Let It Snow Card In A Box For PP470

by Joanne James1. December 2019 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

    

I have a fancy card to share with you today that is perfect to give someone special for the festive season - take a look:

 

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

A Card In A Box - Is it a gift? Is it a card? I guess it's a little of both! When closed it looks like a gift box, but undo the ribbon and the top and bottom of the box separate to reveal an accordion-style expanding card:

 

I made a holly-themed 'card in a box' project at my October Creative Escapes Craft Retreat using the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set and made a few other versions to show the attendees how they could use the same concept using other papers and stamp sets - this is one of them. They are quite straightforward to make and rather addictive; I've had lots of photos from my retreat weekend attendees after the event showing me more examples of ones they've created too, so it must be catching! One of my top tips when making this type of card is to use temporary adhesive or a couple of glue dots to hold the last panel in place so that you can remove it to write your message to the recipient before gluing it in place; this is much easier than trying to write it when it's already in the box.

Let It Snow - I used the 'Let It Snow' papers for the accordion-fold of my card and the letters that spell out 'snow', which I diecut using the Hand-Lettered Prose dies and I used the adorable Let It Snow Embellishment Kit to dress up the snowman on the front of my box - how cute are those little felt accessories?!

 

Snowman Season - The sentiment on the front and inside my card are from the 'Snowman Season' stamp set. The 'Let It Snow' stamp was perfect for a partial stamp to then finish the sentiment with the diecut letter panels. I also used the snowflakes in the stamp set with some Stampin' Glitter to add some sparkle to each of the Coastal Cabana panels and a snowman on the first panel that I coloured with co-ordinating Stampin' Blends markers:

 

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. 

I'm also linking today's project up with the current fancy fold challenge over at Inspire Create.

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; as it's the first of December we are going to begin decorating the house for Christmas today, much to the children's delight! Especially as we have a couple of extra Christmas trees and some new rainbow baubles too. 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.

Join Me For A Creative Escape With The Crafty Owl Luxury Weekend Crafting Retreat - Last Spots Remaining!

by Joanne James17. August 2019 09:00

It's school summer vacation here so my crafting time has been limited as I spend time with the James Juniors and I haven't managed to get into my craft room all week, despite receiving my Autumn-Winter preorder. This first glimpse of the new Autumn-Winter catalogue from Stampin' Up! (a demonstrator perk!) has me starting to think about the projects for my forthcoming luxury weekend craft retreat in October - it's never too early to start creating for Christmas!

I have lots of lovely ladies enrolled to attend and have just the last couple of spots remaining, so thought I would do a quick reminder in case any of you would like to join us for a weekend of crafting bliss:

 

If getting away from everyone and everything and having some ME time appeals, then a luxury weekend of crafting and a Creative Escape with The Crafty Owl sounds just the thing for you.

Where is the retreat held?

The venue for the Craft Retreat is the award-winning Highgate House Hotel, conveniently located just off junction 1 of the A14 in Northamptonshire.

Set in beautiful grounds it is the perfect destination for a getaway; gorgeous surroundings, good food and your own stylish bedroom for the night.

Its central location in Creaton, Northamptonshire can be easily accessed via the M1 (junction 16/19) and the M6 – making it a perfect destination break for you and your friends from afar.

What is included?

The Creative Escape package includes an overnight stay and all food for the weekend, lunches, snacks, evening meal and breakfast together with unlimited tea and coffee. You have 2 full days of crafting with your own table for the whole weekend – no need to tidy away! Bliss!A goody bag of Stampin’ Up! crafting supplies is also part of the package and will be more than £100 in value. The supplies will enable you to complete the projects for the classes run throughout the weekend and you'll have lots left over to take home too!

The Classes

The classes offered during the weekend are optional. The weekend is yours, so you can choose to keep with class pace or do your own thing. There is no requirement to complete everything, you can do exactly what you want – chat, craft, chill … the choice is yours. Choose to craft at every possible moment, or take a break for a walk or a drink in the lounge – it’s all up to you.

How do I book?

Sounds like your kind of fun? Email to [email protected] and I will contact you to confirm your place and payment details. Your hotel room will need to be paid for to the hotel in full at the time of booking and this will secure your retreat place. The remaining balance will be paid to me directly thereafter. Rates for the weekend are as follows: Single occupancy (single room) is £330 per person or double occupancy (twin room) is £310 per person. Full terms and conditions are available on the Creative Escape Crafting Retreats page on my website.

The October Creative Escape will have a distinctly Christmas theme so why not come along and give yourself a head start on your creative makes for the festive season? 

If you have any further questions or queries, please do get in touch - I would love you to join me!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with my next creative project fr this week's challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

 

 

Snowflake Showcase Pillow Box Creative Retreat Gifts

by Joanne James2. November 2018 19:00

As promised in my earlier post today (you can read that here if you missed it), today I'm sharing something a little different that I gave a sneak peek of on my Facebook page the week before last - a 3D project! Today is the perfect day to share it since it coincides with the launch of the Snowflake Showcase product suite yesterday - you can read all about that here.

The weekend before last I held my second residential craft retreat this year. I love these weekends: they are a great opportunity for me to spend quality time with my customers, some of whom I see at my regular classes but for many who follow my blog and shop with me online and for whom this is an opportunity to get away from it all for some quality crafting time amongst friends. I am grateful that they choose to spend a weekend with me crafting and as such in addition to their goody bags, they receive lots of little pillow gifts and table favours throughout their stay as a token of my appreciation. When they leave at the end of the weekend, I like to gift them a key ring that is unique to that retreat as a reminder of the fun time that they've had. It has to showcase some fabulous Stampin' Up! product too, both on the keyring and the packaging so for this one I just had to feature the limited edition, exclusive Snowflake Showcase products that went live on sale yesterday. So first up here is the packaging for my gift:

 

I dressed up one of the kraft pillow boxes available in the annual catalogue with some silver-trimmed ribbon and added a sentiment banner stamped tone-on-tone with the border stamp and then heat-embossed my sentiment in silver over the top. I then added the fabulous string of snowflakes diecut to the front of the box for a real 'wow'.

It didn't end there; I continued the snowflake theme inside with a keyring, that had a snowflake tree, a teeny-tiny sentiment and one of my craft retreat logos all stamped onto shrink plastic and reduced in size, along with one of the gorgeous snowflake trinkets that are also part of this suite. I made them in two colourways, Pool Party and Balmy Blue:

 

Here's a picture of them both together - gift and packaging. What do you think - cute enough to hang your keys from? 

I received such lovely comments from the ladies who attended my retreat, who all said they felt truly spoiled all weekend. Here's one of the pictures I shared over on my Facebook page of us at dinner on the Saturday evening, with some of them sharing another of their table gifts:

 

Christmas crackers, what else?! I will have more projects using the fabulous Snowflake Showcase in the coming weeks so look out for those and meanwhile do get in touch with me directly or via my online store to order yours whilst supplies last.

Equally, if you would like to be similarly spoiled and enjoy a fabulous crafty weekend away from it all, there are still spaces available on my March 2019 retreat which will be held in the West Midlands on 2-3 March - you can read more about it here and I would love it if you could join me! The dates for next October will be released soon and I already have a waiting list for this event, so if you would like to be one of the first to receive the details as they are published then do get in touch with me via [email protected] to register your interest as spaces are likely to be snapped up quickly!

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.

Creative Escapes From The Crafty Owl - October Luxury Crafting Weekend Retreat Booking Offer!

by Joanne James25. August 2018 10:50

Happy Bank Holiday weekend to my UK readers and I hope the rest of you are finding fun (and maybe even crafty!) things to do this weekend. I have managed to squeeze in a little craft time this week so do have lots of new projects to share with you (especially using the items in my Autumn-Winter preorder box, I can't stop creating with them!) but firstly today I want to talk about creative escapes of a different kind!

 

Further to the successful weekend retreat I held earlier this year with my friend and fellow demonstrator Louise Sims, I have another two sole ventures planned. The same venue, more great projects and most importantly a weekend away, full of crafting and good company. If getting away from everyone and everything and having some ME time appeals, then a luxury weekend of crafting and a Creative Escape with The Crafty Owl sounds just the thing for you.

Where is the retreat held?

The venue for the Craft Retreat is the gorgeous 4 star Macdonald Ansty Hall Hotel, conveniently located just off the M6/M69, near Coventry, Warwickshire.

Set in beautiful grounds it is the perfect destination for a getaway; gorgeous surroundings, good food and your own stylish bedroom for the night.

Its central Midlands location just off junction 2 of the M6 motorway means it has easy access from all parts of the country – making it a perfect destination break for you and your friends from afar.

What is included?

The Creative Escape package includes an overnight stay and all food for the weekend, lunches, snacks, evening meal and breakfast together with unlimited tea and coffee. You have 2 full days of crafting with your own table for the whole weekend – no need to tidy away! Bliss!

A goody bag of Stampin’ Up! crafting supplies is also part of the package and will be more than £100 in value. The supplies will enable you to complete the projects for the classes run throughout the weekend and you'll have lots left over to take home too!

The Classes

The classes offered during the weekend are optional. The weekend is yours, so you can choose to keep with class pace or do your own thing. There is no requirement to complete everything, you can do exactly what you want – chat, craft, chill … the choice is yours. Choose to craft at every possible moment, or take a break for a walk or a drink in the lounge – it’s all up to you. Classes are suitable for both beginner and experienced crafters alike - there really is something for everyone.

2018-19 Craft Retreat Dates

Booking is currently open for the following dates:

Saturday 20th October - Sunday 21st October 2018​   **LIMITED AVAILABILITY** LAST FEW SPACES REMAINING
Saturday 2nd March – Sunday 3rd March 2019

Fully inclusive price for 1 nights accommodation,  with lunch and a 3 course dinner on Saturday, followed by breakfast and buffet lunch on Sunday. It also includes unlimited tea, coffee or hot chocolate & snacks, 4 crafting classes and a goody bag worth more than £100 full of Stampin’ Up! products.

The price of a Creative Escape With The Crafty Owl is as follows:

Single occupancy is £325 per person or
Double occupancy is £305 per person

Early booking discounts for all Creative Escapes apply (£292 pp and £272 pp respectively).

Spaces are limited with booking brisk for next March and only a few spots remaining for this October. I am keen to fill the last few spaces for the October weekend so with this in mind I have a Bank Holiday weekend booking incentive for you: 

Bank Holiday Creative Escapes Booking Offer:

 

** Book and pay in full for your October Creative Escape before 31st August 2018 and you will receive both a free ink pad and early booking rates for next March too. **

 

Once you've done one, you won't want to miss the next one!

The October Creative Escape will have a distinctly Christmas theme so why not come along and give yourself a head start on your creative makes for the festive season? 

 

How do I book?

Sounds like your kind of fun? Email to [email protected] and I will contact you to confirm payment details. If you would like to book a place on the March Creative Escape, you are still able to join my payment plan so you can split the cost into monthly payments. Full terms and conditions are available on the Creative Escape Crafting Retreats page on my website.

If you have any further questions or queries, please do get in touch - I would love you to join me!

 

I'll be back soon with my next creative project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

 

Announcing The First Stampin' Sanctuary Craft Retreat - Book Your Spot Now!

by Joanne James10. November 2017 09:00

I am off to Solihull today to attend Stampin' Up!'s UK Onstage Event, where demonstrators from all over the UK come together for the launch of the Spring-Summer catalogue - exciting times! The last few days have been busy with last-minute preparations and I am looking forward to a wonderful Centre Stage evening reception today and a jam-packed day of activity tomorrow, lots of which I will share with you in due course.

On my blog today though I wanted to share a new venture with you: I am delighted to announce the first in an ongoing calendar of luxury residential craft retreat weekends, that will be known as Stampin’ Sanctuary Craft Retreats.

