Varied Vases Spring Tulips Birthday Card

by Joanne James18. February 2020 08:00

Today I'm sharing a card inspired by the photo over at Paper Craft Crew and the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

Inspirational Photo Challenge with Red floral bouquet and body silhouette of lady in background in a light floral dress.   

When I saw that inspiration photo of bright red spring blooms, I thought it was time to reach for an old favourite from the annual catalogue that I haven't used for a while - take a look:

 

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

I used my Varied Vases stamp set and co-ordinating Vases Builder Punch to stamp and punch out a pretty vase of bright red Poppy Parade tulips and fussy cut a shelf to sit them on. I added a scallop edge detail using the decorative ribbon border punch and balanced this with a couple of Granny Apple Green strips as per the sketch. I set the whole thing against a calming soft Sea Foam card base.

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.

Feels Like Frost New Year Inspiration AYSI 216

by Joanne James3. January 2020 12:00

 

This is my second post today - if you missed it, you can read my earlier post about Sale-A-Bration and the new Spring-Summer mini catalogue here. In this post I'm sharing my design team card for our first challenge of the new year over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonally-themed recipe challenge:

    

I used Amy's versatile layout over at Freshly Made Sketches for the design of my card, then grabbed my recipe ingredients and set to work. This is what I came up with:

 

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

A Hint of Hammered Metal - Today's card uses some unusually wintery product, considering it is the launch day for the Spring-Summer mini catalogue, but whilst lots of the items used are from the Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue, it's still all available (kind of!). Firstly the hammered metal embossing folder that I used for my silver foil background layer is a carryover product and continues to be available to purchase. You can't see much of the effect on today's card, but it does look great on a larger panel, adding lots of great texture and detail. 

Au Revoir Feels Like Frost - I decided to use a piece of foiled snowflake Feels Like Frost DSP for the main rectangle on the front of my card. Whilst we have bid farewell to this popular paper, it is for the first time an 'au revoir' rather than a goodbye forever - it is one of the favourite items that will return again with the launch of the 2020 Autumn-Winter mini catalogue - yay! So if you don't have a stash of this paper already, you've only another 7 months to wait until you can buy some more!!

New Year Inspiration - The sentiment on today's card is taken from a brand new set, called 'Beautifully Braided'. I had this set out on my desk as it features in my January technique card class and couldn't resist using these uplifting words on my card today. As the Headmaster at Ben's school often says to the children, "If you can be only one thing, be kind" - words to live by, in 2020 and beyond I think. Finally, a sprinkling of rhinestones completes 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. 

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.
  • Fill in the blanks with the words that are right for you and then create your project with those words in mind. Tell us, in your blog or on your site, what words you used.
  • 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 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.

 

Shades of Red Candy Cane Christmas Card

by Joanne James14. November 2018 11:00

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at As you See It where they have something fun going on:

Speed stamping in shades of red! Now making a card in under 10 minutes is a challenge, however luckily all of your thinking time and preparation is outside of that window so I thought it worth a shot. Following the advice of the design team I decided to 'Keep It Simple' and this is what I came up with:

 

At first glance my card might appear to have a lot going on, but following one practice run (even with thinking time I still changed things on my first attempt and went over the time - oops!) I managed to turn this beauty out in under 10 minutes by following a few simple rules. Here's the low-down on today's card:

It's All About The Candy - My card today has a clear theme: candy canes (in case you were still in any doubt!) The designer series paper pattern from the Santa's Workshop papers takes centre stage and does most of the work, with everything else tying in to this. This made it easy to narrow down supplies and the things I could use on my card. 

Shades of Red - I went with one shade of red on my card: Poppy Parade. This warm red is full of festive brightness and again made co-ordination really straightforward.

Keeping It Simple - For me to create a card in under 10 minutes, it either needs no layers and some simple stamping, or very little stamping at all, which is the route I chose for this card. My card base is a standard A5 blank, and the mat layers are sizes I use all of the time (my whisper White layer measures 9.5cm x 13.9cm and my DSP measures 9.1cm x 13.5cm) so were quick to cut and position. I decided to add a sparkly candy cane from the Santa's Workshop Memories and More pack to draw the eye to my sentiment - so easy, just peel and stick - no stamping or cutting required and chose my sentiment from the Christmas Pines set to reflect this. I embellished with a few enamel shapes and a piece of co-ordinating ribbon and even had time left to add a scalloped border to my white mat layer courtesy of my Decorative Ribbon Border Punch. I also did a little stamping on the inside, using my retired Candy Cane Christmas set: 

 

And how long did this take me to complete? Well, my stopwatch finished at 8 minutes and 24 seconds - not bad at all for someone who can often spend hours procrastinating over a card!!! Thank you ladies for a fun challenge 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. 

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.

Beautiful Baubles Bright Christmas Card

by Joanne James13. November 2018 20:00

I've had a busy start to my week with two days of classes, so it's nice to be able to sit for a while and share a card for the current challenge over at Just Add Ink where they have a beautiful bright and vibrant colour combination: 

 

I love these bold and bright colours and thought they would be perfect for a Christmas card in non-traditional colours and this is what I came up with:

 

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

Go Long With Beautiful Baubles - I decided to 'go long' with today's card, and repeatedly stamp the collection of baubles in Versamark onto watercolour paper along the length of my extra-long card. The stamp set is photopolymer and I didn't even use my Stamparatus - it was really easy to see where the next set needed to go.

A Watercolour Wonder - I heat-embossed my baubles in silver and used my aquapainter to 'decorate' my baubles in the three challenge colours. I'm something of a traditional girl when it comes to Christmas decorations, however there is a part of me that loves the idea of a bright, unconventionally-coloured tree in blue, berry and lime!

Bows and Borders - I added a lime decorative ribbon punched border either side of my watecoloured panel and a silver-edged Berry Burst ribbon and bow, before adding to my Blueberry Bushel card base, onto which I stamped and heat-embossed my sentiment to finish 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 (I have a hot date with a mountainous ironing pile!) 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.

Label Me Pretty 2017-19 In-Colour Thank You Card

by Joanne James21. November 2017 21:30

I'm finally back with a post today! With my American friends celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought today a card that expresses gratitude was in order. Today's card also fits for a few challenges that are happening at the moment too (click on the badges to go to the respective blogs):

      

My card uses an incredibly useful bundle from the annual catalogue - take a look:

 

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

Be Thankful - I am thankful for many things and I love that the Label Me Pretty set has this wonderful sentiment that is perfect for giving thanks and showing appreciation to others - finished with a teeny, tiny heart - adorable! This is such a great set for layering, with so many options. I created a crib sheet for my open house ages ago which I've been sharing with my face-to-face customers in classes; it has been so well received I thought I would share it here so that you could all save it too:

 

Details, Details - In addition to my layered label, my card has some other neat details: the tiny scalloped edge on the left is courtesy of the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch and the scalloped edge was cut with the scallop thinlit in the Seasonal Layers Thinlits set; the curved flower detail from the 'Label Me Pretty' stamp set fits it perfectly, how convenient! 

Don't Forget The Pretty - My card has a very feminine feel to it, with the Powder Pink and Fresh Fig in-colours balancing beautifully against the white, along with the tiny florals and pretty detailing, all finished off with a tied Powder Pink ribbon. Not my usual style, yet nice to ring the changes once in a while.

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'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.

Painted Autumn Suite Collage Card

by Joanne James7. November 2017 06:00

 

I'm back with another of the cards made at yesterday's technique class featuring the Painted Autumn Suite, which also uses the current sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew:

 Play along with the Paper Craft Crew for Square Sketch Challenge 266. The challenge starts November 1st and ends November 7, 2017 at 1 PM EST. Visit the blog at www.papercraftcrew.com to check out the design team samples and to submit your project. #papercraftcrew #papercrafting #sketchchallenge #color #playalong #imakecards #cardmaker #diy #sendacard #craft #stampinup #cardchallenge #papercraft #bigshot #rainydayfun #designteam #becreative #artsandcrafts #hobby #snailmail #createeveryday #crafttherapy #creativelifehappylife #pcc2017

I love the fact that the sketch had lots of bits and pieces which allowed me to use lots of the items in the Painted Autumn Suite:

 

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

Painted Autumn Patterns - I decided to use the panel to feature a piece of the gorgeous Painted Autumn DSP that I hadn't used previously. I hope you, like me, stocked up on this paper when it was part of the 'buy 3, get 1 free' offer -  the designs really are beautiful. I took my inspiration from the swirly leaves and branches of the paper and using the sketch built my design from there.

All About Texture - This card is full of elements that add texture: ribbon, burlap, enamel dots, punched leaves, touches of nature elements, punched border - all of which add to the loose, collage feel. 

Realistic Planks - The background panel is embossed with the Pinewood Planks Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. This 3D, dynamic folder creates deep and realistic dimensional embossed impressions that look just like the grain of pinewood planks - the perfect way to add interest to my background without detracting from the other elements.

I'm also linking up with the gals over at SUO Challenges today where they currently have a 'thankful' theme going on. 

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 am managing an early post today as I have an all-day Christmas stamp-a-stack and then I'm out talking to a local women's group about festive packaging this evening. I hope you have a great day; 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.

Beautiful Bouquet Watercolour Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue CASE

by Joanne James8. August 2017 15:10

Well, you can tell the children must be on their school summer holiday here in the UK as it's pouring with rain with no signs of let up! We have had an aborted trip to the zoo today and had to make do with indoor swimming and trampolining instead, which the James Juniors seem to have enjoyed despite the constant drizzle. It also means we are home slightly earlier than planned leaving me time to share a quick project with you and the lovely ladies over at As You See It who have a fun challenge theme this week:

It made me smile as this is definitely something I can identify with! I usually lose my mojo when I get delivery of a large new box of goodies during the pre-order period of a new Stampin' Up! catalogue; I have all these wonderful new sets and papers to play with and suddenly don't know where to start! When I get like this, I often turn to my Stampin' Up! catalogue for inspiration and CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) a card from within. This is usually enough to get me back on track and get the ideas flowing. Here is one such card:

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will recognise my card as a CASE of the card on page 93 of the 2017-18 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue that features the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set. I've changed a few things: I used a different palette of colours, layered my sentiment on a stitched circle and added some Powder Pink ribbon as opposed to linen thread along with a couple of sparkly faceted gems for good measure, but the basic layout and the loose spritzed watercolour technique is the same. 

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. 

'CASE-ing the catalogue' is also a great way to try something different - this sample encouraged me to think about using the Beautiful Bouquet set in different ways, rather than simply stamping and die cutting. I am expecting delivery of my Autumn-Winter catalogue pre-order tomorrow, so I give it about 24 hours before the loss of crafting mojo kicks in and you can guess where I will be headed - yes, the pages of my new seasonal catalogue for inspiration!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back soon 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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About Me

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.