhaps this one needs a warning on the envelope to wear sunglasses on opening!!

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'm having a day of catching up with lots of little jobs today - the sun is shining, so I'm feeling motivated! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

MERRY BOLD & BRIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

POPPY PARADE 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 Anne Marie to host this week and she has a great theme challenge for us to work with:

Giving thanks - everyone needs a good supply of thank you cards, right? With Thanksgiving later this month for my American friends, November is often a month more than most when we pause to reflect on the things we are grateful for. I could have gone with a card that was similarly seasonally themed, but I decided instead to go with something bold and bright that made the most of this week's Global Design Project sketch - take a look:

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

Bold & Bright, Not Merry - For my vertical stripes, I used a panel of the Merry, Bold & Bright Designer series paper. Part of the Christmas product range, this is a paper pack with designs that really do work all year round and these stripes are perfect for my thank you card.

Many, Many Thanks - I decided to add some tone-on-tone stamping using a selection of the stamps in the 'Timeless Arrangements' stamp set. This set is choc-full of sentiments for all kinds of thank yous; I chose three different sentiments and stamped them repeatedly along the length of the stripes. This is a great way to add interest to a card and using the striped designer paper makes it really easy - no need to stress about accurately cutting your stripes to the same size. 

A Very Big Thanks - I heat-embossed another of the sentiments from the set in (retired) Blueberry Bushel embossing powder onto a vellum circle and decided I had to finish my card with  - a very big thanks, what else?! I added a layered a diecut of the retired thanks die from the Amazing Thanks Dies, slightly offset to reveal some blue beneath my bright green sentiment:

A trio of sparkly enamel dots complete my card. So what do you think? Who would you send today's colourful thank you to? Do leave me a comment below and let me know - 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:

Enjoy your day; our house seems super quiet today, with only the youngest of the James juniors and I in residence - the eldest is still enjoying university life and the hubby is on an extended trip to China and Vietnam. I wonder how long it will be before we are bored with each other's company?! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TIMELESS ARRANGEMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	MERRY BOLD & BRIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	TINSEL GEMS FOUR-PACK (7.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)

Yay - it's the weekend! Today I'm sharing a clean and simple notecard that was inspired by a few challenges that came together in an interesting way:

The colour scheme at AAA Cards caught my eye and the circular balloon image got me thinking of the SUO Challenges theme of circles and I decided to combine the two. The sketch layout over at Just Add Ink gave me the perfect layout to execute my idea (and is considerably less involved than my winning card last week - thank you ladies for the pick!) - take a look:

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

I wanted a design that exclusively featured circles and I decided to use the Labels Aglow Dies which are all based around tiny diecut circles. I diecut the large round pattern comprising lots of tiny circles twice from thick white cardstock and before I glued them down, I embossed an imprint of the die onto the card base and used my Stampin' Blends in the AAA Cards challenge colours to randomly colour the dots, similar to the inspiration photo. You can see the detail more closely on the photo below:

I finished with a simple sentiment from the 'Ringed With Nature' stamp set which I heat-embossed in white onto a Night of Navy label cut with another of the dies in the set for an extra pop of colour. The Labels Aglow Dies carried over into the annual catalogue from the seasonal catalogue this time last year and are often used for Christmas-themed and seasonal cards, especially as it was bundled with the co-ordinating 'Brightest Glow' stamp set so this is a great way to show how they can be used effectively for a non-festive card too. This is a simple notecard that is great to have on standby for those times when you need to pop a quick note in with something and would work in any colour 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; following a dry evening and a fantastic fireworks display yesterday evening, I've spent my afternoon sheltering at the side of a wet and windy hockey pitch today - winter has definitely arrived! I'll be back tomorrow with my card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LABELS AGLOW DIES (31.00)	RINGED WITH NATURE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	BALMY BLUE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a festive recipe challenge chosen by Jane:

So many lovely things to incorporate! I chose Christmas as my holiday and grabbed the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout (I flipped my sentiment/foliage panels) - take a look:

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

I added a split panel of Joy of Christmas designer series paper with a panel of white cardstock embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder, adding a wrap of festive red satin ribbon to join them together. I used a sentiment from the 'Christmas Classics' stamp set featuring the beginning of the Christmas carol of the same name and backed this with the square foliage die from the Christmas Classics bundle cut out of retired platinum foil - it has a matt shine that picks out the subtle grey detailing in the designer paper:

Some diecut greenery and a wooden textural element, along with a red ribbon bow, complete my card. I love the texture and dimension on this card - definitely one for hand delivering rather than posting, but so many interesting elements. 

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.

Enjoy your day; we are hoping to attend the annual fireworks display at school this evening, assuming it stops raining and we are spared from the worst of Storm Ciaran - keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS CLASSICS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (49.50)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	MERRY MELODY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	TEXTURAL ELEMENTS (7.50)	REAL RED & GARDEN GREEN 3/8" (1 CM) RIBBON COMBO PACK (7.00)

Today's post is a quick one to share a super clean and simple Christmas card for a few challenges that I wanted to play along with this week: at CAS on Friday we need to feature an animal and I also took the opportunity to play along with my friends over at Just Us Girls for what feels like the first time in ages (hello ladies!) as they are on 'CAS Week - use only the centre of your card' to make my annual card featuring the retired 'Have A Hoot' stamp set and this cute family of owls - take a look:

I stamped my image and added some blended Balmy Blue ink to the centre of my card base, then stamped the image a second time and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends. I then fussy cut the second image (I seem to have 'mislaid' my Peek A Hoot Dies since I last used them, which is rather unfortunate - I'm sure they must be here somewhere!) and popped it up on dimensionals:

Isn't that little owl on the end of the branch, jumping for joy, just the sweetest?! A few clear rhinestones added a touch of festive sparkle to complete my clean and simple card - not forgetting the inside too:

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