Mixed Bunch Meets Gorgeous Grunge

by Joanne James28. February 2014 21:01

Today I have a quick card for you which was inspired by both the sketch over at The Paper Players this week and last week's trio of colours over at Dynamic Duos. Here is Jaydee's sketch over at the Paper Players:

And here is my card:

I toyed with going with a literal interpretation of the sketch using nothing more than various papers for the design, but instead I decided to go down a different route and use a combination of washi tape to create my 'stripes', with a tone-on-tone Mixed Blossom flower as my focal point. I then used one of my Gorgeous Grunge stamps to add some interest to the background. This card was something of an experiment but I love the bright, bold colours and the addition of a green stem is just enough to lift the other key colours. I'm also just in time to link up with 'Less is More' where the challenge this week is to add metal to your card - whilst there is only one candy dot brad on my card, I think it serves an important purpose in bringing the whole design together.

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

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Scalloped Tag Meets Hardwood

by Joanne James26. February 2014 14:09

Today I've a card quite different to yesterday's - I finally caved and purchased the Hardwood background stamp, having seen so many beautiful samples of it on other people's cards and projects. I almost didn't, as I already own Woodgrain and the Wood embossing folder; but I loved the panelled effect so in my basket it went and I have inked it up for the very first time for this project. I am taking my colour inspiration from CAS Colours and Sketches this week and the tag focal point of my card was inspired by the sketch over at Retrosketches, where tags are the order of the day:

So without further ado, let me share my card with you:

 

With the Hardwood stamp as my neutral whitewashed background, I used a combination of Secret Garden flowers along with a little pink one from Petite Petals to decorate my tag, the tag itself being punched with the Scalloped tag Topper Punch (such a versatile punch!). I then decorated my tag with a doily, an in-colour embellishment in Strawberry Slush, a Daffodil Delight candy dot and some lovely Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon tied with some yellow seam binding ribbon along with a double-layered sentiment tag. I'm hoping I didn't get too carried away to qualify for CAS Colours and Sketches this week - I ended up with more layering and detail than I originally intended when I started out with this card, but I must say I really like the effect and love the colour combination.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Everything is ... Awesome! Lego Movie Punch Art

by Joanne James25. February 2014 10:11

Today I have something special to share with you! As my regular readers know, I  live in a house of Lego! Well, not literally, but Lego is a big part of our family life - we have a massive brick collection and I have a 6 year old whose ambition it is to be a master builder someday. Either that, or a brain surgeon so that he can earn enough money to fund his ever-expanding Lego collection! Last week was half-term here which neatly coincided with the release of the first ever Lego Movie - a set built entirely from Lego that tells the story of the 'ordinary' builder Emmet who is mistaken for the chosen Master Builder and whose destiny is to prevent the world of Lego being glued together by the evil Mr Business. Of course the first of our half-term excursions was to the cinema to watch the new movie and Ben at least was not disappointed - he sat 'glued' to the screen throughout.

I decided to create another Lego punch art card to celebrate the release of the new movie and add to my collection (you can see some of my previous Lego punch art here). Here is my card:

Whilst Emmet is possibly the most ordinary of the characters, my card had to incorporate him as he is central to the movie. I used this week's layout over at The Paper Craft Crew PCCCS081 for my card and split Emmet's catchphrase in the movie, 'Eveything is awesome' across both the banner and the word bubble. I printed the 'Everything is' on my computer and matched up the colour to print it in Pacific Point, then stamped the 'awesome' by partially inking one of the stamps in the 'Yippee Skippee' stamp set. I used lots of different punches to create my minifigure and drew on some of the detail by hand with either my Stampin' Write black marker or my white gel pen and used a piece of pacific Point Brights DSP to add colour to the background without overwhelming the focal point.

I love creating this kind of card, although they really do take an age to make - a real labour of love. It was all worthwhile though when Ben took one look at the finished card and declared it "Awesome!" and promptly burst into Emmet's 'Everything is Awesome!' song from the movie.

Back tomorrow with something a little more traditional; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Cards | Punch Art | Stamping

Colour Q Meets Mojo Monday!

by Joanne James24. February 2014 20:29

Good evening blog readers! I managed to grab a few hours this afternoon to catch up on some crafting (a reward to myself for getting some of my admin out of the way this morning!) and I made a card using both this week's 'tall and skinny' Mojo Monday sketch and the colours over at Colour Q:

I don't often make 'tall and skinny' cards and historically was always put off by not having the correct sized envelope, but now I have my Envelope Punch Board, irregular envelope sizes don't phase me at all! As for the Colour Q challenge, well you may remember when I made this card a few weeks ago that I confessed I had two ink pads in my stash that I had owned for more than 12 months and never broke the cellophane wrapper on; one of them was Garden Green, that I used on the previous card; the other - Always Artichoke. So when I saw this colour challenge, I just had to have a go! Now Peach Parfait and Apricot Appeal are retired SU colours; I did have an old inkpad and some Peach Parfait cardstock, which I've used, but no Apricot Appeal, so I substituted with Pumpkin Pie instead. Here is my card:

I followed the background layering of the sketch with solid colour cardstock and overlaid with a slim panel of Pumpkin Pie Brights DSP. Instead of a circle as my focal point, I decided to use a tag punched with my Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. I cut my cardstock slightly wider than the 2" groove in order that it could accommodate my corner flower stamp from the 'You're So Grateful' stamp set. I stamped the image in black Stazon  and used my Aquapainter to colour in the design. When the image had dried, I went around the inside edge of the image with the co-ordinating colour marker pen to give it added definition. I have one small confession, which is that I used a small piece of Old Olive ribbon to finish off my tag as it was the closest match I had to Always Artichoke. And finally - I made a co-ordinating envelope!

Hope you like today's card; I'll be back tomorrow with a very special punch art creation, so do check back to see what I've made. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Cards | Stamping

Burlaps and Blooms Spring Wreath

by Joanne James23. February 2014 21:11

I've had quite the busy weekend and today I had my first weekend project class of the year. I love weekend project classes; they allow a little more time than we have at our monthly card class to do something a bit more involved. Today we made the Burlaps and Blooms Spring Wreath - such a lovely welcome nod to Spring after the cold of winter and the wet weather of late. So without further ado, here is my completed wreath:

This wreath comes as a kit (minus the chevron ribbon) and with the aid of a hot glue gun contains everything you need to put it together. There are several different flower types that form part of the decoration. Here are some close up shots that show the detail - here's the large bloom made up of individual petals:

 Here's one of the fringed flowers on a large flower base:

And lastly another fringed flower with a one of the layered flowers secured with a silver brad:

Isn't this wreath just so pretty? If you'd like to see the wreaths that the ladies at my class made today, do pop on over to my Facebook page to take a look (feel free to give me a 'like' at the same time!); they look similar to mine, but both have their individual touches that make their wreaths unique.

Half term is over so James Juniors are back to school tomorrow - normality (or at least, as 'normal' as it gets!) returns! I'll be here tomorrow with a fun card; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Tags: , ,

3D Projects | Classes

Whole Latte Love

by Joanne James21. February 2014 22:37

One last quick post from me today - call it an early post for tomorrow! I saw the current sketch over at Retrosketches and was really keen to have a go as I managed to squeeze in a little extra crafting time this afternoon, so thought I would combine it with the challenge over at Addicted to CAS this week:

Now I don't have a current coffee stamp, but I do have a cute little stamp that was part of one of last year's Sale-A-Bration sets that I knew would fit the bill. Here is my card: 

I used coffee as the inspiration for my colour scheme too, with my base card of Early Espresso picked up in the co-ordinating baker's twine. I coloured my coffee cup in red to give a pop of colour and embossed my card base with the Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to add texture and interest.

That's all from me; I'm off to catch up on a little late night TV. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Awesome Boy's Card!

by Joanne James21. February 2014 21:01

So here is my second card of the day, just in time for this week's challenge over at Less is More where the theme this week is 'masculine cards'. I decided to use the 'Cool Kid' stamp set for my card; when I saw this stamp set I just had to have it - my children always get so excited if they have been chosen as the class 'cool kid' for the day at school. So here is my card:

I chose to use the Brights colour combination of Real Red, Tempting Turquoise and Tangerine Tango for my card - all colours my son would love! - and having stamped the dog in orange, I coloured in his scarf and boots with my Stampin' Write markers. I used the blue to outline both my circle and sentiment panel, then picked up the orange with a thin strip cut from a piece of cardstock embossed with the new Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I inked up the sentiment using my markers too, so that I could have multi-coloured lettering - I love the effect that this give on this card.

I used this week's sketch over at Create with Connie and Mary for my layout.

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

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cards | Stamping

Congratulations Stars - The Paper Players #183

by Joanne James21. February 2014 19:46

I've had a very crafty day today and managed to make a few quick cards to catch up on some of this week's challenges. I'm just in time to get in my entry for this week's challenge at The Paper Players, where LeAnne's challenge this week is CAS Clean and Simple with Stars:

I decided to go with a gold and blue theme and used the sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches this week for my layout (too late to enter for the challenge, but I liked the unusual layout) - here is my card:

I stamped my stars with the gold metallic ink pad, then heat-embossed the 'Congratulations' stamp from the Ronald McDonald set on gold and set this on a mat of gold foil so that it really stood out. I cut out the label using the co-ordinating framelit and cut the foil mat freehand, using the outside edge of the framelit as a guide. This card will be on it's way to one of my team members - two of them have recently gained promotions, so along with a new team member this week, there's plenty to celebrate!

Back soon with another of my 'makes' today; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cards | Join My Team | Stamping

Video Tutorial: Extra Wide Pouches Using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

by Joanne James20. February 2014 21:28

Good evening everyone! Today I have a video tutorial to share with you that I prepared a couple of weeks ago that shows you how to make an extra-wide pouch using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. Here's the finished extra-wide pouch:

Here is a standard size treat pouch made with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch - you can find my previous video tutorial on how to make this here:

As you can see, when compared to the standard-size punch, the extra-wide version is about 1" or 2.5cm wider and taller. The video tutorial shows you how to adapt your punch and shares my top tip for a smooth punch every time - go and take a look:

 

Here are the measurements I used in the video in case you didn't catch them:

Cardstock: 2 3/4" x 7 3/4" or 7cm x 19.5cm

Score at: 3 3/4" and 4" or 9.5cm and 10cm

I hope you found this video tutorial useful - this is such a versatile punch with so many uses beyond a standard tag. The treat pouches make great little wedding favours too.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

Sale-A-Bration You're Lovely Paper Piecing

by Joanne James19. February 2014 21:02

Good evening blog readers! My busy days continue as this week the James juniors are off school as it's half term. Today has been a day of piano and singing practice, book reading and review writing, nail painting and telling the time problems, with a little basketball and a couple of baskets of ironing thrown in! Crafting time is in short supply this week, so today I'm sharing with you a stepped up version of a card that we made in my Sale-A-Bration card class this month. This card was a CASE of this one by Mary Fish, although I tweaked a few things, primarily the colour scheme as I wanted to use the Pistachio Pudding DSP from the Sale-A-Bration set. Here is my card:

I stamped the image twice, once on Whisper White for the label, which I cut out using the Big Shot and Deco label Framelits and once on Summer Starfruit, which is the piece that I used to cut the flowers from. I paper-pieced all four of the flowers on this card and coloured the leaves and stems with a Pistachio Pudding marker, then finished with a few pearls. I think this would make quite a nice Easter card too, with an alternative sentiment.

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

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

 

 

Mini Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

The mini catalogue is now live! Read and download your copy here.

Shop Online

Access my online shop 24 x 7, 365 days of the year:

Current March hostess code:

S9F2XJJW

Shop Online

Join My Team

It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! New team members can get £130 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! Stampin' Up! has something for everyone: join my growing team and benefit from my support to enjoy Stampin' Up! however you choose.

If you're interested, call me for a chat to understand how I can help you realise your goals. Alternatively, if you have already decided to sign up and you just can't wait, please click here for the link to the online form where you can sign up and order your starter kit right away! 

Latest Kit!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Rock Legend Kit has all you need to make 8 cards with coordinating envelopes. Along with the new Panda Friends Kit, both are available from January 4th for just £14 each - get yours here!

2023-24 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the catalogue for a full list of current SU! supplies - if you would like to order any of the items featured, please drop me a line at [email protected] or give me a call on 07773 421446 - I'd be happy to help.

New Online Exclusives

There will be new products available exclusively in the online store from 5 March - check them out here.

About Me

Hi I'm Joanne and live in Northampton and when I'm not looking after my husband and two beautiful children, am an avid crafter with a passion for all things Stampin' Up!

I must confess that I have never been a big rubber stamper - until I discovered Stampin' Up! that is. I love the fact that I can get such great results with co-ordinating stamps, inks, papers and punches - the possibilities are endless! Join me on my stamping journey as I share the things I love and be inspired to create amazing things yourself!

Follow Me

Monthly Newsletter

Box Builder

Click the button above to use Box Buster to create your custom box design using the Envelope Punch Board!

Kits Collection Now Available!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The new Kits Collection from Stampin' Up! is now available!

Click here to see the current kits available and order yours online today.

I Design For

 

 

 

Stampin' Up Stuff

This is my personal blog and is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up! I hope you find it a plentiful source of ideas and personal inspiration but please don't copy my designs for contest submission or use for classes, publication or sale without express permission.