HSS498 – An Autumn Inspiration Challenge

It’s time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments , and this week we have a gorgeous Inspiration Challenge for HSS498!

There was SO much to love in this inspiration board — pumpkins, sunflowers, falling leaves and all those warm autumn colours. I decided to pull out the rich oranges, yellows, greens and natural tones for my card.

For my focal point, I used the Harvest Hues Mix & Match Ephemera. I love having these little pieces on hand when I want to create without pulling out a whole collection of stamps and dies. The leafy wreath gave me all the autumn colour I wanted and made such an easy focal point.

I paired it with a warm neutral background and added lots of texture with the beautiful Sunflower 3D embossing folder. I love how the tone-on-tone embossing adds interest without competing with the wreath.

A simple sentiment, a few little pops of orange and that gorgeous metallic bow finished everything off.

I think my favourite thing about an inspiration challenge is that there really is no “right” way to interpret it. You might be drawn to the pumpkins, the sunflowers, the little squirrel, the colours — or something completely different!

Be sure to head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to see what the rest of the Design Team created for HSS498, and then I hope you’ll play along with us. I’d love to see what catches your eye in this week’s inspiration!


Woodland Wishes Card Class To Go

I’m so excited to be offering a Woodland Wishes Card Class To Go! It’s been a little while since I’ve offered one of my Card Classes To Go, and I’m very happy to be getting back into the swing of things.

For $55, you’ll receive the supplies to create a beautiful collection of cards along with the class instructions, and we’ll craft together during my live class. You’ll just need to provide your own colouring tools, inks and adhesives.

The registration deadline is October 5th, so don’t wait too long if you’d like to join me!

REGISTER HERE: https://form.jotform.com/leahdixon41/woodland-wishes-online-card-class

Want to Make This Card?

Shop the links below or head to my shop. You can also scroll down for a printable set of instructions so you can recreate this card yourself.


Looking for even more inspiration and more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team!

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 20%+ on your orders.
  • Get free access to my monthly card class tutorials.
  • Enjoy our monthly team meetings with stamping fun and collaboration.

Contact me to find out more or see the details on my website.



HSS497 Sketch Challenge – Holly Jolly Christmas Card

It’s time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments , and this week we have a fabulous sketch challenge for you!

I love working with sketches because they give you a starting point without telling you exactly what your finished card needs to look like. You can follow them quite closely, flip them, change the shapes or simply use them as inspiration.

For HSS497, I stayed fairly true to the original layout, but filled those circles with some festive Christmas favourites!

I pulled out the Holly Jolly Branches Bundle for this card — a bundle I have been having so much fun creating with lately!

Be sure to head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to see what the rest of the Design Team created with this week’s sketch. Then pull out your favourite supplies and play along with HSS497 — I’d love to see what you create!


If you love the Holly Jolly Branches Bundle too, it is also the featured bundle for my upcoming Holly Jolly Branches MEGA Stamp Camp, happening October 3 & 4!

We’ll be creating 10 Make ’n Take projects, with live video tutorials, printable PDF tutorials, a bonus tutorial and more. And don’t worry if you can’t join us live — the videos will be recorded so you can watch whenever it works for you.

See all the Holly Jolly Branches MEGA Stamp Camp details & register here

Want to Make This Card?

Shop the links below or head to my shop. You can also scroll down for a printable set of instructions so you can recreate this card yourself.


Looking for even more inspiration and more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team!

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 20%+ on your orders.
  • Get free access to my monthly card class tutorials.
  • Enjoy our monthly team meetings with stamping fun and collaboration.

Contact me to find out more or see the details on my website.



HSS496 Colour Challenge – Secret Sea, Cajun Craze & Pool Party

It’s time for another Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge, and this week we’re playing with a gorgeous colour combination! For HSS496, the challenge colours are Secret Sea, Cajun Craze and Pool Party.

I decided to turn these colours into a Christmas card, using the beautiful Woodland Wishes with Winter Dreams Specialty Designer Series Paper as my starting point.

This particular sheet of DSP made creating with the challenge colours easy! The Secret Sea and white flocked snowflake pattern gives the card a beautiful wintery background, while the Pool Party and Cajun Craze bring in the pops of colour from the challenge.

I love the contrast between the deep Secret Sea background and the crisp white snowflakes. It creates such a pretty snowy scene without needing a lot of additional embellishment.

For my focal point, I used the adorable fox from the Woodland Wishes collection. I coloured him with Wink of Stella dipped in Cajun Craze ink, which gives the fox a little sparkle and coordinates beautifully with the Cajun Craze element on the card.

I added two stitched Cajun Craze banners (from the Nested Essentials dies) behind the fox and a Pool Party sentiment strip across the centre. A few Pool Party embellishments (from the Painted Patch Adhesive-backed Dots) and some linen thread finish everything off.

One of the things I enjoy about colour challenges is that they can push me to use colours together that I might not automatically reach for.

Secret Sea + Cajun Craze + Pool Party turned out to be such a fun combination for a Christmas card!

The flocked DSP does a lot of the work here, so I was able to keep the rest of the design fairly simple. Sometimes a beautiful piece of Designer Series Paper really is all you need to create a card that makes an impact.

Want to grab the supplies for this card? Shop the links below or head to my shop.


Looking for even more inspiration and more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team!

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 20%+ on your orders.
  • Get free access to my monthly card class tutorials.
  • Enjoy our monthly team meetings with stamping fun and collaboration.

Contact me to find out more or see the details on my website.

Now it’s your turn! Take a look at the HSS496 colour combination and see what you can create with Secret Sea, Cajun Craze and Pool Party.

I’d love to see what you make with these colours!

Be sure to check out the other Hand Stamped Sentiments creations for more inspiration, and if you create a project using this week’s colours, I hope you’ll share it with us.