Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at CASology where I haven't played in a while that also uses the sketch over at Paper Craft Crew:

  I loved the sketch over at PCC this week and knew it would be perfect for me to use up some fun reindeer paper clips that I had lurking in my embellishment drawer - take a look:

Cute, right?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

I loved these little reindeer clips when they came out a few years ago and must confess to having hoarded a few containers of them when they retired. The sketch was just perfect to add one to a square of Soft Suede and embellish with some gold twine, a strip of brushed metallic cardstock and some gold gilded gems - oh and an 'All The Trimmings' red enamel dot to make my stag a Rudolf ;-) I paired it with a simple block 'MERRY' sentiment from the super-useful 'Peace and Joy' stamp set for for an additional pop of festive colour:

I added some simple stamping to the inside using other words from the same stamp set: 

And I was done! Quite simple really but I think the reindeer paper clip makes a fun focal point in and of itself.

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.

When I'd finished my card, I liked it so much I made a couple more - I also used glitter enamel dots on one of them:

I'm now building my Christmas card stash at a pace - hoping to get them all in the post nice and early this year for a change, I figure we could all do with a little early festive cheer!

Enjoy the rest of your day; I'm off to watch the Great British Bake Off semi-final tonight, so looking forward to drooling over their makes and bakes, especially as it's patisserie week! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	ALL THE TRIMMINGS EMBELLISHMENTS (£7.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	SOFT SUEDE CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	PEACE & JOY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	BRUSHED METALLIC CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

A lockdown weekend with pouring rain gave me extra crafting time today so I thought I'd squeeze in a second post with a thanksgiving card that I made for a friend of mine, that was inspired by a number of challenges:

I used Julee's fabulous-as-always Mojo Monday sketch and the Card Concept inspiration photo with its rich oranges and browns and pumpkins galore inspired me to use the gold-embossed pumpkin paper from the Gilded Autumn paper pack for my clean and layered card. I decided to pair it with one of my favourite sentiments from 'Country Home' for a Cajun Craze monochromatic card - take a look:

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

My Gilded Autumn embossed paper was the starting point for today's card. I just love it! I added a stitched gold foil border and a layered pumpkin, made from one of my retired Patterned Pumpkin Dies and then with the pumpkin coloured with Cajun Craze Blends and splattered with gold shimmer paint, before adding some die cut leaves and vines:

I finished my sentiment banner with a double bow of Cajun Craze metallic ribbon and gold twine for some extra shine. So what do you think? I don't use Cajun Craze that often and there's a lot of it on this card, but I think the gold really takes things up a notch and compliments it beautifully. This almost feels like a Cinderella-esque rags to riches card, metaphorically speaking! I'm also linking this card up over at SUO Challenges where the theme is thanksgiving.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GILDED AUTUMN SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	COUNTRY HOME PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	BASKET WEAVE & METALLIC RIBBON COMBO PACK (£7.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week and she has a timely Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

Our theme this week is 'Hooray For The Holidays'. With Christmas just around the corner I decided to go with another card to add to my growing pile, but you could choose Thanksgiving or any holiday you like - as long as your card is clean and simple.  So what do we mean by Clean and Simple?

I decided to use the Sounds of the Season jingle bells again on my card this week, this week changing from silver to gold and pairing with red for the challenge over at Less Is More. I also used the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches which gave me the perfect opportunity to use a die from the Dove of Hope Dies that I haven't been able to find a good use for until now - take a look:

 The die was just perfect to create a couple of lengths of holes to show the gold foil below, to compliment my diecut bells and gold heat embossed sentiment. You can see the detail a little better on the angled shot below - the weather has been so poor here in the UK that I've struggled to photograph the foil without artificial light, which is never as clear as daylight:

 

 

 

A quick clean and simple check:

• Minimal layers and embellishments with one main focal point - yes
• Lots of open 'white' (or in my case red!) space - yes
• Simple and uncluttered - yes

I'd call that a result! 

 

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; my day will definitely be spent indoors today, so I'm thinking cooking, crafting and a movie could be the order of the day! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON DIES (£20.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	RED & GREEN FOIL SHEETS (£9.25)	DETAILED DOVE DIES (£31.00)	POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

A busy couple of days but it's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Ashwini is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I decided to go down the centre column with blue, holiday and sparkle/shine and am sharing a clean and layered snowflake card with you today - take a look:

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

True Blue - The main blue that I chose to feature on my card today is Pacific Point - one of the first three ink pads I ever purchased when I started stamping (along with Real Red and Old Olive, in case you're interested!) and whilst, like my other initial purchases, this is a colour that is still going strong, it's also one I don't use as frequently in my general crafting. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I saw it feature as one of the colours in the Snowflake Splendor patterned paper - I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to give it some love!

Snowflake Splendor - There are so many beautiful patterns in the Snowflake Splendor papers it's difficult to choose just two, but choose I did! I went with a couple of complimentary patterns, both of which feature Pacific Point, to bring out the bold blue colour. I used white mats on my project, which is something I don't often do but is a great way to showcase a stronger colour such as Pacific Point. 

Glimmer and Sparkle - Pacific Point is not the only blue that I showcase on today's card though; the Balmy Blue glimmer paper is so full of sparkle I couldn't resist adding some to my festive snowflake showcase and I think it compliments the other elements beautifully. I also added a sprinkling of sequins for a little more shimmer; along with my sparkle-filled sentiment I think this card is perfect for the current Time Out challenge too, where the challenge word is 'festivals' with the option of added shimmer/glitter - yes please!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BALMY BLUE GLIMMER PAPER (£4.75)	SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)

So here it is - the card that I actually intended to blog today! This card was inspired by a number of challenges: the colours over at CAS Colours and Sketches, along with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout. It's also a great example of #SimpleStamping as it uses nothing more than stamps ink and paper which also just happens to be the theme of the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week:

What's more, this card is a sneak peek of a brand new Stampin' Up! stamp set that will debut in the 2021 Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue - take a look:

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

For those of you that follow me on social media, you will know that I attended the bi-annual Stampin' Up! Onstage event this past weekend, which because of Covid, was held virtually online, with some of my team #OnstageAtHome2020. We had a great time and as always it was still exciting to get a first view of the new catalogue and play with some of the new products. I received a new stamp set called 'Enjoy The Moment' in my Onstage swag bag and whilst I don't usually blog cards with new sets this far in advance of catalogue launch (I don't like to be too much of a tease!) I really like this stamp set and I thought it was perfect for the above challenges. I simply watercoloured 4 ovals using the challenge colours onto some Fluid 100 watercolour paper and then using my Stamparatus, I stamped four of the seed pods over the top of each one, stamping a few times to get them nice and black. I stamped my sentiment in black onto a strip of Bumblebee cardstock and added it to my card with dimensionals to finish. A great example of #SimpleStamping - sometimes stamps, ink and paper is all you need!

So what do you think? Have I wet your appetite for the new catalogue?! There are still a couple of months before it launches, so rest assured won't be tempting you too much at this stage. The only way you can get it sooner is to join my team - do get in touch if you really can't wait! Either way, I will be firmly back to Christmas cards tomorrow!

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 another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	JET BLACK STAZON PAD (£9.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I had a fun card class this morning and encouraged by the ladies on my call (thank you Deborah!), instead of getting on with my household chores this afternoon, whilst the edited recording of my class video was rendering I decided to make a 'quick' card which has resulted in an extra post for today because I used the current Freshly Made Sketches layout so I'm squeezing in a link up:

I'd been mulling over what to feature on Judy's banner element and finally settled on some of the gorgeous Plush Poinsettia specialty paper - take a look:

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

This card wouldn't take long at all if I was to make it again from scratch, but I spent ages procrastinating over colours and backgrounds so it ended up taking way longer than it should have! It really is pretty straightforward: a banner of the lovely textured flocked white vellum, popped up on a panel of Real Red and a Whisper White card base, with a white-on-red heat-embossed sentiment from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set on some stitched rectangles, with a final embellishment of some sheer ribbon tied with two tiny (retired) jingle bells from my stash because I felt without it my card, whilst beautifully 'clean', was lacking a little something. 

Here's another view of that gorgeous paper, even though I'm not sure the camera really does it justice:

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 shortly with the post that I actually intended for today! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLUSH POINSETTIA SPECIALTY PAPER (£10.25)	REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a festive colour challenge for you to work with:

I'm also linking up with the challenge over at Festive Friday, where I used diecut, pattern paper, ribbon and sentiment from the inspo list. The colours I chose for this week's challenge are some of my favourite to work with when creating cards and projects for the festive season, and whilst you are free to create whatever you like with the palette, I couldn't resist creating a card and matching gift box ready for Christmas. This is a rather photo-heavy post, so here goes! First up - here's my card and co-ordinating gift packaging together:

Pretty, right? Let's take a close look at each on turn. First up - here's the card I made:

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

Sounds of The Season - A pair of silver foil jingle bells from the Sounds of the Season Dies are the centrepiece of today's card. I used these larger-than-life bells to frame my sentiment from the 'Wrapped in Christmas' stamp set and paper-pieced the holly leaves with a second set cut from green foil for contrast. I added Real Red Rhinestone jewels for my berries, added some diecut pine sprigs and finished with a Real Red sheer ribbon bow to each. These bows do make the card a little less post-friendly, but I think the extra detail is worth it. You can see the detail on the bells on the close-up below:

'Tis The Season - I used a combination of a Shaded Spruce/Real Red/Black/White plaid and a holly pattern from the 'Tis The Season designer series paper pack to compliment my silver bells and added a thin border of silver between the layers for added shine. I love the white splatter on the plaid pattern - and it's part of the design, no extra effort required!

Rectangle Gift Tin - I liked my card so much that I decided to create a belly band wrap for one of the silver rectangle tins that are in the Autumn-Winter catalogue. Available in packs of 4, they are great for a gift card or to hold a small item such as a piece of jewellery or item of make up, for example. Here's my finished tin:

I've decorated it in much the same way, strengthening the band with a piece of Real Red cardstock for the base layer and adding a wrapped bow in the wide Shaded Spruce ribbon from the Wonder Of The Season Ribbon combo pack. Here's a close up from another angle with a better view of the bell decoration: 

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

 And for the tin:

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'm hoping to do a little bit of crafting, a little bit of cooking and generally catch up on everything I've avoided doing whilst I've been at Stampin' Up!'s Onstage at Home virtual online event these past couple of days. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON DIES (£20.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	SILVER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	RED & GREEN FOIL SHEETS (£9.25)
WRAPPED IN CHRISTMAS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)	WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	RECTANGLE TINS (£11.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RED RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£6.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a colour challenge:

I'm also linking up over at Festive Friday where I chose embossing, diecut and sentiment from the inspo list and decided to use our colour palette this week to create an unusually coloured Christmas card - take a look:

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

I was rather time-pressed this week, with class prep, in-colour club and I've been attending Stampin' Up!'s Onstage at Home virtual event, so I needed something I could pull together fairly quickly! I thought that the little seal from 'Freezin' Friends' would be perfect in grey, with a stripey pink bobble hat; I sat him on a little slippery patch of ice (hence the sentiment!) which I diecut from cardstock and layered with vellum brushed with clear Wink of Stella for a sparkly shine. The unconventional element to my card was the Flirty Flamingo card that I used for my card base, which I embossed with the Evergreen Forest Embossing Folder and added a sprinkling of adhesive-backed sequins with a pinkish hue to compliment my wintery scene:

So what do you think - does the pink tree background work for you? A little girly maybe, but I love it!

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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FREEZIN' FUN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	EVERGREEN FOREST 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKEY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)

This week is getting busier by the minute so I'm just popping in with a quick card that I'm going to hopefully squeeze in to the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge, where they have a fabulous sketch this week:

I still had the Joy Dies out on my desk from my last class and knew immediately what I wanted to do with this sketch, which is also perfect for the current Just Us Girls challenge where the focus is on word diecuts. To complete today's challenge trio I used this week's colours over at Global Design Project #GDP265 and used Bermuda Bay as my free choice. So here's my card  - take a look:

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

Peace and Joy - I love this stamp and die bundle and I knew that I had to use all 3 layers of my Peace die to full effect on the front of today's card. I played around with the colours for each layer until I was happy with the effect. I really like the endless sentiment combinations you can create; here's how I finished the sentiment on the inside of today's card:

Beautiful World - There are times when stamp sets and bundles have great cross co-ordination, and I think the Beautiful World bundle in the annual catalogue is given a whole new lease of life when paired with either the Peace and Joy bundle or the Dove of Hope bundle from the current Autumn-Winter catalogue. The image of the globe seemed like a fitting stamp to create my repeating background to tie-in with my sentiment, without detracting from it. Not overly Christmassy perhaps, but I think it would make a great masculine Christmas card.

Monochromatic Peace - Having considered a bold contrast for my free choice colour, in the end plumped for Bermuda Bay as I felt the cool palette of aqua and grey against the white fitted with the peaceful theme of my card. What do you think? Would you have gone with something more contrasting - shocking pink, perhaps? Do leave me a comment below, 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project, this time for our new challenge over at As You See It which is all about colour. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL WORLD CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	PEACE & JOY BUNDLE (£42.25)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing a quick card I made that was inspired by this picture inspiration from the recent challenge over at Time Out:

I'm too late to link up, but I really liked the mandala design on the rustic wood background and it inspired me to create a Christmas card using one of the Snowflake Wishes dies and some shimmery embossing paste - take a look:

I created a mask using the largest of the Snowflake dies that cuts out a relief snowflake and used it to layer shimmery white embossing paste onto my rustic background, courtesy of the In Good Taste designer series paper. Tricky to see the dimension in the above shot - it's a little clearer below:

I added a sentiment and embellished with a green jingle bell and retired silver grey twine and tassel from my stash, but the snowflake is the real star of the show. The ladies that attended my Creative Escapes luxury weekend craft retreat last month all had a pot of shimmery white embossing paste in their kits, so I wanted to be able to give them some other ideas and ways that they could use it. Hope you like it ladies!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNOWFLAKE WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£51.25)	SHIMMERY WHITE EMBOSSING PASTE (£8.25)	IN GOOD TASTE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£20.00)	JINGLE BELLS (£4.75)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)