I know it's still Sunday, but as I went to schedule this post for tomorrow I realised that one of the challenges that it's for closes in the early hours of the morning, so I thought I'd post it early (let's hope this bodes well for the rest of my week!) When I saw the colours over at Pals Paper Arts this week, I thought they would be perfect for another Autumn-inspired card. I also used this week's Mojo Monday layout:

I rotated the sketch through 90 degrees for my card and used the 'thanks' stamp from 'Seasonally Scattered' for my card - take a look:

I used Always Artichoke for my base (twice in as many days - that's almost unheard of, yet it goes perfectly with the other colours here) and used a piece of Crushed Curry DSP from the Flowerpot range as my background mat layer. I stamped my main sentiment onto Very Vanilla, having inked the stamp with Crushed Curry and then selectively added Cajun Craze and Always Artichoke with my sponge daubers before stamping to give the graduated finish. I then matted this panel onto a piece of Cajun Craze. I knew I wanted to use one of my favourite Autumn Wooden Elements as the motif on my card, but when it came to choosing a ribbon, I became momentarily unstuck - I wanted something in either Cajun or Artichoke, but had neither. Then I had a light bulb moment - why not make my own ribbon, incorporating all three challenge colours? I used a piece of 7/8" cotton ribbon and stamped leaves and swirls from Gratitude For Days onto it directly - here's a close up of the finished ribbon:

I then used some Crushed Curry baker's twine to attach my wooden leaf embellishment to it. To complete my card, this panel was then adhered to the card base using dimensionals.

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out: I love this stamp and of course my card gave me another reason to use one of my Autumn Wooden Elements! I love them and think they are the perfect embellishment for a fall card. There are also lots in a pot so they last for ages and are great value! I'm also linking this card up with the current challenge over at SUO Challenges where the designers are asking us to use embellishments this week. A big thank you too to the team over at SUO for choosing my monochromatic baby card as one of their 'Top 3 Picks' for the 'clean and simple' challenge (you can see that card here if you missed it).

That's all from me; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Seasonally Scattered Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Gratitude For Days Photopolymer Stamp Set	Autumn Wooden Elements	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock
Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad	Always Artichoke A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Flower Pot Designer Series Paper
Natural 7/8" Cotton Ribbon	Crushed Curry Baker's Twine	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

Today I'm sharing my Design Team card for The Paper Players, where this week Anne Marie has chosen this beautiful Autumnal colour palette for us to work with:

I also used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week for my layout. As soon as I saw this week's colours, I knew it was time to make an Autumn wreath card using my 'Wondrous Wreath' stamp set, as I've been wanting to do one of these for ages. Here's my card:

I used Baked Brown Sugar and Cajun Craze for the leaves on my wreath and stamped the berries in Blackberry Bliss. I cut it out using my Big Shot and the co-ordinating framelits and looped some linen thread behind it before adhering it with dimensionals to my Hardwood background, stamped in Always Artichoke (this panel reminds my of a mossy whitewashed shed!). I finished my wreath with a bow in the gorgeous Blackberry Bliss satin ribbon and a sentiment panel stamped with a simple 'thanks' and decorated with a few leaves from my 'Gratitude For Days' stamp set and a couple of candy dots. I love the rustic feel of this card - so fitting for this time of year.

Do pop by the challenge blog and see how the other Paper Players designers have used this week's colour combination - there are some fabulous cards from this talented bunch of designers.

I'm still playing catch up so am looking forward to a reasonably restful day today before the onslaught of another new and action-packed week. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle	Hardwood	Another Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Gratitude For Days Photopolymer Stamp Set	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad
Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Regals Candy Dots	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad
Always Artichoke A4 Card Stock	Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon	Linen Thread	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

Back to my blog today after a couple of days absence; I've had a lot on these past few days and it's taken me until today to get back with it! At least now it's the weekend and today has seemed altogether more peaceful. I managed to make a card today with this week's challenge over at Merry Monday in mind; I also used the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches for my layout:

