Today has been a busy day full of highs and lows: a poorly boy at home and a central heating boiler that has packed up and won't be fixed until early next week, but also a pleasant Ladies Afternoon at a local salon and a fun-filled evening at our annual Bonfire and Fireworks Display at school. All in all a busy one and a late blog, so I'd best get on with today's card! Today's creation uses this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday combined with the colour challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary:

I really liked this sketch and thought the colour combination was an interesting one, as I wouldn't normally choose to combine blue with red on a Christmas card, so I wanted to have a play and see if I could make it work. Here is my card:

I used Cherry Cobbler for my base and added a strip of Lost Lagoon followed by a piece of Whisper White trimmed on one side with the Scallop Border Punch and overlaid with a piece of white and Cherry Cobbler patterned paper from the Trim the Tree DSP paper stack. To create the pennant banner, I stamped the 'Holiday Happy' stamp from the Mingle All The Way stamp set and coloured it with my Lost Lagoon marker and Cherry Cobbler and Smoky Slate Blendabilities. I added a strip of All is Calm washi tape the the top of the pennant and added a few rhinestones coloured with my Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities markers and stamped the 'Happy' banner a second time on a scrap of Whisper white cardstock, which I then cut out with my paper snips and popped on a couple of dimensionals for a little extra interest. To finish, I added a piece of Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta Ribbon tied in a bow.

I rather like the finished look of today's card and this colour combo is certainly one I would consider using again.

Back tomorrow with my design card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players.

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mingle All The Way Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Is Calm Designer Washi Tape	Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack	Lost Lagoon 3/8" Silky Taffeta Ribbon	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock
2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Scallop Edge Border Punch	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Yay it's Friday - always a good day! Today I'm sharing my card for this week's Less is More challenge, where the theme is non-traditional colours on a Christmas card (specifically no red or green). I decided to go with another Nutcracker card - he is so perfect for non-traditional colour schemes, and this time with a very simple layout; here's my card:

I used a base of Soft Sky and layered a couple of mats of Rich Razzleberry and Soft Sky, then stamped my Nutcracker image directly onto the Soft Sky layer and did some basic paper piecing on the jacket and hat to add the Rich Razzleberry elements and the Soft Sky crown. His face was stamped on Blushing Bride and again paper pieced together. I coloured the eyebrows and hair using my Smoky Slate Stampin' Up! Blendabilities markers, and stamped the moustache in Memento Black onto Smoky Slate cardstock and popped it up on dimensionals. Some Rich Razzleberry candy dots on his crown and Soft Sky ones on his jacket complete the look.

There you have it - another non-traditional nutcracker card. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Subtles Candy Dots	Santa Stache Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Mustache Framelits Die	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Rich Razzleberry A4 Card Stock
Brights Candy Dots	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride

Good morning everyone! I'm back with another Christmas card today - well, it truly is the season for it now! Today's card uses the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch which was the perfect layout for me to showcase some lovely Nordic Noel DSP and incorporate a layered die cut. Here's this week's sketch:

And this is my card: 

A simple layering of Garden Green on Soft Sky, followed by the Nordic Noel DSP. This paper has such a busy pattern I find it only really works on cards like this where there isn't anything to clutter it; I cut my 'Joy' die cut in Real Red, then stacked it on a couple of identical die cuts in Garden Green to give it real dimension (I used adhesive transfer sheets to hold the layers together, which made for very easy layering). I decided to mount it onto a rectangular piece of Garden Green cardstock, because the die cut didn't stand out enough against the patterned paper without, then I added the 'to you' from the Endless Wishes stamp set in Garden Green on Calypso Coral beneath it - the only stamping on today's card! Lastly, I added a sprinkling of candy dots in something of a nod to the sketch, albeit that I restricted use of them to the solid colour panels.

Hope you like today's card - if you like this layout you should check out the other cards on the CAS(E) This Sketch page - there are some great examples there.

Right, I'm off to get some work done - back tomorrow with another Christmas card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set	Transfer Adhesive Sheets	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky
Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Subtles Candy Dots	Garden Green A4 Card Stock	Regals Candy Dots	Real Red A4 Card Stock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Wednesday and time for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have a monochromatic palette for you to work with this week:

I decided to go with something CAS and festive with this week's feature colour of Real Red - here's my card:

I used Real Read as my card base, then used some of the red chevron pattern paper from the Brights DSP stack down the centre of my card, which I then overlaid with another panel of Real Red, mounted on dimensionals. I cut a white Santa mustache using the Mustache Framelit and my Big Shot and adhered this using dimensionals and stamped my 'Ho, ho, ho!' sentiment from the 'Good Greetings' Stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed in White embossing powder to finish. Simple, yet effective, I think - I am surprised at just how much I love my Mustache framelit!

