A Vase Full of Flowers For This Week's Colour Me...! Card Challenge

by Joanne James24. September 2014 10:00

It's Wednesday and time for a new challenge over at the Colour Me...! Card Challenge. This week we have a playful colour palette for you to work with - I also chose to use this week's Retrosketches layout for my card:

 

I love the bright colours of this week's colour palette, so decided to create a nice cheery card to really make the most of them - here's my card:

I used Bermuda Bay as the base colour for my card and decided to make a 4" square card for a change. I layered a sheet of Real Red polka dot paper from the Brights paper stack and a piece of Confetti Celebration DSP that features a fun Bermuda Bay design. I stamped the flower vase from Pictogram Punches, having inked it with my Stampin' Write markers to enable me to add the chevron detail on the vase and the flower stems in a different colour to the vase itself, then stamped and punched three flowers, finishing each with a rhinestone in the centre that had been coloured with my Blendabilities marker and adhered the flowers separately using glue dots. After stamping my sentiment from Petite Pairs, this left-handed section was adhered to the front of the card using dimensionals, to allow space for my selection of co-ordinating buttons to sit above and below it as per the sketch design.

I even remembered to take a  photo of the stamping on the inside of my card today:

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. Right, i'm off to get some work done before this afternoon's hockey match (observer, not participant!)

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

You're a Star For Colour Me...!

by Joanne James10. September 2014 10:02

Here is today's card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have a striking colour palette to work with:

 

I used this week's layout at CAS(E) This Sketch again for today's card, although interpreted it quite differently to the card I made using this sketch earlier in the week (you can see that card here). I played about with this week's colours for a bit before deciding on the final version of my card - I had lots more layers and DSP galore, but eventually decided that a less fussy layout was in order. Here is my card:

I used Hello Honey for my card base, and matted a piece of Coastal Cabana that I had first punched along the edge with the Confetti Star punch. I can't stop using this punch, the floor of my office is littered with tiny punched stars! I stamped the greeting from Pictogram Punches in Coastal Cabana ink onto a banner of Whisper White and flagged the end with my hexagon punch - so useful for perfectly even banner ends! I then stamped the moon and three stars in Hello Honey onto Hello Honey cardstock and fussy cut the moon and punched out the stars with the co-ordinating punch - easy peasy! I attached the falling stars to the moon using some vintage Pool Party baker's twine (a bit of a cheat, but it added a little more colour than Whisper White twine and against the Coastal Cabana it looks the same colour!) You could achieve the same look by using one of the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities markers to colour some white baker's twine. I attached the shapes to my card using dimensionals for lift, then stamped and punched another yellow star and attached it to the sentiment to tie this in to the rest of my card.

This card is heading for a member of my team who recently achieved a promotion - a fun congratulations card! 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 striking 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.

 

Sweet Baby Duck New Baby Card for Colour Me...!

by Joanne James3. September 2014 09:30

Wednesday already? This week is zipping by! Today I'm sharing my card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have a monochromatic colour palette to work with:

Daffodil Delight yellow - a favourite of mine! - and white. I used this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout and this is what I came up with:

A simple card where the feature is this lovely piece of Daffodil Yellow DSP from the All Abloom DSP paper stack (the little white spots remind me of bubbles!). I overlaid this with my angled panel of Whisper White, having used my Big Shot and Baby's First framelits to cut out the duck shape to allow the DSP to peek through. I finished the duck with a simple white baker's twine bow before adding my Bitty Banner 'Sweet Baby' sentiment on dimensionals for added height.

A great 'welcome baby' card that is the perfect store cupboard standby as it would be suitable for a boy or a girl - I'm also linking up with SUO Challenges as it fits nicely with their 'clean and simple' theme. 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 bright monochromatic 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.
 

