Hurrah for the weekend and what's more, the start of the half term holiday for the James juniors! They each have at least a week off (one has two!) so we are looking forward to a rest from our full-on daily routine. I managed to get some time this afternoon to make a card for this week's sketch challenge over at The Global Design Project:

I decided to add another Christmas card to my stash - here's my card:

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

Presents and Pinecones - For my background I used a piece of the Presents and Pinecones Designer Series Papers, another of the packs that is available with the 'Buy 3, get 1 free' offer this month - you can read all about it here. This is a great sketch to really make a feature of a piece of designer series paper; check out the Global Design Team's creations for some inspiring examples of this.

It's That Time of Year - I used the large sentiment from 'Time of Year', one of the sets exclusively available to hostesses from the annual catalogue, for my focal point, stamped using the Emerald Envy ombre ink pad to co-ordinate with the lovely greens of the DSP. I also stamped the holly from this set on a piece of Whisper White and fussy cut it before adding to the edge of the rectangle to balance my sentiment and banner. This is such a great set with options to create a number of sentiment combinations for different occasions and great if you want your sentiment to make a statement on a card.

All That Glitters -  I decided to use a piece of red glimmer paper for the panel behind the sentiment to add a little sparkle to my project. I then cut a few different banners, but was struggling with the fact that they were masking out too much of the lower portion of my main sentiment. I decided to stamp onto acetate to allow for some transparency to the sentiment below and decide to use some red glitter embossing powder for a final glittery pizzazz - job done!

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. 

That's all from me; I'll be back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper	Emerald Envy Ombre Stampin' Pad	Time Of Year Photopolymer Stamp Set	Red Glimmer Paper	Real Red Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Window Sheets	Bunch Of Banners Framelits Dies	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock
Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

I had a great workshop yesterday with a fabulous group of ladies making family tree home decor frames and watched the semi-finals of The Great British Bake Off on TV yesterday evening in lieu of a blog post. Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

Now you all know how much I love a good sketch, but I must admit this one had me stumped for a little while until I figured out what to do with it. I was totally in the Christmas zone, but once I stepped away from the festive season it came to me - an umbrella! Take a look:

A seriously bright card to brighten someone's day! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Dimension and Layers - I used the fun Umbrella Weather Framelits from the annual catalogue to create the umbrella, clouds and shower of hearts on my card today. There's lots of layering and dimension on today's card, with the blue panel popped up to allow the hearts to stand in relief against the pink card base and the clouds around the umbrella.

Weather Together - The sentiment is from the co-ordinating stamp set 'Weather Together' and perfect for a cheery pick-me-up kind of card. I stamped my sentiment in Melon mambo to accentuate the colour of my card base, and added an enamel heart shape in the same colour to one of my clouds too.

Buy 3, Get 1 Free Paper Offer - Time To Party! - My colour scheme today was inspired by the colours in the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper pack and I used the stripy pattern from this set for my umbrella canopy. This is one of the papers available as part of the October 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' Designer Series Paper offer:

You can read all about it in this blog post here - a great offer and the perfect time to stock up so don't delay and get your party on!

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Another busy day today with a meeting first thing then an afternoon of housework in store. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper	Weather Together Photopolymer Bundle	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad	2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes	Rhinestone Basic Jewels

It's Tuesday and today I have a Christmas card for you using this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts:

This is such a great sketch with so many options; I decided today to make a Christmas card that is all about baubles - take a look:

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

Warmth and Cheer - My strips of festive paper come from this season's 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper stack, Warmth and Cheer. A mix of warm reds, greens and yellows, with everything from sweater patterns to plaids, baubles, pine trees and stars, these papers will take your projects from autumn through to winter and the festive season with ease.

Merry Tags Bauble - I took my inspiration from my DSP strips and diecut a bauble in Real Red using the Merry Tags Framelits for the circular element of my card. I stamped my sentiment from the Merriest Wishes stamp set and heat embossed it in black for added shine. I added a Garden Green bow cut using the Perfect Pines Framelits and finished with a metallic enamel shape.

Decorative Stripes - They are very subtle, however if you look closely at my bauble you will see I sponged some diagonal stripes in Real Red ink using one of the Seasonal Decorative Masks onto my bauble before I embossed my sentiment, to echo the stripe of the baubles on the DSP and just add a little extra interest without stamping.

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 have another busy day today that will start with the children attending their Speech and Drama exams - wish them luck! I hope your day is a good one too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack	Merry Tags Framelits Dies	Merriest Wishes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Seasonal Decorative Masks

Happy Monday everyone! I'm here with a nice early blog post - let's hope that the week continues in this vein! Today I have a card for this week's CASOLOGY challenge where the code word is 'spooky', that uses this week's TGIF Challenge sketch and the colours over at Colour Q:

I decided I had to ink up one of my Cookie Cutter Halloween stamps for today's card - take a look:

A spooky skeleton - how cute is he?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Not Just For Christmas - What's better than a punch and a co-ordinating stamp set? Why, a punch and TWO co-ordinating stamp sets! The skeleton I used on my card today is from the Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set. This is a second set that, like Cookie Cutter Christmas, also co-ordinates with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch and has a number of fun Halloween characters, including a scarecrow that is also perfect for autumn cards. I stamped him in Archival Black onto Very Vanilla cardstock and punched him out.

