Friday already? Where did that week go?! I am just popping in with another Christmas card that I made for my stash inspired by the following challenges over at Sunday Stamps and Christmas Kickstart:

I couldn't resist using the sketch to showcase some fabulous festive designer series paper - take a look:

Since Christmas Kickstart is all about the presents, I decided that this gift-filled paper from the Night Before Christmas DSP pack would make a perfect centrepiece. This card is all about #SimpleStamping - the only stamping on the front of the card is my sentiment, which I thought it would be fun to make it look like a tag from the man in red himself - well, everyone knows that's who really brings the gifts at Christmas time, right?

I did do a little more stamping inside my card, using a sentiment from the 'Greatest Part of Christmas' stamp set, an exclusive hostess set available in the current Autumn-Winter catalogue that can be yours if you host a party before the end of the year, along with a few more gifts:

Isn't that a great sentiment for a loved-one at Christmas time?

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Night Before Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Greatest Part Of Christmas Host Cling Stamp Set (En) (£12.00)	Holly Jolly Christmas Cling Stamp Set (En) (£20.00)

No post from me yesterday I'm afraid as I was out hosting a Stampin' Up! party at the lovely Jane's house for her and all her friends and I didn't get a chance to post before I left. We had a fun evening of Christmas crafting, with delicious cake thrown in (the refreshments at Jane's always make the visit worthwhile!) I'm back to it today and just have time to squeeze in an entry for this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink: 

I loved this week's inspiration photo and it led me to create a card with a rather modern twist - take a look:

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

A Word About Inspiration - As my regular readers know, sketches are often my 'go to' starting point when I make a card, however sometimes inspiration comes from other areas. When it's a photo such as the one that inspired today's card, it can be interpreted in so many different ways. I knew I wanted to use florals, ideally tulips, and bright colours. It struck me that the photo had clearly defined lines of tulips within the borders and I decided it might be fun to use this idea on my card too. So I chose to create three distinct rows of flowers in each of the colours on the photo (I stamped them tone-on-tone then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder; difficult to see on the photo, but gives a lovely texture and shine) and backed them with a pale green Soft Sea Foam panel and a white card base. Using the cardstock in each of the colours, rather than stamping the flowers onto white and/or colouring them gives a strong, graphic feel to my card. Check out the JAI gallery to see how the DT team and other participants interpreted this week's inspiration! 

Not Just For Grandmas - My flower borders are made up by repeat-stamping the stamp featuring a trio of flowers (one is a tulip!) from the 'Grandma's House' stamp set. Whilst this set is all about the love of and for Grandmas, both this flower stamp and the house stamp in the set open up other creative possibilities - general birthdays, new home or pretty much anything that a flower can be used for! It's worth taking a second look at this kind of set, as they are often more versatile than they first appear.

The Perfect Pair - I finished my card with a diecut sentiment using the 'Well Written' framelits, paired with the super useful 'Well Said' stamp set. Together they can be used to create a ton of different sentiments for a wide variety of occasions - here's a peek at the inside of my card where you can see how I used it to finish my card: 

So what do you think - does this design work or would you have preferred a more traditional take on the photo inspiration? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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. 

Enjoy your day; mine's a busy one. The youngest of the James Juniors is captaining his school rugby team this afternoon, hopefully to victory. Either way, I'm sure he will have a great time and one things for sure - there will be a fair amount of muddy kit heading my way this evening! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Grandma's House Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Well Written Dies (£37.00)	Well Said Cling Stamp Set (£42.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

Happy Monday everyone! I am starting the week with a card for the current challenge over at Festive Friday that is also my second using this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch: 

I chose friendship, blue and orange as my 3 items from the Festive Friday inspo list and made this sweet card using one of my favourite sets in the annual catalogue, 'We'll Walrus Be Friends':

I stamped my main image on a Whisper White stitched oval, popping my goldfish up on dimensionals, and coloured it with my Blends and a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella on the iceberg. I popped this onto a base embossed with the High Seas embossing folder. Both the iceberg sparkle and embossed waves are difficult to see on my photo, but they add so much to this card in real life. I love this card - I am going to send it to one of the James Juniors in their school bag one day when they need a little cheering up!

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:

We'll Walrus Be Friends Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	High Seas 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter (£4.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the fifth Sunday of the month so my fellow Brit-turned Yank, the lovely Jaydee is host this week and she has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for you to work with:

I always struggle with tic-tac-toe boards - almost too much choice! - so armed with this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and the Hand Stamped Sentiments colour palette I set to work and this is what I came up with:

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

I liked this week's FMS sketch so much I ended up using it for a second time (which is weird, as I hardly ever use ovals on my cards - you can see tomorrow's card using the same sketch here). I thought that the HSS colours were perfect for an autumn-inspired card. I decided on a truck full of multi-coloured pumpkins and gourds, courtesy of the 'Holiday Haul' stamp set, one of the new sets exclusive to hostesses from the Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue. I inked some of the pumpkins in Grapefruit Grove and added some Terracotta Tile with a sponge dauber for shading, then stamped some of the others in Mint Macaron and Pretty Peacock and fussy cut those and added them in. I created a Pretty Peacock frame for my oval using my Stitched Shapes Framelits and adhered my oval to my layered cardfront. My central panel was stamped tone-on-tone in Terracotta Tile all over with a cluster of leaves from a retired stamp set called 'A Little Something'. I couldn't find an appropriate sentiment in my stamp stash, so decided to leave it blank.

