An Apple For An APlus Teacher Thank You Card

by Joanne James11. May 2020 19:00

 

Another Monday, the start of a new week! I had an online demonstration this morning and something of an admin afternoon, so I've just time for a quick post to share another card for the current Fusion challenge, this time using both the sketch and inspiration layout:

   

The sketch and inspo photo combined to make the perfect teacher thank you card - take a look:

 

My bright red apple is courtesy of the 'Harvest Hellos' stamp set and the Apple Builder punch, two of my favourite items for creating teacher thank you cards and on carryover to the new catalogue too - yay! I paired my apple with a retired stamped notepaper background on a Crumb Cake base and swirly thanks diecut, again courtesy of a retired die; the notepaper and die were perfect to replicate the biscuit in the photo though, so it had to be! I also finished the inside with some added decoration courtesy of 'Harvest Hellos': 

 

I made a few of these cards at the same time to add to my end of year stash; the youngest of my James Juniors is in a transition year at school so I will need a lot of teacher thank you cards come July, so I'm starting now!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your evening and I'll be 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.

An Apple For A Teacher Thank You Card

by Joanne James11. May 2020 19:00

 

Another Monday, the start of a new week! I had an online demonstration this morning and something of an admin afternoon, so I've just time for a quick post to share another card for the current Fusion challenge, this time using both the sketch and inspiration layout:

   

The sketch and inspo photo combined to make the perfect teacher thank you card - take a look:

 

My bright red apple is courtesy of the 'Harvest Hellos' stamp set and the Apple Builder punch, two of my favourite items for creating teacher thank you cards and on carryover to the new catalogue too - yay! I paired my apple with a retired stamped notepaper background on a Crumb Cake base and swirly thanks diecut, again courtesy of a retired die; the notepaper and die were perfect to replicate the biscuit in the photo though, so it had to be! I also finished the inside with some added decoration courtesy of 'Harvest Hellos': 

 

I made a few of these cards at the same time to add to my end of year stash; the youngest of my James Juniors is in a transition year at school so I will need a lot of teacher thank you cards come July, so I'm starting now!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your evening and I'll be 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.

Mosaic Mood Meets Praiseworthy Prose

by Joanne James10. May 2020 10:00

Two posts from me today as whilst I did squeeze in a little crafting yesterday morning, I was too busy enjoying the sunshine the rest of the day to blog - so I'm sharing today! I loved Linda's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and chose to use green, congratulations sentiment embossing folder from the Festive Friday inspo list:

    

So many ways to interpret the sketch, but in the end I decided to use up more of those fussy cut Mosaic Mood designer papers and pair some border strips with a gorgeous glossy hummingbird and a sentiment from Praiseworthy Prose:

 

Praiseworthy Prose is another of those sets that hasn’t seem much (any!) ink so I stamped my sentiment in Soft Suede onto a Very Vanilla stitched rectangle and used my hummingbird to accent it. Some subtle embossing to my mat layer completes my card.

I really like this finished card and its one of those that could be used for men or women, which is great as I didn’t have anyone in mind to send it to when I started creating. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be 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.

Birthday Jubilee Brights For PP490

by Joanne James10. May 2020 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a colour challenge for you to work with:

    

I love Claire's bright colour palette this week! I have been planning my next online class so had the Birthday Jubilee bundle out on my desk and along with Brian's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch this week my card came together pretty quickly - take a look:

 

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I cut two panels in Melon Mambo using one of the Jubilee Beauty Dies and used them to frame my sentiment, adding a couple of floral garlands coloured with my Stampin' Blends in each of the colours. I used my old retired Melon Mambo Blendabilities for the pink flowers; I've some good news for you if you're a Blends fan though - there is a new Melon Mambo Blends combo in the new annual catalogue - woohoo! A little extra stamping inside and decoration on the envelope flap complete my card:

 

The Birthday Jubilee bundle is retiring at the end of the month and the Jubilee Birthday dies are currently discounted to £16.80, so if you like them now is the time to pick up a bargain! My next online class is on Monday 25th May and features this bundle. You can see the full details here; if you would like to join us, then do message me to book on. I would love to see you there!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; happy Mother’s Day wishes to those overseas who are celebrating - I hope you are all spoiled rotten! The weather is supposed to turn here today with rain and much colder temps forecast, so I think my time sitting in the garden will be limited. I guess I might have to do some indoor jobs instead!  I'll be 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.
 
