Today is a special day - I received my badge and pass for Stampin' Up's Onstage Live Event in the post today and I am SOOO excited; only 8 more sleeps to go! I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with some of my teamies, getting a sneak peek at lots of new SU! product and attending my first Centre Stage Live.

Today's card is another on the theme of thankfulness, but with something of a twist! I was documenting some Project Life at the weekend and decided to use one of my cards from the 2015 Project Life Seasonal Snapshot kit to make a card. This is something I do rarely, as I usually want to use everything in my PL documenting, but decided it was a good idea so that you can see  the sheer versatility of the Project Life product range. So here is my card:

I'd like to say this card took me ages, but that would be so untrue! It uses a PL card for the cardfront, with one of the wooden embellishments from the Seasonal Snapshot accessory kit adhered to the front with glue dots, and the words and letters and little leaves are all self-adhesive elements from the accessory pack that I adhered directly to my base, popping the 'thankful' up on a couple of dimensionals for a little lift. I added a black candy dot and some SAB Tangelo Twist thick baker's twine from my stash and my card was complete! So easy and yet so effective - I love the rich colours of the plaid and the negative space leaf really draws you in. The leaf itself made it into my Project Life folder with my photos  - bonus! Project Life sets are great for cardmakers too - if you can bear to part with them of course! 

It's remix week over at TGIF Challenges so I decided to use their theme - thankful - and sketch for my card, which I am also linking up to SUO Challenges as it fits with their theme too and the inspiration over at Curtain Call where my background looks just like their rug! 

I am thankful for many things, but today I am mostly thankful that the carbon monoxide detector that set off its alarm this morning is nothing serious and that our relatively new gas boiler has not sprung an unexplained leak. The National Grid engineer that came out on the emergency call determined it was simply a blip - at least we know the alarm is working!

I'm off to get some jobs done before heading out on the school run and then to take one of my little pianists for a piano exam - wish Rebecca luck! Back tomorrow with another project - Christmas this time! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Project Life Card Collection

Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Project Life Accessory Pack

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Neutrals Candy Dots

Good morning everyone - happy Monday to you! This morning I have a Christmas card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Now I looked at this sketch and loved the layout and almost went with it 'as is' using the square as my shape - such a classic layout - but decided since Cindy was ok with 'any shape' I would actually go with a much less literal interpretation. So without further ado, here's my card:

I used Crumb Cake for my base, then stamped the shepherds and wise men from the 'All Ye Faithful' stamp set onto a strip of Early Espresso cardstock and heat embossed them in gold and matted this panel with gold foil cardstock before adhering to my card base. I then did the same to my holy family onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and coloured it with my inks and a blender pen before cutting out with the smallest of the Ovals Framelits and my Big Shot. I then popped this up on dimensionals between the stamped images on the Early Espresso piece. To finish, I stamped my sentiment in Early Espresso directly onto the Crumb Cake base layer. 

So as you can see, a less than literal interpretation of the sketch but each of the key elements is present. I adore this stamp set and these images are beautiful whether used individually or as a set.

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

All Ye Faithful Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool (Uk)	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock
Gold Foil Sheets

Another quick post from me today! I managed to get a little time yesterday to create a clean and simple wedding card for a couple of challenges today:

I was fortunate enough to be a winner over at The Challenge last week (you can see that card here -thank you ladies!) and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to join in again this week. The Challenge have a theme of weddings this week and CASology have a cue card of 'heart'; I thought I would make a card in warm Winter reds with a touch of gold using my 'Hello Life' stamp set and hearts border punch:

I used a card base of Cherry Cobbler with a split top panel of Very Vanilla, stamped with two overlaying hearts and heat embossed in gold with my 'love' sentiment and joined with a piece of gold foil cardstock punched with the hearts border punch to allow the red to show through the negative space. 

Super simple but rather pretty and perfect for a winter wedding when regal colours often feature.