After all my fretting about which line of the tic-tac-toe board to complete, I ended up completing column 1 (fall, orange, leaves), row 3 (leaves, CAS, pumpkin) and the diagonal top left to bottom right (fall, diecut, pumpkin) - go figure!

My card will make the perfect notelet to send to my British penpal friend who now lives in the USA; she loves the way Americans embrace the season and I know she will already have started her collection of pumpkins to decorate her doorstep. If you like this fun set, it could be yours free with qualifying Stampin' rewards when you host a Stampin' Up! party - contact me to arrange 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:

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; we will be finishing our homework, having had a day of sport yesterday. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Holiday Haul Host Photopolymer Stamp Set (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Terracotta Tile A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Grapefruit Grove A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Terracotta Tile Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Grapefruit Grove Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I've been a busy bee this week with not much opportunity for blogging, but never fear! Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge:

I went around the houses on this one for a while before I managed to come up with an idea that incorporated each of the elements, however I got there eventually with the help of the troubled giraffe from the 'Back On Your Feet' set - take a look:

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

Back On Your Feet - I decided to feature the knotty giraffe from the 'Back On Your Feet' set on my card today. Perfect for a get well card, or even someone who's having a rough time of it, this comical giraffe and punny sentiment is sure to raise a smile. A simple stamp and colour with my Stampin' Blends and he was complete. The one thing that I was struggling to incorporate on this week's card was a diecut then I had a lightbulb moment (yes, sometimes it does happen!!) I used one of the dies from the Animal Friends Thinlits to create a giraffe-patterned background to tie in with my tag. Sorted!  

A Delightful Tag - I used the new Delightful Tag Topper Punch to create the tag that features my giraffe today. My trusty Scalloped Tag Topper Punch is one of my most-used punches - great for gift wrapping, customer bag tags and cards alike. Don't worry, this punch hasn't been replaced - I just added to it with another, slightly more fancy-topped one. If you don't have a tag punch, you should really consider investing in one - they will make creating your Christmas tags super quick and easy.

And The Rest Makes Three - Some stamped and punched leaves, Crumb Cake Nature's Twine and my punny sentiment (one the inside of my card it says "Hope things get better soon.") cropped with a rectangle stitched shape finish off this week's recipe board - and my card!

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

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

I do love giraffes and learned lots about them when I visited South Africa on safari many years ago. Did you know you can tell whether they are a girl or a boy by the amount of hair on the end of their horns? Females usually still have hair, whereas males' horns are usually bare from wrestling with each other for the affections of said females. I wonder if this is also the reason for premature balding in males?! 

On that quizzical note I look forward to seeing what you make with this week's recipe challenge when I visit your blogs. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Back On Your Feet Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Animal Friends Dies (£27.00)	Delightful Tag Topper Punch (£22.00)	Nature's Twine (£8.25)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Crumb Cake Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Leaf Punch (£15.00)
Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the delightful Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

Tall and skinny - what fun! I love occasionally to change things up and give cards a completely different look by altering their size and shape. It didn't take me long to decide where to take Claire's sketch this week - take a look:

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

I took two of my favourite things - the navy and copper star patterned paper from the Brightly Gleaming set and my Stitched Stars Dies - along with some copper foil and star and foil elements, and created a layered star centrepiece. I heat embossed my sentiment from the 'So Many Stars' set in copper onto Night of Navy cardstock, fussy cut around it and popped it up on a stack of dimensionals to complete my card. 

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

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

I'm linking my card up with SUOChallenges where they currently have a Designer's Choice challenge. I love this card - so much so, I made a second one straight afterwards! I just need to use my trusty BoxBuster tool to make a couple of bespoke envelopes now ready to send them!

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; I am singing with my choir in a harvest festival service this morning, then will be home to assist in finishing homework and the like in the afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements (£6.50)	Star Designer Elements (£8.25)	So Many Stars Bundle (En) (£53.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Copper Foil Sheets (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

I am a bad blogger! I've had such a busy week that I have managed very little to either create or blog. So a quick share from me with another all-out copper clean and simple metallic, inspired by last week's Paper Players challenge that uses this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout:

I created another super clean and simple Christmas card, this time featuring a couple of Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements baubles and a heat embossed sentiment from the 'Perfectly Plaid' stamp set - take a look:

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

 to follow

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. 

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements (£6.50)	Copper Foil Sheets (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Perfectly Plaid Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£16.00)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)

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 fun clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

I couldn't resist going all-out copper for my metallic and created a super clean and simple Christmas card featuring a heat embossed tree from the 'Perfectly Plaid' stamp set - take a look:

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 loved this CAS challenge; I created another card for this theme too which I will hopefully share with you later in the week!

