It's A Boy Sweet L'il Things Congratulations Card

by Joanne James10. August 2015 08:00

Happy Monday everyone! I am starting my week with a fun birth congratulations card for the challenges over at Freshly Made Sketches and Pals Paper Arts this week:

   Ppa262

I love the sketch but was initially perplexed when I saw the PPA colours this week as I wasn't sure I could make the Mint Macaron and Pool Party work together; I loved the colour combo though so thought I'd give it a bit more consideration and this is what I came up with:

With both Pool Party and Tip Top Taupe featuring in the Sweet L'il Things Designer Series paper pack, I decided to go with a new baby card - a boy of course! I just love the cloud pattern on the DSP sheet (it comes in the alternate colourway of Pool Party cloud outlines on Very Vanilla too) and whilst this is by no means only of use for a baby card, it provided the perfect backdrop for my little panel of 'zzzzz's' and my Very Vanilla panel with cute Pool Party babygro cut using my Baby's First Framelits. I paper-pierced the babygro to add interest and added a 3/4" Very Vanilla circle with a Mint Macaron punched heart, that I covered with one of the heart-shaped Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers - this looks so lovely in real life! The heart and banner were just enough Mint Macaron I think with the other two colours and I'm so pleased with my final card. It also made me realise just how much I love Tip Top Taupe - this isn't a colour I've used much at all to date, yet its soft tones work so well with pastels and paler colours, I must try and use it more often.

That's all from me; I am expecting a visit from my parents today, which is making Ben very excited since with his birthday tomorrow he is virtually assured of presents! - and I'm also expecting the arrival of my pre-order of SU! goodies from the new seasonal catalogue. I am beyond excited!!!

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.

 

Sheltering Tree Swing Easel Card

by Joanne James9. August 2015 11:00

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my wonderful friend and talented crafter Claire, to host and she has a great colour challenge for you:

 

I immediately knew what stamp set I was going to use for my card this week - Sheltering Tree - and I wanted to have a go at making a swing easel card to showcase it. Here's my card:

 

The stamped panel is easy enough to create and uses all three of the challenge colours. I chose Old Olive as my main colour, with just a little Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay to allow the latter to really stand out on the bicycle and border. I followed Amanda Bates tutorial here to make my swing easel card (there is a small correction required to the instructions - step 13 should say 'Line up at 5"' not 1"). She is a real whizz with fancy folds! I used two of the Old Olive patterns in the Pretty Petals DSP to decorate my card. The nice thing about this card is that it folds completely flat for mailing, so long as you keep the embellishments to a minimum as I have here:

 

I hope you like today's card. 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
Anne Marie Hile - on leave
 
 
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! 

I look forward to seeing how you use Claire's chosen challenge colours on your cards in the gallery this week. This is a birthday weekend for us: the youngest of my James juniors will be 8 on Tuesday so following yesterday's birthday sleepover, today we will be continuing our birthday celebrations. 

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.
 

Awesomely Artistic Against A Brick Wall

by Joanne James30. July 2015 08:00

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great colour combination for you:

As soon as I saw these colours I knew they would be another great combination for work with my Awesomely Artistic stamp set, this time with the fabby new Brick Wall embossing folder:

 

I used Mint Macaron for my base with a mat of Perfect Plum, then on a piece of Whisper White I stamped the flower spray in Mint Macaron and a few grunge splatters in Perfect Plum, before running it through my Big Shot with the Brick Wall embossing folder in order to create my cottage garden effect. It's important you stamp before running this piece through the embossing folder rather than the other way around, otherwise you will be unable to achieve an even stamp on account of the cement grooves (I hope that makes sense!) I then sponged the whole of my card front with Sahara Sand ink to emphasise the brick shapes and texture of the wall. I wrapped a piece of Blackberry Bliss Striped Cotton Ribbon around my card front (the colour is sufficiently muted on the cotton that it is a good match for Perfect Plum) before adhering to the base, then tucked in the circle embellishment behind it before adding my sentiment, which I heat embossed in white onto Mint Macaron, and the beautiful dragonfly, which I stamped in Perfect Plum and Versamark then sprinkled liberally with Iridescent Ice to add a lovely sparkle. A last minute sprinkle of pearls finishes my card. 

