Happy Monday everyone! Happier for some than others - I'm working from home with one James Junior off school today fighting the seasonal lurgy - but for everyone reading this, your day is about to get better! I have a double post for you today (to make up for Saturday's lack of post!) with cards for a couple of challenges. The first is my card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where they have a great sketch - I combined with the theme inspiration of 'Blue Christmas' over at Fusion:

I love the simplicity of Jen T's sketch this week, although by the time I finished my card I wondered if I'd got just a little bit carried away - take a look:

I made a cute 'faux shaker' card using the snowman image from the 'Sparkly Season' stamp set, stamping him in Memento Black and colouring him in with my Pool Party and Bermuda Bay markers, with Pumpkin Pie for his nose, then used my two-way glue pen to adhere some Dazzling Diamonds to the snow mound that the snowman is sat on. I then stamped the snowfall stamp in Versamark to my window sheet and applied Heat & Stick and Iridescent Ice to give it a lovely sparkle, before adhering behind the hole that I'd cut in my Pool Party top layer. On this layer I stamped a few clusters of snowflakes in Pool Party using the snowflake stamp in the Snow Place stamp set and highlighted these with some silver sequins along with a few retired snowflake sequins from last year's stash. To finish, I added a layered banner that contains a little of everything: white glitter ribbon, Bermuda Bay sequins and a dash of silver glimmer paper to boot! I just love the sparkle and shine of this card and the shades of blue - so very pretty!

Back shortly with another quick and easy card for today; I must be on a roll! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sparkly Seasons Photopolymer Bundle	Snow Place Photopolymer Stamp Set	Gold & White 3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Fine-Tip Glue Pen	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot	Many Marvelous Markers	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Heat & Stick Powder	Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder	2-Way Glue Pen	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter	Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim
Silver Glimmer Paper	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Window Sheets

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the talented Sandy to host and she has a tic tac toe board to get our creative juices flowing this week:

There were so many ways I could have gone with Sandy's board this week - the creative possibilities are endless! - but in the end I decided to go with the far-right column: white, embossing and punch or die cut. I used this week's colours over at Colour Me and the Friday Mashup sketch for today's card:

I used a base of Melon Mambo for my card then on a piece of Whisper White I stamped the silhouette from the 'To You and Yours' stamp set in Memento Black then sponged in my sky using each of the Colour Me challenge colours and masking off a small moon with a small circle of post-it note. I also added a few tiny white stars using my chalk pen. I then took a piece of Basic Black cardstock and diecut the tree using the medium-sized Perfect Pines framelit, wrapping some silver thread around the base of the card and securing behind. The top layer is a piece of Shimmery White cardstock - you can't really see the sparkle of this card in the photo, which is a shame as it's lovely! I embossed this piece with the Softly Falling embossing folder to add texture then used the largest Christmas tree framelit to cut an aperture in my card to frame the tree in the black layer. Finally I added my sentiment; I added the silver glimmer 'peace' from the Christmas Greetings thinlits (I trimmed down the ends) and heat embossed the 'on earth' in silver onto the black layer. 

I've been wanting to use this silhouette stamp for ages and I like the idea of framing it with the diecut. Quite unconventional for a Christmas card, but I just love the colours of the pretty sunset too. 

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

I look forward to seeing how many tic tac toe combinations you can come up with this week. I'm off for a morning of basketball and then a quiet day for the James juniors, given that Rebecca has an awful cold and needs some R&R to prepare for the busy month ahead in the run up to Christmas. I'm hoping to work on a few projects and get a few jobs done - wish me luck!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

To You & Yours Too Photopolymer Stamp Set	Perfect Pines Framelits Dies	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Silver Metallic Thread
Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Silver Glimmer Paper
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Magnetic Platform
Big Shot

Yay - it's Friday - always a good day! I've had a busy one with a few errands, appointments and a pleasant afternoon watching Ben play rugby. Not much time for crafting today (I did help a friend make good progress on some Christmas bunting, but we still have a few finishing touches to make so I'll share that another time!) so I'm sharing a home decor project I made in a class with a lovely group of ladies last week. We decided to decorate a pillar candle and make a table centre, using the Festive Flower Punch and the Spiral Flower Originals Die to make a wreath of flowers around the base.

Here's my finished project, in Real Red with Very Vanilla roses:

I stamped the flower from 'Reason to the Season' on filter paper and melted it into the candle to set it, then covered a small polystyrene wreath with Very Vanilla satin ribbon before adhering my flower to it. A few gold glimmer and pearl flower centres and some loops of gold glitter ribbon interspersed in between completes the project.

The ladies in my class made their arrangements in a variety of colours; you can see their creations on my Facebook page here (feel free to give me a 'like' whilst your there!) for more colour inspiration. This was such a fun project to make and another way to show the versatility of the 'Reason for The Season' stamp set and co-ordinating Festive Flower Punch - this is one bundle that just keeps on giving, so many creative possibilities! The new Spring-Summer catalogue also offers another stamp set that co-ordinates with this useful punch - watch this space!

I'm linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges too who are working with your favourite holiday colours - my traditional colour scheme remains a favourite, even though it's sometimes nice to step out of the creative comfort zone (see next Sunday's post for an example of that!) That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Spiral Flower Originals Die	Big Shot	White Filter Paper	Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Gold Glimmer Paper
Gold & White 3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon	Pearl Basic Jewels

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

I had lots of ideas about ways to use this sketch; I eventually settled on this fun card featuring a snowman with a difference:

Instead of stamping a snowman on my card, I decided to create a graphic snowman using my Big Shot and the Snow Friends framelits. I used a card base of extra-thick white cardstock and tucked a strip of red striped Holidays Fancy Foil Vellum don the left hand side. I then added a panel of Soft Sky, onto which I stamped the snowflakes from the Wonderland stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed them in white, before cutting out the snowman shape and scarf and hat, which adhered across the negative space for dimension. I then stamped part of the sentiment from Holly Jolly Greetings directly onto the cardbase in Pacific Point, adding a red glimmer 'jolly' cut from the co-ordinating Christmas Greetings Framelits dies to finish. I also used black glimmer paper for the snowman's hat - both add great sparkle to this card. To finish, I added a few pearls coloured with a red Sharpie as the holly berries for the leaves on the hat.

I love the subtle textures and layering on this card - and it's fun to look at framelits and dies to see how else they can be used beyond the straightforward cutting out of shapes.

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I have a super-simple fun card for this week's clean-and-simple challenge over at Addicted To CAS, where they are celebrating their 3rd birthday - congratulations, ATCAS! The challenge this week has the following code word:

I decided this week's challenge was the perfect opportunity to try out a card I've had in mind for ages:

You already know how much I love these cute reindeer clips, so I thought it was about time I based an entire card around one! I used Early Espresso cardstock for my base, then mounted a simple square of it onto a mat of gold foil to highlight my reindeer clip. I added a Cherry Cobbler red enamel dot for my reindeer's nose (Rudolf is so much more eye-catching!) and I stamped my sentiment from the 'Oh What Fun' stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed it in gold. As simple as that! A tub of clips could see you knocking a dozen of these out in next to no time and I love the dimension the clip and nose gives to my CAS card.

I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for the new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set	Reindeer Paper Clips Embellishments	Home For Christmas Enamel Dots	Gold Foil Sheets	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for November SHRENCSC if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Basic Black Baker's Twine

Metallics Sequin Assortment

Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack

It's all about the metallics this week! 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a couple of challenges this week, initially inspired by the intriguing sketch over at Pals Paper Arts but also with the theme over at TGIF Challenges in mind:

I'm also linking up with the talented team over at The Challenge - my card is definitely more contemporary than traditional, but it has snowflakes as per the inspiration photo; I might have to do another one for this challenge too with a little more red and green! Anyway - my card today is another of those so-difficult-to-photograph-yet-so-beautiful white and silver Christmas cards that I'm so fond of! here it is:

I used a base of extra-thick Whisper White and decided that the three circles in the sketch should be represented by a trio of Winter Wonderland Embellishments and the rest of my design came from there. I created a layered panel of silver foil, Whisper White and then the lovely snowflake patterned Holiday Fancy Foil Vellum. I stamped the medium sized Flurry of Wishes Snowflake in Smoky Slate onto Shimmery White cardstock, then stamped two of the three elements of my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in silver, then punched out the shape with my Flower Medallion punch. I added a silver glimmer die cut 'peace' and adhered the whole piece to my card using dimensionals, having added some thin silver metallic thread behind. 

This is one of those cards that is so very pretty in real life - it has so much shimmer and sparkle, it's gorgeous! You can see the detail of the snowflake better in this close-up shot:

So many pretty snowflake elements too - embellishments, vellum and stamps!

That's all from me today; I'm looking forward to spending the day having some quality crafting time and a good catch up with a couple of friends.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flurry Of Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set	Winter Wonderland Embellishments	Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Flower Medallion Punch
Silver Glimmer Paper	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Silver Foil Sheets	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Big Shot	Silver Metallic Thread
Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies

Happy Monday everyone - a new week begins! Today I'm sharing a card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I decided the horizontal panels would work for a two-piece sentiment, so I chose to pair the Wonderland sentiments with the holy family image from 'All Ye Faithful' and some not so Christmassy designer series paper - take a look:

I used Tip Top Taupe for my card base, with a mat of Hello Honey and a piece of the Sweet Li'l Things starry paper for the background panels. I stamped my holy family in Memento Black and coloured it using my inks and blender pen, stamping my sentiment in black on two panels of Marina Mist. Not altogether tricky and I must say I love the pop of blue from the Marina Mist sentiment panels. Great to be able to use this paper in a non-baby way too. I've already had another idea for this sketch which, all being well, I will make up and share later in the week. 

That's all from me today; a piano lesson, business meeting then hopefully some time at my desk crafting this afternoon. Enjoy your Monday - I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Wonderland Wood-Mount Stamp Set	All Ye Faithful Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series Paper	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad	Marina Mist A4 Cardstock
Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Blender Pens	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the lovely Laurie to host and she has a great sketch to get our creative juices flowing this week:

I decided to showcase some of the lovely Home For Christmas designer series paper on my card today along with one of the Cozy Christmas stamps on today's card:

I love this winter village scene paper so I paired it with a sentiment and the little house from the 'Cozy Christmas' stamp set. I stamped the scene in Mint Macaron and then cropped out the tree on the left and paper-pieced the house, which I stamped in Real Red. I added dimension with some puffy snow on the roof and trees and a wooden snowflake embellishment. I created my layered tag using the Tags and Labels framelits and to finish added a twirly bow using some retired in-colour ribbon in Mossy Meadow. Having had a busy week of classes and most of my day yesterday taken up with school projects I struggled to get into the groove with this card, but time was against me so in the end I had to stop fiddling with it and finish up!

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

I look forward to seeing what you make with Laurie's sketch this week. I'm off for a morning of sport and then both James Juniors are taking part in a basketball tournament this afternoon. Another busy Sunday!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Big Shot	Tags & Labels Framelits Dies
Snowflake Elements

I've had a busy day working with Ben on his school project today but just have time to squeeze in a quick blog post with a card for this week's challenge over at Merry Monday:

I actually cased my own card for this one; this card here is one of my most pinned cards on Pinterest and I thought that my Wonderland stamp and the lovely sleigh and reindeer from Cozy Christmas would make for a great updated version so here it is:

On a base of Night of Navy and a matt of brushed silver, I masked a panel and moon on a piece of Whisper White using post-it notes then sponged in a sky in Night of Navy, with the trees from the 'Wonderland' stamp set stamped in Archival Black across the bottom. I then stamped my sleigh and reindeer silhouette in front of the moon and stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it in silver across the bottom. Clean, simple and without fuss - very me! - and not one but eight reindeer, skimming the tree tops.

That's all from me; back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Wonderland Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock
Stamping Sponges