Let it Snow Christmas Card

by Joanne James20. September 2014 21:51

Here at last with today's post! A busy day today - homework, grocery shopping, we had friends round to make cake pops this afternoon (always fun!) and then a swimming gala this evening - so finally I'm sitting down for long enough to share today's card with you! Today's card is for this week's Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, where the theme from Karren this week is to let your sentiment take centre stage:

I was tempted to go with a few obvious choices for my card using some of the fabulous new sentiments in the current seasonal catalogue, but decided to take the opportunity to try something different that I've had in mind for a while. I made a sentiment all of my very own - take a look:

I decided to make a long, thin card and used the 'What's Your Type?' stamp set to stamp the word 'snow' using the various patterns and shapes in the set. I love this unusual graphic style type and it is great for making the sentiment the feature of your card. I stamped the various letters in a combination of Smoky Slate, Soft Sky and Lost Lagoon and finished the 'O' with one of the new snowflake embellishments and some silver ribbon. I mounted this section with dimensionals on a base of Soft Sky with a couple of strips of silver washi tape running along it. To complete my sentiment, I used my Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Marker to write 'let it' in my own handwriting on a little handcut banner and adhered to the top of the sentiment panel. A rather modern take on 'let it snow', granted, but I think it works and it's very different.

That's all from me; back tomorrow with this week's Design Team card for The Paper Players. 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

Trim The Tree in Gold and Espresso Christmas Card

by Joanne James19. September 2014 18:54

Yay - it's Friday! I've had a productive craft day today, even if no housework managed to get done (ah well, there's always tomorrow for that!) and am finally finding time to write today's blog post. I used this week's sketch over at Retrosketches to make today's Christmas card and broke out my Festival of Trees stamp set for the first time. Here's the sketch I based my card on:

A great layered layout - and here's what I did with it:

I based my card around the graphic Christmas tree design paper from the Trim The Tree DSP stack - these are so great for making cards! - and having layered this piece onto my Early Espresso card base and a mat of Whisper White, I embossed a piece of gold foil with the On Point embossing folder, which looks like little Christmas tree shapes, then followed this with a smaller piece of Whisper White mounted on Early Espresso and stamped with the first part of the sentiment that comes with the Festival of Trees stamp set. I then added my Christmas tree, which I stamped in Early Espresso on Whisper White, then stamped the baubles in Versamark and heat embossed them in gold - in real life they are really shiny and contrast beautiful with the dark brown of the tree. Oh and did I mention how easy it was to punch out with my co-ordinating tree punch? No? Well, it's a doddle!

An unconventional colour scheme for a Christmas card maybe, but I like it! Before I forget - I'm also joining up with the lovely Darnell's NBUS challenge - pretty much everything other than ink and solid colour cardstock that I used today was officially 'Never Before Used Stuff!'

 

Right - I'm off to catch up on some of the jobs that I should have been doing at home today. Back tomorrow with another Christmas card in an altogether more conventional colour scheme -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

Winter Hot Chocolate for Less Is More

by Joanne James18. September 2014 10:37

Well we're on the back end of the week already - yay! Thank you to all the new visitors to my blog yesterday who came to see my guest stamper card for The Color Throwdown and to those of you who left lovely comments on my blog - it's always nice to hear from my readers! I look forward to you becoming regular visitors.

Today's card is for this week's challenge over at 'Less is More' where the theme this week is 'beverages' and it's a one layer challenge. I pulled out one of my favourite Christmas retired sets, Scentsational Season, to make today's card; I thought a winter-warming hot chocolate should be the order of the day for my card, even if not outdoors as we are still enjoying a mild September (and long may it continue!). Here's my card:

I used a Crumb Cake base and stamped my mug in Real Red, colouring the hot chocolate section of the mug separately with my Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker. I added my two-tone sentiment from the 'Endless Wishes' set, then using my Chalk Marker, I carefully coloured in the snowflake on the mug and randomly doodled a flurry of snowflakes around the edge of my card. I'm a tea drinker myself (in large quantities, usually about 10 cups a day!) but there's something really appealing about hot chocolate in the Winter time - I think it's the smell of cocoa and sugar which just cuts through cold air like nothing else!

Check out the gallery for more beverage inspiration - there are lots of fun cards there this week, and a whole range of beverages are featured including some altogether more alcoholic tipples 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.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cards | Stamping

Baby Block Box/Stair Step Card

by Joanne James17. September 2014 10:00

It's Wednesday and a busy day on my blog today! This is the second of today's posts featuring this week's Colour Me...! Design Team card (please click here for my earlier Colour Throwdown post). This week we have a Subtle colour palette for you to work with:

I decided that this week's colour palette would be perfect not only for a baby card, but specifically for a box/stair step card, as whenever I see one of those they remind me of baby blocks all stacked up. So here is my card:

Nicely gender-neutral, with a Whisper White card base and background. I used the Little Letters framelits to cut out the letters for the word 'Baby' and rather than use the actual letters, I used the squares and the negative space to add more colour to my card. The letters didn't go to waste though, as I used them to decorate the envelope. For the remaining two squares, I used the Baby's First Framelits to create the duck and bib shapes, and stamped the co-ordinating stamps on the white layer below. I added some thick Pool Party baker's twine (retired - Sale-A-Bration item from earlier this year) but didn't add anything else as I wanted it to be able to remain post-friendly - despite its dimension, this card folds flat and fits into a standard C6 envelope.

