Today I wanted to share with you a fun punch art card that I made for a special little girl for Christmas featuring the adorable snowman Olaf from the Disney movie 'Frozen'. I've made a few of these but never blogged one - so here's the most recent one that I made:

I most certainly can't take the credit for the Olaf punch art itself; to create mine, I always follow the excellent instructions by Michelle Suit - you can watch her video tutorial on how to create your own Olaf here. He is actually rather straight forward - the real key is using the Gift Bow Bigz die to get the right shape for his head. If you are a fan of Disney and like to create punch art every once in a while, I recommend you check out Michelle's blog Suitably Stamped - she really is a whizz!

On this occasion, I kept the design of my card really simple and used a piece of Nordic Noel DSP for the snowflake background and just added a pile of snowballs and a retired sentiment, which I stamped in Island Indigo directly onto the DSP. I have more of these to make this month, as I am the official party planner for a special birthday girl later this month who is having a Frozen-themed celebration; there is clearly no sign of the Frozen phenomena dying down any time soon! 

And now to my special announcement! As my regular readers will know, I was asked to join the lovely ladies over at The Paper Players challenge blog back last July for a 3 month guest designer stint. This was then extended to a 6 month stay, which I completed with the last challenge of the year earlier this month. This has always been one of my favourite challenges to play along with and I was delighted to be asked to guest with this talented and creative bunch and equally sad to leave them. So imagine my delight when I got a call asking if I would like to return - as a permanent member of their design team!! Woohoo! I am thrilled that these ladies think so much of me that they would want me to join them on a permanent basis and I am so looking forward to creating with them through 2015 and beyond. Our first post of 2015 will be next Sunday, so do pop back then to join us for some fresh design inspiration!

As for me, I am hoping to be back with you tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gift Bow Bigz L Die	Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch
2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Small Oval Punch	Large Oval Punch	Owl Punch	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky

It's Wednesday and time for my last challenge as a designer over at Colour Me...! It has been a great 6 months working with these lovely ladies and the various colour palettes week on week and I would like to say a big 'thank you' to Tara and Hayley for the opportunity and to my fellow designers, Claire Broadwater, Julia Altermann and Sherrie Mannion and the various monthly guest designers for their collective inspiration. So we are ending the year with a playful colour palette with a distinctive festive feel:

I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday as the inspiration for the layout of my card and decided to stick with the festive feel of our inspiration photo to make another Christmas card:

I used Baked Brown Sugar for my base with a mat of Real Red, then a split panel of Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke, the bottom layer of which I embossed with the Stylish Stripes TIEF. I stamped my Good Greetings sentiment onto the vanilla layer in red (this set is now available on the Year End Closeouts Clearance Rack if you want to pick up a bargain!). I stamped a piece of Baked Brown Sugar with the Hardwood stamp to create the background for my wreath, then stamped my wreath in Always Artichoke with red berries and cut it out with my wreath framelits and popped it up on a couple of dimensionals. To finish, I added a ribbon and bow in Real Red Cotton Ribbon. 

Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Good Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad	Always Artichoke A4 Card Stock
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Hardwood Wood-Mount Stamp Set

I know I've been MIA for a few days - last week was one of the busiest in the James household, with music recitals, discos, school productions and carol concerts galore with the end of the school term, so blogging did go somewhat by the wayside. I spent the morning at the pantomime watching 'The Wizard of Oz' and this afternoon managed to squeeze in a little creative time to craft the following card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, although I'm too late to link up this week:

I wanted to create a card using a piece of the All Abloom DSP stack - there are some great bold floral patterns in there that suit such a large background. Here is my card: 

I used a sentiment from the 'Hello There' hostess set on the main panel and overlaid a single flower from the same set, along with some retired Island Indigo baker's twine and a single pearl to finish.

So a quick post from me today with a card for all you lovely readers who pop by and comment and bear with me when the odd blog post goes awry - so sweet of you! We are officially on school holidays now - I'm not sure whether that means more or less time to craft though (I know really - definitely less!!) Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's Wednesday and this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! is one of my favourites - we have a beautiful striking colour combination for you to work with:

Night of Navy and Silver - such a great pairing for Christmas cards. I immediately knew what I wanted to create with this week's colour combination - a star shaker card. Here it is:

When I uploaded my Design Team card this week, I can see I wasn't the only one who thought stars were a good idea - you know what they say about great minds thinking alike though, right? I created a layered panel of Night of Navy and Brushed Silver on a Night of Navy base, then stamped the large snowflake and sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in silver. I then stamped the small snowflake all over the front of my card in Versamark to give a subtle background pattern. Lastly, I created a star shaker frame using silver foil, a piece of window sheet and some dimensionals and after placing a mixture of Frosted Sequins in the centre, attached my frame to the background.

I love shaker cards and really don't make them often enough; after all, they are such fun. Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Many Merry Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stars Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Frosted Sequins	Silver Foil Sheets	Medium Window Sheets	Brushed Silver A4 Card Stock
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Dimensionals	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform

A nice early post from me this morning as I'm trying desperately to be organised this week as I have the busiest week ahead! It is the last week of the school term before the James Juniors break up for Christmas, so we have a week of pantomimes, parties and performances to look forward to. Not to mention a marathon baking session to ensure there are tasty treats for teachers gifts by the end of the week!

Today's card uses the sketch layout over at The Deconstructed Sketch and this week's colour palette over at Pals Paper Arts:

I'm still making Christmas cards and today's square card features a combination of old and new product. Here is my card:

I love those Under the Tree kraft DSP papers and this red Christmas tree pattern is one of my favourites. I matted a piece of it on a square of Baked Brown Sugar and a mat of Very Vanilla. I embossed a piece of Baked Brown Sugar with the On Point embossing folder for some added texture then added a piece of ribbon for the vertical strip. I used the retired 'deck the halls' stamp for my sentiment as I wanted something nice and square, coloured with my Stampin' Write markers and matted on a piece of Cherry Cobbler and another piece of Very Vanilla. I used a piece of Baked Brown Sugar thick baker's twine for the bow. I used the Christmas tree from the Project Life December Wonder stamp set in place of my tab, and also moved it to the other side in relation to the sketch layout. A tab as well as the tree didn't look right, nor did a tab without it or putting the tree on the left. So I switched it - crafter's prerogative!

Hope you like today's card - this is a colour combination I can see myself using again before Christmas comes!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Project Life December Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set	Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Cherry Cobbler 1" Sheer Linen Ribbon	On Point Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Cherry Cobbler Stampin Write Marker

A quick card from me today for this week's challenge over at Merry Monday, where Deanne would like us to use a bird on our card:

I am sharing a card I made at one of my first Christmas card classes, which featured the lovely Partridge & Pears stamp. Here is my card:

This is one of the simpler cards that we made and I left it sentiment-free on the front, as I didn't want to interfere with the embossing folder detail. The main tree image was stamped in Memento Black ink and coloured with a selection of Stampin' Up! Blendabilities and then fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals so that it would really stand out. I love this image for a traditional Christmas card and whilst I don't use embossing folders as much as the other products in my craft room, I love the effect of this frame around the focal image.

That's all from me today - I'm off to my first Christmas party of the season this evening. Back tomorrow with my very last Design Team post for The Paper Players. My 6 month tenure has finally come to an end and whilst I will be sad to leave that amazing team, you will not want to miss tomorrow's post as we have some very special projects lined up for you! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Partridge & Pears Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Filigree Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Old Olive Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Skin Tone Assortment

Friday already - where did that week go??! Before I get onto today's card, I just want to make sure you're aware that Stampin' Up!'s clearance rack has been updated with year end closeouts. There are lots of bargains to be had, so why not pop across to my online store and treat yourself - don't forget to support my business by using this month's hostess code TXNVEUX2 when you place your order.

Now onto today's card! This is another card I made with this week's colours over at Colour Me..!; I wanted to see if a sky scene card would work in Smoky Slate rather than a navy blue - here's my card:

I used a mat of Basic Grey on my Smoky Slate card base and then on my focal panel of Whisper White, I sponged a panel using Smoky Slate and Basic Grey inks, having masked off a circle for the moon using a post-it note. I also used some metallic silver Encore ink to add a sparkle to the sky, which you can just about see in the photograph and gives a very pretty sheen in real life. I then stamped Santa and his reindeer from the Holiday Home set using Memento black ink across the moon and sky and added a trail of silver stars in Encore silver ink behind. Lastly, I added a simple sentiment from the same set.

A simple card using just one stamp set and a grey colour palette that I think works quite well. I'm sure it would work in blues too; if I can find the time to experiment, I'll have a go and share some other time!

Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holiday Home Photopolymer Stamp Set	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Gray A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Silver Metallic Encore Pad	Stamping Sponges	1 Inch Circle Punch	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Today's second creative post is for this week's Colour Me...! card challenge where we are working with a monochromatic colour scheme of Smoky Slate:

I love this week's inspiration photo - so cute! I went with a Christmas card today, although not a snowflake or sleigh in sight:

Today's card proved difficult to photograph, but I can attest that the silver embossed berries, bow and sentiment add a lovely touch of sparkle to this monochromatic card.

Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

 

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate

Welcome to my first creative post of the day! Following my selection as Featured Stamper for this card using the above challenge colours over at Color Throwdown a couple of weeks ago, the lovely ladies over there have invited me to be a guest designer for this week's challenge - yay! As if that wasn't enough, just look at the lovely colours and inspiration photo we had to work with:

I had to go with something Christmassy and I found the mix of textures in the inspiration photo provided me with the starting point for my card. So this is what I came up with:

I used Whisper White for my base and layered this with a mat of Early Espresso, then another piece of Whisper White, having first embossed this piece with my On Point embossing folder. I then created a little 'corner collage', comprising some gold striped vellum, a piece of tree-patterned DSP from the 'Trim The Tree' stack, a gold and snaller silver foil starburst circle, and then two Christmas trees - one stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold on Early Espresso cardstock and the other stamped in Early Espresso on Whisper White, with the baubles heat embossed in gold and a few silver rhinestones added for extra sparkle. A couple of silver glimmer paper stars top the trees and I looped some silver thread removed from some silver baker's twine behind them. To finish, I stamped my sentiment in between the embossed area in Early Espresso and Versamark heat embossed in gold. Collage-style cards are not my usual thing, but I must confess I enjoyed getting slightly carried away with this card and am really pleased with the result.

Do pop over to the Color Throwdown blog to see what the other designers have created using this colour palette; these ladies do a great job each week and would I'm sure appreciate your visit. I for one will be stalking the gallery with interest!

Back shortly with today's third post! Until the, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Gold Foil Sheets	On Point Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack	Festival Of Trees Photopolymer Bundle	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum	Silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum	Silver Glimmer Paper	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock
Starburst Framelits Dies	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Silver Baker's Twine

REMINDER: You have until 11am GMT this morning to take advantage of the £75 sign up offer to become a member of my Stampin' Up! team - click here if this is for you!

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts, where they have this fun sketch to work with:

I'm also linking my card up with the lovely ladies over at Less Is More, where they are celebrating their 200th blog post - woohoo! - and congratulations are most certainly the order of the day. Here is my card:

I used Calypso Coral for my card base and added a couple of mats of gold foil and Crisp Cantaloupe, beneath my main stamped panel. I then stamped various sized solid circles from the 'What's Your Type?' stamp set in Calypso Coral on a piece of Whisper White. I then used the striped stamp from the same set, and stamped it in Versamark over the solid circle, slightly offset (and in case, like my daughter, you are reading this thinking 'those circles don't line up', as I shared with her, this was intentional - they're not meant to!) and then heat embossed them in gold. To finish, I added a flagged sentiment banner in Calypso Coral to stand out from the background and heat embossed the 'Bravo!' sentiment in gold too. I love the swirly script of this stamp from the set of the same name and heat embossing adds a lovely luxurious feel I think.

That's all from me today: I have a rather musical day in store, with a class strings recital from the youngest James junior (he's been learning to play the violin for the last 10 weeks as part of an 'access to strings' project), piano lessons for everyone and a spot of Christmas shopping in between. Wish me luck!

Back tomorrow with a triple post; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

What's Your Type? Photopolymer Stamp Set	Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool - Uk Plug
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Gold Foil Sheets