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; we are hoping to make the most of what is turning out to be a pleasantly warm weekend with possibly the last BBQ of the year, along with homework and more cooking of our gluts of home-grown produce. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Perfectly Plaid Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£16.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Copper Foil Sheets (£4.75)	Star Designer Elements (£8.25)

It's Friday - hurrah! Who else is ready for the weekend? Today before I share my card with you, I have an exciting announcement: I am joining the As You See It Challenge Team as one of their new designers! Those of you who follow my blog will know how much I enjoy playing along with the AYSI fortnightly challenges, so I was delighted when the lovely Heather Cooper asked me to join their team, especially as it includes a number of my fellow blogger friends, including Jan Clothier of Thinking Stamping and my faithful team mate over at The Paper Players, the lovely LeAnne Pugliese of WeeInklings fame. So today's card is my first for the AYSI team and we have a great theme for you this week - check it out here:

This one was a really easy one for me - my most-used tool in my craft room (after my die-cutting machine) is my set of Stitched Shapes Dies, specifically my Stitched Circles Dies; I use them all of the time! I love the way they add just the right amount of detail to a sentiment shape and that is how I used it today on my card, based on the current Global Design Project #GDP206 sketch (included at the bottom of today's post). Here's my card:

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

Grandma's House - Whilst lots of the team created Christmas cards this week, not me: September is the month of birthdays in my family with many of us, myself included, who are celebrating. This does mean it is a super-busy time for cardmaking and keeps me working on non-Christmassy things too at this time of year! Yesterday it was the turn of my Mother-In-Law, who is also the much-loved Granny to my James Juniors and has another 2 grandchildren to boot. As soon as I saw the 'Grandma's House' stamp set in the annual catalogue, I knew that I would have to get it - so many of the sentiments in this set apply to our very own Grandma!  

Stitched Shapes For Everything - I used my Stitched Circle to house my sentiment at the centre of the main focal point of my card. I just love these Stitched Shapes - I use them in so many ways (just search 'Stitched Shapes Dies' on my blog and you will get a ton of inspiration!) and think that extra detail finishes off an ordinary shape perfectly.  

A Festive Flower - I decided that instead of just leaving my stitched circle as a single layer, I would use it as the centre of a flower to tie it in with my floral border that is stamped with another of the stamps in the 'Grandma's House' set and coloured with my Blends. I added a punched circle for a thin border then created a bunch of petals using ... can you tell what punch I used? It's actually the Christmas Bulb Builder punch (top marks if you spotted it!!) I punched a few then snipped through the base of each approx. 1cm and overlapped the ends and glued them in place, then added them to my centre to create a slightly dimensional flower. I added a little wooden heart from my stash that I heat embossed with (retired) Lovely Lipstick coloured embossing powder and a couple of enamel dots to finish my card front. I love these fresh colours, courtesy of the current challenge over at SUO Challenges, carried my design through to the inside of my card 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. 

So what is your 'go to' die or punch? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to know what your favourite item is and why! Why not make something with it and share with us over at As You See It too - you can check out the inspiration from the other As You See It team members whilst you're there and see if they share your favourites.  

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Grandma's House Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Stitched Labels Dies (£31.00)	Christmas Bulb Builder Punch (£17.00)	Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Mango Melody Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Mango Melody A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (£6.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current Time Out challenge using Julie's Mojo Monday sketch:

I liked Julie's sketch this week which has lots of creative potential and was perfect for showcasing some motivational words of wisdom that feature in one of the current hostess sets that were perfect for the Time Out theme - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Believe You Can - The motivational statement on my card today is a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt. No-one seems to know the circumstances for these now famous words, but there's a lot to be said for the idea that a belief in yourself gets you halfway to your goal, even before you've taken the first step. That is so true - we need to believe we can do something, in order to make success a reality. Of course as I often tell my team without a plan too you'll never reach your final goal or destination, but that's the practical side in me! For now, we are lucky to have this stamp in 'Believe You Can', one of the exclusive hostess sets in the annual catalogue. If you would like to own it, then do get in touch about hosting a Stampin' Up! party - doesn't an evening with friends for a spot of pre-Christmas crafting sound like fun?

Deconstructed Rainbows - When deciding what designer series paper to feature for the panel behind my sentiment, I came across the fun pattern in the Dinoraur DSP pack. Not a dino in sight; instead, a host of deconstructed rainbows! Only me that thought this when they saw this paper? Ah well, the creative mind work in mysterious ways! Remember during September you can benefit from 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' on selected packs of DSP and the Dinoroar papers are included in the set so if you like it, now is a great time to snap it up!

Scenic Brights - I used the colours in my Dinoroar DSP to colour my sentiment with Blends as each of the featured colours are available (yay!) and for the base and layers of my card. Here are the colours in case you would like to save them for a future project:

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 have another busy one - so far I've cleaned the oven, finished my ironing, put on two loads of washing and prepared dinner for this evening - it must be time for elevenses before I crack on with bathrooms and escape to my craft room! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Believe You Can Photopolymer Stamp Set (£12.00)	Dinoroar Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pineapple Punch Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Mango Melody Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)