by Joanne James30. May 2016 09:00
Bank Holiday Monday - what better than a long weekend! I spent yesterday catching up on some gardening and had dinner with my in-laws and nephew, which made for a nice change. Today my parents are visiting so I'm looking forward to more time in the garden and another BBQ - is it me, or is there something that makes food taste so much better when cooked and eaten outdoors?!
Anyway, my card for today uses this week's sketch over at Less is More; I was so pleased to see my turtle card from a couple of weeks ago chosen as a Top 3 card this week - the competition over there is stiff, so this makes a win all the more special (thank you ladies!) With only 6 weeks to go until the end of the school year here in the UK, I thought it was time to get cracking on my teacher thank you cards, so here is today's card:
Here's the low-down on today's card:
ABC, 123 - I used a piece of retiring Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper to cover one of the portions of my background on my extra-thick Whisper White card base. Perfect for adding to the school theme, whilst leaving the all-important white space.
An Apple For The Teacher - I stamped my apple from the retiring 'Apple of My Eye' set in Real Red and fussy cut it out, cutting the leaf out separately and adding it on top. I'm not sure that children give an apple to their teacher any more (we are more likely to send cake in to ours!) Nevertheless this is such a good stamp set for teacher cards - a keeper, for sure.
Thanks, You're The Best - I finished my card with a die cut sentiment cut using my Big Shot and 'thanks' from the Greetings Thinlits. I used black cardstock and stamped the front in Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder a few times to give a nice shiny finish. I popped this up on dimensionals aligned with my apple and finished my card inside with 'you're the best' from the 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set.
Easy and quick to create - just what you need if you've lots of these to make. 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:
by Joanne James10. March 2016 08:05
Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:
My card today started with the sentiment on the sketch, which immediately reminded me of the thank you sentiment in the 'Fabulous Four' stamp set. I decided to get an early start on my end of school year thank you cards - a long way off yet, but I will need lots of them this year so no time like the present! Here's my card:
The three key elements of today's card are as follows:
Fabulous Four stamp set - this is a stamp set with four large sentiments, three of which are two-line sentiments like the one on today's card. They are big, bold and fun and perfect if you want to make the sentiment the focal point of your card.
Owl Builder Punch - I haven't made an owl with my Owl Builder Punch for a while so I decided to take the flower element of the sketch and make it a scholarly owl, complete with spectacles, mortar board and shiny apple courtesy of a little Crystal Effects. I coloured him to co-ordinate with my chosen designer series paper - isn't he so cute?!
Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper - I used two of the papers from the Schoolhouse pack for my card today: the alphabet fitted in perfectly with my school theme and the stripes added some additional colour for the bottom portion of the card. I also added a piece of co-ordinating Tangelo Twist In-Colour Washi Tape beneath the sentiment as per the sketch; a small touch, but it does nicely emphasise the positioning of the owl.
Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:
Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!
Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
- Fabulous Four Clear-Mount Stamp Set
- Owl Builder Punch
- Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper
- 2014-2016 In Color Designer Washi Tape
- Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad
- Whisper White A4 Cardstock
- Basic Gray A4 Cardstock
- Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
- Garden Green A4 Cardstock
- Basic Black A4 Cardstock
- Crystal Effects
- Real Red A4 Cardstock
- Tree Builder Punch
- 1/8" Silver Mini Brads
- Whisper White Baker's Twine
by Joanne James5. July 2015 11:00It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the lovely Ann to host and she has the following theme challenge for us:
The great outdoors: now I know our challenge badge this week shows trees, flowers and wildlife, but for me when I thought about what 'the great outdoors' meant to me, it was more about camping, rambling and cycling - so off I went in search of stamp sets to fit the bill. After much fruitless searching, suddenly there it was just staring me in the face - the top sheet in the open pack of Schoolhouse designer series paper on my desk was the perfect feature for my card:
Bicycles! We are a family of cyclists and are fortunate to live near to lots of great cycle paths and countryside that is accessible to cyclists. so often ride out together as a family. I really wanted the paper to take centre stage, so I went on the hunt for a small, suitable sentiment to pair it with and decided upon this one from the Project Life 'Moments Like These' stamp set which was just enough to finish my card. Another great example of where these sets can be used for memory keeping and a lot more besides!
Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:
The Paper Players Design Team
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 three challenges, TOTAL.
4. Have FUN!
Your cards can be inspired by any aspect of life outdoors so get your thinking caps on and I look forward to seeing what you make of our theme in the gallery this week. I am hoping that today will be another warm and sunny one, with a BBQ lunch on the menu. Some time in the garden and a restful day is on the cards!
Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
by Joanne James30. June 2015 09:54Good morning everyone! I have had a most enjoyable morning with two of my newest Stampin' Up! team members carrying out some induction training, all finished off with a little cream tea to reward them for their efforts! Today is the last day of the '2 free stamp sets' sign up offer where you can get any 2 catalogue stamp sets of your choice for free in addition to your £130 of goods for £99.
You don't want to miss out on this opportunity! You can get the full scoop here or if you're ready to sign up, just click here to join my team. If you're on the fence and are still wondering if my team is for you, then do give me a call for a chat before making your decision - I would love to tell you more.
Today I have a quick post for you to just squeeze in an entry to this week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts where they have a great sketch challenge this week:
My card this week was very much inspired by the one that Mary Fish made using this sketch - you can see her card here, I just love her clean and graphic style - and I knew this layout offered me the perfect opportunity to add to my stash of end of term teacher thank you cards with a really quick make - take a look:
I decided to add to my collection of teacher thank you cards and combined a card base of Basic Grey with a mat and strip of Whisper White and a 2 1/2" circle of the Schoolhouse DSP in the alphabet pattern with an apple that I cut with my Silhouette Cameo e-cutter and a 'thanks' die cut using the new Greetings Thinlits in Basic Black.
Super simple, ultra modern and easy to re-create if you've lots of cards to make.
I hope you like today's card; I'll be back tomorrow with another creative project and news of this week's weekly deals, which from tomorrow until 4th August will be even better than usual, with lots more items with 30% off until the allocated stock at that price is gone, when it will revert back to standard catalogue price. The Clearance Rack is also due to update, with many items 60% off, so keep your eye out for some bargains!
Until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: