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 a timely Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I used this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew which was perfect for a clean and simple card, grabbed my Playful Pets designer paper and set to work - take a look:

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

Pampered Pets - I pulled out my Playful Pets designer paper and after adding a strip, I diecut one of the dogs from the set and layered it with a scalloped rectangle and a sentiment banner. The only stamping on the front of my card is the sentiment and some sponged pawprints. 

Inside Action - I added a sentiment and a stamped outline of the same puppy from the Pampered Pets stamp set on the inside of my card:

Clean and Simple - A reminder that this week is clean and simple week, so in addition to the theme of 'pets', your cards should meet the following criteria:

I think the fact that it's taken me longer to write this post than make my card is probably a good indicator that I ticked the 'clean and simple' box, but the distraction of the comedy I'm watching on TV might also have something to with that! 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'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PAMPERED PETS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£36.75)	PLAYFUL PETS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)
STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	ITTY BITTY BIRTHDAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and this week's board was designed by Amy. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

We are rapidly approaching autumn and this week's board has lots of elements that would suit a fall card, but I combined it with the current Fab Friday sketch and went straight to Christmas as I continue to build my card stash! The Fab Friday sketch has a lovely open panel that is open to all kinds of interpretation and after some deliberation I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for - take a look:

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

Centre Stage Embossing - I'm not generally a big user of embossing folders, although I do have my favourites: any that create a lightly textured background (bring on Subtle or Tasteful Textile 3D!) or embossing folders that make a statement in their own right (past favourites include Seasonal Wreath or Winter Wonder). The current Autumn Winter catalogue includes an embossing folder that can be used either as a background or a centrepiece - love a double-duty solution! The Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder has a ton of texture and whilst it doesn't need to be confined to Christmas projects, I wanted to showcase it today as a forest of potential Christmas trees - just look at the depth of the embossed detailing:

It's In The Detail - I went down the first column of the TicTacToe board for today's card - Trees, Embossing, Diecut - and whilst it's easy to see where the first two elements are on my card, blink and you could miss the last one! I used a Rectangle Stitched Die to cut out my heat embossed sentiment (tick!) and backed this with a simple punch banner. The colours on today's card were inspired by this retired piece of Wrapped in Plaid designer series paper that I chose so that I could highlight my lovely green embossed trees and tie in the gold sentiment and brushed gold foil matting too.

Perfectly Plaid Inside Too - I continued the plaid theme onto the inside of my card too with a stamped plaid Christmas tree and sentiment from the annual catalogue set, 'Perfectly Plaid':

I like this card so much I think I'll make a few more - a great excuse to use up some of that retired plaid paper 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERGREEN FOREST 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	ARRANGE A WREATH PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (£21.00)

I'm flitting between Autumn and Winter/Christmas projects at the moments so I'm back with more leaves today, although the wonderfully warm temperatures here in the UK this week are prolonging our Summer just a little longer and are determined to stave off the change in seasons for as long as possible. No complaints from me on that front! Back to my card, that was inspired by both this week's Global Design Project #GDP258 sketch and the trend over at Just Us Girls this week, where they are looking for cards divided into thirds:

I love things in threes so this sketch really appealed to me - it also gave me the opportunity to create another card using my Stitched Leaves Dies - take a look:

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

Autumnal Plaid Tidings - I used one of the warm plaid patterns from the Plaid Tidings DSP pack as the basis for the colour scheme for today's card; those warm orange, red and purple tones reminded me of warm flannel shirts and are a great colour combination for autumn.

Positive and Negative - Leaves, that is! I decided to break up my trio and use both the positive diecuts of the leaves with their stitched detailing, backed by a plaid stitched rectangle, and in the centre the negative stitched outline of the same leaf, with the plaid showing in the negative space. I added a stitched banner in keeping with my theme and one of my favourite uplifting sentiments of the moment from the coordinating 'Love of Leaves' set across the centre to complete my card. Just check out all that lovely stitched detail:

Stitched Envelope Detail - I left the inside of my card blank, apart from some stamped leaf detail on the corner, however in addition to stamping leaves on my envelope, I added the embossed stitch detail to the leaf on the rear envelope flap for an interesting textural detail. This is really easy to do: simply stamp the leaf and run the centre part of the die through your diecutting machine, without the outline piece.

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 later with my card for this week's new TicTacToe challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

As promised here's my second card today that was inspired by the super simple sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches this week:

I was immediately drawn to that straight horizontal line; but instead of choosing a panel of designer series paper, which you may be forgiven for thinking would have been my 'go to' for a sketch like this, I actually went with one of the Sweetest Borders Dies - take a look:

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

The holly border die in this set sits on a straight horizontal line, so seemed the perfect choice. I cut if out of Garden Green cardstock and adhered to a thick Whisper White cardbase, and then used the red and green foils to paper-piece the holly and berry detail into the negative space. Easy to do and so pretty in real life - the foil shine adds a real touch of luxury to my otherwise clean and simple card:

A heat embossed greeting on the front and a little stamping on the envelope and inside of my card complete today's project:

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:

SWEETEST TIME BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	RED & GREEN FOIL SHEETS (£9.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)
GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Happy Monday everyone! A busy day for me today with a busy online class featuring the Poinsettia Petals bundle (cards to be shared another day!) which was lovely to see my ladies, virtually at least! I did make a couple of CAS cards to share with you today - here's the first one using Amy's great layout over at Freshly Made Sketches:

So many ways to go with this classic layout; I decided to try out the new Celebration Tidings bundle - take a look:

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

Inspired By ... - In addition to the sketch, the starting point for my card today was the lovely Old Olive/Pretty Peacock reversible ribbon in the annual catalogue. Not two colours I would ordinarily put together, I love the sheen of this ribbon and so decided to use this colour pairing with Whisper White for the basis of my card.

Celebration Tidings - The 'Celebration Tidings' stamp set has decorative elements for lots of seasonal occasions that span the autumn/winter months. I used the sprig of festive foliage in each corner of my card, stamped in Pretty Peacock and coloured with Old Olive Blends with a touch of clear Wink of Stella, along with a sprinkling of pearls for the berries.  

Celebration Labels - The Celebration Labels Dies are great for home decor frames, bag toppers and more, but on today's card I used them to create a layered centre with my greeting heat embossed in white and accented with a mistletoe sprig. I love the stitched detailing - it really adds a lovely detail. I like anything with stitching!!

And done!

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; I'll be back shortly with my second card. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CELEBRATION TIDINGS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	OLD OLIVE/PRETTY PEACOCK 3/8" (1 CM) REVERSIBLE RIBBON (£7.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

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

I thought these colours would be perfect for modern autumn leaves and combined them with the current Just Add Ink sketch and my new Stitched Leaves Dies for my card today - take a look:

I used some retired copper glimmer paper for my background panel (our current copper foil would work too but I liked the idea of the added texture of glimmer paper) and cut a leaf in each colour, backing with a Very Vanilla stitched square. My sentiment is from the stamp set in the bundle, called 'Love of Leaves'; I heat embossed it in copper and cut it out with a stitched rectangle. The front of my card is mostly diecuts - perfect for another link up over at SUO Challenges where the current challenge is to use dies/punches on your card - although I did add a little more stamping from the same set to the inside of my card:

I also added a border of leftover scraps of colours to create a co-ordinating border 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 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 consist of cooking, laundry, hockey and BBQ - not necessarily in that order! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)

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

I feel like I need to start off with an apology for the sheer amount of different stamp sets and general bits and pieces that I've used on today's card! The truth is, I pulled out everything I had that fitted the recipe ... then used most of it on my card! Take a look:

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

Blue Birthday Wishes - I couldn't resist the colours over at Global Design Project #GDP257 this week - they were my favourite colour duo that I used for the last AYSI Challenge, with the addition of Misty Moonlight, so I decided to use them on my card for this challenge, but this time to create a card that was anything but Christmas, even though it does use some seasonal product. I used the sketch at Paper Craft Crew for my layout, where the oval was perfect for showcasing a birthday 'B' from the Monogram Messages set. 

Butterfly Gala Beauty - I originally intended to use the little butterfly in the Monogram Messages set for my butterfly, but it was too small. Instead I went for a layered butterfly from 'Butterfly Gala', with one punched in Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper for a sparkly base and then another stamped in Misty Moonlight and clear embossed on vellum, with the detail coloured with Highland Heather Blends and embellished with a Balmy Blue Gilded Gem - so pretty:

Recipe Check and An Inside Finish - So that has birthday sentiment and butterfly covered, along with both diecut (stitched shapes oval) and punch. The circles were courtesy of the bokeh dots from another butterfly stamp set, 'Beauty Abounds'; I stamped them tone-on-tone in Highland Heather on my card base, and carefully went over each one with my clear Wink of Stella pen for extra sparkle. For my DSP I used a strip of Balmy Blue/Highland Heather watercoloured paper from the Snowflake Splendor pack, and overlaid it with some polka dot tulle ribbon (more circles!). That was my recipe complete - and as if I didn't have enough out on my desk already, I added a sentiment from yet another stamp set, 'So Sentimental', for my inside greeting:

A twine bow and some blue gilded gems as well, I really went to town with this card - you can only imagine the state of my desk when it came to clear up time!!

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. 

 A pretty result though that show the versatility of these colours I think too. An interesting challenge for me too - I've decided I don't use butterflies much on my cards these days, so I really need to try and use them more often!

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.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MONOGRAM MESSAGES CLING STAMP SET (£19.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BUTTERFLY GALA PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BUTTERFLY DUET PUNCH (£17.00)	BEAUTY ABOUNDS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)
BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (£21.00)	BLUE ADHESIVE-BACKED GEMS (£7.50)	BALMY BLUE GLIMMER PAPER (£4.75)	SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE 5/8" (1.6 CM) POLKA DOT TULLE RIBBON (£7.00)
WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CLEAR STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS HIGHLAND HEATHER COMBO PACK (£8.50)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)

Today I'm sharing a super quick clean and simple card for a few challenges:

Thursday already?! I've tried to write this post since Tuesday and I've barely come up for air! So I'm getting to it now before I head back out on the school run again!! I started with those rich Autumn colours over at Fab Friday and the Festive Friday Inspo List - I chose leaves, acorns, squirrels, stitching and brown - to make a card inspired by the changing seasons - take a look:

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

Sights and Sounds of Autumn - The above challenges were perfect for an Autumnal card and I decided to go super simple with mine - that's where the Banner Year' stamp set comes in. Easily overlooked because of the fabulous banner punch that it pairs with, it has lots of fun images and is great for creating seasonal cards for this time of year. Each of the four images, and the sentiment on this card, comes from this set. 

Rich Colours - Sometimes a restricted colour palette is a great way to create focus on your project. I used each of the colours and either stamped the image wholly in one colour, in pairs of colours or for the leaf I created a proper leaf full of autumn colour by sponging the stamp in all three colours to create a variegated effect.

September - My card is so simple there really isn't anything else to add - except that I am also linking up with the lovely peeps over at CASology where the theme is 'September' - my September is full of birthdays, back to school, class and retreat preparation, but is also a time as I drive through the countryside on my school run to admire the colouring of the falling leaves and squirrels (sadly only grey ones here in the UK) as they go about their pre-hibernation activities 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 '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:

BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	CINNAMON CIDER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CINNAMON CIDER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Yay - a second post! Just popping by with a quick post to share the second card I made with Narelle's great sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Whilst I tried to channel my 'inner Narelle' with my first card (she truly is the queen of beautiful florals), this card was an attempt to add to my Christmas card stash and use up some of my leftover retired products: 

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

I had some of these retired Joyous Noel papers leftover from one of my weekend craft retreats the year before last, along with the copper glimmer paper and the Festive Farmhouse wooden sentiments and thought the layout was perfect. I'm actually going to colour a few more of the wooden sentiments and make up a few more of these in other colourways with other papers in the pack. Super simple and packed with sparkle; such a great sketch from Narelle this week!

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

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made using this week's Color Throwdown colours with the great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I saw those vertical panels and decided that I'd get creative with some dies and use a new-to-me stamp set for the first time - take a look:

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

All Things Fabulous - I was attracted to the 'All Things Fabulous' stamp set because of the dimension you get simply by stamping as it is a three-step stamp set, with each of the flowers being made up of three layers. It did take a little practice to produce my first set of blooms (I found it easiest to start with the most detailed piece in the darkest colour, and work outwards rather than the other way around) but I was really pleased with the result - so pretty! I can see me having lots more fun with this set.

A Die Trick - The co-ordinating Fabulous Florals Dies cut out each of the flowers, buds and leaf stamps, but also include an intricate diecut border piece that I thought would make a pretty detail for the vertical element of the sketch. How to achieve two pieces of differing lengths, that still looked like a complete piece (there is a pattern to the diecut)? The solution: cut the diecut across the centre and overlap the central piece, so that the shorter vertical has three points on each side instead of four (quite difficult to explain - hopefully if you look closely at the photo you can see what I mean!) The joint was covered my my sentiment banner, so not even visible.

All About The Bundle - This card really is all about the bundle and the trio of colours I've used on my card; I considered using some designer paper or even a coloured base, but decided that the best way to truly allow the bundle and those colours to shine was to keep things simple and go with white diecuts on a white base, to really allow the stamped images and that lovely sentiment to shine.

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. Today it's all happening here in the James household - one of the James Juniors is back to school and one of us is also celebrating a birthday today (happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!!). So we are back to the school run, but the youngest Junior and I did venture out for breakfast today and I have a Colin the Caterpillar cake to look forward to this evening, so it's all good! I loved this week's FMS sketch and I made another super simple card with it using up some retired product, so if I get the chance I'll share it with you in a quick post later; if not I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ALL THINGS FABULOUS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)