I love the versatility of this set. On account of working ahead this card was made a couple of weeks ago, however I wanted to give a little 'shout out' to a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator friend of mine, Julie Kettlewell, who blogged something quite similar last week (I am abroad and sans stamping supplies, so have had no opportunity to work up something substantially different!). Julie has made some lovely cards using the Awesomely Artistic stamp set, so if this is a set that appeals to you, I recommend you check out her Pinterest board for more inspiration. Also, do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Right, I'm off to top up my tan! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

  • Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set
  • Big Shot
  • Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
  • Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits Dies
  • Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
  • Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Perfect Plum A4 Cardstock
  • Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock
  • Whisper White A4 Cardstock
  • Blackberry Bliss 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon
  • Pearl Basic Jewels
  • 3/4" Circle Punch
  • Sponge Daubers
  • Embossing Buddy
  • Heat Tool (Uk)
  • White Stampin' Emboss Powder
  • Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder
  • Versamark Pad

 

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Cards | Stamping

Pretty Petals Butterfly Tag Card

by Joanne James26. July 2015 11:00

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the tun of the super-talented Sandy to host and she has my favourite kind of a challenge for you - yes, it's a sketch:

This is a great sketch and gave me the opportunity to use some of my very favourite items from the annual catalogue: another Expressions Natural Element sentiment, some Pretty Petals DSP and a butterfly cut with the Bold Butterfly Framelits - take a look at my card today:

I used a cardbase of Very Vanilla for my card today, with a border strip of Typeset DSP to compliment the diagonal lines of the Pretty Petals paper that I used to cover the rest of my cardfront. I decided to use Basic Black for my tag, punched with the Ornate Tag Topper Punch, to give a strong contrast to the vanilla elsewhere and I created a layered butterfly that echoes the design of those in the paper pattern, with a solid vanilla base then two of the Bold Butterfly thinlit butterflies - one in Calypso Coral adhered directly to the base butterfly, and one in Pacific Point that I adhered in the middle only so that the layer beneath could be seen. I did reverse the positioning of the butterfly and sentiment on my tag to the sketch - I thought the sentiment was too heavy to put above the butterfly as I didn't want to overshadow it - what do you think, smart move or should I have stuck to the sketch more literally? A few Old Olive candy dots, some satin Very Vanilla ribbon and some black and white baker's twine finish my card. No stamping on this one - not on the outside, anyway! I'm also linking up with the ladies over at Just Add Ink this week where the theme is 'Butterflies'.

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
Anne Marie Hile - on leave
 
 
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! 

The tag on this week's sketch is a real fun detail; I look forward to seeing how you interpret it and the rest of Sandy's sketch in the gallery this week. Time for me to return to my sunbed to top up my tan - enjoy the rest of your weekend, however you choose to spend it.

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 Whole Lot Of Lovely Pretty Petals Card

by Joanne James23. July 2015 08:00

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:

This is such a versatile sketch with so many possibilities, in the end though I settled for something that is a little unusual for me - take a look at today's card:

I was keen to use another of the papers on the Pretty Petals DSP stack as my background layer, so matted this on a base of Old Olive and Mint Macaron. I used Calypso Coral for my banner, effortlessly punched with my Triple Banner Punch (how did I ever manage without this in my life?!) and tucking a sliver of retired Old Olive ribbon beneath it (there is not a single ribbon in this colour in the current catalogue - let's hope that the Winter seasonal brings us something here in this staple colour!) I coloured my sentiment, from the 'A Whole Lot Of Lovely' hostess set (chat to me about booking a party or joining my next hostess club if you would like to own this set too!) in Pacific Point, Mint Macaron and Calypso Coral Stampin' Write markers and stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock, that I cut out with my Big Shot and Oval Framelits.