 

Do you fancy a weekend away, full of crafting and good company? Does getting away from everyone and everything and having some 'me' time appeal? How about 2 whole days of crafting and making new projects? If all of this sounds attractive then a Stampin’ Sanctuary Retreat is just what you need.

 

The Stampin’ Sanctuary is a collaboration between top UK Stampin’ Up demonstrators: myself, Joanne James, and my good friend Louise Sims. We are two Midlands-based Stampin' Up! demonstrators who both run successful all day events and classes have come together to offer you the best weekend of crafting.

 

The venue for the Craft Retreat is the gorgeous 4 star Macdonald Ansty Hall Hotel, conveniently located just off the M6/M69, near Coventry, Warwickshire.Set in beautiful grounds it is the perfect destination for a getaway; gorgeous surroundings, good food and your own stylish bedroom for the night.Its central location means it has easy access from all parts of the country – making it a perfect destination break for you and your friends from afar.

What is included?

The Craft retreat package includes an overnight stay and all food for the weekend, lunches, snacks, evening meal and breakfast together with unlimited tea and coffee. You have 2 full days of crafting with your own table for the whole weekend – no need to tidy away! Bliss!A goody bag of Stampin’ Up! crafting supplies is also part of the package and will be more than £100 in value. The supplies will enable you to complete the projects for the classes run throughout the weekend and you'll have lots left over to take home too!

The Classes

The Classes offered during the weekend by both Joanne and Louise are optional. The weekend is yours, so you can choose to keep with class pace or do your own thing. There is no requirement to complete everything, you can do exactly what you want – chat, craft, chill … the choice is yours. Choose to craft at every possible moment, or take a break for a walk or a drink in the lounge – it’s all up to you. 

When Will It Take Place?

The first in our calendar of retreats is scheduled for Saturday 3rd March – Sunday 4th March 2018

Fully inclusive price for 1 nights accommodation,  with lunch and a 3 course dinner on Saturday, followed by breakfast and buffet lunch on Sunday. It also includes unlimited tea, coffee or hot chocolate & snacks, 4 crafting classes and a goody bag worth more than £100 full of Stampin’ Up! products. Spaces are limited so book your spot today to avoid disappointment; this retreat is already partially filled, so if you're interested don’t delay!

How do I book?

Sounds like your kind of fun? Register your interest here and and I will contact you to confirm if space is available and payment details. I offer a payment plan so you can split the cost into monthly payments (depending on when you book). Please note there is a cancellation fee should you need to cancel. Book & pay before 20th November and the rates will be as follows:

Single occupancy is £292 per person or
Double occupancy is £272 per person

From 21st November 2017 the price will increase to £325 for single and £305 for double per person.

I would so love you to join me for what promises to be a fabulous weekend! This would make a great Christmas present too, so if you're stuck for gift ideas for yourself or your nearest and dearest, maybe this is the answer.

Back later in the weekend with news from Onstage and a project or two. Until then, check those diaries and get booking! 

 

The Boring but Important Stuff

A Deposit of £60 is required to guarantee your place on a first come, first served basis. All payment plan instalments must reach us by 1st of each month. If you are late by more than 1 week, we will assume you are cancelling your place and apply the appropriate cancellation fees (see below).The fees are inclusive of VAT, set at the current rate of 20%. Should this change, the final price of the Craft Retreat will also change.The % of your fee that will be forfeit should you cancel within the time periods is shown below. If I can fill your place then the cancellation fee will not be applied. The cancellation fee will be based on when you cancel with me in writing and is to cover outgoing costs to the venue and the product kit ordered prior to the event. You will receive the balance as a refund via a cheque or bank deposit.

Cancellation Notice

% Cancellation Fee: 

  • Before the 30th November: 50%
  • 1st December to 20th January:75%
  • 21st January to 3rd March:100%

Should the Stampin’ Sanctuary need to need to cancel the event at short notice a refund will not be provided. This will only be due to sickness or unforeseen circumstances. You may use the hotel facilities as booked & paid for. Goody bags will be shipped to you at Stampin’ Sanctuary's cost (provided full payment has been received).

 

 

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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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