It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it's the wonderful Laurie's to host and she has a great theme challenge for you:

I decided to go with trees and leaves for my fall-inspired scene and set to work with my Woodland embossing folder and some rich Regals colours. Here's my card:

I used Cajun Craze for my card base with a mat of Crushed Curry, then having embossed a piece of Very Vanilla with my Woodland embossing folder, I stamped it randomly with the leaf stamps from my 'Among The Branches' stamp set in Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Garden Green and Tangelo Twist. I stamped my sentiment stamp from the same set in Cajun Craze on Very Vanilla and punched out using my 2" circle punch and added it to my card with a couple of banners underneath punched using my Triple Banner Punch - one in garden green and one in kraft corrugated paper for a little texture. To finish, I added a little wooden leaf from the Into The Woods Embellishments pack. 

That's it - definitely a clean and simple fall scene card! I'm not generally a big fan of embossing folders (I own lots of them but rarely use them) however both the Woodland Embossing folder and the Gently Falling Embossing folder are firm favourites of mine already - so many creative possibilities, especially when paired with a co-ordinating stamp set as I have here. Furthermore, not only does the stamp set co-ordinate, but it is one of the many fantastic bundles available in the seasonal catalogue - if you by both the Woodland TIEF and the Among The Branches stamp set, you can save 15%, what a great deal! To take advantage of it, just click on the bundle in the supply list below and it will take you to my shop to purchase.

I have a busy day ahead; more housework and I'm still playing catch up having been away for a few days at the end of last week. At least the children have completed all their homework - one less thing to do today! 

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 fall scenes you create on your CAS cards this week.  

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Among The Branches Photopolymer Bundle	Into The Woods Elements	Kraft And White Corrugated Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze A4 Cardstock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad
Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	2" Circle Punch

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

I decided to use the lovely 'Reason For The Season' stamp set on my card again today. Here's my card: 

I decided to use the tone on tone stamping on my Real Red card base as it was so popular on my earlier card here. I used a band of Garden Green and a Garden Green mat for my Whisper White oval, cut with my Big Shot and Oval Framelits, and added a band of Real Red striped Holiday Fancy Foil Designer Vellum to the central band to add a little shine. I stamped my sentiment in black and then for my embellishment, I stamped the poinsettia three times on Whisper White and fussy cut each one, creating different layers of petals as I did so, so that when they were adhered on top of each other they have a real 3D effect. I also coloured some pearls with a yellow Sharpie and added those to the centre of my flower. Here's a closeup of the detail:

I love the effect you get with some good old fashioned fussy cutting and layering and for this card, no punch required. This set really is so versatile!

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge 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:

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 September HJQSKSW6 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:

Brights Designer Buttons	Early Espresso 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Fringe Scissors
Gold Basic Metal Buttons	Hexagon Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers

More great deals again this week. my favourite has to be the oh so versatile hexagon punch - great for little banners and so many more uses besides. At only £10.88 a bargain too! 

Back tomorrow with this week's challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary; until then, happy shopping!

Good evening blog readers! I had a lovely time with the ladies - and gent! - that attend my card class at a local residential care home this morning. As always, the lovely Sheila and Brenda were wonderful hostesses and today we were joined a new resident, Peggy, for the first time. We enjoyed a pleasant few hours making Christmas cards and this afternoon I caught up with one of my team over a quick coffee and got some jobs done before collecting the children and embarking on the usual Tuesday round of homework, piano lessons and dinner. Anyway, enough about my day! No time to make a card today, so I thought I'd share with you another of the cards we made at my Technique class this month. Another using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set, but this time in white and gold:

I used extra thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created a layered central panel using a piece of gold foil cardstock and a piece of Whisper White covered with a piece of the gorgeous gold foil Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack. I stamped the sentiment and flower onto a piece of Whisper White in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then fussy cut the flower and punched the sentiment out using a 2" circle punch. To put together, I created a few loops of gold corded trim and adhered these to my card, followed by the sentiment then lastly the flower, overlapping each slightly. A sprinkling of gold sequins from the Metallics Sequin Assortment completes my card.

This is my favourite of all the cards we made in this month's technique class - I love the modern, crisp gold and white finish. That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a new collection of weekly deals. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	2" Circle Punch

It's Monday - what else is there to say?! Today's card was using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, although I am too late to link up today, although I can still join in with The Friday Mashup where the challenge is to use glitter on your card and/or combine with a 3D project (I just went with the glitter). Here's the sketch:

Lots of possibilities. I wanted to try out an idea I'd had buzzing around my head for a while - here's my card:

So my card today is very 'green' courtesy of Cucumber Crush - but with good reason! I wanted to create a card reminiscent of the musical 'Wicked' that would serve as a celebratory card, and use a combination of blacks for contrast. I stamped my witch's hat from Howl-O-Ween Treat in Archival Basic Black ink, then stamped my 'wicked' sentiment from the new Project Life 'Seasonal Snapshot 2015 set in Versamark and heat embossed it in black a couple of times to give it real profile and shine. I added the 'awesome' from Endless Birthday Wishes, some shiny black sequins from the metallics sequin assortment (another use for one of this week's Weekly Deals!) and some silver Dazzling Details to the stars and band on the hat. 

This is one of those cards that looks so much better in real life - it has real sparkle and shine that s difficult to capture on film. My daughter really loves it though, so this is one that will be heading her way in due course I think!

That's all from me today; I have a class tomorrow with a lovely group at a local residential care home along with some mass Christmas card production for an event later this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Photopolymer Stamp Set	Howl-O-Ween Treat Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock
Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! As you may well have already read on our home page, the lovely and so talented Ann Schach, one of our longest serving members, is stepping down; we will all miss her dreadfully but at the same time we wish her well for the future she both wants and deserves. Love you Ann!!

I am therefore hosting this week and I would like to share Ann's last great colour challenge with you:

I am loving the Lighthearted Leaves set and given the lovely comments I received on the card I made last week (if you missed it you can see it here), and inspired by the leaves on our badge this week, I thought I would use this set again for today's card:

I also used the sketch over at The Challenge (welcome back ladies!) for my layout. I used Tangelo Twist for my card base, and partially covered this with a piece of Into The Woods DSP with a bold leaf pattern - I've been longing to use this paper with the Lighthearted Leaves, the two seem made for each other, don't you think? I decided to use So Saffron for my main panel on a mat of Lost Lagoon. I stamped my sentiment in Lost Lagoon and stamped a zentangle-like border, also in Lost Lagoon, around the edge using one of the border stamps from the Tin Of Cards stamp set. I then stamped two if the leaf shapes in Versamark and heat embossed in white, onto one each of Lost Lagoon and Tangelo twist cardstock and using my Stampin' Write markers, I coloured in some of the pattern just to add a little more depth of colour before cutting them out with my Leaflets framelits. The orange leaf I adhered directly onto the top panel, and for my larger Lost Lagoon leaf I popped it up onto a double height of dimesionals, having tied a bow with some of the retired SAB thick baker's twine in Tangelo Twist and highlighting the spots with pearls (that's my nod to the lovely Ann this week :-))

This card took longer to come together in reality than it did in my head (does that ever happen to you?!) but now that it's finished I really rather like it. What do you think? 

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

I have a morning of sport to look forward to today followed by a family lunch in honour of my mother-in-law, who is celebrating her birthday this weekend. I look forward to seeing how you use my chosen challenge colours on your cards in the gallery this week.  

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lighthearted Leaves Photopolymer Stamp Set	Leaflets Framelits Dies	Into The Woods Designer Series Paper	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set	So Saffron A4 Cardstock
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
Pearl Basic Jewels

Today I have another Christmas card for you! I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch as my inspiration:

This is such a great sketch - I can see me using it for lots of cards. Today I combined it with the Merry Monday Challenge that I haven't played along with for a while - this week we are challenged to use holly on our card and I immediately reached for my favourite new Home For Christmas DSP. Holly is also the theme over at Happy Little Stampers, so I'm linking up there too. Here's my card:

I used Real Red for my base, with a piece of striped DSP across the horizontal. I then mounted a piece of the holly patterned DSP onto a mat of Mossy Meadow, then cut a striped banner with my Triple Banner Punch and popped it up on dimensionals in the centre of the holly panel. I then stamped my sentiment, from the super-useful sentiment set 'Oh What Fun', in Mossy Meadow on a piece of Very Vanilla, mounted this on a mat of Real Red and added some red berries (tiny pearls that I coloured red with a Sharpie) to add a little dimension. I rounded the corners of all my mats and panels using my Project Life corner rounder as per the sketch; this softens the sharp lines of the panels, which I rather like.

A rather simple layout, but a great way to use a combination of co-ordinating patterns and I love the added berry detail on the sentiment.

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players; this week it's a colour challenge and I'm hosting, so come back then and check it out!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set	Banner Triple Punch	Punch Corner Project Life	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels

Yay it's Friday! This has been a busy week, but a good one nonetheless. Today I'm sharing a card that I made earlier this week for this week's Less Is More challenge but am only just getting the opportunity to share - how does that happen?! Anyway, the LIM girls have a challenge this week to use the colours green and gold on your card (with lots of white space!) and I just couldn't resist. Here's my card:

I decided to use Cucumber Crush as my green as I think it has a real vibrancy with the gold and white for a Christmas card. I heat embossed the pattern on my tree using the Festival of Trees stamp set in gold and combined this with a piece of Cherry on Top check DSP, my sentiment which is a combination of a gold foil 'merry' cut using the new Christmas Greetings thinlits and the stamped 'Christmas' from the Holly Jolly Greetings on a white banner. I added a couple of loops of gold corded trim and a sprinkle of gold star sequins - on offer on weekly deals this week and so easy to adhere with my new fine tip glue pen! - and that's my card done. 

A super modern CAS Christmas card that would be easy to mass-produce and in tradition colours. Maybe this will make the 'shortlist for mass production' pile this holiday season!

That's all from me today; my week has worn me out! Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Big Shot
Magnetic Platform	Heat Tool (Uk)	Banner Triple Punch	Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Gold Cording Trim	Fine-Tip Glue Pen

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

Delightful Dijon is probably the most under-utilised of my current in-colours, so today's card was a good opportunity to redress the balance a little. I thought these colours would work well for an Autumn/Fall card, so that's where I went with this combination. Here's my card: 

I am loving the new Lighthearted Leaves set, so perfect for colouring, and a doddle to cut out with the co-ordinating Leaflets Framelits! I was inspired to create a card with a rather geometric yet zentangle feel having been browsing on Pinterest (as you do ;-). For today's card, I used a Delightful Dijon base with a mat of Night of Navy then a further layer of So Saffron. I cut a strip of Delightful Dijon lengthways at half the width, then stamped three leaves in Night of Navy and cut them out using the Leaflets framelits. I coloured a couple of these with my blender pen and Night of Navy ink, then having positioned the negative die cut on top of the So Saffron layer, I stamped three additional leaves in Navy onto the So Saffron layer in the spaces. I coloured these leaves using a blender pen and my Night of Navy and Delightful Dijon markers. 

To complete the design, I adhered the negative die cut to my card base using dimensionals, then aligned two of the cut-out leaves to the right side top and bottom, again using dimensionals, then stamped the sentiment in navy directly onto the So Saffron layer in the centre of the card. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge colours; 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:

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 September HJQSKSW6 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:

Eclectic Paper-Piercing Pack	Flower Medallion Punch	Label Bracket Punch
Metallic Foil Doilies	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Stars Framelits Dies

This is a great week of deals for items that will look great on Christmas cards: Stars framelits and piercing templates, metallic foil doilies and sequins and the medallion flower punch which co-ordinates with one of the snowflake stamps in the new Flurry Of Wishes stampset. This is the perfect opportunity to pick one up at a reduced price if you don't already have it.  

Back later with today's creative project, featuring one of this week's weekly deals, no less; until then, happy shopping!