Colour Me...! Nutty or Nice? Nutcracker Christmas Card

by Joanne James27. August 2014 09:00

It's Wednesday so time for the challenge over at Colour Me...! where this week we have a playful palette to work with:

What do you see when you look at these colours? They are quite clashing - pink, vanilla, orange and blue - from different areas of the colour wheel, yet they can work together. I decided to go with an unconventionally coloured Christmas card, using the new nutcracker stamp from the Santa Stache stamp set. Here is my card:

I used Marina Mist for my card base, then layered a strip of spotty Tangerine Tango DSP from the Flowerpot stamp set before creating a paper pieced layered image of the nutcracker. To do this, I stamped the nutcracker 5 times, once each on a piece of Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango, Pink Pirouette and Smoky Slate. Using the Very Vanilla piece as my base mat, I then fussy cut the pieces from the remaining images and paper-pieced them together, layering the edges on the hat and jacket for added dimension. I used some now-retired Pink Pirouette mini brads to accent the buttons on the nutcrackers jacket, hat and the edge of my card front for balance - these were lurking in the back of my drawer and were just the right size and shape for the domed effect I was after, but you could use candy dots or maybe small enamel dots in lace of these for a similar effect. Lastly, I cut out the Smoky Slate moustache using the moustache framelit and adhered to my paper pieced image with dimensionals. This vanilla base was matted onto both Marina Mist and Tangerine Tango before adhering to my card base and a little flag with the fun sentiment 'nutty or nice?' added just underneath.

I hope you like my unconventional card this week - only one more day to go until you can order this fun set for yourself. meanwhile, 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 August - Stephanie K
 
We look forward to seeing what interesting ways you choose to use this colour palette in your designs. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!
 
 
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
* Santa Stache - Available 28th August
Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.
 

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Cards | Stamping

Colour Me...! Crabby!!

by Joanne James13. August 2014 10:00

Time for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have this striking colour palette to work with this week:

After much thought, I decided that a fun card was the order of the day so I got to work creating another card with a custom sentiment using my Alphabet rotary stamp - such a useful stamp. Here's the outside of my card:

I used Tempting Turquoise for my base, then cut a Tangelo Twist starburst sun and adhered this to my base. I tore a couple of strips of naturals Ivory cardstock to look like sand, then randomly stamped a row of crabs across the front in Tangelo Twist ink and added the first party of my sentiment to the sky, stamped in Tempting Turquoise. The remainder of the sentiment continues on the inside of the card:

Fun, eh?! Let's face it - we all have times when we're grumpy and maybe others are on the receiving end of our less than happy demeanour - this would be the perfect fun apology! The Alphabet Rotary stamp is so useful for this kind of thing - you can create custom sentiments in a snap (pardon the pun!)

I hope you like today's card; why not visit the other Colour Me...! designers and check out their takes on this week's colour combination:

And our guest designer for August - Stephanie K
 
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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Cards | Stamping

Monochromatic Pistachio Pudding for this week's Colour Me...! Challenge

by Joanne James6. August 2014 11:00

Happy Wednesday everybody! Today is a good day - the sun is shining again, my Autumn-Winter pre-order has arrived so I have lots of Halloween and Christmas goodies to play with, there's a new bunch of weekly deals (see earlier post here) and it's time for this week's Colour Me...! Challenge, where we have a monochromatic colour challenge this week using Pistachio Pudding and a neutral:

 

I thought this challenge would be trickier than it actually was. I used the latest sketch from the Deconstructed Sketch for my layout and inked up my new Kinda Eclectic stamp set which I have been keen to get working with - here's my card: 

For my card I used a base of Pistachio Pudding, then layered one of the die-cut pieces from the now retired Simply Sent card kit in last year's annual catalogue. I added some Pistachio Pudding polka dot paper from the All Abloom DSP stack, then stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic in Pistachio Pudding onto Whisper White and cut out using my Big Shot and Circles Framelits and cut the bottom third off the circle. For the central banner, I stamped the spots in Pistachio Pudding on the cardstock of the same colour, then stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in White embossing powder over the top to add additional dimension. Lastly, I replaced the flags in the sketch with the butterflies from Kinda Eclectic, stamped in Pistachio Pudding onto Whisper White cardstock and punched out using the co-ordinating punches. I think the key to a single colour card where you are using one single colour plus a neutral, and don't have then benefit of tonal shades of the same colour, is to add layers, patterns and shapes for extra interest. If you're based in the UK and Europe, the Pistachio Pudding ink pad is on this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals List too and can be yours for just £3.71 instead of the usual £4.95 this week, so if you needed an incentive to have a go at this week's challenge, this is it!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the gallery this week - meanwhile, check out what the other designers have in store for you over at Colour Me and our new featured guest designer for the month of August.

Back tomorrow with 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.

 

Born To Be Loved for Colour Me...!

by Joanne James23. July 2014 08:00

Yes folks it's Wednesday already and so it's time for my Design Team card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...!, where we have a 'playful collection of colours for you this week:

 

Now it's time to confess - I found this a really tricky collection of colours this week! I love brights, but I found it tricky to combine this overall combination and produce something I was truly happy with. So several binned prototypes later, and with the help from the sketch above over at Fusion, here is this week's card:

I decided to use pink and black as my key colours, with highlights of yellow and gold. Using a base of Basic Black, I added a top panel of Melon Mambo, stamped with 'Born to be loved' from the 'Groovy Love' stamp set, then added a wide band of Champagne Glimmer Paper across the join (Stampin' Up! has just introduced pure gold coloured glimmer paper, which would look equally as nice - I just don't own any yet!) I then stamped the animal print heart from the same set in Versamark onto Daffodil Delight and heat embossed with black embossing powder to give a textured shine. I punched the heart out with the co-ordinating heart punch, and punched a second heart out of Basic Black cardstock and overlapped the two before adhering onto my card. Lastly, I stamped the 'love' stamp from the same set in Melon Mambo onto Whisper White and punched this out with my 3/4" circle punch and adhered using a dimensional to add height.

So what do you think? Check out the other Colour Me...! designers for their take on this colour combination. I for one will be stalking this week's gallery in earnest to see how you all make this colour combination work for you!

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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Cards | Stamping

Special Announcement: I'm a Designer over at Colour Me...! Card Challenge

by Joanne James2. July 2014 08:00

A big day today and a special announcement for me here on my blog, although if you are a follower of Colour Me...! and read last Sunday's post you will know this already: Hayley and Tara, the lovely ladies over at Colour Me ...! Card Challenge, have asked me to join their design team for the next 6 months - how great is that?!

Along with Hayley, Tara, Claire, Julia and Sherrie I will be sharing a new card each week that showcases the colour theme to give you lots of ideas and inspiration of ways in which you can use Stampin' Up!'s exclusive colours. For my first week, we are using a monochromatic colour scheme, with possibly my favourite new in-colour this year, Blackberry Bliss, as the star of the show. Here is the challenge image:

Here is the card that I created:

I decided to go with a three panel design featuring the foliage stamp from the new 'Blooming with Hope' hostess stamp set, alternating between stamping the images in Blackberry Bliss on Whisper White cardstock and stamping in Versamark onto a panel of Blackberry Bliss cardstock and heat embossing with white embossing powder. There are some great hostess sets in the new annual catalogue - if you ever needed an incentive to host a party, real or virtual, this catalogue has plenty to tempt; do get in touch if you would like to host one and get your hands on this set too! Back to my card: I mounted the central stamped image on a slightly larger mat of Whisper White so that it would still stand out against the Blackerry Bliss card base and stamped the sentiment directly onto the card and heat embossed that in white too. I raised the central image panel using dimensional so that it would both stand out and to enable me to easily tie some of the gorgeous new Blackberry Bliss Satin Stitched Ribbon around it - LOVE this ribbon! Apart from adding a little extra colour to the berries on the stamped images using a Blackberry Bliss and a chalk marker respectively, I didn't do anything more to them. This kind of card could be used for all kinds of occasions and I decided to make it a sympathy card as it was neutral enough to be elegant yet understated and perfect when you need this type of card.

If you came to my blog via the Colour Me...! challenge blog page and are visiting for the first time a big 'welcome' to you; if you are one of my regular readers why not hop on over to the Colour Me...! page to see what delights the other ladies have in store this week and better still, have a go at entering your own monochromatic Blackberry Bliss card into our challenge this week.

That's all from me today; 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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Cards | Stamping

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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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