Ways With Washi - I used some retired Halloween washi tape to create my striped panel behind my skeleton. The newsprint includes stories about Halloween and the skulls provided a contrast whilst still fitting in with my skeletal theme. 

He's All Heart - My spot of colour really is just that, in the form of a bright Real Red enamel heart shape. It adds just enough dimension and shine to really make the colour pop!

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 have a day of appointments and errands today, so will be kept more than busy. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cookie Cutter Halloween Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Cookie Cutter Builder Punch	Spooky Fun Photopolymer Stamps	Brights Enamel Shapes	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Nance to host this week and she has a great clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

What a great challenge for Autumn! I just had to dig out my old favourite Vintage Leaves for this one and my Leaflets Framelits along with the colours over at Color Throwdown for my card today; they are somewhat unorthodox for Fall yet they enabled me to try a fun inlaid die masking technique that I've been wanting to experiment with to add interest to my clean and simple card today. I used this week's sketch layout over at CAS Colours and Sketches - here's my card:

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

A Vintage Leaf - Vintage Leaves is a favourite stamp set of mine at this time of year and is perfect for Fall cards. I used a single leaf, stamped in Bermuda Bay onto Pool Party cardstock, as the anchor for my sentiment banner. 

Inlaid Die Masking - The vertical strip on my card uses a fun technique called inlaid die masking. I made a stencil mask by cutting out a number of random leaf shapes using the Leaflet Framelit that corresponds with the leaf stamp I used, then sponged a combination of Pool Party, Smoky Slate and Pear Pizzazz inks through the mask, then over-stamping these sponged areas with the detailed leaf stamp in Bermuda Bay, Basic Grey and Old Olive respectively. This adds a soft hue of colour to each leaf which I really like. 

G is for Grateful - My sentiment from the Paisleys and Posies stamp set is perfect for the season and the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week where the theme is to 'Just Add G'. This is the time of Harvest Festivals here in the UK, with Thanksgiving for our American friends around the corner and celebrated by Canadians recently and as such is a time of year when we are reminded to be grateful. I enjoyed a school assembly on this very theme last Friday, where pupils expressed thanks for everything from the food they eat, to the opportunities given to them by their parents and their favourite footballer, amongst other things! We all have much to be grateful for and it is all too easy to take for granted those around us who enrich our lives and make the world a better place for the greater good.

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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's clean and simple theme. We are off for our usual Sunday morning of sport, followed by lunch with friends and an afternoon of crafting of a different kind - Rebecca has been working on some dolls clothes so some supervision of the sewing machine is in order! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Vintage Leaves Photopolymer Stamp Set	Leaflets Framelits Dies	Paisleys & Posies Photopolymer Stamp Set	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock
Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Sponge Daubers	White Perfect Accents

Welcome to the weekend! Yesterday I finally feel like I turned a corner with this rotten cold I've been struggling with this week and today I'm feeling much more like my old self - hurrah! Even better, after a morning spent on the sidelines of the rugby pitch I managed to spend the afternoon in my craft room catching up on some challenge cards and enjoying a few hours of welcome creativity now that my personal fog has lifted! Thanks for your patience; this evening I have a card that was inspired by this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout and the colours over at Global Design Project:

I was immediately drawn to Jen Mitchell's card over at FMS this week and it inspired me to turn to florals for my card today - take a look:

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

Irresistibly Floral - The main panel of my card today is a piece of Irresistibly Floral Specialty Designer Series Paper, sponged in the challenge colours to bring out the beautiful white-on-white floral pattern. This was mounted on a piece of Rich Razzleberry and finished with a Razzleberry ribbon banner and some Blushing Bride baker's twine.

May Flower in October - I paper-pieced a flower cut with the May Flowers Framelits to create a focal point on my card and added some Mint Macaron leaf diecuts and a white Perfect Accent to the centre. 

A Teeny Tiny Sentiment - I chose to use a 'happy birthday' from the Teeny Tiny Sentiment stamp set for my sentiment today. Teeny tiny it may be, but it is just the right size to ensure a sentiment on my card today, without detracting from the detail of the sponged floral paper and flower embellishment.

These colours were much easier to work with than I imagined and I just love the detail of the floral embossed designer series paper.

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 my card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Irresistibly Floral Designer Series Specialty Paper	May Flowers Framelits Dies	Teeny Tiny Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Ribbon 3/8" (1 Cm) Trio Pack	Blushing Bride Solid Baker's Twine
Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
White Perfect Accents

Another Monday, another week my lovely readers! Today I have a card that ties in with CASology's current cue card and uses this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month; most of us know someone whose life has been affected by this terrible disease so today's card was designed to send a little love and support to someone whose life has been touched in this way. Here's my card:

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

A Pop of Pink - I used the Pop of Pink Specialty Designer Paper for the inset panel on my card today and its colours inspired my 'monochrome with a pop of pink' colour scheme.

