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)

Happy Monday everyone! My week has started at full speed as usual but I'm here today with two projects that are both quite different that feature projects from the Heartwarming Hugs Suite. First up is a clean and simple card using the colours over at Just Add Ink this week (thank you ladies for selecting my candle card as a winner for the 'Just Add Two' challenge last week!) and this week's sketch layout over at CAS Colours and Sketches where they have a great sketch requiring a small, repeating image of some kind:

I decided to go with the coffee cup in the Warm Hugs stamp set and paired it with a sentiment from the same set that I've been wanting to use for a while - take a look:

 The sentiment is quite long so I turned my card to make use of a wider card front, and having stamped my mugs in alternating colours, I added a sentiment across the central row that I heat-embossed in silver on vellum so that it didn't totally obscure the mugs. I also added small rhinestones to the top and bottom row of mugs for a little added silver sparkle:

Finally some stamping to decorate the envelope and inside my card to finish:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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.

The 'Warm Hugs' stamp set is part of the Heartwarming Hugs Suite which includes lots of fun items and packaging ideas, including mini coffee cups and carriers. I made a few hot chocolate sets to share with some of my lovely customers as gifts recently using the items in the suite and decorated the cups and carriers with some of the papers in the Heartwarming Hugs designer paper pack, with a hot chocolate-filled cup and a bag of marshmallows to go with them and this seemed like a good opportunity to share a project that shows how easy it is to create a heartfelt yet relatively inexpensive gift to share with someone. Here's a close up of my completed carrier:

And here's a photo showing the detail on my decorated hot-chocolate themed cup:

I love the traditional colours that feature in this suite - isn't the dressed mug just adorable?! The textured coffee collar and sentiment added to the cup adds a nice personal touch I think. I'm linking this project up over at Color Throwdown where they are featuring the exact palette of kraft, reds and greens that feature on my decorated cup and gingham carrier.

 Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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.

Everyone that I've given one of these to so far has loved them - I'm thinking of making them for my UPS delivery driver and postman too, for them to take home for a warming drink after their rounds! Who would you give one to?

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project and news of two fabulous new launches: the new Paper Pumpkin kit and the Curvy Celebrations bundle! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WARM HUGS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	WARM HUGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	WARM WRAPS DIES (£33.00)	MINI COFFEE CARRIER (£4.75)	MINI COFFEE CUPS (£7.00)
WRAPPED IN TEXTURE EMBOSSING FOLDERS (£7.50)	MOSSY MEADOW 3/8" (1 CM) DIAGONAL STRIPE RIBBON (£7.00)	HEARTWARMING HUGS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£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 amazing Laurie to host this week and she has a theme challenge for you to work with:

I don't have any turkeys in my current stamp collection so decided to go with pumpkins and the overall 'thankful' theme, along with the layout of the inspiration photo over at Inspire.Create, to create my card this week - take a look:

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

Harvest Hellos - I used the 'Harvest Hellos' stamp set for my feature pumpkin on today's card, and highlighted the detail with Pumpkin Pie and Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends, before punching out with the Apple Builder Punch. 

Texture, Texture - There's lots of texture on today's card: a woodgrain background courtesy of the In Good Taste designer paper, wooden leaf embellishments, twine, linen braid and the lacy diecut panel from the Stitched Lace Die. Not very post-friendly granted, but the texture and dimension add so much interest and detail:

Word Wishes - For my sentiment, I snipped the word 'thanks' from the 'thanksgiving' die in the Word Wishes set and stacked it on the front of my card, and paired it with the word 'giving' that was masked from the full sentiment that I used inside my card:

I was really pleased with the way this card turned out. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges with another entry for their Autumn/Fall challenge.

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 will more than likely be spending the day indoors to once again escape the howling winds and rain - the weather has been dreadful here this week! With continued social distancing a focus during this half term, we resorted to an online escape room game on Friday afternoon; whilst not the same as doing one in person, it was surprisingly good fun. We bought a 3 game package so I think the James' may well be spending the afternoon breaking more codes and solving puzzles against the clock!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HARVEST HELLOS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	STITCHED LACE DIES (£33.00)	APPLE BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	IN GOOD TASTE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	WORD WISHES DIES (EN) (£33.00)
A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£36.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS PUMPKIN PIE COMBO PACK (£8.50)
STAMPIN' BLENDS CALYPSO CORAL COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	3/16" (4.8 MM) BRAIDED LINEN TRIM (£6.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	IN GOOD TASTE ELEMENTS (£6.00)

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

So much seasonal goodness to choose from on Felicita's board this week! I got so excited with all the elements and the lovely Julee's fab Mojo Monday sketch that I covered pretty much every square on this week's board except wreath and Thanksgiving! I paired the beautiful Gilded Autumn papers with lots of rust and one of my most favourite stamp sets to use at this time of year - take a look:

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

Country Home - My milk churn and autumn florals come from the 'Country Home' stamp set that has been around for a while, but I have to say is one of those sets that is a real keeper. I've made many, many cards with this set (and never featured it in a class, interestingly); I've coloured those florals many times and each of them different - search my blog for lots more inspiration using this set. I love the sentiment font and sizes too and they are great for thankful cards, whatever the time of year. My milk churn features a tiny 'thanks' and I saved one of my favourites for the inside of my card:

Rusty Colour - I decided to look at ways to incorporate the 'rust' element into my card and whilst I wasn't in a mood to get messy, I decided that the brushed brass foil (as opposed to copper) would add a nice metallic element and I embossed it using the Tin Tile Embossing Folder for some texture. I also majored on browns in my colour scheme and added some loops of coppery ribbon to my florals too.

A Little Bit Country - Having spent more time than anticipated deciding how best to layer those papers (I alternated each pattern for each layer before deciding), I wanted to keep with my country feel and added some wooden leaf embellishments and some green and white gingham ribbon to finish. A lot going on with this card, but sometimes it's really nice to move away from 'clean and simple' and see how far the layering can take you!

I'm also linking today's card up over at SUO Challenges too where the current theme is Autumn/Fall and my leafy, rusty creation definitely evokes the season for me! 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; half term continues in the James household with nothing much of interst to report! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

COUNTRY HOME PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	GILDED AUTUMN SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TIN TILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	BASKET WEAVE & METALLIC RIBBON COMBO PACK (£7.50)
FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	IN GOOD TASTE ELEMENTS (£6.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS MINT MACARON COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS CAJUN CRAZE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card inspired by the photo inspiration over at Fusion that is also well timed for the last-minute Halloween crafting over at TGIF Challenges:

I couldn't get to grips with the angled line of the sketch, but I love that inspiration photo and whilst I don't really send Halloween cards, I wanted to get some use out of the Halloween owls in the 'Have A Hoot' stamp set so set to work:

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

I decided to have a go at another sponged background, so took a variety of purple inks and gradually built up the layers to create my spooky night sky. I splattered it with water and then white frosted shimmer paint to complete. I used the tree from the  'Life is Beautiful' for my woods, stamping from both sides, then stamped my owl onto a partial circle and aligned the trees so that it looks as if the owl is in the trees, highlighted by the moon.

A heat embossed 'boo!' completes the outside of my card, with a further greeting on the inside:

So what do you think of today's card? Even if Halloween isn't your thing, I'd love to hear what you think of my sponged background. 

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:

STAMP SET CLING HAVE A HOOT (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	FROST WHITE SHIMMER PAINT (£7.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKEY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a super busy and productive day and am finally getting to today's blog post! Today I've a couple of cards to share with you for a couple of challenges, both featuring the Warm and Toasty stamp set. My first card features this week's Color Throwdown colours:

And the first animal to feature is the reindeer, resplendent with his red bow:

I've coloured the reindeer in the challenge colours with my Stampin' Blends and my card also features a couple of sneak peeks: the sentiment is from a new stamp set called 'Curvy Christmas' and is paired with a fabulous die from the Curvy Die set, both of which will be available to customers from the 1st November as a special release - exciting stuff! I couldn't resist adding a large red enamel dot to christen my reindeer Rudolf:

My second card uses the polar bear from the 'Warm and Toasty' stamp set, this time using this week's CAS Colours and Sketches colour palette:

I've seen some great examples of sponging recently, so wanted to have a go at creating a sponged background and decided that the blues would make a great backdrop for my iceskating polar bear:

I added a snow drift using my Freezin' Friends Dies and cut an ice rink freehand from vellum and coated it with a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella for an icy sparkle, before adding my polar bear to the finished scene.

I did a little extra stamping on the inside of this one too:

So what do you think? I think creating sponged backgrounds, whilst messy, is also quite addictive; and to that end, I have another one for you tomorrow!

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

And for the second one:

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 - Card 1:

WARM & TOASTY CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS BRONZE & IVORY COMBO PACK (£8.50)

WARM & TOASTY CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	FREEZIN' FRIENDS DIES (£27.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
FROST WHITE SHIMMER PAINT (£7.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)