It's the weekend and I managed to squeeze in a little crafting time this afternoon to make a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where Amy has given us a great sketch to work with:

So many possibilities! I decided on a little watercolouring and another Christmas card - here's my card:

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

Santa's Train - I stamped the train from 'Christmas Magic' in archival black onto watercolour paper and got to work with my inks and an aquapainter to colour it in with a traditional predominantly red and green colour scheme. I also created a mask for the train and added in some trees behind to add some perspective to my winter scene.

A Wink And A Sparkle -  Difficult to see on my photograph, I added a touch of gold Wink of Stella to the bell and brass elements on my train, some clear Wink of Stella on the trees and snowy ground and some retired red Dazzling Details to my holly wreath for a little sparkle. It's very subtle but it looks very pretty in real life, I assure you!

Greetings From Santa - The 'Christmas Magic' stamp set has some lovely greetings, but none of them worked for the sentiment strip as per the sketch. Instead I chose to use this one from the 'Greetings From Santa' set which has a better fit.

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'll be back tomorrow with a card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players and I'm the hostess, so you won't want to miss it. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Christmas Magic Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Greetings From Santa Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Watercolor Paper
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Gold 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 sketch for you:

I spent some time deciding what to use on my card and eventually decided another Christmas card was the order of the day - take a look:

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

Pretty Pinecones - The Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies were the starting point for my card today. I have been wanting to use these gorgeous detailed dies to create a festive pine embellishment and today's layout was perfect for this. I used two different pinecones - the uppermost one has the pieces that can be pushed out, but I kept mine in place as I liked the effect (they can be held in place with a little tape behind).

Presents and Pinecones - I love the fresh reds and greens of the Presents and Pinecones designer series paper and knew they would be the perfect background to my embellishment. I actually cut one length from my DSP and used one side - the stripes - for the first panel, then the reverse - the pinecones - for the uppermost panel. The best of both worlds!

And Christmas Pines Makes Three - I used a sentiment from the bundled stamp set 'Christmas Pines' in Cherry Cobbler 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. 

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:

Christmas Pines Photopolymer Bundle	Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper	Presents & Pinecones A4 Cardstock Pack	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Banner Triple Punch	Rhinestone Basic Jewels

I've had a full-on craft day today - I love it when I get so much done and it's rare these days to have such a productive block of time. Time to share today's card with you which uses this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I love a good sketch and this one intrigued me this week! I was looking at stamp sets with split sentiments and came across my Star of Light set which has a number of these and took it from there. Here's my card:

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

The Light of The World - The Star of Light set has a number of paired sentiments, in addition to some single ones. I chose the one about the Light of Heaven becoming the Light of the World and positioned each part either side of my central star diecut.

Sparkle and Shine - I wanted to keep my card predominantly white and decided to heat emboss my central star in silver on white cardstock. I added a plain silver foil stat diecut behind, slightly offset, to create a 'shadow' and give more definition to the uppermost star. 

Final Touches - This card is all-white and ultra CAS, however I couldn't resist adding a trio of silver metallic dots to my extra thick white cardstock base to balance my final design.

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. 

Back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Star Of Light Photopolymer Bundle	Magnetic Platform	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Hello everyone! I am still struggling with intermittent blog and website issues, in addition to a lack of email, so please bear with me! If you have emailed me since Saturday I won't have received your message, so I would urge you to give me a call with the details so that I can deal with it for you. 

As promised I have another card for this week's challenge over at TGIF Challenges where the theme is to use the negative space left after making a die cut in a positive way:

Today I have the masculine version that I made for my Dad, who celebrates his birthday today - you can see the feminine version I made for my Mother-in-Law on yesterday's post here if you missed it. Here's today's card:

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

Large Letter Top Tips - I used my Large Letter Framelits again to create the negative die cut space on my card, this time to spell out 'Dad'. I have two 'Top Tips' for you today when using your letter framelits in this way to cut out a word where there are repeated letters - two D's on today's card, for example - and where there are 'gaps':

• In order to ensure all of the letters are aligned horizontally, I like to use a metal ruler. If you are using a magnetic platform in your Big Shot (and if not, why not?!) your ruler will 'stick' to your plate and make it really easy for you to align your framelits. On this card, I lined up the first D and A and cut them, then left the A framelit in place, whilst I moved the D to the end of the word and used my metal ruler to ensure they were level before putting through the Big Shot to cut my final letter.
• Unlike yesterday's card, the letters in DAD have areas of negative space, which when you are reversing them as I am here, you need to retain these pieces and place them in the appropriate place in the negative letter to ensure your space is fully defined. The best way to do this is to place the letter you've cut out into the space, then stick in the smaller pieces, then remove your letter, leaving the smaller pieces behind.

