I'm sorry this week has been a little less blog-filled than anticipated; I am getting back into a routine now that the James Juniors are back at school, however I'm still playing catch-up. I've had two classes this week and lots more going on besides, and can't quite believe it's Thursday before I've managed a post - eek!

Anyway, today I'm sharing a card that I made with the ladies in my stamp class earlier this week that was inspired by the challenges over at As You See It  and Less Is More: 

My class featured the Dandelion Wishes stamp set and we looked at different techniques to create interesting backgrounds. The Dandelion Wishes set is perfect for clean and simple cards - take a look:

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

Back To Basics - The theme over at As you See It this week is 'Back To Basics', creating cards using little more than stamps. ink and paper. I love clean creations, although they aren't always basic in this sense. There is something liberating though about creating with just stamps, ink and paper and it is fun to be able to share creations from time to time like this. They can be quick(er!) to create and show that it's still possible to create something pretty without needing a ton of supplies. My card uses only two ink colours and two colours of cardstock - basic supplies indeed!

Layer Images for Interest - One of the ways to create interest on a basic card is to layer images to create interest. In addition the basic card layers, with a little tone-on-tone stamping on the base, I used the bokeh dots stamp as a 'background' for my dandelion seed heads and positioned both them and my sentiment across the edges in order to create the illusion of an extra layer.

A Drop of Frost - I could have just left my card there as it looked pretty enough to be fair. I often add a little something to a CAS card for extra interest and in this instance decided to add a trio of the new frosted epoxy droplets from the seasonal catalogue. I love the frosted finish they have and am a sucker for something shiny! I'm hoping the ladies at AYSI approve - my justification is that it's less fussy than ribbon ;-)

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Dandelion Wishes Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Bokeh Dots Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£14.00)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets (£8.25)

I took a few days away from my blog - call it a little birthday gift to myself as I was celebrating being another year older on Friday! It hasn't stopped me creating though and as it's Sunday you all know what that means: it's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our returning Player, the lovely Anne Marie Hile, to host this week and she has a gorgeous colour challenge for you to work with:

These colours were asking for something natural and autumnal and I decided to do another make using products from one of my current favourite suites, the Country Lane Suite, for my card today and I used the current sketch over at Inspire.Create for the layout of my card - take a look:

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

My Colour Of Choice - I decided to use the Country Lane designer series paper that you see as the two outer vertical border strips as the starting point for my card today, so decided that my colour of choice in addition to the Mint Macaron, Crumb Cake and Blackberry Bliss chosen by Anne Marie would be Early Expresso - a rich, dark brown that outlines the cotton on the paper. I used it to heat emboss the outlines of my jug and floral stem arrangement, and to ink my Pinewood Planks embossing folder for my background stitched circle, then finally for my sentiment strip. Whilst there is a lot of white elsewhere on my card, I am counting this as a neutral rather than a colour in its own right.

Lots of Layers -  I couldn't resist adding lots of layers to my focal point; in addition to my fussy cut flower jug, I added an embossed stitched circle and a stitched label in Blackberry Bliss. Sometimes it just has to be the way to go!

An Embellishment or Two - I finished my card with some Blackberry Bliss natural twine and faceted jewels; this adds a bold pop of colour in addition to the purple berries in my floral jug. 

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. 

I really love this Country Lane set - it is so versatile and lends itself to lots of great autumn-inspired cards and the blooms are great for a spot of colouring with Blends too.

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

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Country Home Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Country Lane 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Stitched Labels Framelits Dies (£31.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)
Nature's Twine (£8.25)	Faceted Dots (£5.50)	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)
Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Blackberry Bliss Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

A little later than last year but this day has finally arrived! The new Autumn-Winter Seasonal Catalogue is here - you can download an electronic copy by clicking on the image below:

Physical catalogues have gone out in the post to my existing customers and anyone else who requested a copy; there will of course be a permanent link to the catalogue in the box on the right side of my blog page until 2nd January 2019 when the sales period ends. I've already shared a few sneak peeks and there is so much more to come! For today, put your feet up and browse the new catalogue in all its glory.

And there's more good news! Between now and the end of September, we have a fabulous promotion too - host a party with qualifying sales and you can earn a pack of Dashing Deer Designer Series Paper for FREE in addition to your standard Stampin' Rewards that you will receive.