That's all from me; back tomorrow with a festive project once more. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Life Photopolymer Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Hearts Border Punch	Gold Foil Sheets

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my good friend Claire to host and she has a seasonal theme to get our creative juices flowing this week:

For today's challenge I just had to use the fabulous scrolled 'Thankful' in the hostess set 'Six Sayings'. That's where I started out - here's where I finished up:

I also used the sketch over at The Friday Mashup and used leaves, so completed both elements of their challenge this week. Isn't that sentiment just fabulous? I decided that I would get a flavour of fall with the patterned leaf paper from the 'Into The Woods' designer series paper, layered on some Early Espresso and a base of Daffodil Delight. This allowed my gold embossed sentiment to really stand out against the Early Espresso banner. I also added a trio of Into The Woods Elements and some gold cord trim: I stamped the leaves in Versamark then heat embossed them in gold and coloured an acorn in with my Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker and stamped the acorn cap in Versamark and heat embossed that with some retired Early Espresso to give a little shine. 

This is such a colourful card and I love the Thankful sentiment - I for one have much to be thankful for and what better time to let others know how much they are appreciated. I'm also linking up with SUO challenges where their current theme is thank you cards.

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 your thankful fall-themed creations this week. We are having a sport-free weekend for a change, with a lie-in following our trick-or-treat exploits yesterday and a quiet day before returning to school tomorrow. Amen to that!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Six Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Into The Woods Designer Series Paper	Into The Woods Elements	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Cording Trim	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock

A late post from me today - too much trick-or-treat fun earlier on this evening! Anyway without further ado, today I made a couple of cards using the sketch from Mojo Monday this week, the second of which is also for this week's challenge over at Merry Monday:

Both my cards feature papers from the Season of Cheer designer series paper, along with the Christmas Greetings Thinlits with the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set - one of the great bundle offers in the current seasonal catalogue. Here's the first card I made in traditional festive colours with the holly paper:

I went with a simple base layer of Real Red, then for the panel layered the holly paper with some Mossy Meadow and added a banner of red glimmer paper before adding my layered circles featuring my sentiment, a combination of stamped elements from the 'Holly Jolly Greetings' stamp set and a glimmer die cut using the Christmas Greetings Thinlits. I really liked this card, so decided to make a second one with a slightly different sentiment combination from the same sets, this time featuring the Christmas lights paper from the same DSP pack and a slightly less traditional colour scheme. Here it is:

I just love the glimmer paper on both of these cards; I'm not a fan of loose glitter, but glimmer paper is the best! So which one do you prefer - traditional or contemporary colour scheme? They are both great, although I think I'm veering towards the holly - I'm a sucker for red and green at Christmas time! I'd love to hear your thoughts - do leave me a comment below.

Back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Season Of Cheer Designer Series Paper	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform
Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Punch Corner Project Life	2-1/2" Circle Punch	Red Glimmer Paper	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Silver Glimmer Paper	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock

Today I have a change from Christmas cards; I wanted to use this week's sketch over at Less is More and I am also playing along with the challenge over at The Card Concept:

I decided that the colours over at The Card Concept would make a pretty thank you card so here's my card for today:

I've been seeing some wonderful autumnal cards made with the Sheltering Tree stamp set so I thought I would use it on this card, although I think my card looks more Spring-like than autumnal! I used a base of Pink Pirouette with a mat of Early Espresso, and stamped my tree off the edge of the panel in Early Espresso onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I overstamped the blossom in Pink Pirouette with a little Cherry Cobbler, then for my sentiment used a combination of my 'thanks' Greeting thinlits die for the negative die cut in my Cherry Cobbler banner, with 'For Being You' stamped in Early Espresso using the 'Crazy About You' stamp set. 

Clean and simple with a hint of cherry blossom - a nice change from the autumnal, Halloween and Christmas cards of late!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Greetings Thinlits Dies	Big Shot
Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock

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

I saw this sketch layout and immediately thought 'snowflakes' so dug out my 'Festive Flurry' stamp set and some Lost Lagoon cardstock, a colour that I haven't used much this season. Here's my card:

I decided to go with a square card today and worked directly onto my card base, as I wanted my snowflakes to add the layers. I stamped my first snowflake in Lost Lagoon directly onto my card base and centred it with an iced rhinestone , then stamped my sentiment in Versamark overlapping this and heat embossed it in white. Before adding my punched snowflakes, I also stamped the splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge in Versamark onto the background and heat embossed this in Iridescent Ice; it looks quite dark in the photo but is actually really sparkly. For the remaining circular elements of the sketch, I stamped one of the smaller snowflakes in Lost Lagoon on Whisper White, added a rhinestone to the centre and punched it out using the co-ordinating punch, then for the remaining circle I used one of the natural snowflake elements that I stamped in versamark and heat embossed in white, then stamped it again in versamark and heat embossed it in Iridescent Ice so that it is super-sparkly. lastly, I added some silver cord trim to the folded edge.

