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

Jaydee's sketch has three vertical images; it's a great sketch that is wide open to interpretation. I considered something that incorporated three panels but in the end decided on a much more liberal interpretation and decided on three candles - take a look:

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

Sweetest Time - I've used the 'Sweetest Time' stamp and co-ordinating borders dies before (here if you missed it), but had yet to combine with the candles. I went all-out on today's card, layering a piece of Feels Like Frost foiled designer paper (it has a pines pattern but that is obscured by the main panels), followed by the panel with the stamped candles, followed by the integrated holly border.

Borders in Blue - Whilst this border looks great in traditional reds and greens, I thought I would ring the changes and make a blue card today. I know that you don't get blue holly and berries but it's the cardmaker's prerogative to get creative with colour, right? That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it! 

Foil, Frost and Sparkle - The challenge over at Just Add Ink this week is to add two of foil, ribbon and sequins to your card. I did use some foil-embossed designer paper for my background layer to compliment my silver heat-embossed flames and sentiment, but I also added some loops of Seaside Spray/Silver metallic ribbon behind my paper-pieced holly border and since the diecut berries are obscured by my sentiment banner, I added a selection of clear epoxy droplets and a few Seaside Spray sequins for some added sparkle; you can see them better on the photo below:

So I inadvertently ended up incorporating all three - and I love the finished effect!

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 have no specific plans; if the weather is as poor as it has been these last few days, we may hunker down for a movie afternoon. We watched Disney's live remake of 'Mulan' last week; have you seen it? We thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SWEETEST TIME BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	FEELS LIKE FROST 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	FROSTED & CLEAR EPOXY DROPLETS (£8.25)	WOVEN THREADS SEQUIN ASSORTMENT (£4.75)	SEASIDE SPRAY 1/4" (6.4 MM) METALLIC RIBBON (£6.50)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SEASIDE SPRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)

Today I've a quick post with a card inspired by the following challenges:

There is a great sketch at The Paper Craft Crew this week and my card is also perfect for the seasonal thanks challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP263. I made a feature of a Cajun Craze autumn leaf, diecut with one of the large Stitched Leaf Dies and paired with a sentiment from the bundled 'Lots of Leaves' stamp set - take a look:

 My CAS card also features one of my favourite Plaid Tidings papers so I will be linking up over at CAS on Fridays where the theme is PLAID and I added a yellow bow accented with one of the gorgeous acorn trinket embellishments to finish:

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 my card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Remember if you're reading this and you're in the UK, the clocks go back this evening so you get an extra hour in bed in the morning - yay! 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 (£9.14)	ACORN TRINKETS (£7.50)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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

For my card today I paired an old favourite with some new Christmas papers - a look:

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

Beautiful Boughs - The Beautiful Boughs Dies are in the annual catalogue as a carryover from the last Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and whilst I don't have the bundled stamp set (hence choosing a greeting from 'Itty Bitty Christmas' for today's card, that most useful of Christmas sentiment sets!) I do love the dies; their beautiful layered detail is great to add bold festive greenery to a project.

Pine Cone Poinsettias - The starting point for today's card was most definitely the designer series paper (no surprises there then!) I decided to use one of the papers that is on offer as part of this month's designer series paper sale (you can read all about that here) so I chose the Poinsettia Place paper pack and a pattern that I haven't yet used featuring pine cones, hence the fit with the Beautiful Boughs dies.

A Slight Confession - Whilst the layout of today's sketch is clearly visible on my card, I chose not to follow the suggested sentiment placement, instead making mine a feature of the circle. This is in part because I was originally going to use an alternative paper and use a diecut flower as the focal point, but in the end changed my mind at the last minute as I wanted to play with a new paper design. Either way, the sketch is a suggestion and does not have to be followed to the absolute letter; as long as the broad elements are visible, artistic licence is welcome!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my '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.

Both of the James Juniors are now officially on half-term for a week; I've spent the last few days enjoying some quality mother-daughter time with Rebecca as Ben was still at school, and tidying up some odds and ends, hence my lack of blog posts. They are both having a 'lazy day' today though so once I've battled my way slowly through the ironing pile, I am hoping to make a card or too later :-) Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL BOUGHS DIES (£33.00)	POINSETTIA PLACE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SUEDE CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON GEMS (£6.00)
SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR 1/4" (6.4 MM) RIBBON (£6.50)

Whilst I've mentioned it over on my Facebook Page earlier this month and will be posting lots more ideas this week, it occurs to me that I didn't write a blog post to share with you the details of this month's designer series paper promotion so with still another week to go before it ends, here are the details in case you've missed them!

We all love gorgeous Designer Series Paper, me especially, and during the month of October you can enjoy a 15% discount on select papers from our current catalogues. Now is a great time to stock up and save on some of our most popular paper designs! The papers included in the promotion are detailed below:

If you would like to see the ways in which I've used some of the papers in the promotion, simply type the name of the paper in to the search bar on the right and you will see lots of project inspiration. I will also be sharing additional samples over on my Facebook page this week so do give me a like and follow to see more great ideas.

There is no limit as to how much paper you are able to purchase, and the discounted price is also applies where paper is purchased in a starter kit or with Stampin' Rewards. So if you need more paper to get cracking on those Christmas projects, now is the perfect time to stock up! The offer ends on 31st October at 10.50pm BST for online orders, so choose your papers and get shopping - just click on the links below to head on over the online store! 

Buy your discounted papers in the online store by clicking on the links below - don't forget to include this month's hostess code:

ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	FOREVER GREENERY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	POINSETTIA PLACE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	TRIMMING THE TOWN DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)
PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	TOILE TIDINGS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	PEONY GARDEN DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	WHALE OF A TIME DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	HEARTWARMING HUGS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)
MAGIC IN THIS NIGHT DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	IN GOOD TASTE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	PLAYING WITH PATTERNS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	PLAYFUL PETS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a busy day with a great class this morning and physio and some chores this afternoon, so a quick post from me today with a Christmas card I made using the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches this week:

I had a few ideas for this sketch but ended up deciding to pair a returning favourite, the Feels Like Frost speciality paper with a cutaway circle, a diecut from the retired Snowfall Thinlits set and a heat embossed sentiment from the new Snowflake Wishes stamp set:

I added a few rhinestones to the foil diecut too for a little extra sparkle:

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 PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)

FEELS LIKE FROST 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)

WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

SILVER 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 queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie, to host this week and she has a Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

I actually have a few cards for you today! First up - cake! A quick review of my stamp collection told me I had no current cake or cupcake stamps - go figure! So I decided to use Linda's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

 myI used my current Playful Alphabet Dies, along with some retired Patio Party designer series paper and last year's 'Piece of Cake' stamp set to create a couple of clean and simple cake-themed cards. Here's the first one using the negative space of the diecut letters:

And a close up of that fun sentiment:

And here's the second card, using the same paper and alternative colour base with the actual diecut letters, popped up on foam adhesive sheets:

Both cards finish with this sentiment on the inside:

Perfect for birthdays or other occasions! Here's a picture of them both together:

The Patio Party paper actually dates back to 2013 so I'm thinking there won't be many of you with some of this on your shelves (unless you are a paper hoarder like me!!) so I also made a third card using current products and this week's Global Design Project sketch:

For this card I reached for my 'Nothing's Better Than' bundle and tweaked my sentiment to create a festive cookie card:

I paired my cookies with some festive plaid from the Plaid Tidings DSP pack (15% off in this month's DSP sale!); having photographed my card, I wish I'd added a sprig of holly too (maybe I'll go back and add one on before I send it!) but to be fair this card is less clean and simple than the first two, with a few more layers and elements so probably best I quit when I did!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on the above 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 be having a quiet family day today as we head into the start of the half-term holiday for one of the James Juniors at least (the other has another 4 days of school to go!). I managed to get some crafting done yesterday so will definitely be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

NOTHING'S BETTER THAN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.50)	BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

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 LeAnne is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

My card works for either of the diagonals: stitching, circle, diecut or gold foil, circle, designer paper today! I decided to CASe Sharon's card over at Less Is More with a trio of punched autumn leaves for a card for someone special today - take a look:

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

I featured a small area of the vanilla foiled Gilded Autumn designer paper between some curvy stitched borders (courtesy of the snowdrifts in the Freezin' Friends Dies!) and then punched a trio of leaves and mounted these on a selection of gold and copper foil and glimmer paper stitched circles at the meeting point. A gold heat-embossed fussy cut sentiment from 'Rooted In Nature' on the front was paired with this sentiment on the inside of my card:

Foil is always difficult to photograph, so I hope you can see how pretty this card is! I must say having seen some of the other cards from the design team this week, I now have a desire to go and make this card in burgundy 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. 

One more look at that pretty glittery leaf trio:

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 am still resting up and will be spending my evening attending a 6th Form Virtual Open Evening with Rebecca from the comfort of the sofa whilst recovering from today's physiotherapy session. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

AUTUMN PUNCH PACK (£36.00)	GILDED AUTUMN SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	FREEZIN' FRIENDS DIES (£27.00)	ROOTED IN NATURE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£39.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)
GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	COPPER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

It's Monday and to start the week I have a short post to share a couple of cards I made with this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout:

They are both encouragement cards, this time with the optional addition of pink, perfect for the current Time Out challenge. One of my cards also features an ombre background which is the trend over at Just Us Girls this week. Here's the first one:

And here's the second one, featuring another of the papers in the Artistry Blooms paper pack: 

Both cards feature a wonderful encouraging sentiment from the 'Ridiculously Awesome' stamp set, that is rather appropriate today as I am headed off for shoulder surgery. I am putting all my faith on my surgeon, that's for sure!

So which one is your favourite? I love them both and will be making a few more with these papers this month whilst they are on offer in the DSP sale :-)

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:

RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'm back following a break last week as I was running my first virtual Creative Escapes Weekend Craft Retreat. More news on that later this week; today it's the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week and she has a seasonal colour challenge for you to work with:

These colours are just perfect for autumn; as I've been driving through the countryside on the school run this week, I have marvelled at just how wonderful the trees are looking with their blends of colour, so armed with my ink pads, some sponge daubers and the current Fusion sketch, I grabbed my 'Life is Beautiful' stamp set and set about recreating the look. This is what I came up with:

Super simple, with a couple of punched banners and stapled ribbon decoration, but oh so pretty with those variegated autumn leaves.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I will be busy finishing up some bits and pieces before going in to hospital tomorrow for surgery on my shoulder. This will be my fourth visit in 14 months and I'm hoping this will be the last! I will still be sharing here though and will be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (£21.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	CINNAMON CIDER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CINNAMON CIDER 2020–2022 IN COLOR RIBBON (£5.50)
CINNAMON CIDER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)
CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host and I am the featured designer this week. I chose lots of autumnal elements for my board: 

I used the same layout on today's card as the one I used for Monday's Christmas card (you can see that card here if you missed it). I went across the first row of the tictactoe board, with Plaid-Pumpkin-Thankful and I embraced those fresh Color Dare colours to make a bright autumnal thank you card - take a look:

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

I stamped the pumpkin image from the 'Celebration Tidings' stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black onto a stitched rectangle and coloured this image with my Stampin' Blends, using a panel of bright Plaid Tidings designer paper for my background and some retired Old Olive ribbon from my box to add in a little more green. I used Mango Melody cardstock for my cardbase and Pumpkin Pie for my mat layer - I love how bright this card looks, compared to if I'd used darker, richer colours. Good news on that Plaid Tidings paper too - it, along with many other designs, is on sale for the whole of the month of October as part of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper sale - more details to follow on that in another post later!

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: 

CELEBRATION TIDINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS PUMPKIN PIE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MANGO MELODY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	DAFODILL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)