The exclusive Dashing Along Designer Series Paper is a mix of old favourites and new patterns to bring you a beautiful, traditional Christmas paper. This collection of patterns has an eclectic feel and is perfect for layering, and while the newsprint design isn’t Christmas-themed, it has been selected for its versatility. As a party host you will get this set for free if your party sales reach the qualifying amount of £200. So why not gather some friends, get creative and earn rewards and a free pack of paper into the bargain! I have both daytime and evening party slots available - either call me on 07773 421446 or email me via joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk to book yours.

Here are some great samples that show off this gorgeous paper:

Aren't they gorgeous? The papers have been paired with the new Dashing Deer bundle that can be found on page 9 of the new catalogue, so be sure to check that out too.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or queries. Don't forget to use this month's current hostess code K6VBCUXK if you are placing an order online to receive an extra thank you from me. Back soon with more creative inspiration for you. Until then, happy browsing and get writing that wish list! 

Happy Monday everyone! Today is the last full vacation day here in the James household - Ben is back to school for pre-season rugby training tomorrow and then both James Juniors are back to school 'proper' on Wednesday - so we are making the most of it (currently sewing sock puppies and making pizza ready for lunch, amongst other things!) I'm sharing a quick and easy card that I made at the weekend for the challenges over at CAS Colours and Sketches and TGIF Challenges:

I love this sketch layout and was originally planning something different, but when I saw the tictactoe board over at TGIF I couldn't resist the opportunity to create something with my favourite new purples. This is what I came up with:

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

Perfectly Paired Purples - I chose to use a combination of two new purples on my card: Highland Heather for the base and bow, and Gorgeous Grape for the flowers and sentiment base. I love how these two colours compliment each other perfectly. I added another new colour, Soft Sea Foam, into the mix for my flower stems - it gives just enough subtle colour and allows my purples to take centre stage. Here's my colour combination in case you would like to save it for future use:

Just A Note - The spray of flowers on my card comes from another new stamp set called 'Wishing You Well' - it's another of Stampin' Up!'s Distinktive Stamps, that allow for great monochromatic ink effects. They allow you to create different ink opacities in a single stamped image for realistic depth and intensity - just check out the detail on that bow, it almost looks like it's been tied on! 

Teeny Tiny Pearls - I went across the top of the tictactoe board - purple, pearls, flowers - so the last thing to do was add a tiny sprinkling of seed pearls to my floral spray. I'm not generally a big user of pearls or rhinestones on my projects, but I actually love this little detail. You can see it better on the close up here:

And that's it - a clean and simple card that would work in lots of other colourways 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:

Wishing You Well Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a card and co-ordinating chocolate slider gift package that I actually made for last week's challenge over at Just Add Ink  but didn't get to photograph in time to play along;luckily for me, it is perfect for this week's Just Add Ink challenge too - if you take a look at the challenge badges, you will see what I mean: 

I absolutely loved the JAI colour palette last week and I couldn't resist breaking out some of my new products to create a card and matching gift packaging - luckily there's plenty of texture in there too! Firstly, here's the card I created:

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

Country Home - From the Country Lane Suite in the new Autumn-Winter catalogue, the Country Home stamp set is all about country living, with some great thanks sentiments and it's perfect for colouring too. I used my Blends to add colour to my Fall florals and fussy cut them out ready to layer onto my card. I also stamped a border using the tiled stamp in the set for some 'faux texture' with some Bermuda Bay tone-on-tone stamping, tucked under my sentiment.

Tin Tile Metallics - The background panel of my card is a piece of silver foil cardstock that has been embossed with the new Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and given a slightly aged/distressed look by sponging with some Soft Suede ink. I just love the embossed pattern of this folder; it's so pretty. I know I'm going to use it lots!

Thankful For ... Chocolate - I loved my card so much, I thought I would create a matching slider gift package using exactly the same layout and design to make a slider wrap for one of my favourite bars of chocolate, ready to gift to someone; it's always nice to be able to share a sweet treat, especially when beautifully packaged I think - I love going to the trouble to make something quite ordinary appear to be rather special: 

These wraps are very straightforward - and when you pull the ribbon bow and tag, the chocolate bar slides outwards:

Finally, here's a shot of both items together:

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 think this set will be heading for my local postmaster as a thank you for his help with my Autumn-Winter catalogue mailings this week (yes, if you're one of my customers the catalogues are in the post!) He is used to me appearing with bags full of catalogues to be mailed at this time of year and we have a great system going now, which makes the process efficient and keeps ongoing queues to a minimum! I like to give him a bar of chocolate as a thank you for his help and to keep him sweet :-) On the subject of Autumn-Winter catalogues: if you don't have a demonstrator and would like me to add you to my list, then do get in touch and I can pop one in the post to you too. The electronic version of the catalogue will be available here online tomorrow when it launches.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Country Home Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Silver Foil Sheets (£3.75)	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Heat Tool (Uk) (£28.00)	Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (£22.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)

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

This week is back-to-school week here in the UK and so it's the time that I start thinking about little notes to put in the lunchboxes and pencil cases of my James Juniors to let them know I'm thinking of them during the school day, hence my chosen theme this week.

When I think about lunchbox love note cards, I like to create something that is slightly smaller than usual that can be slipped into a pocket or pencil case (or lunchbox!) and 'discovered' during the day. One of the sets I couldn't wait to get my hands on when the new annual catalogue went live was 'Treehouse Adventure' - so perfect for these types of cards! So I decided to create a little trio of cards using this set for the challenge this week - take a look:

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

Take A Simple Notecard - If I am making lunchbox notes, I generally like them to be quick and easy to create and tend to make them smaller than a standard card as they are easier to slip into a lunchbox, blazer pocket or pencil case. At 5 1/4" x 3", Stampin' Up!'s notecards and envelopes are just perfect for this. I took a trio of notecards and stamped three simple designs, mostly one layer apart from the smallest amount of fussy cutting (the signs, flags and tyre swing) and some punched sentiments. Easy peasy!

Here are each of my cards individually:

I just love this card - what a great sentiment! This next one is a perfect uplifting phrase for the start of a new school year: 

And this final one is perfect for the start of a new year and all the changes that this brings:

Treehouse Adventure Colour Combo - I chose a bright and cheery colour combo for my child-friendly notecards - here it is if you would like to save it to use on your projects:

A Little Treat Too - In addition to my notecard trio, I decided to make a quick and easy co-ordinating treat too. I wrapped a small chocolate bar in a piece of Brights DSP and stuck it top and bottom and added a simple ribbon and tag - you can see the wrapped and an unwrapped version below:

These cards will be for Ben and I often bring him a little treat on a Friday afternoon to celebrate the end of the school week and give him a little pick-me-up before his Friday evening swimming lesson. We often play a game of '10 questions', where he has 10 questions to try and guess what the treat inside the packaging is, by asking questions that can have only 'yes' or 'no' answers. If he guesses within the 10 questions, he gets his treat - I don't think he's never not managed it, but it has enabled him to develop some astute questioning skills, not to mention his knowledge of sweet treats, brands and packaging! It is one of the little games we play to make our car journey pass quickly - I can highly recommend 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I am also linking today's notecards up with the challenge over at SUO Challenges where the theme is 'Babies and Kids' this week. And just in case you think my older James Junior is missing out, not so - I made some slightly more sophisticated notes for her which were inspired by a rather unlikely object which I will share with you later this week!

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week - the lovely Ann Schach is back with us too as a permanent design team member again following an extended break, so be sure to pop by her blog and say hi:

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:  

Treehouse Adventure Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes (£6.00)	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Poppy Parade 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Textured Weave Ribbon (£7.00)

Before I get into my creative post today, I just wanted to remind you that we are nearing the end of the month so today is the final day to take advantage of this month's offers: a free bonus coupon for every £45 spend, redeemable against next month's purchases, and also the limited time Blended Seasons bundle and the second colour assortment pack of watercolor pencils. You can read more about both of these offers here and here.

Don't forget to check out my Creative Escapes Luxury Weekend Creative Retreats post as well - the Bank Holiday booking offer ends today too!

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Less Is More where they have a great sketch challenge: 

I haven't managed to play along with these ladies for ages (even though they are now running fortnightly challenges which does make it easier - thank you ladies!) but I had a great clean and simple idea for a Christmas card using this sketch - take a look:

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

Four Stitched Squares - There are lots of ways that you could interpret the squares in the sketch; they could be quarters of a whole, or individual entities. I decided that they would be four individual stitched squares, to form a base for my main decoration. 

Take A Paperclip ... or 4 - Another new Autumn-Winter catalogue product are the All is Bright Paper Clips - a collection of gold star and tree-shaped paper clips to accent your festive cards and packaging. I used them as the main decoration on my card today - so simple! I must confess I have a ton of shaped paper clips in my collection - I think I might be making a few more of these cards in different colourways to use some of my paperclip stash up!

Keeping it CAS - I stamped my sentiment and heat embossed it in gold directly onto the base of my card and decided to keep my card base and stitched squares all the same colour to maintain a clean and simple feel. My 'white space' today is of course green - Call Me Clover, the new in-colour green, to be precise. A nice Christmas Tree green and the gold and green combo is a winning festive double act in my book!

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. 

Following a visit to a maze yesterday and some overnight camping, we are off to enjoy some watersports and crazy golf today since we are forecast a fine and sunny day. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Heat Tool (Uk) (£28.00)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Call Me Clover A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	All Is Bright Paper Clips (£6.50)	Feather & Frost Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)

Before I get into my creative post today, I just wanted to remind you that we are nearing the end of the month so you have just two more days to take advantage of this month's offers: a free bonus coupon for every £45 spend, redeemable against next month's purchases, and also the limited time Blended Seasons bundle and the second colour assortment pack of watercolor pencils. You can read more about both of these offers here and here.

Check out this post with details on my Creative Escapes Luxury Weekend Retreats too - you have until the end of the week to take advantage of my Bank Holiday booking offer for my next weekend in October!

A day off yesterday as we had a family day out at the Black Country Museum (a fun visit if you're in the UK and never been - lots of fun interactive history) and I needed to give the first episode of the Great British Bake Off my undivided attention yesterday evening (more on that later!) but I'm back with you today and I'm sharing a card using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch and the current bright colour palette over at Inspire.Create for a fun Christmas card:

This another of those great sketches that can be used in lots of different ways with the sentiment diecuts that I love - although I did need to rotate my card base through 90 degrees and go 'long and thin' to fit everything in! Take a look:

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

Merry Christmas Thinlits - Today is the turn of the 'Christmas' thinlit to feature, stamped with a 'merry' for good measure; these dies are going to get a full work out this season, I think they are just great! I love that with the co-ordinating bundled stamp set, there are so many sentiment combinations you can make; this is absolutely a 'go-to' set for me this Christmas.

Spirited Snowman - I liked the 'object' at the end of the sentiment on the sketch and thought the little skating snowman from the new Spirited Snowmen set would fit perfectly and look as if he was almost skating the sentiment into the ice. I decided to heat emboss the snowman and an array of snowflakes from the same set across the top of my card, so that the white elements, i.e. the snow, would be white against my sponged background. I must confess whilst this looks great in white in real life, especially with the sparkle of the Wink of Stella on the snowman, the snowman loses some of his definition in white when photographed. In hindsight silver might have been a better choice - or maybe a little added definition to the body of the snowman with my Blends; something to play around with on version 2!

Unconventional Brights For Christmas - You could have looked at the Inspire.Create colour challenge colours this week and be forgiven for thinking that a Christmas card would not come immediately to mind with these bright colours; I actually thought they would be perfect for a sponge-brayered sky and his bright woollen scarf and hat combo. Once I'd stamped the snowman onto my cardfront, I stamped him again onto a post-it note and cut it out to create a mask so that I could brayer my Bermuda Bay sky, whilst keeping my snowman white. I then coloured the rest of my Snowman with my Blends/Blendabilities/Stampin' Write Markers. I did stick to the colour palette along with a smidge of black and grey neutrals, save one exception - I used orange for the snowman's carrot nose. I'm not sure any other colour would do so I hope I'll be forgiven this departure! Lastly, I painted my snowman liberally with Clear Wink of Stella; difficult to see on the photo, but so pretty 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So what do you think - do these unconventional brights work on today's Christmas card? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy the rest of your day; the James Juniors are currently in the kitchen baking homemade wagon wheel biscuits, having been inspired by the technical challenge on last night's Great British Bake Off - I'll let you know tomorrow how they turned out when I'll be back with another project! Until then, happy stampin'!

I typed this post up last night but am finally going live this morning - I will share the wagon wheels tomorrow! 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Spirited Snowmen Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Bundle (£45.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Heat Tool (Uk) (£28.00)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Sponge Brayers (£7.50)
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Brights Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)

Well, the last of the summer Bank Holiday Mondays here in the UK today and as is often the way, it has been wet, grey and gloomy here and decidedly chilly too! So lots of cooking, board games and even a little crafting here in the James household today as a result.

I have a quick card for you this evening that uses this week's colours over at The Color Throwdown:

I was inspired not only by the colours, but by the duvet cover in the inspiration photo too - take a look:

I used the largest veined leaf in the Rooted In Nature set to stamp a leaf in each of the challenge colours onto an extra thick Whisper White card base, slightly overlapping each other, and added a simple sentiment beneath it. That's it - nothing more than stamps, ink and paper - an absolute 'back to basics' card, easy to execute with minimal supplies needed. 

I actually created two additional cards at the same time, a stepped-up version and a 'bells and whistles' version for the avid crafter and will share both of these with you in another post - of all three though, I think the simplicity of this one makes it my favourite.

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. 

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Rooted In Nature Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£39.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Coastal Cabana 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 fabulously creative Jaydee to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I just love this sketch and could have used it a hundred times over (thanks Jaydee!) and in fact I actually used it to make 6 cards in one sitting, two sets of three cards each, all featuring fabulous new products from the forthcoming Autumn-Winter catalogue and I'm going to share one of those sets with you today.

My cards focus on some of the fabulous products in one of my favourite new festive suites; here are the three cards I'm sharing with you today:

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

Joyous Noel - I decided that the sketch layers lent themselves to a showcase of both the designer series paper and co-ordinating glimmer paper in the Joyous Noel Suite. The papers feature classic festive seasonal designs with copper foil accents on one side of each sheet and take it from me, they are beautiful! I co-ordinated each of my chosen patterns with a background of glimmer paper - these papers come in Copper, Merry Merlot and Tranquil Tide as on the close up of the card below:

A Wooden Sentiment - Each of my cards feature a wooden sentiment element, from another of the suites in the catalogue - the Festive Farmhouse Suite. These wooden accents come with a light grey finish (I've coloured mine - more on that below!) and contain 3 separate sentiments, along with a collection of stars and Christmas trees. There are a total of 32 pieces for just £3.75, so they represent great value - I know I'll be using lots of these! Each of my cards features a different sentiment and detail - the second of my cards is the set features the word 'joy' and a  couple of stars:

Shades of Copper - As I mentioned above, the wooden elements are grey in colour straight out of the packet. Ordinarily I would have heat embossed them in copper embossing powder, but there is a new product in the seasonal catalogue that does a much better job: shimmer paint. Yes, for those of you die-hard Stampin' Up! fans that go back as far as I do, you will remember we used to stock champagne shimmer paint previously; the new catalogue includes shimmer paint in 4 colours: champagne, white, gold and the copper that I used here. Simply apply with a sponge dauber to add subtle and shine to your projects - so easy! Here's a close-up of the detail so you can appreciate just how pretty it is:

And here's the full final card in my set - this card really is all about the copper:

Don't you just love all that shimmer and sparkle? I am going to be getting through a lot of this paper during the festive season; it will also be featuring in the projects at my two day Creative Escape Luxury Weekend Craft Retreat in October. You can read all about that in yesterday's post here, along with details of a Bank Holiday offer for those who would like to join me and fill the last few remaining spots - I hope you can join me for some festive creative fun!

Oh and I almost forgot - I decorated the insides of each of my cards too! Here's a peek inside:

Not long now until the new seasonal catalogue launches and you can purchase these products for yourselves; meanwhile, here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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. 

I will share my other set of three cards that I made with today's sketch later in the week. Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Joyous Noel 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Joyous Noel 6" X 6" Glimmer Paper (£14.00)	Festive Farmhouse Elements (£3.75)	Bright Copper Shimmer Paint (£7.50)	Merry Merlot A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Gray Granite A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Tranquil Tide A4 Cardstock (£8.00)