A quick - and late! - post from me today, but since I didn't post yesterday I thought I'd better squeeze one in today! I was fundraising at a MacMillan Coffee morning yesterday and have been busy with the usual flurry of household chores, homework and swimming clubs that generally occupy a Saturday in the James household today. The lovely ladies over at Less Is More have a challenge for 'something shiny' this week and I have the perfect CAS creation to fit - here's my card:

I used a simple base of Real Red and a mat of Whisper White, onto which I stamped 'have a' and 'Christmas' in red around a gold foil 'Merry' diecut, formed using my Christmas Greetings thinlits (I am so in love with these!) I cut an ornament shape out of gold foil using my Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies and my Big Shot and backed this with a 1 3/4" circle of red glimmer paper (well what is shine without a little sparkle too?!), added a gold cord trim bow and adhered the ornament slightly off the edge of the card to look as if it was hanging from the 'y' of 'merry'. 

I designed this card as one of the makes for my all day Christmas stamp-a-stack this week and the ladies present loved it, although having to remove the tiny pieces from the ornament was proving tedious by the time they had made six of them! I'm also using the ornament dies in my October technique class in a couple of weeks time and can't wait - combined with the Embellished Ornaments stamp set (another 15% off bundle when you buy the two together!) they really are very versatile.

Back tomorrow with my card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players; come back then, you won't want to miss it!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets
Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Red Glimmer Paper

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

These colours have a real ombre feel to them and I decided to go with something pretty and floral today using the 'Garden in Bloom' stamp set. Here's my card: 

I used a Very Vanilla base and a mat of Calypso Coral to set off my Pretty Petals striped DSP. I punched a 2" wide banner of Blushing Bride with my Triple Banner Punch and overlaid this with a piece of Very Vanilla satin ribbon, then for my focal panel I stamped the sentiment and flower outlines in Watermelon Wonder and 'coloured' them in with the other two challenge colours. I love this stamp set and in photopolymer, it makes light work of two-step stamping for sure!

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

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 September HJQSKSW6 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. There have been a few issues on the Stampin' Up! website today and the weekly deals are not showing properly, however they are valid and detailed below:

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:

Confetti Hearts Border Punch	Handpicked Framelits Dies	Into The Woods Elements
Ornate Tag Topper Punch	Remarkable You Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Simply Scored Diagonal Scoring Plate

My pick of the week this week has to be the Ornate Tag Topper Punch on offer at £15.75; this is a great way to ensure that all your Christmas parcel tags are executed to perfection. I'll be getting the 'Remarkable You' stamp set though; this one is on my wish list, so I can't pass it up this week!

Lastly, the Clearance Rack updated yesterday - check out the new bargains here!

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy shopping!

Did you know that September is classical music month? In honour of this, the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge has 'musical' as its theme and that's where I'm linking up my card today:

It might not be classical, but I had that classic of all Christmas carols, Jingle Bells, in my head when I made today's clean and simple card:

I used a base of Very Vanilla with a piece of musical notepaper (I used some retired paper) - the current 'Home For Christmas' dsp has some paper printed with Christmas carol sheet music that would be perfect for this. I then set my top panel of Very Vanilla at a jaunty angle and stamped my sentiment from the 'Jingle All The Way' stamp set in Real Red alongside the bell image from Cozy Christmas', which I coloured in using Crushed Curry and Garden Green Stampin' Write Markers, adding some red berry pearls that I coloured with a red Sharpie.

A super simple card - maybe one for my piano teacher this Christmas, I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday deals; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Jingle All The Way Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Many Marvelous Markers	Pearl Basic Jewels

I've been busy today with the final preparations for the first of my all day Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks later this week but today's card that I'm going to share is the final one from last month's technique class using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set:

For this card we used a base of Real Red and decorated the front with a piece of Merry Moments DSP, then cut away a section using a 2" circle punch, so that it would fit around a 3D poinsettia flower made from Real Red card stock and adhered to the inside to the card. We used two layers of petals and a trio of leaves for our flower and wrapped a few loops of fine gold metallic thread behind it. This was a great card to get everyone used to building the 3D flower using the punch, having stamped the patterns onto the petals and leaves beforehand. These flowers also look great on festive packaging and really make the most of this versatile stamp set. This is one of the many great value bundles in the seasonal catalogue - with 15% off when you purchase the bundle, it represents a great saving. If you would like to see this stamp and punch combo in action (and a refresher for the ladies that attended my class!), here's a great video from Stampin' Up! that gives you the lowdown:

I hope you enjoyed that video. Don't forget, if you live in or around Northampton and would like more information on attending any of my classes, you can find full details here or just get in touch to confirm availability. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper	Gold Metallic Thread	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
2" Circle Punch	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it's the wonderful Laurie's to host and she has a great theme challenge for you:

I decided to go with trees and leaves for my fall-inspired scene and set to work with my Woodland embossing folder and some rich Regals colours. Here's my card:

I used Cajun Craze for my card base with a mat of Crushed Curry, then having embossed a piece of Very Vanilla with my Woodland embossing folder, I stamped it randomly with the leaf stamps from my 'Among The Branches' stamp set in Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Garden Green and Tangelo Twist. I stamped my sentiment stamp from the same set in Cajun Craze on Very Vanilla and punched out using my 2" circle punch and added it to my card with a couple of banners underneath punched using my Triple Banner Punch - one in garden green and one in kraft corrugated paper for a little texture. To finish, I added a little wooden leaf from the Into The Woods Embellishments pack. 

That's it - definitely a clean and simple fall scene card! I'm not generally a big fan of embossing folders (I own lots of them but rarely use them) however both the Woodland Embossing folder and the Gently Falling Embossing folder are firm favourites of mine already - so many creative possibilities, especially when paired with a co-ordinating stamp set as I have here. Furthermore, not only does the stamp set co-ordinate, but it is one of the many fantastic bundles available in the seasonal catalogue - if you by both the Woodland TIEF and the Among The Branches stamp set, you can save 15%, what a great deal! To take advantage of it, just click on the bundle in the supply list below and it will take you to my shop to purchase.

I have a busy day ahead; more housework and I'm still playing catch up having been away for a few days at the end of last week. At least the children have completed all their homework - one less thing to do today! 

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 fall scenes you create on your CAS cards this week.  

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Among The Branches Photopolymer Bundle	Into The Woods Elements	Kraft And White Corrugated Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze A4 Cardstock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad
Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	2" Circle Punch

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 decided to use the lovely 'Reason For The Season' stamp set on my card again today. Here's my card: 

I decided to use the tone on tone stamping on my Real Red card base as it was so popular on my earlier card here. I used a band of Garden Green and a Garden Green mat for my Whisper White oval, cut with my Big Shot and Oval Framelits, and added a band of Real Red striped Holiday Fancy Foil Designer Vellum to the central band to add a little shine. I stamped my sentiment in black and then for my embellishment, I stamped the poinsettia three times on Whisper White and fussy cut each one, creating different layers of petals as I did so, so that when they were adhered on top of each other they have a real 3D effect. I also coloured some pearls with a yellow Sharpie and added those to the centre of my flower. Here's a closeup of the detail:

I love the effect you get with some good old fashioned fussy cutting and layering and for this card, no punch required. This set really is so versatile!

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:

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 September HJQSKSW6 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:

Brights Designer Buttons	Early Espresso 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Fringe Scissors
Gold Basic Metal Buttons	Hexagon Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers

More great deals again this week. my favourite has to be the oh so versatile hexagon punch - great for little banners and so many more uses besides. At only £10.88 a bargain too! 

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

Good evening blog readers! I had a lovely time with the ladies - and gent! - that attend my card class at a local residential care home this morning. As always, the lovely Sheila and Brenda were wonderful hostesses and today we were joined a new resident, Peggy, for the first time. We enjoyed a pleasant few hours making Christmas cards and this afternoon I caught up with one of my team over a quick coffee and got some jobs done before collecting the children and embarking on the usual Tuesday round of homework, piano lessons and dinner. Anyway, enough about my day! No time to make a card today, so I thought I'd share with you another of the cards we made at my Technique class this month. Another using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set, but this time in white and gold:

I used extra thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created a layered central panel using a piece of gold foil cardstock and a piece of Whisper White covered with a piece of the gorgeous gold foil Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack. I stamped the sentiment and flower onto a piece of Whisper White in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then fussy cut the flower and punched the sentiment out using a 2" circle punch. To put together, I created a few loops of gold corded trim and adhered these to my card, followed by the sentiment then lastly the flower, overlapping each slightly. A sprinkling of gold sequins from the Metallics Sequin Assortment completes my card.

This is my favourite of all the cards we made in this month's technique class - I love the modern, crisp gold and white finish. That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a new collection of weekly deals. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	2" Circle Punch

It's Monday - what else is there to say?! Today's card was using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, although I am too late to link up today, although I can still join in with The Friday Mashup where the challenge is to use glitter on your card and/or combine with a 3D project (I just went with the glitter). Here's the sketch:

Lots of possibilities. I wanted to try out an idea I'd had buzzing around my head for a while - here's my card:

So my card today is very 'green' courtesy of Cucumber Crush - but with good reason! I wanted to create a card reminiscent of the musical 'Wicked' that would serve as a celebratory card, and use a combination of blacks for contrast. I stamped my witch's hat from Howl-O-Ween Treat in Archival Basic Black ink, then stamped my 'wicked' sentiment from the new Project Life 'Seasonal Snapshot 2015 set in Versamark and heat embossed it in black a couple of times to give it real profile and shine. I added the 'awesome' from Endless Birthday Wishes, some shiny black sequins from the metallics sequin assortment (another use for one of this week's Weekly Deals!) and some silver Dazzling Details to the stars and band on the hat. 

This is one of those cards that looks so much better in real life - it has real sparkle and shine that s difficult to capture on film. My daughter really loves it though, so this is one that will be heading her way in due course I think!

That's all from me today; I have a class tomorrow with a lovely group at a local residential care home along with some mass Christmas card production for an event later this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Photopolymer Stamp Set	Howl-O-Ween Treat Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock
Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set