It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's the last month of the year and Patricia is hosting this month. This will be a special month for us, since next week we celebrate our 500th challenge! More on that next week though - we are kicking off the month with a colour challenge: 

For my card today I went with some #simplestamping using just the three ink colours in this week's colours, one stamp set and some Basic White Thick cardstock to create my fun and colourful Christmas card:

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

I decided the small candy cane, star and bell images in the 'Jingle Jingle Jingle' stamp set would be perfect for a fun festive wreath with a difference, so I lightly drew a circle in pencil on my card front and stamped my small images randomly in a circle. On a separate piece of cardstock, I stamped the word 'jolly', adding a santa hat to the O, and fussy cut it out. I stamped part of my sentiment inside my wreath and the added my fussy cut word, slightly offset for interest:

I originally stamped my wreath onto a rectangular card, but it didn't look right, so I cropped it tightly and mounted it onto a square white card with a wide frame to preserve some 'white space' and it looked much better. If I had started on a square base I would have forgone the red mat layer - this would simplify this card even further. This is such a great stamp set for #simplestamping cards that require nothing more than stamps, ink and paper.

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:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

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 fun and festive theme challenge for you to work with:

I knew exactly where I was headed for today's card - yes the Santa Express Suite and the Memories and More card pack - you know how I love these cards! I went with a quick and simple card that is super easy for you to recreate - take a look:

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

I took a Petal Pink card base and used a retired snowflake stamp for a little tone-on-tone stamping for the background. I added a strip of red glimmer paper and an offcut of Santa Express designer paper, then used one of the wooden sentiments from the Memories & More pack along with a santa, fussy cut from one of the cards in the pack, for a jolly focal point:

I also used a couple of the wooden elements from the pack and a diecut snowflake for added detail. The stamped sentiment on the front of the card comes from the 'Jingle Jingle Jingle' stamp set, which I also used for the inside of my card:

Super easy using up lots of bits and pieces and really easy to recreate - just what we need now that we are into December! What's more, the Santa Express Memories and More card pack is reduced as part of the Last Chance promotion - I already treated myself to a couple of extra packs, and I would recommend you do 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:

Enjoy your day; we are enjoying a family lunch and an extra session of hockey this evening; fortunately, this is practice for an indoor tournament so we will be out of the cold for once! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SANTA EXPRESS MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (11.25)	JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (21.00)	REAL RED & WHITE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (4.75)	WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (5.75)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

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

The dreaded speed challenge! I had both paper and dies featuring ornaments to hand, but no current stamps, so this week was definitely a case of 'go hard or go home', so I grabbed the Sketch Saturday layout and decided to go for it! This is what I came up with:

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

Today's card was all about the planning! I designed my card and wrote a list of the sizes I needed to cut my layers to and gathered my scraps of coloured cardstock and paired them with each die ready for cutting. I put my sentiment stamp into my Stamparatus and once I had everything to hand, set my stopwatch and started cutting! The real highlight of today's card is the brightly coloured, ornament patterned paper from the 'Celebrate Everything' hostess paper pack - I cut a panel of this then diecut an ornament using my Spruced Up Outlines Dies for a co-ordinated focal point:

I added a simple sentiment from 'Framed & Festive' that I diecut at the same time as my ornament to save time and as I still had time I added a black twine bow for a final finishing touch just as my 10 minute timer went off - not a second to spare! My desk was an absolute bomb site - a true 'craftermath', but I did it! A stamped ornament would have made for a much quicker card and I did contemplate just using the designer paper and a sentiment, but where's the fun in that, right?! It's not a speed challenge if there's no pressure!

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 speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 

Enjoy your day; I have a day of housework and errands and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CELEBRATE EVERYTHING 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.50)	FRAMED & FESTIVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the last turn of Team X to host this year and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun and festive board that we are playing along with: 

I took the right-hand column of the board and went with tree, metallic and ornament and used the layout from Try Stamping On Tuesday and the beautiful Christmas setting in this week's Just Us Girls inspiration photo for my Christmas card today - take a look:

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

I used the Christmas tree in the 'Christmas Lights' stamp set as the centrepiece for my card, which I stamped and heat embossed in gold onto Old Olive cardstock and diecut with the Twinkling Lights Dies, and set this against a background of Very Vanilla with a gold foil mat and a horizontal piece of gold glimmer paper along with a piece of gold-patterned Very Vanilla Lights Aglow designer paper. I added a diecut tree in gold glimmer paper behind my green tree so that the glimmer shows through the diecut holes - it sparkles like tinsel on my tree. For my baubles, I used two colours of (retired) blue rhinestones to complete the decoration:

For my greeting I added a banner heat-embossed in gold on Very Vanilla, courtesy of the Christmas Banners bundle. The words are actually shaped to curve the opposite way, but it wasn't too tricky to bend my photopolymer stamp the other way so that my banner curve reflected the contours of my Christmas tree.

I love the finished effect of the tree on this card - it's so sparkly in real life!

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. 

Many of the seasonal items used on today's card are currently on sale as part of the Last Chance Promotion- read yesterday's post for more information, however it is fair to say that since it went live at 11pm yesterday, products have been literally flying off the shelves, so expect to see lots of the product used on upcoming cards sold out by the time the blog post goes live - the joys of working ahead!

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: 

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (44.00)	FESTIVE PEARLS (6.75)	CHRISTMAS BANNERS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (47.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Cecile is hosting this month and since we have 5 weeks this month we are ending with a double challenge: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

I have loved all of Cecile's colour and sketch choices this month and whilst I normally struggle with a double challenge, this one came together easily - I love it when that happens! For my card today I used my Spruced Up Outline Dies to create a collection of ornaments in three sizes to mirror the circles on the sketch, in each of the challenge colours - take a look:

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

Retro Colours - As I no longer have any of this week's colours (long time readers of my blog will remember my thoughts on Always Artichoke!), I substituted with my nearest matches: Pool Party, Mossy Meadow and Blushing Bride respectively. I actually think they look ok together and the Mossy Meadow is perfect for a festive feel; I made this my dominant colour of the trio and used it for a hint of mat layer colour and my sentiment too.

Wintry Pines - Whilst I could have just added my baubles and been done, they looked a little 'lost', so I added a panel of embossed pines courtesy of the Wintry 3D Embossing Folder. This is a narrow EF so did mean I had to get creative with my layering to maintain the square aspect ratio, but I think it works and I really love the way the ornaments now look as if they are hanging from pine branches. Keeping this layer white helps to keep the clean and simple feel yet adds beautiful subtle embossed detail:

'Tis The Season - Finally, my simple sentiment is courtesy of the 'Jingle Jingle Jingle' stamp set - just enough to finish without obscuring the detail of 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I really love this card - so much so, I'm going to make a few more in alternative colourways too.

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; I'll be back later with another post with important details about this week's upcoming Retiring List. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SPRUCED UP OUTLINES DIES (30.00)	JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (21.00)	WINTRY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDERS (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

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

I decided to use a little 'something old(er), something new' on my card this week - take a look:

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

I almost used the returning favourite 'Penguin Place' stamp set on my card for last week's challenge, but went in a different direction so decided to use it this week instead. This is one of the sets that carried over from last year, but I haven't used much this time around so thought it was time to remedy that. I paired the sliding penguin with an embossed background courtesy of one of the new Charming Landscapes embossing folders - I just love these and the one with the mountains has perfectly embossed curved lines that suited the contours of the penguin. I masked off the mountains and inked in the sky using my beldning brushes as I've done on previous cards using this set and used some (retired) white frosted shimmer paint to paint back in the snowflakes. You can see that more closely, as well as some of the embossed detail, more clearly below:

I stamped and fussy cut a few trees in blue to co-ordinate with my scene (which I painted with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle) and the snowflake-patterned Storybook Gnomes paper I used for my outer frame. I added a simple sentiment to the front which I paired with this one on the inside:

I'm clearly entering my 'blue' phase as far as Christmas cards are concerned - it was fun to play with this cute penguin again though!

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:

Enjoy your day; we are off to the cinema this afternoon to watch a streamed theatre production of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' - nothing like a GCSE English Literature course to lead to a fun family afternoon out! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PENGUIN PLACE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (17.00)	CHARMING LANDSCAPES EMBOSSING FOLDERS (7.50)	STORYBOOK GNOMES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)
BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	TAHITIAN TIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday; I've also used the Try Stamping On Tuesday sketch for my layout and played tic-tac-toe colours over at Color My Heart Color Dare (first column plus Seabrook):

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Letter Writing Day' which is on December 7th. 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 hello sentiment, envelope and embossing folder from the inspo list and in a change from this week's run of Christmas cards, this is what I came up with:

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

Full of Love - The 'Full of Love' stamp set was the obvious choice for my card today, as it features not one but two envelopes! I used the one surrounded by flowers on the front of my card, tucking an embossed panel in behind (I used the retired Greenery embossing folder) and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends markers. I added my sentiment to a stitched circle, masking it so that the words stamped one above the other rather than side by side.  

It's In The Detail - In addition to the (retired) striped Poppy Parade ribbon and bow, I stamped the image again and fussy cut the envelope and added it with dimensionals for a little extra height and added a few small pearls to the centre of the pink flowers:

Finishing Touches - I used another stamp from this set to decorate both the inside of my card and the reverse of my own envelope - for the envelope I used the other flower-filled envelope image in the set:

This is such a pretty card and I can't wait to write it to someone. Are you a big letter writer?  I have always loved writing letters; as a young girl, I would write to one of my aunts who lived the other side of the country on an almost weekly basis and we continued this ritual until she became too ill with Parkinson's Disease in her old age to hold a pen, but we both loved sharing each other's news across the years and it definitely brought us closer together. Today's card is in memory of her but will definitely be sent to someone else to brighten up their mailbox. It's so easy in today's busy world to resort to a text or WhatsApp message, but there really is no substitute for some good old-fashioned letter writing. Why not pick up a pen and send someone a handwritten note today?

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
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (33.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (5.75)

Today I'm sharing a card using the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and the Hand Stamped Sentiments colour palette:

This is one of those cards that ended up looking nothing like it started out! I had a trio of stamped and diecut wreaths leftover from another project, so thought they would work nicely with the Sunday Stamps sketch. They were too large on a standard cardfront and I couldn't find a background I liked to accompany them, so in the end changed my colour scheme and went slimline and eventually came up with something I rather like - take a look:

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

Country Wreaths - I initially restamped my wreaths green-on-green instead of green-on-white, but the stamped detail just got lost so instead I went for a layered wreath using the dicuts only and I like this much more. I added some Cherry Cobbler Festive Pearls and a gold glimmer bow to each, to tie in with my ribbon banner and central sentiment element. I did add some stamped detail to the envelope and inside of my card though:

Framed & Festive - Instead of three wreaths, I opted to add a circle with my main sentiment to the centre. My sentiment comes from the limited-time stamp set 'Framed & Festive' that co-ordinates with the Framed Florets bundle currently on early release from the new mini catalogue - I love the big, bold font. I heat embossed it in gold onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock and added a sprig of greenery and some gold pearls to decorate: 

I almost ignored the banner detail on the original sketch, but there was the perfect stamp in the set to add a second sentiment part, so I added 'from all of us' heat embossed in gold directly onto the cardbase - you can just see it on the corner of the photo above.

A Neat Lights Aglow Trick - The eagle-eyed amongst you may have recognised that the background pattern I used comes from the Lights Aglow designer series paper pack. This is a 6"x6" paper pack - which is not wide enough for a slimline cardfront. The solution? I actually made my cardfront from two pieces of DSP, with the join running down the centre behind my red sentiment circle. I was careful to cut and line up the pattern perfectly and the presence of the circle means it is super difficult to see the join - if I hadn't just told you it was there, you wouldn't notice ;-). 

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; the bitter cold winds of winter seem to have arrived in force this week so I am hibernating! I hope you are warm and cosy wherever you are - and to all my American friends and readers, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

COUNTRY WREATHS DIES (37.00)	FRAMED & FESTIVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	LIGHTS AGLOW 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	FESTIVE PEARLS (6.75)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (9.50)

Today I spent the day making for a few cards for upcoming posts and took the opportunity to make an extra one to share with you today, inspired by the traditional festive Christmas colours over at Just Us Girls and the 'blank canvas' over at Inspire.Create:

I've been wanting to use the Leaves of Holly bundle in more traditional Christmas colours and Carol's colour palette gave me the perfect opportunity - take a look:

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

Boughs of Holly - Whilst this card may look complex at first glance, with such a mix of reds and greens, you might actually be surprised to know that the only stamping on the outside of my card is the sentiment; both the red/green background panel and the green of the holly leaves and the red of the berries have all been cut from the Boughs of Holly designer series paper. The reverse sides of the papers in this pack have some beautiful watercolour-effect backgrounds, so I chose one incorporating a mix of reds and green for the background panel and then two others, one red and one green, for the back pieces of my holly and berries. I love the variagated tones that you can see through the gold upper layers and all achieved with minimal effort - bonus!

Touches of Gold - I really wanted the gold to have a starring role on this card so the distressed gold specialty paper was the obvious choice. I used it for the main label and cut an extra holly leaf to slot behind - the effect of the distressing is so beautiful and I think compliments the colours beautifully:

I added a simple label sentiment so as not to detract from the label detail and added some gold twine trim and brushed gold enamel dots to complete the look. What do you think - do you prefer the traditional or contemporary look with these holly leaves? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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 evening; hockey training was cancelled this evening due to the torrential rain that continues to fall here - and I am thankful to be wrapped up warm inside! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	BOUGHS OF HOLLY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (4.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (8.50)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)