Not Just for Christmas - Today's negative space showcases one of the gorgeous plaid patterns from the Warmth and Cheer DSP stack. These papers are perfect for autumn and festive projects, but also work well for general masculine cards too. I decided to go with the Delightful Dijon/Black colour combo for my card today - the pattern is bold enough to work really well in the negative space of my diecut letters.

Finishing Touches - The 'happy birthday' from 'Guy Greetings' completes my sentiment today, centred and heat embossed in gold with some fine gold thread wrapped around the bottom of the panel. No bows today as I needed this card to be post-friendly - besides, it's a guy card, so no bow required!

My Dad should have received his card in the post today, so happy birthday wishes to him (although he's unlikely to be reading this!)

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.   

Back tomorrow with a Christmas card for you; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Large Letters Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform	Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Metallic Thread	Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock

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

I toyed with some time about my card this week: pumpkins, apples, acorns - what to choose? I browsed through my new goodies and when I happened across this pumpkin patterned DSP hidden away in the Halloween Night Specialty pack, I knew what I wanted to do. I also used this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts for my layout today. Here's what I came up with:

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

Not Just for Halloween - Whilst many of the papers in the Halloween Night Specialty Designer Series Paper Pack are overtly Halloween-inspired, this pattern of watercoloured pumpkins can also be used on more general Fall projects, as can the spotted paper I used for my banner and the stripes and checked patterns in the pack. This paper became the starting point for my card.

Spooky Pumpkin Fun - My layered square was the perfect place for my sentiment from the 'Spooky Fun' stamp set, along with a popped up trio of pumpkins, coloured with my Pumpkin Pie ink and a blender pen and cut out with the co-ordinating Halloween Scenes Edgelits Dies.

Festive Fall Colours - The colour scheme for today's card comes straight from the Halloween Night DSP: the warm orange tones of Pumpkin Pie, contrasted with Basic Black, Whisper White and Smoky Slate. More Halloween than Fall granted, but by emphasising the warmth of the orange, I think it works. Feel free to save this colour combination if it's one you'd like to try:

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 CAS challenge. We have a day of sport and birthday parties today - we are most certainly back into the swing of things as far as the new school term is concerned!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Halloween Night Specialty Designer Series Paper	Spooky Fun Photopolymer Bundle	Halloween Night Enamel Dots	Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Blender Pens	Banner Triple Punch	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

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 colour combination initially had me stumped as it's not a trio I would necessarily put together. I played around with a few ideas then eventually came up with something using the new Totally Trees set. Here's my card:

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

Totally Trees - This modern set of trees is right up my street - it's the kind of stamp set that really appeals to me. It's a two step stamp set, with branches and leaves needing to be stamped and aligned separately. Whilst I used both stamps together to decorate my envelope, for my card I stamped the tree trunks in Soft Suede on a piece of Very Vanilla, then stamped them again onto Emerald Envy and Delightful Dijon cardstock. I then punched out tree tops using my 1 3/8" circle punch and popped them onto dimensionals.

Moroccan Border - I used a piece of Delightful Dijon patterned paper from the Moroccan DSP pack to border my central horizontal panel. Whilst there isn't much it showing, it adds a subtle pattern and interest to the mat, which is then mounted on a further mat of Emerald Envy. I also used a piece of the green and mustard washi tape from the Moroccan pack to decorate the inside of my card. 

Any Colour Embossing - Lastly, in order to allow my sentiment to stand out, I stamped it in Soft Suede then immediately heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. This does darken it a little and the glossy finish helps it stand out more. In case you're wondering which stamp set I took my sentiment from - it's one of the ones that comes with the Watercolour Wishes card kit. 

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:

Totally Trees Photopolymer Stamp Set	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock	Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock
1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Circle Punch	Moroccan Designer Series Paper	Moroccan Designer Washi Tape

Today I have a card for the Fab Friday challenge, but first I would like to say thank you to the Fab Friday team for choosing my in-colour Christmas tree card as one of their winners for the last challenge (if you missed it, you can see that card here). I love the challenge of trying to create something to a brief, but it's even more special when my creative efforts are recognised. This week the team have a great sketch to play with:

I'm also linking up with the peeps over at Stamps Ink Paper as I went monochromatic with a couple of the gorgeous By The Shore papers and a cute coral-coloured crab from the You're Sublime stamp set:

I also used my Layered Circles framelits for my focal point and created a customised sentiment - oh how I love that Labeler Alphabet set! 

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. 

Back tomorrow with my post for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	You're Sublime Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Labeler Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set	By The Shore Designer Series Paper
Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

Just popping by with a quick post to let you know that the clearance rack has updated. Lots of bargains to be had, some items with up to 60% off. You can see the full range of items by clicking here.

Don't forget there are still a range of special offers including main catalogue products. The current items will be on offer until 11pm tomorrow, when they will change to the last week of special offers. You can see the current list here.

Back tomorrow with some stamping; until then, happy shopping!

Monday, Monday - the start of a new week! I have been busy moving mountains today, metaphorically speaking at least, but did manage to squeeze in a little crafting time to make a card with this week's colours over at Pals Paper Arts:

I was attracted by this bright colour palette and thought it would be perfect for an autumn card featuring the little scarecrow from the Cookie Cutter Halloween set:

Today's card really is a triumph in purple: another of the houndstooth patterns from the Petals and Paisleys Speciality Designer Series Paper pack, this time in Rich Razzleberry, along with some of the ribbon from the co-ordinating trio pack in the same colour. I used my Stampin' Write Markers to colour in the sweet scarecrow in each of the challenge colours, then punched him out using the Cookie Cutter Builder punch. Did you realise there were two stamp sets that each contained fun little figures that could be punched out with the Cookie Cutter Builder punch? I love it when you get more use out of a punch like this! I stamped a crow and fussy cut him and attached him to the scarecrow's hand and it was this that inspired my sentiment, taken from the Acorny Thank You stamp set. He looks like he is just dropping in to say 'Hi', doesn't he?

Purple is one of my favourite colours yet I don't often use it in my card making. This card is definitely making up for it today!

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cookie Cutter Halloween Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Cookie Cutter Builder Punch	Petals & Paisleys Specialty Designer Series Paper	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Many Marvelous Markers
Ribbon 3/8" (1 Cm) Trio Pack	Petals & Paisleys A4 Cardstock Pack	Acorny Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my good friend LeAnne to host this week and she has a great set of colours for you to work with:

I used the sketch over at TGIF Challenges for the layout of my card today. These colours screamed 'autumn' to me and I immediately reached for all my leaf sets! This is what I ended up with:  - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Branches - I decided to use the leaf from the Thoughtful Branches stamp set as the focal point for my card today, stamped in Crushed Curry and with a little Cajun Craze added with a sponge dauber to create the variegated effect. I cut these leaves out with the co-ordinating Beautiful Branches thinlits dies and also cut out a few of the double-leafed stem in Pear Pizzazz, and snipped off a single leaf from each to place behind my stamped one. I love the pop of colour this diecut leaf adds, along with the addition of texture. Each of my leaf duos was backed with a 1 3/8" punched circle. Don't forget the Thoughtful Branches bundle is still available while stocks last - snap up yours if you haven't already before it's too late!

Petals and Paisleys Houndtooth - The centre panel of my card features another of the Petals and Paisleys Specialty Designer Series Paper designs, this time a Cajun Craze and Very Vanilla houndstooth pattern. This paper exudes warmth and adds interest without detracting from the leaves as the focal point.

Sentiment-Free - Today's card is one of those few that is sentiment-free, on the outside at least. I debated whether or not to run a horizontal sentiment banner across the front of the leaves instead of adding the burlap ribbon behind, or stamping one onto the base frame of the card, but in the end decided against it. I didn't want to disturb the symmetry or form of my leaves so kept with a clean, uncluttered front. This also means that I can add a sentiment of my choice when I come to send 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. I'm hoping for better weather today as I have some gardening jobs to see to - yesterday was so miserable, although it didn't dampen the spirits of Ben and his fellow classmates who played in their first rugby match of the season. They managed a 4-4 draw too, so were feeling rather chuffed as they strolled in to their post-match tea! Today also heralds the start of the hockey season an a return to basketball, so sporting weekends are once again about to become the James family norm!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Bundle	Petals & Paisleys Specialty Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon	Cajun Craze A4 Cardstock
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Circle Punch	Sponge Daubers