 

Wonderful Moments - The Bride AYSI 225

by Joanne James8. May 2020 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge courtesy of the lovely LeAnne:

    

I have been trying to get some use out of sets that are about to retire and decided to pair today's sketch with the wedding theme over at Global Design Project and create a wedding card for the bride - take a look:

 

Here's the low-down on today's card:

For The Bride - I bought the 'Wonderful Moments' set the minute it became available in the catalogue; I love the style of the artist - it's the same design as 'Beautiful You', 'Artfully Aware', 'A Good Man' and 'Beautiful Moments' - and in this particular set it was the bride image that sold it to me. That said - this is the very first time I've inked it up!! Clearly 'so many stamp sets, so little time' in my house!! For me though it is a keeper - the set has some great sentiments, and I adore this bridal image. I decide to heat emboss my image in silver which can be a little tricky to photograph, so I've added a couple of extra images so that you can appreciate the detail and shine:

 

Lovely In Lavender - I paired my silvers with one of my favourite and oft overlooked papers in the Best Dressed DSP stack - I love the subtle white roses on the variegated Purple Posy background and I couldn't resist using it for my background today. I have a friend who actually got married in a wedding dress that was this soft lilac colour and this card reminds me of that day. 

Outside the Frame - I wanted to use an embossed rectangular frame for one of the layers on my card (I used some retired brushed silver cardstock) but rather than frame my image, I fussy cut the bride and positioned her outside the frame for maximum impact. I really like the finished effect:

 

I did take one or two liberties with LeAnne's sketch, especially with the sentiment placement, which I had to move and place inside my frame (I heat embossed it on vellum and used this as another of my layers) and I downplayed the vertical strip with a piece of metallic edged ribbon, but hopefully you can see the broad layout there. Either way, I LOVE this card and hope you do too! I had no-one in mind to send my card to when I made it and Rebecca popped her head around the door as I was photographing and asked me who it was for. Jokingly, as the bride has her colouring, I said "no-one in particular; maybe I'll keep it for you." She promptly said "Put it somewhere safe then - it will be at least 25 years before I get married!!" What can I say - a typical teenage girl with other things on her mind!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you put your creative thinking caps on, why not check out the blogs of the other As You See It team members:

Amy Jasper

Heather Cooper

Jan Clothier

Jane Knudsen

LeAnne Pugliese

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging   project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
  • In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day; we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK today to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) day. There was a Red Arrows flypast during one of my online demonstration sessions this morning and one of the ladies on the call was lucky enough to see them fly overhead through her skylight as we crafted. I didn't see or hear them but one of the ladies in my choir snapped this rather good photo:

 

They fly by so fast it's quite tricky to catch a good photo. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be 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.

Let's Just Roll With It and Quarantini For #ShareSunshine

by Joanne James6. May 2020 10:30

Hi everyone! Wednesday already? Oh my! I've had a busy start to my week with online card classes which are really starting to take off as we get used to the technology. I had my main class on Monday using 'Beautiful Friendship' one of my most favourite sets (cards to follow). In order to stave off boredom for a lot of my regular crafty ladies, I've been following up each class with a couple of shorter 30 minute sessions that use the same set we used in our class but using different techniques. This is more like a Facebook live but we still use Zoom so that we are in a classroom format and can all see and talk to each other as I'm demonstrating. I don't do many Facebook lives and must confess I much prefer the classroom format. If anyone is reading this and thinking they would like to know more about online classes or these little demo sessions, then do check out my Facebook page or leave me a comment below and I can add you to my group.

Anyway - time for a blog post! I've had a few server issues with my hosting company earlier this week, so if you popped by and couldn't reach my blog, please accept my apologies - things should all be sorted now I'm told! So today I'm sharing another couple of cards using the #ShareSunshine product giveback download that Stampin' Up! has released to raise funds for Covid-19 related charities - you can read all about it and purchase the download if you are interested in my previous post here. For the first one I used the current Fusion sketch for my layout (great sketch!):

I used the fun loo roll image and once printed die cut it with a stitched circle, and paired it with some retired Bubbles & Fizz Sale-A-Bration papers - take a look:

 

I added some striped Bermuda Bay ribbon and another of the print out sentiments to the inside of my card:

 

That's pretty much all we can do right?!

One of my lovely customers, Jane, shared some fabulous cards using this download over on my Facebook page and I noticed that she had used some of these papers and they actually match quite a lot of the sentiments and images, so I got to use up some paper too. If you would like to see Jane's cards, you can see them here - thanks for the inspiration Jane!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I also managed a quick second card this afternoon, using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch:

I used another or the retired Bubble and Fizz papers and paired it with the martini glass that I coloured with Blends and this fun sentiment:

 

It finishes inside the card like this:

 

Enjoy your evening. I spent my day editing and uploading some online class videos and enabling my oven repair man to do his job whilst social distancing - why do these things always break down at the most inconvenient times?! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

#ShareSunshine Digital Download: get yours here

#ShareSunshine With We'll Walrus Be Friends For PP489

by Joanne James3. May 2020 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

 

I have been looking at the sentiments in the new #ShareSunshine product giveback download and decided to use one of the funny ones on my card today - take a look:

 

Here's the low-down on today's card:

#ShareSunshine - The #ShareSunshine PDF download is the Covid-19 Product Giveback that I shared with you here last week. It includes lots of fun sentiments related to the current social distancing and unique times we find ourselves in that are great for sharing with friends and family to let them know we are thinking of them. I chose to feature the fun 'I've Just Been Working On My Homebody' sentiment and hunted through my stamp sets to find a suitably fit individual ...

We'll Walrus Be Friends - ... and the rotund walrus in 'We'll Walrus Be Friends' was just the thing! I created a repeating background with my stamp. Is it only me that feels like this chap of late? Too much cake and not enough exercise!!

Starburst Punch - The PDF download comes with a list of the ink colours used and co-ordinating products for each of the images and the one I chose fits the Starburst Punch perfectly. I cropped mine first with a 2" circle punch and mounted it onto my Mango Melody starburst; the former is carrying over but the Starburst Punch is retiring so if this is on your wishlist, now is the time to add it to your shopping basket.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I can't wait to see what happy projects you have to share with us in the Paper Players gallery this week!

Enjoy your day; I will be spending time in the garden and trying to make Sunday feel less like any other day of the week since they all seem to roll into one at the moment! I might make up more Covid cards with my download printouts too to send out to friends and family as I have a few ideas. I'll be 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.

Peaceful Moments Poppy Birthday Card and Hanging Ornament

by Joanne James1. May 2020 17:00

 

Today I'm sharing a couple of projects from one of last month's classes that featured the Peaceful Moments bundle, part of the Painted Poppies Suite. First up a birthday card:

 

I used the designer series paper from the Peaceful Poppies Suite beneath a diecut layer and embellished with two layered diecut poppies and a banner sentiment. We also made a co-ordinating hanging ornament using the same diecut poppies and a sentiment stamped directly onto a wooden circle:

 

We don't often make 3D items in our technique class, so this was a change for us. It was a great way to make use of the dies which we were featuring and it's fair to say the ladies loved it too.

Here's a photo of both items together:

 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I've had one of those days when I've been seriously fighting technology today with nothing going right and the internet is clearly not appreciating all of the at-home Jameses running multiple devices at once! I feel exhausted by the whole thing and like I need to step away - so I'm off to finish my online groceries shopping and then am taking the night off!! 

I'll be 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.

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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!

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