A Card That's All Heart - There are lots of lovely patterns in the Pop of Pink paper set, but for a card that's all about sending love and hope I had to go with the itty bitty heart pattern. I used my Sunshine Wishes heart thinlit for the scribbly heart that bridges the inset panel in bright Melon Mambo pink for a single image to compliment my sentiment.

Words of Support - My sentiment is a combination of the diecut 'hope' which is also from the Sunshine Wishes thinlits die set and the co-ordinating Sunshine Sayings stamp set (available as a bundle with 10% off when purchased together), stamped onto my extra-thick Whisper White card base in Archival Black ink.

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 have the first of this month's technique classes this morning - this one featuring the Star of Light set. Followed by a double school run and an evening at the swimming pool as Rebecca finishes her Competitive Starts qualification (shallow racing dives to the uninititated!) I'll share some of my class cards later in the week. Meanwhile, enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project.

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Pop Of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper	Sunshine Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the super-talented Sandy to host this week and she has a great fall/Halloween-inspired colour palette for you to work with:

Having missed Claire's Halloween themed challenge last week, I decided to take Sandy's colours and use them for a fun Halloween card this week; take a look:

I also used this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew's Challenge for my layout. Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Halloween Scene - I used my Spooky Fun stamp set and co-ordinating Halloween Scenes Edgelits Dies to create the spooky scene on my card. I used my Layered Circle Framelits to cut a Whisper White circle for my oversize moon, then used the spooky tree and witch framelits to give my scene structure. I just love that tree - it reminds me of the whomping willow in the Harry Potter books!

A Wicked Witch - I decided to use the green on my card for the sentiment banner and the witch - after all, aren't all wicked witches green?! I stamped it in black on to Wild Wasabi cardstock and then coloured in some of the detail with my black Stampin' Write marker.

Background Detail - I used the wash stamp in the Perpetual Calendar stamp set for the orange detail on my card base beneath my strip of Halloween Nights designer series paper and added in a couple of spooky fun bats, some sequins and silver metallic thread 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 '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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colours. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Halloween Scenes Edgelits Dies	Halloween Night Specialty Designer Series Paper	Perpetual Birthday Calendar Photopolymer Stamp Set	Silver Metallic Thread	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Metallics Sequin Assortment	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Many Marvelous Markers	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

I decided to use this sketch for one of the cards that I made in my Christmas Stamp-A-Stack class earlier this week - take a look:

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

Something Old - I decided to feature a die cut 'merry' sentiment using my Christmas Greetings Thinlits and finish with some stamped words from the co-ordinating 'Holly Jolly Greetings' set. Last season I used these thinlits more times than I can count and in all the excitement of the Autumn-Winter catalogue I forgot that they had moved into the annual catalogue until I was browsing its Christmas section. For me they are a keeper and it felt like renewing acquaintance with an old friend to get them out and use them on my card today.

Something New - I paired my sentiment with a fun Santa from the Cookie Cutter Christmas set, punched out with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch and some of the new Candy Cane Lane DSP; I recommend you stock up on this during the current 'buy 3, get 1 free' offer on Designer Series Paper this month - I know I will be! My cute Father Christmas was coloured in with my Stampin' Write markers for a bold finish, with a  liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to accent his fur trim. 

A Perennial Favourite - Last but not least, I embossed my top Whisper White layer in my favourite embossing folder of all time: the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I'm not big into dry embossing, however I would make an exception for Softly Falling any day of the week, I just love the texture and interest that this falling snow gives a 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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cookie Cutter Christmas Photopolymer Bundle	Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper	Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Many Marvelous Markers	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

This struck me as a rather masculine colour combination, although this may be just because I have male cards on the brain lately with lots of masculine birthdays on the horizon. I decided to break out a stamp set that I've had for a while but not yet used - here's my card:

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

Marquee Messages - I used the stamp set 'Marquee Messages' on my card today, with a full-on birthday greeting. This is such a fun stamp set with a variety of greetings that mean it can be used for birthdays, invitations or to congratulate. I coloured the central element of my sentiment with Dapper Denim ink and my blender pen for a slightly ombre look. 

Little Foxy Stripes - The neat grey and white stripes on my background are from the Little Foxy DSP stack - yet not a fox in sight! It's always worth checking out the patterns as sometimes you can find neutral patterns such as this that make great backgrounds.

Paper-Pieced Neon -  For the arrow and box sign elements of my card I got out my paper snips and did a little fussy cutting to allow me to paper-piece them on my card. I wanted bold blocks of colour just like a neon sign; of could I had to add some pearl light bulbs and a couple of gold glimmer stars too for a real touch of glamour 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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Marquee Messages Photopolymer Stamp Set	Gold Glimmer Paper	Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock
A Little Foxy Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Pearl Basic Jewels