I just love this card - so very sparkly and Christmassy, all rolled into one! I love the combination of snowflakes to add a little flavour of collage to my card today.

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge 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:

As promised today I have a card using another of the stamps in the lovely hostess set 'Six Sayings', this time using the Halloween stamp and this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for inspiration:

I'm also linking up with this week's challenge over at Addicted to CAS since my card has a definite 'spooky' feel to it today - take a look:

I used Tangelo Twist as my card base and stamped my sentiment onto Very Vanilla using my Stampin' Write markers, so that I could colour the main word in Basic Black and highlight the 'BOO' in Tangelo Twist. I cut out the sentiment on the diagonal and backed it with a mat of Basic Black, but before adhering to my card I added in a couple of pieces of Spider Web doilies top and bottom - I just love these for adding a spooky touch to projects and a pack seriously lasts for ages!! To add to the theme, I fussy cut one of the ghosts from a sheet of the Happy Hauntings Designer Series Paper and placed him as if he was floating out of the 'O' of the 'BOO' - cute and spooky at the same time, right?! A sprinkle of black sequins finishes my card.

Another winner from the 'Six Sayings' hostess set - don't forget this set will only be available until the seasonal catalogue end on 4th January, so if it's on your wishlist then contact me about hosting a party before it;s too late!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Six Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper	Happy Haunting A4 Cardstock Pack	Spider Web Doilies	Metallics Sequin Assortment
Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for October 9JGQEYWJ if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accents

For All Things Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Sea Street Wood-Mount Stamp Set

Three more great products on offer this week: In Colour Blossom Accents add a great touch to projects and whilst Sea Street is a favourite stamp set of mine, For All Things is the perfect set to create those Autumn and fall projects that we are all making at present. What better time to pick up a bargain? 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Good morning everyone - another nice early post from me for a change! I had a lovely day yesterday making Halloween treats with all the little ones at the fundraiser that I attended; today it's all about music, with piano lessons and some last minute revision for Rebecca's music theory exam next week, along with completion of our holiday homework music project (I live in hope!) Anyway, enough about my plans for the day - I have a Christmas card to share with you today, for the current sketch challenge over at Pals Paper Arts:

I haven't played along with this challenge for a while - for some reason their posts stopped showing up in my blog feed - although I've sorted it now and this week's sketch intrigued me and so I had to play along. I decided to use the Christmas stamp in the new seasonal hostess set called 'Six Sayings' for my card today:

I love the saying on this cute Christmas stamp and I chose my colour scheme of Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Night of Navy as I thought it would work perfectly with my natural Snowflake Elements - yes, I actually left them in their undecorated glory today - no heat embossing or glitter in sight! I inked the stamp using my Stampin' Write Markers, alternating the lines for contrast, and for the Cherry Cobbler strip across the centre of my card, I also stamped it with the knit-pattern stamps from the current Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 stamp set to add a sweater-feel to my card.

The wooden snowflake embellishments add a little bulk to this otherwise flat card, but at the same time this is an interesting way to use them and the use of the dark colours really allows them to stand out. As for the stamp set: 'Six Sayings' has a lovely selection of stamps that suit a variety of occasions and is exclusively available to be purchased with Stampin' Rewards to party hostesses or individual customers who place an order of £150 or more. There is still time to take advantage of the current promotion to earn an extra 3% of Stampin' Rewards on qualifying party sales before 9th November, so if this is something of interest to you, please do get in touch with me for more information.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with news of this week's Wednesday deals and a little Halloween fun for you using another of the stamps in this lovely hostess set. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Six Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Photopolymer Stamp Set	Snowflake Elements	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Regals Stampin' Write Markers
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock