Today it's a special day: the Colour Me...! challenge is celebrating its first birthday and so the co-creators, the lovely Hayley and Tara, are hosting a party to celebrate! As one of the outgoing designers, I was invited to choose any previous challenge colour combination and create a card for this week's showcase. I decided to go with the creative choice from week 5, which enabled me to use some of the gorgeous new 'Best Year Ever' DSP from the 2015 Sale-A-Bration offering; I also used this week's sketch layout over at Create With Connie and Mary, as this layout was perfect for what I had in mind: 

As much as I've enjoyed making Christmas cards these past few months, I am so ready for a change! The colours of the promotional designer series paper and co-ordinating embellishment packs are like a breath of spring air - take a look:

I based the colour scheme for my card on the feature colours of the Best Day Ever papers - Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Sahara Sand, with white as my neutral - isn't it a gorgeous colour combination for Spring? I used two pieces of the same paper for my card, paired with a couple of blocks of solid colour, as the background for my card, then used another Sale-A-Bration promotional item, the 'Big Day' stamp set to create my focal point. What better than a birthday cake with a single candle for a first birthday?! The sentiment is from the same set. I stamped them both in Soft Suede, before colouring with my Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. Did you know that Stampin' Up! Blendabilities work with many of the standard Stampin' Up! coloured ink pads, in addition to Memento Black? Sometimes an alternative colour outline works really well and can give a different effect. I decided to create a little 'badge' to anchor my sentiment, using a punched circle, a number 1 cut with my retired Typeset alphabet Bigz Die (you could use the Perfect Print Bigz Number Die as an alternative) and a punched gold glimmer star. I coloured the envelope to match and I even created a fancy sentiment inside my card:

Both the Best Day Ever DSP and the Big Day stamp set are items that could be yours free with a purchase of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration; Slae-A-Bration starts early this year on 6th January, so not long to wait now! I made this card to congratulate Hayley and Tara on their first Colour Me...! anniversary, however it would work just as well for a child's first birthday I think in this colour scheme.

That's all from me today; do pop by the Colour Me...! challenge blog and see what other birthday delights are in store. I hope you have a fun New Year's Eve planned - mine will be a quiet one - and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

* Best Day Ever Designer Series Paper and Big Day stamp set available 6th January.

Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Calypso Coral Assortment	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Gold Glimmer Paper	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

I've had a great work day today and managed to fit in some quality crafting time, so amongst other things I have a Happy new Year card to share with you today that was inspired by this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew:

Here is the card I created:

For a new year celebratory card some glitz and glamour were definitely the order of the day, so I layered a number of gold and sliver elements - glimmer paper, silver foil, sequins and gold vellum and topped with a silver embossed black pennant cut with my Banner framelits. The stamp I used is from the versatile 'Mingle All The Way' set from the Autumn-Winter Seasonal Catalogue; this set along with many others, is only available until January 5th when the catalogue ends, so if it's still on your wish list then don't leave it to late to order. I created a popped-up banner for the word 'cheers' having heat embossed this section in black on brushed gold cardstock, then cut it out and adhered with dimensionals. Some gold ribbon, a trio of rhinestones coloured with a black permanent marker and done!

We are having our traditional James family day on New Year's Day so I will be taking this card along with me for my mother-in-law; I'm hoping it will go some way to make up for the lack of Christmas card!

I'm also linking up to the new year challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments where this is the challenge inspiration photo:

Back tomorrow with a special 'extra' post for the lovely ladies over at Colour Me...! and a new set of weekly deals. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mingle All The Way Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Banners Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch	Basic Black A4 Card Stock
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
Silver Foil Sheets	Brushed Gold A4 Card Stock	Gold Glimmer Paper	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Sequin Trim
Gold 1/8" Ribbon	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Today I wanted to share with you a fun punch art card that I made for a special little girl for Christmas featuring the adorable snowman Olaf from the Disney movie 'Frozen'. I've made a few of these but never blogged one - so here's the most recent one that I made:

I most certainly can't take the credit for the Olaf punch art itself; to create mine, I always follow the excellent instructions by Michelle Suit - you can watch her video tutorial on how to create your own Olaf here. He is actually rather straight forward - the real key is using the Gift Bow Bigz die to get the right shape for his head. If you are a fan of Disney and like to create punch art every once in a while, I recommend you check out Michelle's blog Suitably Stamped - she really is a whizz!

On this occasion, I kept the design of my card really simple and used a piece of Nordic Noel DSP for the snowflake background and just added a pile of snowballs and a retired sentiment, which I stamped in Island Indigo directly onto the DSP. I have more of these to make this month, as I am the official party planner for a special birthday girl later this month who is having a Frozen-themed celebration; there is clearly no sign of the Frozen phenomena dying down any time soon! 

And now to my special announcement! As my regular readers will know, I was asked to join the lovely ladies over at The Paper Players challenge blog back last July for a 3 month guest designer stint. This was then extended to a 6 month stay, which I completed with the last challenge of the year earlier this month. This has always been one of my favourite challenges to play along with and I was delighted to be asked to guest with this talented and creative bunch and equally sad to leave them. So imagine my delight when I got a call asking if I would like to return - as a permanent member of their design team!! Woohoo! I am thrilled that these ladies think so much of me that they would want me to join them on a permanent basis and I am so looking forward to creating with them through 2015 and beyond. Our first post of 2015 will be next Sunday, so do pop back then to join us for some fresh design inspiration!

As for me, I am hoping to be back with you tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gift Bow Bigz L Die	Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch
2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Small Oval Punch	Large Oval Punch	Owl Punch	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Soft Suede A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky

Sunday already?! Where are the days going??! I have been busy with my Christmas preparations and my focus has been on gift packaging these last few days, along with a few special Christmas cards. Most are going out of the door before they are even photographed though! Today I wanted to do a quick post to share a snowflake paper wreath that I made recently for a friend of mine:

It uses a whole bunch of retired product - the paper is from a couple of years ago (I can't even remember what it was called) and is decorated with snowflakes made from stamping Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green on Very Vanilla carstock using the Festive Flurry stamp set, that I then cut out using the Big Shot and co-ordinating framelits and finished with a paper bow made using my Gift Bow Bigz Die. 

My friend specifically wanted this paper pattern as she wanted her wreath to co-ordinate with other festive pieces she had - as such I had to include a few pieces of solid colour cardstock just to enable me to get all the way around the wreath base; I am now officially out of this DSP pattern! I am going to make another of these wreath types at some point as I think it's really effective, although will probably choose a more traditional blue/silver colour scheme with my snowflakes. It was also quite easy to achieve: about 22 strips of DSP measuring 12" x 1 1/4", adhered to a styrofoam wreath and then the ends flagged.

That's all from me today - back soon with another project when time allows. Until then, happy stampin!

It's Wednesday and time for my last challenge as a designer over at Colour Me...! It has been a great 6 months working with these lovely ladies and the various colour palettes week on week and I would like to say a big 'thank you' to Tara and Hayley for the opportunity and to my fellow designers, Claire Broadwater, Julia Altermann and Sherrie Mannion and the various monthly guest designers for their collective inspiration. So we are ending the year with a playful colour palette with a distinctive festive feel:

I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday as the inspiration for the layout of my card and decided to stick with the festive feel of our inspiration photo to make another Christmas card:

I used Baked Brown Sugar for my base with a mat of Real Red, then a split panel of Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke, the bottom layer of which I embossed with the Stylish Stripes TIEF. I stamped my Good Greetings sentiment onto the vanilla layer in red (this set is now available on the Year End Closeouts Clearance Rack if you want to pick up a bargain!). I stamped a piece of Baked Brown Sugar with the Hardwood stamp to create the background for my wreath, then stamped my wreath in Always Artichoke with red berries and cut it out with my wreath framelits and popped it up on a couple of dimensionals. To finish, I added a ribbon and bow in Real Red Cotton Ribbon. 

Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Good Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad	Always Artichoke A4 Card Stock
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Hardwood Wood-Mount Stamp Set

I know I've been MIA for a few days - last week was one of the busiest in the James household, with music recitals, discos, school productions and carol concerts galore with the end of the school term, so blogging did go somewhat by the wayside. I spent the morning at the pantomime watching 'The Wizard of Oz' and this afternoon managed to squeeze in a little creative time to craft the following card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, although I'm too late to link up this week:

I wanted to create a card using a piece of the All Abloom DSP stack - there are some great bold floral patterns in there that suit such a large background. Here is my card: 

I used a sentiment from the 'Hello There' hostess set on the main panel and overlaid a single flower from the same set, along with some retired Island Indigo baker's twine and a single pearl to finish.

So a quick post from me today with a card for all you lovely readers who pop by and comment and bear with me when the odd blog post goes awry - so sweet of you! We are officially on school holidays now - I'm not sure whether that means more or less time to craft though (I know really - definitely less!!) Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's Wednesday and this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! is one of my favourites - we have a beautiful striking colour combination for you to work with:

Night of Navy and Silver - such a great pairing for Christmas cards. I immediately knew what I wanted to create with this week's colour combination - a star shaker card. Here it is:

When I uploaded my Design Team card this week, I can see I wasn't the only one who thought stars were a good idea - you know what they say about great minds thinking alike though, right? I created a layered panel of Night of Navy and Brushed Silver on a Night of Navy base, then stamped the large snowflake and sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in silver. I then stamped the small snowflake all over the front of my card in Versamark to give a subtle background pattern. Lastly, I created a star shaker frame using silver foil, a piece of window sheet and some dimensionals and after placing a mixture of Frosted Sequins in the centre, attached my frame to the background.

I love shaker cards and really don't make them often enough; after all, they are such fun. Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Many Merry Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stars Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Frosted Sequins	Silver Foil Sheets	Medium Window Sheets	Brushed Silver A4 Card Stock
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Dimensionals	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, 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 Hostess Code for December (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right) 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:

Angled Tag Topper Punch	Bits And Pieces Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Finishing Touches Edgelits Dies	Home For The Holidays Ensemble - Digital Download
Island Indigo 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Silver Baker's Twine	Silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum

Some great deals this week - the angle tag topper punch and the ever-useful oval framelits. 

Back shortly with today's creative post; meanwhile, happy shopping!

A nice early post from me this morning as I'm trying desperately to be organised this week as I have the busiest week ahead! It is the last week of the school term before the James Juniors break up for Christmas, so we have a week of pantomimes, parties and performances to look forward to. Not to mention a marathon baking session to ensure there are tasty treats for teachers gifts by the end of the week!

Today's card uses the sketch layout over at The Deconstructed Sketch and this week's colour palette over at Pals Paper Arts:

I'm still making Christmas cards and today's square card features a combination of old and new product. Here is my card:

I love those Under the Tree kraft DSP papers and this red Christmas tree pattern is one of my favourites. I matted a piece of it on a square of Baked Brown Sugar and a mat of Very Vanilla. I embossed a piece of Baked Brown Sugar with the On Point embossing folder for some added texture then added a piece of ribbon for the vertical strip. I used the retired 'deck the halls' stamp for my sentiment as I wanted something nice and square, coloured with my Stampin' Write markers and matted on a piece of Cherry Cobbler and another piece of Very Vanilla. I used a piece of Baked Brown Sugar thick baker's twine for the bow. I used the Christmas tree from the Project Life December Wonder stamp set in place of my tab, and also moved it to the other side in relation to the sketch layout. A tab as well as the tree didn't look right, nor did a tab without it or putting the tree on the left. So I switched it - crafter's prerogative!

Hope you like today's card - this is a colour combination I can see myself using again before Christmas comes!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Project Life December Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set	Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Cherry Cobbler 1" Sheer Linen Ribbon	On Point Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Cherry Cobbler Stampin Write Marker

It's Sunday and time for my Design Team post over at The Paper Players - and my last one, as my 6 month post has come to an end, boo hoo! These ladies have been an awesome bunch of people to work with and are a source of immense talent and inspiration. I shall miss designing with them, but will of course continue to play along with their weekly challenges.

This week Nance has a great challenge for us, to see out the end of the year in style - it is a 'black tie' challenge, to showcase holiday projects that are fancy:

I am sharing a rather different project today, which is not Christmas-specific but was designed using the Holiday Home stamp set and co-ordinating framelits from the Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and would make a lovely Christmas present to celebrate each and every season. Judging by the time it took me to complete it, I think it definitely qualifies as fancy! I made a 3D frame with a house for each month of the year, each one celebrating the seasons and events relevant to each month.

Here is my completed frame:

Each month is a little mini piece of artwork all by itself, with everything from a snowman and the winter snow to the shamrocks for St Patricks Day, summer sunshine and holiday aeroplanes to the autumn apple harvest, Halloween pumpkins and Santa and his reindeer and lots more in between. Each section uses a variety of papers, ribbons, embossing and colouring - far too many to list! If you have specific questions on any of the rectangles, please leave a comment below or drop me an email and I will be happy to provide further detail.

I hope you like my final Paper Players Design Team project; hop on over to the challenge blog to see what the others have come up with this week - as always there are some amazing projects! Do continue to visit and see what I come up with for future challenges as a participant and to the rest of the lovely Paper Players team and other guest designers, thanks a bunch ladies - you are all awesome and it's been a real pleasure working with you!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holiday Home Photopolymer Bundle