Seasonal Swirls And A Pine Cone Christmas Wreath

by Joanne James11. October 2021 09:00

I have card class this morning so am getting my blog post out early! Today I'm sharing a card that uses Amy's sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches:

My card is also inspired by a recent Inspired By challenge photo that I loved but didn't get the opportunity to play along with at the time ( you can read all about that here). I made another Christmas card for my growing pile - take a look:

 

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

Seasonal Swirls - Today's card features another Seasonal Swirls wreath, this time a Christmas one adorned with holly, pine cones and mistletoe pearl berries. This die set is perfect for making endless combinations of wreath decoration! I stamped a simple 'Noel' greeting from 'Tidings and Trimmings' in the centre of my wreath.

Not So Halloween Gingham - I used the central diagonal to accommodate a gingham bow with a (retired) sparkly jewel at it's centre. You may well have missed this ribbon in the current seasonal catalogue - it's on page 51 nestled amongst the Cute Halloween suite, but I think this ribbon is a winner with all-year round appeal. 

An Acetate Trick - For the other two elements of diagonal detail, I used some of the Hydrangea Hill Mercury Glass Designer Acetate - but featured the reverse side which is a lovely silver colour, rather than the lilac/pink front. Using the reverse makes this great for adding a touch of festive metallic to those festive projects:

 

I was initially a little unsure about the diagonals on Amy's sketch, but I actually like the way the sit against my Christmas wreath and am quite pleased with how this card turned out.

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.

Gingerbread and Peppermint Memories and More Christmas Cookies Card AYSI260 and FF00094

by Joanne James1. October 2021 09:00

Today I'm actually combining my design team card for both our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a sketch challenge and the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

    

It just so happened my card fulfilled both briefs, so I thought I would go with it as I've been time-pressed this week (nothing new there then!) At As You See It we have a sketch challenge and at Festive Friday we are celebrating World Apple Day - but if you check out my card, you'll see there's not an apple in sight! Take a look at my card and you'll see what I mean:

 

My card today is for a baker - and a Christmas baker at that! The fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used red, green, baking and gingham on today's creation.

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

Gingerbread and Peppermint - One of my many passions in life is to bake, and at Christmas time I am known for my gingerbread cookies, so the Gingerbread and Peppermint Suite from Stampin' Up! immediately appealed to my inner baker. I love the papers in particular, as they are perfect for fussy cutting and that's where I took my trio of gingerbread cookies from that are on my card today. If you're not a fan of fussy-cutting, the Gingerbread Dies fit some of the shapes on the designer series paper, but honestly they are super easy to kit by hand too. The gingham banner on my card is some old retired paper, as there isn't a pattern that is technically gingham in this paper pack. There are lots of check and plaid patterns, but since I was being a purist I grabbed some old papers, but if you wanted to CASE my card, I would totally use one of the other patterns in this paper pack.

Memories & More - One of the other things I love about the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite is that it features this season's Memories and More cards too. I will be using them to document my own festive bakes, but they are also great for cards too and on today's card, they really are the star of the show. So many of the elements that you see on my card come from the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories and More pack: The spatula, oven glove, foil embossed snowflakes, that fabulous metal cooling rack and even the sentiment, which I fussy cut from one of the cards in the pack. So many great elements to play with:

 

Look No Stamping - Did you notice there isn't a single stamp on today's card? Not even on the inside, where I decided to use one of the memories and More stickers:

 

They really do make for easy cards, but with so many bits and pieces you can have a lot of creative fun with them too. I will be sending this card to a friend along with some of my famous gingerbread cookies during December; I might have to make a few more too!

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. 

Here's a summary of the As you See It 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. Likewise, How does our Festive Friday board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what you create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans 

Joanne James - that's me!

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.

 

Happy Holly-Days Meets Festive Foliage #GDP309

by Joanne James18. September 2021 20:06

Today I'm sharing a card with the current challenge over at Global Design Project  #GDP309:

This is another of my cards using the Festive Foliage stamp as my background, this time paired with the robin from the Happy Holly-Days stamp set - take a look:

 

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

I kept to a black and white colour scheme for my background and sentiment label, with a pop of Real Red for my third choice - the perfect way to emphasise my lovely robin red breast and bring in a flash of festive colour:

 

I added some red sheer ribbon and rhinestone jewels to complete my card.

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.
 

Be Dazzling Stitched Snowflake Slimline Card CCS 437

by Joanne James14. September 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Jenny has asked that we create a slimline card, with a rectangular element behind a single focal image:

     

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I created a mini slimline card and took the opportunity to combine with my entry for the current Less Is More challenge for a clean and simple card that is all about the sparkle - take a look:

 

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

Stitched Snowflakes - I recently picked up the new Stitched Snowflakes dies (I blame my blog friend, the lovely LeAnne Pugliese lol!) having been convinced I can never own too many snowflake dies and these ones also have a lovely stitched detail - bonus! I thought a single diecut snowflake would make a great focal point, and used one of the other dies that cuts a swirl of snowflakes into a flat panel for my rectangular element. 

Be Dazzling - The challenge over at Less Is More currently is 'sparkle' so I just had to cut my snowflake out of Be Dazzling sparkly paper - the ultimate in sparkle and free with a purchase of £45 during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion to boot! I also added a sparkly border between my mat white layers - I mean, you can never have too much sparkle, right?! Well, so long as it's balanced with lots of 'white' space to keep that clean and simple feel ;-) If you would like to get your hands on some 'Be Dazzling' paper, you have until the end of this month or whilst supplies last (whichever comes sooner) to grab some: just hop on over to my online store or give me a call to place an order.

 

Sparkle of a Different Kind - My sentiment comes from the 'Sparkle of the Season' wreath set - it seemed just right to pair with my sparkling snowflake on today's card.

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

That's all from me for now; I have lots to do following yesterday's monthly Stampin' Up! class; on the upside, the forecast is rain all day today so at least I won't be tempted to go out into the garden! 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.

Happy Holly Days Festive Robin AYSI 258

by Joanne James3. September 2021 13:00

I've had a few days break from the blog as I make the most of the last few days of the long summer holiday before the James Juniors head back to school next week. I'm back today though and I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a theme challenge:

    

I used the great sketch over at Sunday Stamps for my layout this week. So many options for that central panel but with our theme this week of 'up in the air' I decided to feature a festive feathered friend on mine - take a look:

 

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

Happy Holly Days - First up, I have a little story for you! I can't tell you how many UK Leadership training events I've attended over the years where I've been in meetings where we've brainstormed ideas for future catalogues, and if I had a penny for every time the request for a traditional Christmas robin has been made I would be rich by now! The cardinal gets featured frequently in the Stampin' Up! catalogue and whilst he is a common visitor for many in Stampin' Up!'s global markets, the robin is a particularly European bird and doesn't travel as far south as the USA. As such, our requests have often fallen on deaf ears - until now! This year's mini catalogue has a beautiful robin just waiting to be coloured, so I had to scoop him up and I'm so glad to give him his first outing on my card today.

I've seen some interesting colours applied to this bird as I've browsed the internet, but my robin is true to type! His tummy is maybe a little more red than a real-life bird, since they are actually more of an orange-red colour, but I wanted to emphasise the red so went with Poppy Parade Blends and made mine a full-on 'robin red breast'. As for this set, not only does it have this lovely robin and some holly to colour (more on that in a moment) but it has some lovely sentiments for both the outside and inside of your cards. I used a large 'Noel' on the front of my card, then continued on the inside with this one:

 

Shimmer With The Holly Border - In addition to the holly in the stamp set, which I coloured and fussy cut and adhered around the feet of my robin, the stamp set is bundled with a holly border punch. I didn't use the border pattern in my design today, instead I punched it out of some Evening Evergreen vellum and then adhered the leaves in between my stamped ones for some extra sparkly detail:

 

 I did wonder if I was a little over-enthusiastic about this, but I do like the little added shimmer it adds to the card. Once complete I also wished I'd splattered my white rectangular panel as I felt it was a little too 'clean' (if there can ever be such a thing!) but I didn't want to remake or deconstruct, so added a trio in in-colour gems to break up the space and add a little more sparkle instead. 

Painted Christmas - For my split background panel, I chose two patterns from the Painted Christmas DSP pack. There are some lovely foliage patterns in this pack and I had a hard time choosing just two. I covered the join with some lovely dark green chevron weaved ribbon to complete my card.

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. 

 So what do you think? I really love this robin and am on a mission to feature him on lots of cards this season, especially since he has been so longed-for in terms of stamp sets! In the meantime, what will you choose to feature for our 'up in the air' theme this week?

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

Enjoy your day; the James Juniors are off to get pre-school haircuts today and Ben for one needs it - the yeti currently has nothing on him!! Rebecca is actually going in for Sixth Form Induction day this afternoon and she is so excited! 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.

Bright Whimsical Christmas Tree Trio For CCS 435

by Joanne James31. August 2021 12:00

It's time for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches and since it's the 5th Tuesday of the month it's time for the double: a combination of an old sketch and colour palette, combined. Bhavya has chosen the following combination:

 

I struggled a little with this week's challenge! I don't have any of those retired colours, so went with my closest current match and after going through a ton of stamp sets and dies, I finally decided to go with an unconventionally coloured Christmas card featuring a trio of skinny trees for my shapes:

 

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

These tree dies are from the Christmas Trees Dies set in the Whimsy and Wonder suite and are the trees that caused me to invest in this set - I love the textured, skinny design. I layered them into the corner of my panel and used a greeting from the Whimsical Trees stamp set in the same bundle, having coloured it with my Stampin' Write Markers so that I could highlight the scripted words in Magenta Madness pink:

 

Super simple with only four products needed. I quite like the unconventional colour scheme for Christmas, but if you're more of a traditionalist it would work in reds and greens too!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day; we are going swimming and are making meatballs today amongst other things! 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.

Penguin Place CAS Reindeer Christmas CCS 434

by Joanne James24. August 2021 12:00

This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Bhavya has asked that we overlay a repeating sentiment with a focal point shape. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will already have noticed that I used this sketch layout for my CAS Colours & Sketches last week; I really liked this layout and couldn't wait to have a play with it! For my card today I went with a Christmassy theme:

 

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

I stamped a repeating sentiment from the 'Penguin Place' stamp set and a punched penguin, all dressed up as a reindeer, complete with red Rudolf nose:

Super simple and so cute! I really like this layout for a clean and simple card and will definitely be using it again. I can't wait to see what entries we have in the gallery this week!

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. 

We are off to visit friends today for lunch and to catch up on our holiday news. Whatever your plans, 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.

Christmas Season Corner Detail Card

by Joanne James21. August 2021 20:06

A quick card from me this evening that was inspired by Jen Mitchell's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and the festive inspiration at Inspired By:

    

I thought those corners would be great for some layered foliage to frame a festive sentiment - take a look at what I came up with:

 

Lots of foliage, holly, pine cones and berries stamped and cut using the 'Christmas Season' stamp set and dies, and layered to frame a sentiment from the 'Merriest Moments' stamp set:

 

I wanted to add in a couple of candy canes too, but do you think I could find my retired candy cane dies? Nope, not anywhere! Too many craft supplies and not enough office space, that's my issue!!

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 for our 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.
 
Delighted that this card was chosen by Jen T as Perfect Princess over at Freshly Made Sketches for Challenge 499 this week!
 

Mini Gingerbread And Peppermint Christmas Greetings CCS 432

by Joanne James10. August 2021 12:00

This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Bhavya has asked that we use four images stacked vertically, interspersed with a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

 

My card today was completely driven by the need to find four images and a sentiment that would fit on a card front; that and my current phase of fussy-cutting images from designer paper! Here's what I came up with:

 

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

Super simple this one! I fussy cut four of the mini gingerbread images from the Gingerbread and Peppermint designer series paper, along with a base from the same pack to give a little border on each side, and stacked them on dimensionals, interspersing with a sentiment stamped in Real Red taken from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set:

 

That's all there is to it - super simple and very little stamping too!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

This is a big week in the James household, so blogging will be a little less frequent than usual. Today my nephew received his A Level results: an A and two A*s, which he is thrilled with and is testament to his hard work and effort in recent months. Tomorrow it is the turn of the James Junior who turns 14 - we have some exciting surprise birthday celebrations planned which I will share later in the week! 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.

Merriest Moments Traditional Christmas Card PP553

by Joanne James8. August 2021 08:00

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:

    

These colours immediately made me think of florals, then Christmas and since I had just taken delivery of some new goodies that ticked both boxes I couldn't wait to try them out - take a look:

 

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

Merriest Moments - Merriest Moments, like the Art in Bloom bundle in the annual catalogue, is a 3 in 1 bundle comprising a stamp set, dies and a hybrid embossing folder that enables you to get beautifully textured die-cut images in seconds.

Perfect for the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week, where they are asking us to 'use a frame' on our cards, the Merriest Moments hybrid embossing folder adds a beautifully textured frame, choc full of festive foliage. I embossed my card base, then embossed and cut my frame and I added some sponged white kraft ink to give it some highlighting:

 

I added a sentiment panel and a trio of red and yellow Christmas poinsettias to accent it. I also stamped another flower and a sentiment inside my card to finish:

 

This bundle has everything you need to make your Christmas cards in one go - just add your colours and create! This bundle will feature in my class on October 11th so if it appeals to you, then do drop me a line to be added to class list. Meanwhile, I can't wait to create more cards with this bundle!

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; I am looking forward to a catch-up day today, since I've been out of action decorating for the last few days. I'm hoping to squeeze in a little crafting too so that I can 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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