 I was so inspired by the gallery cards over at Merry Monday this week - love all those cars and trucks transporting Christmas trees - that I wanted to have a go. Only problem is - I don't have a single car stamp. So I decided to think laterally and decided to use the santa sleigh and reindeer stamp from the 'Holiday Home' set - here is my card:

I actually turned the sketch upside down, so that I could use the reindeer and sleigh as the arched element of the design - the 'Holiday Home' stamp set is photopolymer so it's really easy to curve the stamp to look as if it was flying across the roof of the last house. I stamped the sleigh and sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in Whisper White so that it would really stand out against the Soft Sky central panel. I edged the top of this with two thin stripes of Real Red and Whisper White respectively to add definition then used a piece of the snow pattern from the All is Calm DSP for the top section. For the bottom section, I fussy cut a row of houses from the Nordic Noel DSP - I love the bright colours in this paper and the little houses have such pretty designs.

I hope you like today's card; back tomorrow with my Design Team card for The Paper Players.

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper	All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper	Holiday Home Photopolymer Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky

Here is today's card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have a striking colour palette to work with:

I used this week's layout at CAS(E) This Sketch again for today's card, although interpreted it quite differently to the card I made using this sketch earlier in the week (you can see that card here). I played about with this week's colours for a bit before deciding on the final version of my card - I had lots more layers and DSP galore, but eventually decided that a less fussy layout was in order. Here is my card:

I used Hello Honey for my card base, and matted a piece of Coastal Cabana that I had first punched along the edge with the Confetti Star punch. I can't stop using this punch, the floor of my office is littered with tiny punched stars! I stamped the greeting from Pictogram Punches in Coastal Cabana ink onto a banner of Whisper White and flagged the end with my hexagon punch - so useful for perfectly even banner ends! I then stamped the moon and three stars in Hello Honey onto Hello Honey cardstock and fussy cut the moon and punched out the stars with the co-ordinating punch - easy peasy! I attached the falling stars to the moon using some vintage Pool Party baker's twine (a bit of a cheat, but it added a little more colour than Whisper White twine and against the Coastal Cabana it looks the same colour!) You could achieve the same look by using one of the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities markers to colour some white baker's twine. I attached the shapes to my card using dimensionals for lift, then stamped and punched another yellow star and attached it to the sentiment to tie this in to the rest of my card.

This card is heading for a member of my team who recently achieved a promotion - a fun congratulations card! Why not visit the other Colour Me...! designers and check out their takes on this week's colour combination:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Confetti Stars Punch	Pictogram Punches Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock
Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment	White Baker's Twine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Hexagon Punch	Stampin' Dimensionals

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 September (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right). 

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:

This weeks deals:

Banner Punch	Island Indigo 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Mosaic Punch
Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Pear Pizzazz 12" X 12" Cardstock	World Traveler Photobook Template - Digital Download

More great offers this week: the Modern Mosaic TIEF and Mosaic Punch are both great prices and just over £16 if you purchase both. At £8.63 the Banner Punch is a bargain; what's more if you combine it with one of the co-ordinating stamp sets from the annual catalogue, such as Banner Banter (134060 clear, £12.95) this would make a great gift for a crafty friend for just over £20 - a good opportunity to get started with some Christmas shopping perhaps! Plus framelits, ribbon, cardstock and MDS - so much to choose from!

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

Today my blog posts are a little like buses: nothing for ages then three come at once! Well, maybe not for ages, but this post was actually yesterday's scheduled post (apologies to those of you who were waiting for a post only to find it never arrived!) but it didn't publish as there were some server problems at my blog hosting site. All sorted today though, so here is Tuesday's post - soon to be followed by the Wednesday Weekly Deals and Wednesday's actual creative post - this week's Colour Me..! card!

Today I'm sharing another Halloween card, featuring lots of goodies from the current seasonal catalogue. I'm also using this week's colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

I haven't played along with these ladies for a little while and this week's colours were just perfect for my spooky Halloween card:

I used a Blackberry Bliss base for my card, to which I adhered a piece of Tangelo Twist, partially overlaid with a section of Basic Black cardstock, which I punched down one side with the Confetti Stars punch to allow the orange to peek through and then alongside this I stamped a house from the 'Holiday Home' photopolymer stamp set in Whisper White Kraft ink. I used the co-ordinating framelit to cut out the same shaped house out of a Lost Lagoon tag, made using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, and after decorating, adhered this to my card using dimensionals so that the house could be seen on the layer beneath. I punched a small moon using my 3/4" circle punch and decorated this and my tag with the bat and lamp images from the Holiday Home set. I also stamped a ghost from the same set onto Whisper White, fussy cut him and adhered him so that it looks as if he is floating out of the window of my haunted house.

The Holiday Home set is one of my favourites in the seasonal catalogue - it is so versatile, with options from new home to Christmas, Halloween and tons in between and it comes with lots of little stamps to enable you to make your cards unique, along with matching framelits to make for easiest ever cutting out. What's more, if you buy the bundle you save 15% so all in all lots of great reasons to put this in your Top 5! To finish, I added my sentiment from the 'Ghoulish Greetings' stamp set - perfect for my spooky house - and a piece of Tangelo Twist satin ribbon to my tag.

A fun Halloween-inspired card for this time of year; I think I might use mine as an RSVP to an invitation I received to a Halloween party this year. I often have fun with my kiddies at home at this time of year, but must confess to being quite excited at the prospect of a family Halloween party, with obligatory fancy dress (pictures to follow nearer the time!!)

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals and my Design team card for Colour Me...! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holiday Home Photopolymer Bundle	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Ghoulish Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Confetti Stars Punch	3/4 Inch Circle Punch
Tangelo Twist 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock
Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's the start of the week and I've had such a busy - and productive! - day; I love days like that! I'm late blogging though, so a quick post from me with a card I made today using this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I've been making Halloween card samples for a party that I'm running this week, where the hostess is mad about all things Halloween! This sketch allowed me to make a really quick and simple card using one of the cute monsters from 'Freaky Friends' and probably the only piece of designer series paper in the Motley Monsters DSP pack that I really wasn't sure about. Here's my card:

So my American friends tell me the little triangles on this paper are known as 'candy corn', a popular sweet treat at Halloween. We don't have it here in the UK and wasn't sure how to use it on my card, when it came to me - I could pair it with a stamp that I'm never quite sure how to use either - the 'Om Nom Nom' stamp in the 'Ghoulish Greetings' set and one of the cute little monsters from 'Freaky Friends'. So using the DSP as my starting point, I cut a base of co-ordinating Crushed Curry cardstock and added a pennant banner of the DSP. I stamped my monster in Memento Black onto Tangerine Tango cardstock and punched it out with a 1 3/4" circle punch and mounted this on a 2" circle punched out of Basic Black. I added a decorative twine bow using the extra thick twine in the seasonal catalogue (it comes in Old Olive too) and lastly stamped my sentiment, a combination of two stamps from the 'Ghoulish Greetings' set. I was going to go with the 'Om Nom Nom' on its own - I figured this is what the monster would be saying if he was eating all the candy corn, right? - but then I added 'my little monster' as I think I will use it as a funny card for one of the James juniors - either the one who is often my little monster, or the one who never stops eating - I'll leave you to work out which is which!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Motlley Monsters Designer Series Paper	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock
Freaky Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Ghoulish Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	White & Tangerine Tango Two-Tone Trim	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch	2" Circle Punch

Today's card is for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players, where Ann has a 'Happy Fall, Y'all' theme for us this week:

I immediately knew what I was going to do for my fall card this week; I've had my eye on a sheet of the DSP in the Motley Monsters Designer Series paper pack that I thought would be perfect for a fall-themed card, and this week's sketch over at Create with Connie and Mary provided the perfect layout. Here's my card:

This falling leaf paper is actually the top of the sheet that has the little Motley Monsters pattern across the bottom, but by only using the top section this paper is perfect for fall. In fact, of the 12 designs in the pack, half of them can be used for non-Halloween themed projects, so it's definitely worth a look for more than just Halloween. Anyway, I digress!

I took the colours for my card from the DSP, and used Sahara Sand for my base, with a vertical border of Basic Black to edge my piece of leafy DSP. I then cut an oval in Tangerine Tango using my Big Shot and Oval Framelits and embossed this with the Woodgrain embossing folder. I stamped my sentiment from the 'Gratitude For Days' set in Memento Black onto Crushed Curry and layered this on top, then finished with the real focal point of my card, a trio of wooden shapes from the Autumn Wooden Elements set, which I layered and finished off with a black and white baker's twine bow.

A simple card that reminds me of fun afternoons in the park, kicking leaves and collecting conkers on a crisp Autumn day. Do pop by and visit the other Paper Players Design Team blogs - there is some great inspiration for you out there as always this week and they would love you to leave a comment or two.

I'm having a lovely weekend: yesterday Rebecca had a great day in London - Mama Mia The Musical was excellent - and today I am expecting to be truly spoiled as it's my birthday! I am looking forward to a roast dinner with all the trimmings and a day of fun with my family.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Motlley Monsters Designer Series Paper	Autumn Wooden Elements	Gratitude For Days Photopolymer Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Basic Black Baker's Twine	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Basic Black A4 Card Stock
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock

Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for a dear friend of mine, who is celebrating her birthday tomorrow (I'm safe to share here, as she doesn't follow my blog although I will need to make sure I don't post it on Facebook until tomorrow, just in case!) I used this week's sketch over at the Paper Craft Crew for this card and this week's Colour Throwdown colours:

This is one of my favourite colour combinations,  so it was an obvious choice for this card. You see the recipient is not only a good friend of mine, but we are 'birthday buddies' - we both share the same birthday! So the card is send often the image of the card I would like to receive and features lots of my favourite things! Would you like to see my card? Here it is:

A simple card in bold colours, with a distinctly starry theme. I randomly sponged same-colour stars using my mask onto the Melon Mambo card base and edged this in a piece of Daffodil Delight that I had first embossed with the stars embossing folder. I then stamped my main birthday sentiment onto the central panel and mounted this onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I stamped and fussy cut two candles from the same 'Big News' stamp set and adhered these in place of the two squares on the sketch (a liberal interpretation, but it fitted with my theme!!) and replaced the flames with two stars punched from the new Confetti Stars punch and finished these with a couple of rhinestones, coloured to match with the corresponding colour of Blendabilties marker. I then added a flag with the second piece of my sentiment, stamped in white Stazon on Pumpkin Pie cardstock, using Dimensionals. To finish, I added three small punched stars to the upper right hand corner of the main sentiment panel.

Hope you like today's birthday card - it comes with a happy birthday to my friend Louise for tomorrow and a little happy birthday to me!

Rebecca and I are off to London today to see the musical 'Mama Mia' as part of the birthday celebrations of one of her school friends, so we are sure to have a fun day. Back tomorrow with this week's Design Team post for The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big News Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Confetti Stars Punch	Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment

Finally it's Friday - although I'm not quite sure where this week went! Today I have a fun card that I made using the sketch and colour inspiration from a new-ish challenge appropriately called The Challenge that the talented Lesley Croghan is running on her blog Always Playing With Paper, which I'm entering for the first time:

I decided to use both the sketch and colour palette and since September is probably one of my biggest personal card-making months - many birthdays and anniversaries - took the opportunity to get cracking and add a birthday card to my pile. Here is my card:

I started out with the intention of making a female birthday card, but I quickly decided that the colour combination was better suited to a masculine card - and this fun stamp and sentiment from the 'Giggle Greetings' set would be perfect for a grumpy old man (I didn't have one in mind as I worked, but choosing a recipient won't be too difficult I'm sure!) I used my Coastal Cabana and Smoky Slate Stampin' Up! Blendabilities sets to colour my main image, and mounted this onto a layered mat of Night of Navy and Smoky Slate. I used Coastal Cabana for my card base and when I went to lay up my card, I felt it was a little bare, even for my 'clean and layered' style. So I decided to create my own tone-on-tone stamped background using the 'Congratulations' stamp from the 'Bravo' stamp set and some Coastal Cabana ink - I love how it turned out!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Giggle Greetings	Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Coastal Cabana Assortment
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad