It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I want the sentiment to be the main feature of your card:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I was inspired by those fabulous bright colours on the peacock in the Color Dare challenge photo; with a nod to the colouring on the feathers I sponged a trio of Magenta Madness, Highland Heather and Coastal Cabana onto my butterfly 'Amazing Silhouettes' stamp and used it to accent a simple layered diecut of the word 'amazing' from the co-ordinating Amazing Thanks Dies set:

I couldn't wait to get my on these dies - I love a good sentiment die! - the stamp set was a free gift to all demonstrators who attended the recent Stampin' Up! Onstage event and I think they compliment each other beautifully. The butterfly is also the perfect image for CASology's challenge this month where the cue word is 'renew' - the transformation of the humble caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly is a great example of this.

Would you like to know how I created that blended colour on my butterfly? I have another great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

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! color 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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

AMAZING SILHOUETTES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	SPARKLE & SHINE SEQUINS ASSORTMENT (£6.75)

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

Anne Marie's colours feel like a breath of spring this week! I used Amy's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches, grabbed my dies and some patterned papers and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Floral Squares - I decided to feature the Floral Squares Dies on my card today, which dictated the size of my shapes in relation to Amy's sketch (I used a horizontal as opposed to vertical layout for this reason). I used two of the four floral designs in the set, and cut each one out three times - once in Just Jade, once in Calypso Coral and once in white, also cutting the flower heads separately in Calypso Coral. I carefully snipped various elements out of each one and layered them to achieve my finished frames, with the flower heads applied last to slightly overlap my white frames.

A Trio of Patterns - I used three different patterned paper designs in the challenge colours for the squares/rectangles across the centre of my card - can you guess which packs each comes from? The first is from Hand Penned, the second from the new Abstract Beauty papers and the final one from the You're A Peach paper pack. Each has a spotted design; this unifies the patterns/colours and avoids the panels appearing too 'busy'. 

Finishing Touches - I used white as a neutral to unify the various elements of my design and as a finishing touch also added an in-colour gem and a neutral linen thread bow to my single flower frame:

I love Calypso Coral and I am really pleased with how today's card turned out - what a great colour combo this week Anne Marie!

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 also linking today's card up over at The Paper Craft Crew where the theme this week is 'anything goes'. 

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 am looking forward to a quiet family day - nothing special planned. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALL SQUARED AWAY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	YOU'RE A PEACH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday and this week we are celebrating something very special:

Our 100th challenge - woohoo! Whilst you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion to play along - your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project - this week's list is sure to generate lots of celebratory cards!  This week I really went to town with the inspo list; I used celebration, numbers, gold, sequins, patterned paper and splatters (I even included a cake on the inside!) and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Special Party Puffin - I decided to add a puffin from the 'Party Puffins' stamp set as the focal point for my card today, but a special celebration definitely requires a special puffin, so this one is dressed to impress! I heat embossed him in black, colouring his beak and feet with gold Wink of Stella and fussy cutting him a hat from gold glimmer paper with black jewels for added pizzazz! This little fella is so sparkly! 

Two Reasons To Celebrate - You may be wondering why when we are celebrating our 100th challenge at Festive Friday, why my card has 50s on it. Well, later this year I will be celebrating a milestone birthday - my 50th, to be exact. I was the oldest in my year at school so will be the first of my school peers to reach this momentous occasion; what this means though is that starting in September I will be needing a large number of 50th birthday cards to send out during the 12 months thereafter, so I thought I'd start making now so that I was prepared! I created a fun faux-embossed star by cutting a bunch of 5s and 0s with my Playful Alphabet Dies and adhering them to gold foil, before cutting a star with my Stitched Star Dies to create a subtle nod to this birthday milestone:

I thought this would make a good masculine card design - what you do think?

Gold, Gold and More Gold - With a solid black background, I majored on gold to give this card birthday bling: gold foil, gilded gems, gold glimmer paper and a touch of black and gold (retired) striped designer paper, along with some subtle gold Wink of Stella splatters on the base of my card (difficult to see on the photos, but so sparkly in real life!). I also added a gold-on-black heat-embossed sentiment; and along with a simple birthday greeting inside my card, a birthday cake topped with gold icing and sparkly candles: 

So what do you think - a suitably glamourous sparkly birthday card to celebrate a milestone birthday alongside our milestone challenge this week? 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 '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

I am also playing along with Color Throwdown (I used black, white and gold) and over at Try Stamping on Tuesday where they have a great sketch this week - and of course I'm playing with the optional theme of 'celebrate' too.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PARTY PUFFINS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	STITCHED STARS DIES (£35.00)	PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

It's Tuesday and time for our first challenge of the year over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I have the pleasure of hosting you all this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I chose some fresh pastels with a pop of bright poppy red for my palette this week. These colours can be used in lots of ways; for my card I decided to create with one of my favourite cute sets from the new Stampin' Up! January-June 2022 mini catalogue that launches today and went for a fun Valentine's card - take a look:

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

Playful Alphabet Pun - I created a fun, punny sentiment for the front of my card using my Playful Alphabet Dies, adding a popped-up stitched heart to the centre of my 'O' for a burst of colour and fun focal point. You may well be wondering where my Highland Heather is making a feature, since it doesn't feature on the front of today's card; that corner of my co-ordinating envelope gives you a clue... 

You Make My Heart Go Beep - ... yes it's on the inside! I chose the sentiment on the front of my card to co-ordinate with this cute little robot, complete with heart, from the new 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - a collection of fun little robots that you will definitely be seeing more of! I stamped him in the corner of my card and added a complimentary sentiment:

Isn't he just the sweetest?!

Tuesday Tip - Would you like to know how I got those letter dies so perfectly aligned on the front of my card? I have a great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

By becoming a member of my Facebook group you can be sure you will receive all of the news that I post to social media and more and you will be much more likely to see everything that I post when I post it, rather than it being lost in your social news feed. I look forward to seeing you there!

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! color 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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£36.00)	NUTS & BOLTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - I thoroughly enjoyed my festive break with my family and much-needed crafty down-time and today I am officially back to it with my first blog post of the new year. It's Sunday so I'm back with our first challenge of 2022 over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week and she has a theme challenge that is perfect for this time of year:

Add a little sparkle - what a great way to see the new year in! I chose glimmer paper as my sparkle of choice and also used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the starting point for today's layout. My card has it all today: something current, something new, something retired and something free! Take a look and see if you can work out which is which:

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

Something Current - There are a couple of notable current products on today's card: my favourite rainbow glimmer paper that I used for my diecut rainbow, along with some of the yellow Ombre Glimmer Paper along with one of the Tasteful Labels Dies that I used to diecut my sun. I just love the shimmer and sparkle!

Something New - I made my glimmer rainbow using the new Brilliant Rainbow Dies that will debut in the upcoming January-June mini catalogue that launches next week. These are so fun! They also have a co-ordinating stamp set called 'Rainbow of Happiness' that I used for my sentiment and to add some extra detail to the inside of my card:

Something Retired - I used a retired Textured Clouds Embossing Folder to add some additional cloud detail to the panel behind my focal images - I haven't used this EF in ages but thought it worked quite well here for some added textural detail.

Something FREE - The final element to today's card is a sneak peek of some free product - the cloud at the end of my rainbow comes from the Sunshine and Rainbows Designer Series Paper - just one of the products that can be yours free with a purchase of £45 during the first Sale-A-Bration promotion of the year that also begins on 4th January. These papers are gorgeous and co-ordinate perfectly with the Rainbow of Happiness Bundle - and everyone loves free product, right?

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 - including the work of our three new guest designers for 2022, Cindy, Christy and Jennie:

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 spending the day at my mother-in-law's building flat-pack furniture today - wish me luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)

TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)

OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£9.25)

RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is our final challenge of the year and as such Patricia has decided that we can have free reign this week! We can choose any challenge from 2021 and make it seasonal. So whether you decide on a sketch, colour palette or even the double, you can choose whichever you prefer - just make it seasonal! It's also our milestone 450th challenge and there are prizes to be won - yay! - so be sure to play along! I decided to go with challenge 443:

You can see my original card for sketch 443 here along with the sketch itself. For my card today I have definitely gone with a 'less is more' look and kept things simple - take a look:

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

I decided to use one of the diecut snowflakes from the Wonderful Snowflakes pack and used that to accent my label, which is stamped and heat-embossed in white with one of the sentiments form the 'Snowflake Wishes' stamp set. It's difficult to see in the photo, but I then overstamped the word 'sparkle' again and sprinkled it with (retired) Dazzling Diamonds glitter before heat-embossing a second time. Along with the opal rounds, it adds such a lovely sparkle:

The white of the sentiment and snowflake really stand out against my bold blue background. I actually used (retired) Blueberry Bushel cardstock for my card, but you could achieve a similar effect with the current Pacific Point (links included below). A verse and simple border decoration using stamps from the same set inside complete my card: 

This is the perfect design for some last-minute festive card making as it would be really easy to put a batch of these together in no time. Definitely the kind of card I need this close to Christmas! 

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.

This is our final CAS Colours & Sketches challenge of the year and we are sad to be saying goodbye to several of the team. On a positive note we are also welcoming a number of new members too - full details are over on the CAS Colours & Sketches main blog where you will also see our new members are playing along this week. Following this challenge the team will be taking a short break to enjoy the festivities with our loved ones before we return with a new challenge for the new year on January 4th when I will be hosting again and I will have a fun colour challenge for you!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back at some point with another project; my design commitments for 2021 are complete and I am about to start working with a whole new bunch of products to get ready for 2022. I will undoubtedly have projects to share over the festive break, but will be following a more relaxed schedule as I take time out to regroup and recharge, so watch this space. Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)	WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OPAL ROUNDS (£7.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's our last challenge of the year and it's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week. She has a festive colour challenge for you to work with:

I decided to pair this week's colours with the current sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday to use a stamp that I've not yet had the opportunity to ink up, even though I've used each of the other stamps in the same set - take a look:

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

A Colour Confession - First up - I have a confession to make! I had decided on my stamp and layout, so gathered my supplies and various ribbons and accessories that would work for my card and set to work. I completed my card and went to upload it then realised my oversight - I had used Cherry Cobbler instead of Merry Merlot! I had the colour banner in my mind but hadn't double-checked it before I started; a rookie mistake and my only defence is that I really have had one of those weeks! I had no time to remake, so I hope LeAnne forgives me and you can imagine how the same card would look in a slightly darker shade of red. What can I say - I think it's time for a Christmas break!

Seasons of Fun - I used the image of the sweet little girl pulling her sled and tiny Christmas tree on the front of my tailored tag. This is the final image in the 'Seasons of Fun' hostess set that I had yet to use and I think it's so sweet, I just had to use it on today's card. I stamped it twice, once directly onto my tag and a second time, so that I could fussy cut the little girl's hat and scarf so that I could layer these and extend the image beyond the boundaries of the tag. I left my card sentiment-free and also added some stars and a stamped image of the little Christmas tree inside:

Sometimes I like to leave clear space to write, even on a Christmas card, when often I'm writing to someone I haven't seen in a long time.

Touches of Gold - I incorporated lots of gold elements into today's card: the (retired) plaid banners, the gold-edged Cherry Cobbler ribbon tied with gold twine, the gold holly leaves and some (retired) gold Wink of Stella for the star on top of the Christmas tree:

I love the addition of the gold to the festive red and green and switching out the usual white for vanilla adds a lovely warmth to this cute Christmas card. The 'Seasons of Fun' host stamp set is still available, so if you have your eye on it now is the time to order - it will disappear for good when the current July-December catalogue ends on 3rd January.

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 we are spending the day fully embracing our Christmas preparations at home, with tree trimming and festive baking planned - yum! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TAILOR MADE TAGS DIES (£20.00)	SEASONS OF FUN HOST CLING STAMP SET (£11.00)	DECORATIVE MATTE DOTS (£5.25)	GOLD HOLLY LEAVES (£7.00)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

This week I've managed to combine both my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday and my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It and also used the idea I had brewing for my entry  over at AAA Cards too:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week at Festive Friday is 'New Year's Day' which is on 1st January and at As You See it we are ending the year on a timely speed stamping challenge with the theme of 'snowflakes'. Remember 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. I don't usually send cards to celebrate New Year; this week I used sparkle, rhinestones and diecuts from the FF inspo list and this is what I came up with:

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

Giving Gifts Of Snowflakes - If you read Wednesday's blog post (if you didn't, you can see it here) you will recognise the snowflake border on my card. This was actually the first card in this pair that I made - clever positioning of these dies makes it easier to create this fun snowflake border detail. In keeping with the clean and simple feel of my card, I added a simple sentiment from the 'Snowflake Wishes' stamp set in Night of Navy and positioned it in the centre of my panel. I also had time for some quick stamping on the inside of my card too:

Blue Ombre Sparkle - I am having something of a love affair with the Night of Navy blue ombre glimmer paper at the moment - I could do with a whole pack of this colour on its own! I think it works really well when balanced against lots of white for a touch of festive sparkle, especially when paired with snowflakes (you can see another example of that here) so I couldn't resist using it for the inset panel behind my snowflakes. Check out the sparkle:

The Need For Speed - This card was super quick to put together: I finished at 6 minutes and 5 seconds and was feeling pretty pleased with my self in meeting my AYSI brief. It was at this point that I realised that having used diecuts and sparkle, I only needed one more thing from the Festive Friday inspo list and I would meet both briefs and save myself even more time, so I spent another 20 seconds adding some blue faceted gems (aka blue rhinestones!) to my snowflake centres and managed at 6 minutes 25 seconds to meet the AYSI speed brief using three things from the FF inspo list whilst still meeting the AAA Cards CAS brief, and with the option of snow too! Just 6 products, 3 challenges and less that 10 minutes - I'd say that's a result at this super-busy time of year!

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. 

We all need to save a little time at this time of year, so I hope you are inspired to create something speedy today - or maybe even get a head start on your New Year cards too!

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

And here's a summary of the As You See It 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.
• In a speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 

Enjoy your day; I am interrupting my usual day of Friday chores with a coffee with a friend I haven't seen in a super long time and my pre-Christmas haircut, so it's all happening here!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)

OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£9.25)

BLUE ADHESIVE-BACKED GEMS (£7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Happy Wednesday everyone! First things first - remember today is FREE SHIPPING at Stampin' Up! so the perfect time to pick up those last few Christmas gifts! You have until 11pm this evening UK time, so don't delay!

Now onto today's card, which was inspired by the current sketch over at Just Add Ink and is also perfect for the festive rainbow challenge over at - where else but The Rainbow Challenge:

I can't resist a good sketch and this one gave me the perfect opportunity to go all-out with a clean and simple yet unconventionally coloured Christmas card - take a look:

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

Giving Gifts Dies - I used the snowflake die in the Giving Gifts Die set to create my negative aperture border on today's card by cutting one end, then turning the die through 180 degrees and lining up the edges then cutting a second time, to give the single snowflake border panel. This is a great way to use this die on something other than a tag - it's always handy to be able to extend the use of an item. Unfortunately since I wrote today's post the dies are now no longer available in the UK; the lists are changing daily though and there are some things where stock of retiring items is still on route to the warehouse, so if you like them keep checking back.

Wonderful Snowflakes - I balanced my snowflake border with one of the Wonderful Snowflakes pre-diecut pieces that I trimmed to mirror the shape of the sketch element and added a simple 'Let It Snow' sentiment to tie both elements together. I used the snippet of snowflake I cut off to decorate the inside of my card:

Rainbow Ombre - My unconventional colour scheme today is taken from the rainbow ombre glimmer paper I used beneath the negative space of my snowflake border. I picked out the Bermuda Bay for my card base; I love the way the deep turquoise highlights the iridescent shine of the diecut snowflake and white embossed sentiment. I also picked out some of the white iridescent faceted gems from the From My Heart Faceted Gems pot to highlight the centres of the snowflakes in my border and used a (retired) sparkly blue one to centre my white snowflake.

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:

WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	SNOWMAN SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
FROM MY HEART FACETED GEMS (£5.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Patricia is our host for the month of December and our first challenge this month is a colour challenge: 

I decided these colours would perfectly suit a Christmas festive poinsettia, so stamped and cut one from the Merriest Moments stamp set along with some festive holly and used it to frame my simple sentiment that I inset using one of my Layered Circle Dies:

I added a sentiment and little extra stamping using the same set to the inside of my card:

 A trio of Cherry Cobbler matte dots for an extra pop of red complete my clean and simple card:

 I'm not sure this is a combination I would have chosen, but I really like the deep red against the fresh Mint Macaron base, with just the tiniest amount of yellow for good measure.

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'm also linking today's card up over at The Alphabet Challenge where the current theme is 'R if for Red' - I think my poinsettia qualifies on that front!

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! color 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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MERRIEST MOMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	DECORATIVE MATTE DOTS (£5.25)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)