This is the first of two posts today, as there's lots of news to share! Firstly, I'm excited to announce that there is a new series of never-before seen single stamps available from today, all with a Christmas theme:

These stamps are available as clear-mount only (blocks available separately) and won't be sent in typical SU! cases or packaging; they'll be packaged in cello bags. If you'd like a case for your stamp, you can buy Clear-Mount Stamp Cases that come in packs of four separately (these are available in the main catalogue).

There are 8 different stamps to choose from, starting from £4.50. These stamps are only available through 31 January 2014 and will be great for cards and tags during the festive season, so get them while you can! Choose one or collect all eight - the choice is yours.

Secondly, as today is Tuesday it's the day for this week's My Digital Studio (MDS) downloads - click on the date buttons below to link to my online store to view them in more detail and to purchase. I've also included the links to the downloads for the last two weeks in case you're new to all this and want to catch up!

This week's downloads include the new in-colour ribbons, the Thankful brush and tablescape kit and some of the Christmas stamps from the current seasonal catalogue. 

If you haven't already looked at MDS, you should really consider downloading the free trial version from my store: you get a really comprehensive trial version for 30 days absolutely free, to help you decide whether you would like to go ahead and purchase the full version for £13.95. I would urge you to download it and take a look: whatever your area of interest - scrapbook pages, photo albums, cards, home décor and more - you will be amazed at the things you can create.

I'll be sharing some of my own MDS projects here on my blog in coming weeks - if you've already downloaded and started creating, do share your creations with me - I would love to see them.

Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy stampin!

This is a short post I'm afraid - I've already typed this once and lost it, so am furiously retyping (I'm blaming the computer rather than the operator though - bloggers prerogative!) Today I'm sharing another of the mosaic cards from last week's class, this time showcasing the Quatrefancy Speciality Designer Series Paper:

This is a CASe of a Janine Tinklenberg card that I saw on Pinterest. I love the bold colours of the designer paper and the stamped punched images really make it 'pop'. There really is so much you can do with this product suite; this card is simple in design, yet so effective.

Did you notice that all the cards in this month's class also featured the Banner Greetings stamp set? This is an exclusive hostess set that you can purchase with hostess credits earned on a qualifying party or individual order (£150 or more). There has never been a better time to host a party, with so many lovely new hostess sets in both the annual catalogue and Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue to choose from. So what are you waiting for? Treat yourself to an early Christmas present of free crafting goodies and book a party with me today - get in touch to discuss available slots, there are still times available before Christmas.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hope you've all enjoyed a lovely weekend; mine's been great, but I must confess to not enjoying the weather; it feels like autumn has arrived with a vengeance and I don't much care for it. I am missing the Florida sunshine! Anyway, today's card is one we made in last week's Mosaic Madness class:

I've seen a few versions of this card on Pinterest and this is my take - bold and bright in Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay. This was one of the more complicated cards we tackled, as it involves two-step stamping and accurate placement using the stamp-a-ma-jig to place the mosaic stamps accurately on the white flag. Some of my ladies chose to cheat a little and stamp their images onto scrap card and then punch them out and glue them to the flag, trimming to fit; that's fine too.

I really love this colour combination and the combination of the stamps with matching embossing folder is just right. This embossing folder is one of the most versatile and the pattern can be used either embossed or debossed, each giving a different effect. One last thing before I go - I hope you like the new-look supplies list at the end of this post. From now on, the idea is to show each of the products used with a direct line to my online store. This will make it really easy for you to purchase items and take advantage of any online hostess codes or offers or simply order your items any time, day or night. You may notice a few tweaks over the next few days as I make this happen, but if you have any questions about online ordering, please get in touch.

I'll share our other class cards with you this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies used:

Last week it was my mother-in-law's birthday and today I'm sharing the birthday card I made for her, using my Chalk Talk set for the first time:

I had some of the lovely pink wide ribbon left over from the Spring-Summer Seasonal Catalogue earlier in the year and I wanted this to be a real feature of this card, so the actual stamping is understated. I really love the sentiment on this Chalk Talk stamp and for someone who is such an integral part of our family, it was especially appropriate for this card. Also, did you notice the background paper - wondering where I got this from? Well, I made it myself using the 'Mum' stamp from the retired 'For My Family' stamp set. I'm really pleased with how it turned out - and I didn't even use a stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up! I love the colour combo too - I'm really into Bermuda Bay at the moment and I think it works really well with the pinks in this card.

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

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Chalk Talk, For My Family (retired)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rose Red, Bermuda Bay

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Bermuda Bay

Tools: Chalk Talk Framelits, Extra Large Oval Punch, Big Shot, Magnetic Platform

Finishing Touches: 1 1/4" Two Tone Ribbon (retired), Basics Rhinestones

No post yesterday, but two today to make up for it! Here's the first one. Great news - the Big Shot Magnetic Platform is back and now available to order again!

This is one of the 'unsung heroes' of this year's annual catalogue, although clearly I am not the only one to think so - some 13 weeks worth of stock sold out in about 3 weeks! I'm happy to report that supplies have now been restored, so if you've been eagerly awaiting yours, now's the time to order!

The magnetic platform makes light work of cutting cardstock with framelits; no longer do you need to rely on post-it notes and hope that they hold everything in place. If you would like to see the magnetic platform in action, here's a great video from Stampin' Up that shows you how it works:

If you would like to order a magnetic platform, either contact me or pop over to my online store now to purchase.

Back shortly with another post; until then, happy stampin'!

A quick post from me today, as I'm still recovering from last night's 'Mosaic Madness' card class. Today's card is a punch art birthday card. When trying to decide what kind of card to make for this discerning young male teenager, I decided it had to have something to do with either bikes, skateboards or music. So a quick search for inspiration (gotta love Pinterest!) and I decided on a punch art iPod. Here's my finished card:

I must confess I don't actually own an iPod, so I hope it's sufficiently true to design to be recognisable! Either way, it's the thought that counts, right?! I hope so, as this was also belatedly delivered; but both I and the recipient were on holiday on the day itself, so mitigating circumstances I think!

Hope you like it; back tomorrow with another birthday card. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes (retired)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Basic Grey, Brights DSP (retired)

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Pacific Point

Tools: Circle Punches (various), Corner Punch

Well, I can't believe it's actually been six days since I last posted a blog entry, but it has! It's not that I've not been 'making', far from it; just that I've had some urgent makes that I sent even before photographing (oops!) and it was my birthday at the weekend and whilst I didn't make myself a card, my parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary on the same day and I have two friends who also share my birthday so I was busy sorting cards for them. I have lots of friends and family with birthdays in September, so am still trying to finish these cards before I really get into the Christmas spirit! And this week I have two card classes too, so busy, busy!

Anyway, today's share is a quick 'make' and birthday card with the 'Great Outdoors' stamp set. I play an active role in the Parents' Association at James Juniors' school and last weekend was the now annual Dads, Lads and Lasses Camping Weekend. No Mums allowed, except to help with the planning, organising and shopping beforehand! The weekend was choc-full of great activities: a treasure hunt, mini beast hunt, stargazing and campfire breadmaking to name but a few. Another of the activities was to create a mini camp journal; everyone had a mini journal to stamp, colour and decorate and the 'Great Outdoors' stamp set was just perfect for this. Here's the simple one I created to give the children some inspiration:

The children created some fantastic journals and filled them with tales and memories of their weekend. The photo at the end of the post shows Rebecca's 'work in progress' (and this is just the outside of the book!) alongside mine.

I have one other photo to show you from the weekend; not a great picture I'm afraid, but it was a last-minute one taken with my phone - shock, horror!! One of the young campers was celebrating his birthday on the Sunday, so I made a themed card for the children to sign collectively as a special way to remember how he spent his 7th birthday. Here it is: 

I made a mask to enable me to stamp the tents in a row and fussy-cut the campfire and popped it up on dimensionals. Lastly, here's a picture of my happy campers eating their campfire-baked bread with jam:

I will be back tomorrow with another of my recent cards; hopefully blog normality is about to be restored! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: The Great Outdoors, ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet, Memorable Moments

Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Old olive, Soft Sky, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip

Tools: Scallop Circle Punch, Circle Punch

A busy day today in more ways than one: both James Juniors returned to start a new school year today, but also some big news from Stampin' Up!:

Firstly, you can now shop with me online! 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; so if you have an urgent need for a roll of ribbon, or are awake in the early hours and have a sudden urge to start planning your next craft project, just click the 'Order Online' button on the right hand side of my page and start shopping. No need to change out of your pyjamas :-)

In addition to the button on the right, here is the link to my online shop for you to copy and save to your 'Favourites' bar:

http://joannejames.stampinup.net

All you need to do is go to my page, click on the 'Shop' button in the top right hand corner, then click on 'Create Account' on the left hand side, then you are ready to go. There is a flat fee delivery charge of £4.95 no matter how much you order, and your goodies will be delivered to your door by UPS within 3-5 days.

Secondly, for all of you who have been waiting since you saw the teaser on the back cover of this year's annual catalogue and have been waiting patiently - My Digital Studio (MDS) is here!

MDS allows you to embrace digital design the Stampin' Up! way: it's really easy to use with tons of fonts, stamps, punches and backgrounds included in the package. These, coupled with regular easy digital downloads will allow you to create and print your own custom-designed scrapbook pages, cards, invitations and other products with ease. Here's a link to an introductory video by Paula Gorry from Stampin' Up! UK showing you just how easy it is to create a tag in minutes:

I'll be sharing some of my own creations in due course, but if you can't wait to start using it yourself, you'll be excited to know that there is a 30 Day FREE MDS TRIAL available for you to download NOW! All you need to do is go to my online shop, create an account and look for the 'My Digital Studio' link on the left hand side and order it for immediate download (item number 130910). If this gets you hooked and you want to download the full version, this is available for the bargain price of just £13.95! Simply order MDS, item 130646, again for immediate download at £13.95. There are new digital downloads released every week, which I will share with you via my blog and Facebook pages.

That's all for now - any questions, please get in touch. Until next time, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing a birthday card commission that I made for my sister-in-law's very special Mum, who celebrates her 70th birthday today. I decided to use a combination of some of my favourite of this year's in-colours and the lovely Secret Garden framelits. Here's the finished card:

I love the pretty ruffle trim ribbon and added a tiny sliver of silver glimmer paper to add a little sparkle. I must confess to having had a few failed attempts before producing a card that I was really happy with - I needed this card to be 'just right' and am pleased to say I was happy with the finished result. Here's a quick picture of the card I made for Ann to wish her a special 70th birthday: 

Not the best of photographs, I'm afraid - when flat you can see the sentiment through the aperture cut with an oval framelit - but hopefully good enough to give you an idea. This one uses a similar colour scheme and the Flower Shop stamp set - check out the vellum flowers on the front, which I stamped then heat embossed with Iridescent Ice for a lovely sparkle.

One last thing on my original card: did you notice the little butterfly stamped on vellum that highlighted my label? Here's a close-up:

This is one of the butterflies in the Papillion Potpourri stamp set, punched out with the Bitty Butterfly punch - these are the items on offer at 15% off when you buy them together before 30th September - you can read more about this offer here.

Both James Juniors are back at school tomorrow; whilst I'll miss them not being at home, I can't deny that I'm looking forward to getting back into my craft room for a bit more creating - lots to do!

Do come back in the next day or so to see what I've been creating; I'm looking forward to sharing some of my Christmas ideas and September is a month of birthdays for me, so I'll have lots on this front too. Until next time, happy, stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Secret Garden, Delightful Dozen, Memorable Moments, Papillion Potpourri

Cardstock: Whisper White, Strawberry Slush, vellum

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding

Tools: Secret Garden Framelits, Oval Framelits, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches: Strawberry Slush Stretch Ribbon Trim, Silver Glimmer Paper, Basics Pearls

Another product update post for you: as some of you may be aware, there are a number of catalogue errors in the current catalogue (contact me if you would like a full list!), most notably the pricing of the new colour ink and cardstock bundles. This item was temporarily withdrawn from sale, but I can now announce that the following items are now once again available to order:

In addition, for a limited time only (until 3 January 2014) single markers in the new colours are also available to order individually at a cost of £2.95 each.

This is the last of the SU product update posts for the time being I promise! Back tomorrow with a craft creation (or two!) Until then, happy stampin'!