So what do you think? 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:

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mustache Framelits Die	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy
White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack
Stampin' Dimensionals

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players, where this week LeAnne has an interesting challenge for us:

I had a minor panic when I saw this week's challenge, for two reasons: firstly, vintage as a style is not my forte, and secondly, when I looked through my (extensive!) stamp collection, it was obvious I didn't have much in the way of vintage stamps either!! In fact, I only have one set that looks even remotely 'vintage' and that's my Traveler set - at that moment though, I relaxed. I love this set and suddenly remembered an idea I'd had way back when it first came out in July. I wondered what the vintage steam train would look like converted into the Polar Express, the famous train in the Christmas movie starring Tom Hanks - well wonder no more, here's my card:

I used Night of Navy for my card base, stamped with some grunge spatters from Gorgeous Grunge in Gold Encore ink, and matted my focal image with an offset piece of Brushed Gold cardstock. I stamped my image in black Stazon on watercolour paper, then sponged in my sky using Night of Navy and a little Pacific Point. I added more colour to the train using my Aquapainter and a touch of gold, then I used Whisper White kraft ink for the snow on the ground, the smoke from the train's funnel and I masked off an area and sponged white for the beam of light coming from the front of the train. I also stamped some falling snow using the snow stamp in the 'White Christmas' set. I wanted to frame my image with the 'On Film' framelit as per the sketch from The Paper Craft Crew because I wanted the connection to the movie, but in truth it does crop the image a little small and you lose some of the detail. I will probably make another version of this without such a tight crop, but as I was racing towards my deadline I didn't have time to make another for today so had to go with this one. I do love the overall effect though. The flags are made from striped gold vellum and gold foil, and the sentiment from 'Good Greetings', in keeping with one of the famous straplines from the movie, 'The bell still rings for all who truly believe', which I punched out with a small oval punch and finished with a small brushed gold star.

I hope you like my vintage festive train today; do check out the other design team cards over at The Paper Players - there is, as always, some fantastic inspiration to be found there.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Traveler Clear-Mount Stamp Set	On Film Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Stars Framelits Dies	Gorgeous Grunge	Good Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper
Stazon Cleaner	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Aqua Painter	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad
Gold Metallic Encore Pad	Gold Stampin' Dazzle Marker	Brushed Gold A4 Card Stock	Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
Gold Foil Sheets	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
Sponge Daubers	Large Oval Punch	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

A quick post from me with today's card which is for this week's Merry Monday and Freshly Made Sketches challenges:

Snowflakes, naturals and dry embossing - and here is my card:

When I saw the challenge over at Merry Monday, I knew immediately that I was going to use the lovely Early Espresso/kraft paper in the DSP Under The Tree Speciality DSP pack; I teamed it with the Mingle All the Way stamp, stamped in Early Espresso on kraft, which also has little snowflakes on it and punched this out using a 2" circle punch and layered it using a couple of additional circles. I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for my embossed panel and had to finish with one of the little wooden snowflake embellishments from the Merry Many Stars kit - I love these and with I could buy them just one their own, I could find so many uses for them!!

I usually find monochromatic colour schemes so tricky, but this card came together so well and I love the natural look that this card has.

That's me for today; back tomorrow with my Design team card for The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mingle All The Way Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock	2" Circle Punch
2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Kraft 12" X 12" Card Stock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit

It's Wednesday and time for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have not one but two colour palettes for you to choose from this week:

I'm playing along with option 2 this week, so I have the colour combination of Chocolate Chip, Lost Lagoon, Blushing Bride and a neutral (I chose Very Vanilla) to work with. Using the above sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches as the inspiration for my layout (I turned it through 90 degrees), I decided to make (another!) baby card using one of my favourite baby sets, Baby We've Grown. Here is my card:

I stamped my focal image in Chocolate Chip and coloured in using ink and my blender pens, to give a slightly vintage look to my owls. I matted this panel onto a piece of Chocolate Chip Cardstock, which overlays a vertical strip that has been edged with a piece of Lost Lagoon punched with the hearts border punch. I added my sentiment, again stamped in Chocolate Chip on Lost Lagoon cardstock, to finish. Although the base is Blushing Bride, I think this could be a good unisex baby card; you could always alternate the pink and blue elements if you wanted something more masculine in appearance.

So what do you think? 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:

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Baby, We've Grown	Hearts Border Punch	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock
Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad	Chocolate Chip A4 Card Stock
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a fun day today: made today's blog card first thing, caught up with a friend who's been away for a while, then spent the afternoon with the lovely ladies that attend my monthly card class - there can't be a better way to start my week! I tell you, those ladies are an absolute hoot and there are some real artists amongst them for sure (yes Chris, the reindeer was inspired!!) Pictures to follow on my Facebook page!

We used the Endless Wishes stamp set in my class today, but today's blog card is back on the theme of Halloween - I need to get the use out of my Halloween sets before they get retired for another year! I took my inspiration from the photo over at Fusion, but didn't double up and use their sketch too (I might have another go at this later in the week) - instead I used the rather interesting layout over at Pals Paper Arts:

I knew I wanted to use orange with a touch of black and definitely needed to incorporate the pumpkin in the photo - this is what I came up with:

I used Sahara Sand for my card base, and used a piece of the Motely Monsters DSP that is covered with happy smiling pumpkins as my first angular layer. For my top piece, I used a piece of Tangerine Tango cardstock and cut out a pumpkin shape using my Fall Fest framelits, so that the DSP beneath would show through. I then stamped another smaller pumpkin is Crushed Curry onto Whisper White, stamped a face in Memento Black, cut this out with a framelit, tied it with a piece of linen thread and adhered to the edge of the open aperture. I popped this whole section onto dimensionals to give a little extra lift and depth. To finish, I stamped my sentiment from 'Good Greetings' in Memento Black onto the base of my card.

I hope you like today's card; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fall Fest Photopolymer Bundle	Motlley Monsters Designer Series Paper	Good Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Linen Thread
Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

Sunday means it's time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players where this week Nance has a great sketch for us to play along with:

I love a good sketch challenge so decided to use this one to make a Christmas card using The Newborn King, a set I haven't inked up in a while. Here's my card:

I stamped just the stable image on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in Night of Navy, and stamped it again on Brushed Gold cardstock and fussy cut out the stable itself and adhered this to my stamped image. I stamped my sentiment in two halves: the first half, the 'glory' in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, and the second part in Night of Navy, masking off the respective elements in turn. I toyed with whether or not I should stamp a sentiment on this section at all, given the sketch, then having decided that the sentiment here was as much a part of my image as the nativity, I then wondered whether I should dispense with the vertical sentiment element as per the sketch. In fact, I decided to use the word 'believe' from the Good Greetings set here, as it seemed to fit with my main focal panel. I edged my vanilla cardstock with a piece of gold washi tape and matted this section onto a piece of Brushed Gold, which overhangs the many section to show a border. Lastly, I stamped the star from the Newborn King stamp set in Versamark and heat embosses in gold, the filled in the outline with my gold marker for added definition and punched it out using my mosaic punch and attached it with a dimensional. I used Night of Navy for my cardbase, which I think is the perfect pairing for the gold and vanilla elements. I liked this card so much, I managed to make two (always good for my growing pile of cards!) - at this rate, I might just be ready for Christmas in time!!

Do check out the amazing cards produced by the rest of the design team for this week's challenge; as always, the standard is incredibly high and there's lots of inspiration to choose from.

Right - I'm off to hockey and then lunch with the extended James family, which will be nice for a change. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

The Newborn King Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape	Brushed Gold A4 Card Stock	Mosaic Punch	Project Life Corner Punch
Good Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set

Happy Saturday everyone! I am back into the challenge swing of things and today I have a card for this week's Merry Monday challenge where the aim is to create a card using non-traditional colours and I also took a little inspiration from the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I decided to make a card using the Nutcracker stamp as it really lends itself to cards using non-traditional colours and I've been wanting to make a purple card with him for some time; here's my card: 

I used Blackberry Bliss for my base and Hello Honey for the mat and the striped DSP which is from the Midnight DSP stack. I coloured my nutcracker using a combination of Stampin' Write markers and the skin tone, Smoky Slate and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities (I sued the middle and darkest one only as these are closer to Hello Honey) and added a popped-up moustache cut out using my Big Shot and the moustache framelit. To finish, I stamped my sentiment directly onto the DSP layer. I love the Nutcracker in these colours - I think he looks very regal!

That's me done for today; I have some class prep later for next week's class and then we are meeting up with some friends later for dinner, which should be fun.

Back tomorrow with my Design Team card over at The Paper Players, where Nance has a fabulous sketch for us and there is lots more festive fun to be had!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Santa Stache Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Mustache Framelits Die	Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock
Hello Honey A4 Cardstock	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Skin Tone Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment