Happy Monday everyone! I have a busy week as I am playing catch up again now that the James Juniors are back at school following their half term break, so this is a quick post from me today. I'm sharing a card that uses Jen T's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, this week's Color Throwdown colours and the theme over at Just Us Girls where they are playing with leaves:

I was intrigued by Jen's sketch this week and loved the idea of three squares on a slimline card. When you look at my card you will think I made it in super-quick time - and I did, but only after an exponential amount of crafty procrastination and numerous failed attempts! Here's what I ended up with:

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

Yes - a simple trio of my favourite stitched leaves, inset into a trio of stitched squares and switched about for some mix-and-match autumn colour, with a sentiment from the 'Sparkle of the Season' stamp set. Why so difficult? Well, I couldn't decided between leaves, snowflakes, trees ... the list goes on! Then I decided I wanted to use the larger sycamore-style leaf, but try as I might I couldn't use three and create a slimline that would fit in an envelope for posting. I also fiddled with my Stitched Greenery Die - and failed to successfully adapt it for a long slimline card so gave that up as a bad job. the moral of the story? If in doubt, simple is best! Sometimes trying to complicate things just doesn't pay. Then to top it all, I struggled to get my card to lie flat for photographing - so if you're looking at it and can see a slight distortion, I'm afraid that's why. I also added a little stamping to the inside of my card:

I hope you like today's card and have enjoyed my tale of the trials of creating it! I love the finished result those - sometimes stitched dies really are all you need!

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'm off to grab a quick sandwich before I head back out on my second school run of today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPARKLE OF THE SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today it's Sunday (and I hope those of you reading this who are in the UK enjoyed a lie-in and remembered to turn your clocks back!) - time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a fun TicTacToe challenge for you to work with:

I have a very special card to share with you today! Lots of photos and news of an exclusive product pre-release that is happening this week on 2nd November, so time to buckle up and sit tight - here we go! I went along the diagonal of the TTT grid from bottom left to top right with foil/patterned paper/diecut for my card today, which is a fancy fold birthday card featuring the new Eden's Garden suite. Here's a first look at my card when closed and then I'll tell you a little more about the products in the Eden's Garden suite:

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

Eden's Garden - The Eden's Garden bundle, comprising the Eden's garden cling stamp set and Eden Dies, will be included in the January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue, however is being released for sale this week on Tuesday 2nd November, so this is the perfect opportunity to explore it before the official release.

Pre-Release Exclusives - In addition to the bundle, for the duration of the pre-release only, you will also be able to order a number of additional exclusive products, that will be available only while supplies last. The other items in the Eden's Garden Collection pre-release include 12"x12" specialty designer paper, cotton paper and garden gems. Here's the flyer detail so that you can see it in more detail:

Eden's Garden Fancy Fold - Now you've had the detail, it's time to check out my card! As I mentioned above it's a fancy fold; the talented Elizabeth Price had made a couple of cards with a similar fold that I just loved and she coined it a 'hokey pokey' card, because the back side is in front, the right side tucks into the left and there's detail inside that could in fact be the front of the card. To explain this in more detail, here's another photo of the card closed:

When you remove the belly band that holds the folds in place, you can start to see how it opens, and you can see the embossed detail:

This is what it looks like fully open:

My card base is Soft Succulent and it measures 6" by 12" and is scored along the long edge at 1", 6" and 10 3/8". All of the papers come from the Ever Eden specialty designer series paper pack - beautiful, soft serene greens of Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen with touches of gold foil detail. The sentiment on my belly band comes from the Eden's Garden stamp set, and I used each of the Eden's Dies in different ways on my project: the largest rectangle frame is embossed onto the front right panel of my card, with the smaller rectangle frame as the base for my belly band centrepiece, which also includes a banner piece in gold foil and some sprigs diecut from Soft Succulent shimmer vellum for added subtle sparkle and shine:

I used the edge border die to add detail to my fold out edges, cut in the beautifully soft Evening Evergreen cotton paper:

Inside my card, I used more of the paper and diecut foliage with another sentiment piece (this time from the 'Peaceful Moments' stamp set) for my pictoral panel and added some stamping of a repeating pattern using the main foliage image in the Eden's Garden stamp set:

 Here's the birthday sentiment embellishment in more detail:

The launch of the Eden's Garden pre-release coincide with my lovely Mums' birthday, so I thought this card would be perfect to send her my love and best wishes. For her version of the card, I also added another shortened banner to the outside panel, as show below:

The sentiment is from the 'A Wish For Everything' stamp set, which really does have a sentiment for every occasion:

I thought I'd share this additional detail with you as it's useful to see how you can add in a more personal greeting with this kind of card. I'm safe to blog my card today as my Mum rarely reads my blog so won't see this ahead of time; she loves greens and is a big fan of a fancy birthday card though, so I know she will love it. 

If you like the products in the Eden's Garden pre-release, do be sure to pop back Tuesday when these items will be available to order in the online store. the Eden's Garden bundle is also the focus for my online technique card class on Monday 6th December - do get in touch if you would like to join me, you would be more than welcome!

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; I will be out at hockey this morning as Rebecca is umpiring at a junior tournament and am looking forward to an afternoon cosying up indoors with the family before we are back to school tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

To be updated on 2 November when these products are available for purchase.

Hurrah it's the weekend! A quick card from me today that I made earlier in the week for a couple of challenges:

The current challenge over at Time Out has a theme of 'Down to Earth'; I didn't use the optional twist of kraft cardstock because I wanted to use one of my favourite Christmas stamps with some retired paper I have been hoarding that dictated the colour scheme of today's card - take a look:

I thought the retired World of Good Embossed Specialty Designer Series Paper would make the perfect themed backdrop to go with the 'peace on earth' stamp set from the 'Thinking Thanks and Peace' stamp set. I heat-embossed my stamp in gold onto Basic Grey and coloured my dove with my Stampin' chalk marker:

A sentiment and an offcut strip of that beautiful embossed paper complete the inside of my card:

This stamp is very much a 'one and done' so great for quick cards, but it can be easily dressed up with the addition of some background themed stamping or designer paper, as I've done here. This stamp is a favourite of mine so I am also joining up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us to showcase our favourite holiday products (so many to choose from!)

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:

THINKING THANKS & PEACE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

WHITE STAMPIN' CHALK MARKER (£3.25)

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)

I'm back with my second card of the day: this time I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a festive 'fill in the blank' challenge:

I used the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday for my layout and I knew exactly which stamp I needed for today's 'fill in the blank' - take a look:

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

Well Defined - This sentiment from the 'Well Defined' stamp set sums up perfectly what Christmas means to me: family. Christmas is the one time of the year when my immediate family is always able to be together - no work, no school, no sport, simply the opportunity to spend quality time which each other and enjoy each other's company. We are often hosting extended family during the festive season, so it tends to be a busy family time and not an especially restful one (not for me, anyway!). Last year's 'lockdown Christmas' was unusually quiet for us, but I didn't enjoy it any less; if anything, I personally enjoyed it even more as I was freed from many of the hostess duties that normally fall to me. That said, a return to normality this year will be welcomed - there is nothing like the presence of family to sum up all that is good about Christmas, for sure.

A Play On Words - I paired my sentiment with some Whimsy and Wonder designer paper featuring gifts - it seemed appropriate given the play on the words 'presence' and 'presents' in the sentiment. i love the non-traditional colour combination of this paper and the iridescent foil detailing - so pretty! 

Scalloped border Detail - I backed my designer paper with a panel of Misty Moonlight that I added a scalloped border to one edge, cut using the Scalloped Contour Dies; it has a subtle pierced edge detail that I love. I also added a sparkly ribbon bow to complete my card:

So what does Christmas mean to you? I would love you to leave me a comment below - better still, make a card and link it up to our gallery during the next 2 weeks!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

Enjoy your day; we have haircuts, lunch out and shopping on the cards today as we continue to enjoy the half-term school break. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WELL DEFINED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	WHIMSY & WONDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (£33.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	WHITE 3/8'' (1 CM) GLITTERED ORGANDY RIBBON (£8.00)

This is my first post of a two-post Friday and I'm here with my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Kindness Day' which is on November 13th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used flowers, pearls, embossing, heart, pastel colours and shimmer and this is what I came up with:

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

Floral Heart - I used my Floral Heart Die to cut my centrepiece out of Shimmery White cardstock and embellished it with some basic pearls that I coloured using my Fresh Freesia Blends to co-ordinate with my background.  

Parisian Shimmer - Alongside that fabulous detailed floral heart, there is even more shimmer to be had with a layer of Fresh Freesia shimmer vellum. I embossed it with my Parisian Flourish embossing folder - isn't that embossed detail amazing?! This isn't a folder I use often, but I thought it worked well with the design of today's card. I also added a open weave ribbon bow and some rhinestones and silver twine for added sparkle. 

A Sneak Peek - Finally, the sentiment I used on today's card is a 'sneak peek' from the new 'Eden's Garden' suite, an early release collection that will be available to order from the 2nd November, including some exclusive products that will only be available as part of the early release. I just love the words I used on the front of my card - they seem particularly appropriate to share on a card for World Kindness Day:

I hope you liked today's card - more details on the Eden's Garden Collection pre-release to follow.

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team.

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans

Joanne James

Enjoy your morning and I'll be back later with my project for the new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)	2021–2023 IN COLOR SHIMMER VELLUM (£11.25)	FRESH FREESIA 3/8" (1 CM) OPEN WEAVE RIBBON (£6.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SHIMMERY WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	FRESH FREESIA STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I have a really quick post to share a card that I made for this week's Inspired By challenge:

They had another two great inspiration photos this week; I decided to use the winter inspiration photo and the sketch (in landscape) and was drawn to both the colours and one of the styles of Christmas trees it featured - it's very similar to one in the retired set 'Festival of Trees' - take a look at my card and you'll see which one I mean:

I stamped the tree in Real Red, Night of Navy and Bumblebee on a trio of white stitched rectangles, I added a silver foil stitched star to each one, cut using one of the Give It A Whirl dies and added a red cardinal from the same stamp set and a silver twine bow to the centre one:

A heat-embossed sentiment and a few extra stars to pretty up the inside completes my card:

No supplies list today - I hope you enjoyed this mix of old and new! I do love an unconventionally-coloured Christmas card and these modern trees are a timeless class for sure so it felt good to give them some love too.

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

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Vicky is hosting this month and for her last challenge of the month she has a great sketch challenge for us: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to pair the sketch with the colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments to create a 'thinking of you' card, but must confess it wasn't entirely plain sailing! Initially I had created a completely different card for this challenge - then when I went to upload it on our Design Team page realised I had missed Vicky's reference to 'any non-geometric shape' - I will share that card another day - and back to the drawing board I went! I eventually came up with the following clean and simple card:

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

Beauty Of Tomorrow - I reached for the 'Beauty of Tomorrow' stamp set as it has a collection of images in a variety of sizes, including the larger, feathery grass stem that I used on my Smoky Slate card base as the start of my design. I cut a label using my Seasonal Labels dies to which I added my sentiment and some ink splats, then added another seed stem and a bird, which I popped up on a dimensional for extra lift:

 I also used the same set to add a little decoration to the inside of my card:

A Lesson In CAS - I ended up making two cards today and thought I would share the reasons for that here with you, not least because we have a design team call out over at CAS Colours & Sketches this week so for anyone thinking they might like to join the team, it might prove useful! My regular readers will know that my 'go-to' style is generally clean and layered and one of the reasons I initially joined this team was with a view to honing my 'clean and simple' card making skills. I initially laid out the card you see above, but thought it looked a little plain, so I made another card - the one you can see below. Once complete, I no longer felt like it met the CAS brief; whilst there was still lots of 'white space', the additional layering, the coloured gems and diecut detail took this card beyond it. I still love it - and this is the card I'm sharing over at HSS - but I ended up making another card to my original design, the one you see above, and funnily enough once finished I decided I liked it much better than I had the first time around now that I had something else to compare it to - go figure! 

Take Two - Here is that second card! I added in an additional couple of layers, cutting up one of the large leaves from the die set to add interest to the border, along with more splats and coloured gems:

And here's another photo so you can see the extra colour that my subtle changes add: 

I hope you found reading about my trials in card making interesting and useful - our challenge is all about the 'clean and simple', although it can be easy to get carried away with the colours or sketch and forget this. You can see a photo of both cards together below - do you prefer one more than the other? Do leave me a comment - I'd 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTY OF TOMORROW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	SEASONAL LABELS DIES (£35.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

Today I have a quick 'extra' post to share a card that I made for the current challenge over at Fusion that I'm also linking up over at Global Design Project where their theme is 'Hey Pumpkin' #GDP315:

I love both the Fusion sketch and inspiration photo, but as I have no current pumpkin products in my collection, I went on the hunt through my retired paper for some featuring neutral coloured pumpkins and ended up making a card that comprises entirely retired product, save the basic colours which are all current (Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Basic White and Cajun Craze):

I found this lovely retired paper in the 'Country Lane' paper pack, and paired it with a white layered pumpkin, diecut with the Patterned Pumpkins dies and tied with some retired old olive twine, and finished the whole thing off with an oversize sentiment cut with the Expressions Thinlits Dies.

Thank you Fusion for the inspiration to use up more of my hoarded paper and give some of my retired tools some love - this card is for you my readers, who am I am thankful continue to follow along and sometimes even comment as I share my crafty musings and creations with you!

Today I'm sharing a card using Jacqui's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the photo inspiration over at Just Add Ink:

Jacqui's sketch has a lovely open space and the colours on the leaves in the JAI inspiration photo are just beautiful! They were the very inspiration I needed to create a project I've been wanting to get to since my last card class - take a look:

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

Merriest Frames - I'm such a fan of the Merriest Frames Embossing Folder and die set; whilst designed for Christmas, by changing up the colours and using a non-festive sentiment gives this frame a completely different look that stretches it across the seasons. It was also the perfect centrepiece for Jacqui's sketch! I also used it to add a touch of glamour to my envelope too.

Blended Autumn Leaves - I used a blending brush to add a collection of autumnal colours to my leafy frame and added a few small raindrop clear enamel dots in a nod to the photo. 

Beauty of Tomorrow - I showcased my favourite autumnal sentiment from the 'Beauty of Tomorrow' stamp set in the centre of my frame and added a small twine-tied diecut leaf embellishment to complete my card:

I really love this card! The frame is so lovely - a riot of blended autumnal colour.

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:

MERRIEST FRAMES HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (£36.00)	INTRICATE LEAVES DIES (£26.00)	BEAUTY OF TOMORROW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REGALS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	MERRY MERLOT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

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

So many ways to use this sketch! I decided to go with a larger slimline card and showcase one of my favourite paper designs in the current mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Whimsy and Wonder - I love the rather less traditional colours of the Whimsy and Wonder specialty designer series paper and I particularly love the iridescent foiling on some of the sheets, such as the snowflakes on the paper I am featuring on today's card. I cut three rectangular panels of DSP using my stitched rectangle dies and matted each with some brushed silver foil cardstock and a layer of basic white too.

Stitched Snowflakes - For the focal point to anchor my banner, I decided to create a large layered snowflake, using two snowflakes cut using my Stitched Snowflakes Dies and backed this with an additional iridescent snowflake. I added a large rhinestone and silver trim bow - here's a close up so that you can see just how pretty it is:

Finishing Touches - I heat embossed my sentiment from the 'Merry Snowflakes' stamp set in silver onto a banner of Blushing Bride on the front of my card, and stamped another sentiment from the same set onto the inside panel:

I added snippets of snowflakes both to the inside and beneath the panels on the outside of my card to complete the look - you can never have too many snowflakes, right?! I just love this card - so gloriously feminine, yet festive 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 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 are enjoying a restful day at home. If it stays fine we might go for a long walk this afternoon, and since it's the start of half term I may see if I can cajole the rest of the James family into completing a jigsaw with me on our return! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WHIMSY & WONDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	STITCHED SNOWFLAKES DIES (£32.00)	WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (£9.25)
BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)