That's my Colour Me...! card for this week - why not visit the other Colour Me...! designers and check out their takes on this week's colour combination:

And our talented guest designer for September - Holly Endress
 
We look forward to seeing your subtle creations.

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.

 

 

 

A Trio of Flowers For The Color Throwdown

by Joanne James17. September 2014 07:00

This is the first of a number of blog posts today - so get comfy, lovely readers!

 

This is a bonus post for you today - following my card being chosen as the 'Featured Stamper' card at The Color Throwdown last week - you can see that card here - I was asked by the lovely Tammy Hershberger to be their Guest Star stamper this week for challenge number 310. So if you are reading my blog for the first time having popped over from CTD - welcome! Here is the colour palette and inspiration photo for this week's challenge:

I took the inspiration for my card from the colours and the photo and decided to go with something floral, featuring buttons and also some typeset designer series paper, albeit as the background for my flowers. Here is my card:

I used the leaves from the 'Kinda Eclectic' stamp set to stamp onto my typeset paper, then stamped a trio of flowers - Beautiful Bunch, Flower Shoppe and Petite Petals - in the challenge colours and created some nicely layered blooms with a variety of button centres to finish them off. I decided to finish off with something of a fussy bow using Vanilla seam binding ribbon tied with linen thread and the birthday sentiment from the Flower Patch stamp set. A bit of a departure from my usual style, and quite a product-heavy card too I'm afraid, but that's not always a bad thing!

Check out The Color Throwdown challenge page to see how the other designers have interpreted this week's challenge.

As for me, I have some work to do then a very important match to attend to this afternoon: my youngest is playing in his first rugby match at school so I'm off to cheer him along and remind him to wear his gumshield!!

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.

 

 

This Week's Wednesday Weekly Deals Are Here!

by Joanne James17. September 2014 05:00

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:

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

Some great products on offer this week, including two of my staple store cupboard items for creating great packaging: Tag A Bag Gift Boxes and Kraft Gift Boxes. These boxes are both really sturdy and food-safe and can be used as the are or dressed up to make your gift into something special. With Christmas on the way, there's never been a better time to stock up.

Back with my creative posts later; but for now, happy shopping!

 

Tags: , , , ,

Promotions | Shop Online

Celebrate The Season Endless Wishes CAS Christmas Card

by Joanne James16. September 2014 08:45

Apologies firstly for anyone who saw a partial post within the last 10 hours - my blog appears to have published one version of tomorrow's post whilst also saving a draft; not sure what's happened there, but as it wasn't complete anyway it won't have made much sense. Come back tomorrow to see the completed post, with card! I think the moral of the story is don't spend too much time late at night preparing blog posts.

Anyway - today I'm sharing a Christmas card that I made for this week's challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary, where we have been challenged to use the following colour palette:

Whilst today's card took less than 10 minutes to make, I could have made six in the time it took me to decide upon my final design! I started out with my 'All Is Calm' Christmas Designer Series Paper as I knew it featured these colours, but then was overwhelmed by all of the possibilities and options and couldn't decide where to start. Here's my finished card:

I eventually decided to use the paper you can see on the edge of this card; I had been unsure how I was going to use this pattern as I don't have any of the stamp sets that obviously co-ordinate with it and it's quite a bold pattern. Eventually I thought it would make the perfect background for my Endless Wishes stamp set - SOOO glad SU! put this in the catalogue this year for us Europeans to enjoy too! - so I bordered my Lost Lagoon base card with it, then adhered my stamped top panel using dimensionals after tying a loop of Old Olive baker's twine around it. I know this is a bit of a cheat to the colour palette, but there's so little of it in the twine it could be mistaken for Pear Pizzazz at a distance (or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

I love the simplicity of this card and think I will actually make a few more of these to add to my stock of Christmas cards. Back tomorrow with a double post for you: my usual Design Team card for Colour Me...! and a special post as the Guest Star Stamper over at The Color Throwdown as I was their Featured Stamper with this card last week! Oh, and not forgetting the new Wednesday Weekly Deals! 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

Seasonally Scattered Autumn Thanks

by Joanne James14. September 2014 22:00

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:

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

 

 

Autumn Fall Wreath for The Paper Players

by Joanne James14. September 2014 08:00

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:

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

 

Holiday Home Meets Nordic Noel Christmas Card

by Joanne James13. September 2014 20:40

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:

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

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cards | Stamping

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.