Then for the bit that really isn't my usual style - I covered the back of the oval with Tear and Tape (how great is this product?! No more static red peel to stick to you!)and ruched some Mint Macaron lace trim all the way around the edge before adhering to my card front. I really love this pale green colour however was finding myself not really using is much in my card making, unlike it's counterparts Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush (how did I ever live without these in my stamping cupboard?!) so this card is the first that seeks to rectify that. To finish, I added an Old Olive flower punched with the Petite Petals punch as leaves for the base of my Watermelon Wonder blossom accent - whilst not Calypso Coral, it is sufficiently close to compliment the coral elsewhere on my card.

So definitely more frilly than usual and this card would work just as well without the lace trim (and be more post-service friendly) but nice for a change I think! Do visit the other Design Team members to checkout their interpretations of this week's challenge sketch; and if you didn't read my Weekly Deals post yesterday, do check it out here - it contains a special offer exclusive to my customers!

Right, I'm off to top up my tan! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

  • A Whole Lot Of Lovely Clear-Mount Stamp Set
  • Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack
  • Big Shot
  • Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
  • Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
  • Mint Macaron 1" Dotted Lace Trim
  • 2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
  • 2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accents
  • Old Olive A4 Cardstock
  • Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker
  • Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock
  • Brights Stampin' Write Markers
  • Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
  • Petite Petals Punch
  • Banner Triple Punch

 

Watercolour Wings and an as Light as Air Cotton Paper Butterfly

by Joanne James16. July 2015 08:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary, where this week we have a colour challenge for you:

    

I also used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday as the inspiration for the layout of today's card, which features my first outing of my new Watercolour Wings stamp set: 

I used a base of Crushed Curry and a mat of Basic Black, combined with two co-ordinating papers from the Cherry on Top DSP stack. I embossed a solid panel of Watermelon Wonder using the new Flutterings embossing folder and added this on the left and chose to use the negative space of the Greetings Thinlit die cut for my top layer. I added my butterfly, on which I stamped each of the layers with one of the challenge colours - photopolymer really makes easy work of this kind of triple stamping. The Watermelon Wonder looked slightly orange over the yellow, so I decided to add a small diecut butterfly, cut with the smallest of the Bold Butterfly framelits out of some of the new Cotton Paper in Crushed Curry. This paper is so soft and delicate and perfect for this kind of layering, as well as for flowers and more besides. Here's a close up of the layered butterfly:

So very pretty - I can't wait to stamp this in lots of other colourways too. I hope you like today's card and those of the other Design Team members - we look forward to seeing what you do with this colour palette this week!

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

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

  • Greetings Thinlits Dies
  • Big Shot
  • Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack
  • Fluttering Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
  • Butterflies Thinlits Dies
  • Bold Butterfly Framelits Dies
  • Basic Black A4 Cardstock
  • Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock
  • Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock
  • Whisper White A4 Cardstock
  • Cherry On Top Cotton Paper Assortment

 

Zoo Babies Goes Wild!

by Joanne James15. July 2015 22:15

A quick card today just in time for this week's sketch over at TGIF Challenge and also using the fun challenge over at Can You Case It? this week where you have to use black, white and one other colour:

   CYCI#78

I really like this sketch and haven't used a tag on a card in ages and when I saw the CYCI challenge I thought this would give me a great opportunity to break open my new 'Go Wild' DSP stack - here's my card:

I used Melon Mambo as my feature colour for the mat to frame the amazing zebra print paper, for my die cut sentiment and a pop of colour with the circle, cotton ribbon and the hearts (courtesy of my owl punch) floating up from my stamped zebra from the 'Zoo Babies' set. I used the ornate tag topper punch for my tag, cutting twice and layering one white on black for emphasis. I designed this card as a modern 'new baby' card, and was going to finish my 'hello' with 'sweet baby' stamped inside, but this was vetoed by everyone else in my household, all of whom liked the card but did not consider it suitable to welcome a baby - so a funky hello card it is then!

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

Silhouettes and Script Meets Farmer's Market Anniversary Card

by Joanne James11. July 2015 18:04

I've been busy creating today and just have time for a quick post before I head out this evening for dinner with friends. Today's card uses this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday and showcases some of the the new Farmer's Market DSP so is perfect for linking up with SUO Challenges too where the theme is 'designer papers':

Here is my card - check out how perfectly these two paper designs from the Farmer's Market range co-ordinate with each other:

I used Old Olive for my base with a mat of Hello Honey - a colour I'm not overly fond of it has to be said, yet I think it takes on a lovely hue next to the greens on this card. The pear paper design is definitely the one on show here, yet the gingham across the bottom adds interest without overwhelming. I used a piece of Mossy Meadow for my diagonal, tied with some retired satin ribbon in the same colour then for my focal point I stamped the pear from the 'Silhouettes and Script' hostess set onto Whisper white, inking up with my sponge daubers to give the lovely shading effect then fussy cut one side and cut to other with my circle framelits. To finish I added a 'Congrats' from the same set in black and popped up on dimensionals. I just love the blended colouring on the pear - I'm going to have to do this with the other stamps in the set too!! What a fun alternative take for a wedding or anniversary card!

That's all from me today; I need to go and wash my hair and get ready for my night out! Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at 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.

 

Patriotic Union Jack Card

by Joanne James8. July 2015 21:53

This is my second post of the day - you can find my earlier post detailing this week's weekly deals here. This is a quick creative post from me today with a card I made this morning for a couple of challenges: another one for Less Is More's red, white and blue challenge and also for Addicted to CAS where the theme is 'patriotic:

My talented colleague over at The Paper Players, the lovely Jaydee, also designs for ATCAS and she chose the codeword for the current challenge. Whilst Jaydee lives in the USA, she is actually British so I thought that I would make a card with her in mind (oh, and the other current Brit of the moment, Andy Murray, who today got through to the Wimbledon semi-finals - woohoo!): 

I used the extra thick Whisper White cardstock as my base and then paper-pieced a union jack flag in Real Red, Whisper White and Pacific Point. My intention originally was to use the letters that I cut using my Bigshot and the Little Letters thinlits, but when I lined up the letters the flag wasn't as obvious as I'd hoped and the negative space worked much better, so I used this instead. Fortunately I managed to do a reasonable job of aligning the letters, although it was quite tricky as the magnets in the magnetic platform have a tendency to make the letters jump about! A no stamp card too!

I hope you like my take on patriotism for today's card; I did contemplate making something more in keeping with my own heritage (I'm Welsh!) although my stamp collection has a complete absence of dragon stamps and punch art would definitely not have fitted with the 'clean and simple' approach!

I'll be back tomorrow with our new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

Doodling with Dots Decorative Mask For A Teacher Thank You Card

by Joanne James7. July 2015 08:00

Today I have a card using the sketch challenge over at Paper Craft Crew and the colours over at Pals Paper Arts as the inspiration for my teacher thank you card:

Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch 151. #stampinup #papercraftcrew   PPA 258 Jul. 2

Now I know I entered a teacher thank you card into last week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts (if you missed it you can see that card here) but what can I say - I need lots of them! I love the bright colour combination here so took the opportunity to do a little doodling - take a look:

I used Night of Navy for my card base which measures 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" and matted a strip of Cucumber Crush striped envelope paper with a strip of Watermelon Wonder cardstock. For my central panel, I embossed a piece of Whisper White with the large polka dot embossing folder for added texture, although difficult to see in the photograph, and then overlaid this with my circle stencil and used my Watermelon Wonder Stampin' Write Marker to doodle an apple shape. I added my stem and leaves freehand and finished with a navy seam binding ribbon bow, some Cucumber Crush lace trim and a trio of white candy dots. I finished with the thank you sentiment from the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set - this is such a great set, I've used it lots already and haven't even made my tin of cards yet!! - stamped in Night of Navy on Watermelon Wonder, and finished with a juicy green apple punched using my tree builder punch. 

I think the colours of this card really pack a punch and my non-standard card size meant a custom envelope would be the order of the day. What better way to finish than with a co-ordinating envelope made from the gorgeous new Cucumber Crush envelope paper? This lightweight paper makes beautifully crisp envelopes and with the aid of my trusty Envelope Expert from The Crafty Owl it was easy to work out what size paper and punch markings I required (9 1/4" and 4 5/8" respectively, in case you were wondering!)

I hope you like today's card; I'll be back tomorrow with a new set of Wednesday Weekly Deals and another project for you. 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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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.