Springtime Joy Welcome Spring Bunny Card

by Joanne James29. March 2021 11:30

Today I have another card to share that I made using Julee's Mojo Monday layout and those yummy pastels over at The Color Throwdown this week: 

    

I needed a few more Easter cards and those bunny-ear cakes definitely lend themselves to a cute Easter card  - take a look:

 

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

I used Highland Heather for my card base and gingham panel and used the sweet bunny from the 'Springtime Joy' stamp set as the focal point of my card, added some pretty colours to her flowers, then picked up the flower colour and detail in the horizontal border, by adding a trio of flowers made using the medium daisy punch. I finished each with some oversize retired sparkly gems and tucked in my 'Welcome Spring' sentiment that I stamped on an Everyday Label punched piece. I added another sentiment from the set to the inside of my card:

 

How sweet are those pretty colours? Gorgeous! I love the added sparkle from the gems 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. 

That really is it from me today! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for the new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches where it's the double this week! Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Ornate Garden Love You Cards

by Joanne James29. March 2021 11:00

Today I'm sharing a couple more cards using Jen Timko's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

In my quest to continue using up DSP, I chose my favourite pattern in the Ornate Garden DSP pack, a non-floral metallic and decided to make another couple of cards, but this time flipping the design to use the DSP on one each of the panels and an alternative diecut sentiment using the Always Dies from the mini catalogue. Here's the first one:

 

For the second one, I used the DSP panel as the bottom border and switched out the colours for the diecut layers of the sentiment to create an even cleaner design:

 

On both I kept the sentiments simple, and went for a big, bold sentiment inside my card, keeping the monochromatic colour scheme:

 

I like the idea that you can send an 'I love you' card at a time other than Valentine's, with no reds or pinks in sight. The second, cleaner card is definitely my favourite so that's the one I'm going to link up over at FMS - but what do you think? Here's both of them together:

 

This gold-embossed pattern is probably my favourite in the whole pack and is much more 'me' than the last pair I made using Jen's sketch. All were a great way to use up some retiring patterned paper, although having looked through the fabulous cards in the gallery, I know I could have been much more creative with this sketch!! 

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 later with another post. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Ornate Garden Thank You Cards

by Joanne James29. March 2021 10:00

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I was meant to share on Saturday but having had a frustrating afternoon of creativity, ran out of time so thought I'd squeeze them in today! Jen Timko has a great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I so wanted to play along:

I had been using one of the patterns in the Ornate Garden DSP pack, originally for my Paper Players card, although I ended up not really liking the end result so made a different one (in case you're getting confused, having already read yesterday's post!) Part of the problem was that these papers have such bold, bright colours that they really don't lend themselves to anything too layered and fussy in my view, so I decided to use them instead with Jen's sketch to make a couple of thank you cards with an altogether more clean and simple look. I made a couple of cards - here's the first one:

 

This one is my favourite with the daisy-only pattern, but I also made a second one using another of the busy floral papers in the pack:

 

On both I kept the sentiments simple, layering a couple of offset thanks diecuts from the retiring Well-Written Dies onto a stitched rectangle, with a border using the already out-of-stock retiring Ornate Borders die. So here's both of them together - do you have a preference?

 

I'm not sure I will ever love these papers, however I was pleased with these cards - more than the one I started out with, for sure!

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 shortly with another couple of posts - including another one using Jen's fabulous sketch! Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Forever Fern Friendship Card TTT106

by Joanne James25. March 2021 17:00

Firstly, if you didn't see yesterday's post about the list of products that will be retiring with the current annual catalogue, please go and check it out here - the retiring lists are worth a look with big discounts to be had, long whilst supplies last! Then come back and read today's post too!

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely LeAnne is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

 

I went down the last column with leaves, green and diecut for my card today with another card using those lovely Forever Greenery papers - take a look:

 

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

Forever Greenery -  Today's card just like this one that I shared earlier this week features lots of elements from the Forever Greenery Suite. The Forever Greenery paper was once again the starting point for today's card. These papers have some beautiful patterns featuring lush greenery and today I chose a subtle background design combined with a busy foliage-filled designs, and layered them and used them as the inspiration for my foliage sprig. 

Forever Fern - I stamped similar pieces of leaf foliage from the Forever Fern stamp set in the same colours as those that feature on the papers and diecut it with the corresponding Forever Flourishing Dies. The detail on these stamps really is amazing - they are another of the Distinktive range that appear almost 3-dimensional when stamped. So pretty! 

Touches of Gold - I used some gold foil for a border and tiny foliage pieces, along with gold twine to embellish my card but the star of the show is the gold hoop embellishment that frames my sentiment - such a wow in real life:

 

I have really enjoyed working with this set this week and am so glad that it is carrying over to the new annual catalogue, even though the papers and gold elements in the suite aren't; it will give me lots more opportunity to play for sure.

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your evening; 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.

2020-21 Annual Catalogue Retiring Lists Are Here

by Joanne James24. March 2021 19:00

It's here - the list of products that will be retiring from this year's annual catalogue has been announced!

You can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Annual catalogue by CLICKING HERE or alternatively view the information in a filterable Excel file HERE (this is often easier as you can filter by language, for example)

Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual catalogue, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto! Don't forget to add this month's online hostess code: 3XTNB243

If you want to stock up on any of the retiring in-colour items and you haven't already done so, especially re-inkers, I would urge you to do that sooner rather than later as they are always the first things to sell out and some cardstock colours are already out of stock.  

Remember too that this year's annual catalogue will finish on 2 May 2021, a whole month sooner than usual to make way for the new catalogue. Time is of the essence!

Hop online to get the latest on stock availability and place your orders. Some retiring items are discounted by up to 75% so these may well be snapped up quickly. 

I will be back tomorrow with a creative post and an update on the retiring list; until then, happy shopping!

Shades of Purple Ornate Borders Thank You Card CCS412

by Joanne James23. March 2021 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Can you believe it was exactly one year ago today that the UK went into lockdown; my how times have changed in the last year - thank heavens for crafting! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and YoonYoung has asked that we create something with three vertical elements and a central sentiment as our focal point:

     

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to use a floral border die in shades of purple for my vertical elements - here's my card:

 

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

Ornate Borders - Whilst designed for use along the edge of a card as the name suggests, I thought that the simplest of the floral borders would also work when layered into my design to create the three vertical lines of interest in the sketch. I measure them carefully so that they were placed an equal distance apart; I like the way that the flowers show through the colour beneath to add further interest to each diecut. 

Shades of Purple - Purples are a favourite of mine and were perfect for today's card, where I decided I needed three complimentary shades of one colour, to maintain something of a CAS feel; I used the soon-to-be retiring Purple Posy, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape. I am also playing along with a new-to-me challenge, The Flower Challenge, introduced to me by my blogging friend, the lovely Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone who has just joined their team of designers, where they are looking for flowers in shades of purple too. Mine are diecut as opposed to stamped (I think that's still allowed!) and if you are a purple-lover too, you should check out their gallery - there are some fabulous purple stamped creations to peruse!

 

Inside Detail - I chose a super simple 'thanks' from the co-ordinating 'Ornate Thanks' stamp set in a stitched oval for the front of my card, in an effort to increase my proportion of 'white space' and maintain a clean and simple feel, and finished it on the inside of my card, adding a flower made up from the pieces leftover from the diecuts on the front:

So what do you think? Is purple friend or foe in your cardmaking and how will you interpret those verticals on our sketch this week? I'm looking forward to finding 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. 

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 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.

A Forever Greenery Hello in Just Jade and Soft Sea Foam

by Joanne James22. March 2021 18:40

As promised, I had a little extra crafty time at the weekend so I have another card to share today, this time using the current Fab Friday sketch and this week's colour palette over at The Color Throwdown:

   

As I was pondering two shades of green with gold and white, I was drawn to a suite from the annual catalogue that I've had for some time but barely used - take a look:

 

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

Forever Greenery - Today's card features lots of elements from the Forever Greenery Suite. The Forever Greenery paper was the starting point for today's card. These papers have some beautiful patterns featuring lush greenery and I chose one of the simpler designs, a washed Just Jade paper with a single repeating Soft Sea Foam leaf stem. 

Forever Fern - I stamped a similar piece of leaf foliage from the Forever Fern stamp set in Just Jade onto Soft Sea Foam cardstock and diecut it with the corresponding Forever Flourishing Dies. The detail on these stamps is amazing - they are another of the Distinktive range that appear almost 3-dimensional when stamped. So pretty! 

Forever Gold - I paired my stamped stem with a couple of decorative stems from the Forever Gold laser-cut paper that is also part of the suite. I used one outline and one solid leaf stem for contrast. Along with a sprinkling of gilded gems, I think they really lift the detail in this corner of the card:

A simple 'hello' sentiment and a piece of Just Jade ribbon finish my card. I love greens and must confess that having made this card I wondered to myself why I hadn't used it more. Not that you need to restrict yourself to greens with this set; my dear friend Jan Clothier in New Zealand has made many a fabulous card with the Forever Fern stamp set and many of them in colours other than green; you can check out her Thinking Stamping blog here if you'd like to see some of her Forever Fern creations. That said, I hope you've enjoyed my greens today, as I've another card featuring this suite to share with you later 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. 

this is me done for today; enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Sweet Strawberry Thank You Card

by Joanne James22. March 2021 14:30

I've had a busy start to my week, with a run and a class featuring the beautiful 'Friends are like Seashells' bundle. Today I have a couple of blog posts, the first one using the sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments:

 

Such a great sketch! I decided to switch out the square for a circle to soften the edges and feature some yummy-looking strawberries and the Sweet Strawberry bundle - take a look:

 

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

I cut up some of my Sale-A-Bration Berry Delightful DSP for my focal cluster of strawberries and blossoms, punching out the shapes with my Strawberry Builder Punch - I just love the easy watercoloured look of these papers, and added some tone-on-tone stamping of additional blossom and leaves from the Sweet Strawberry stamp set in Granny Apple Green onto my Soft Sea Foam base and blended in some extra Soft Sea Foam ink with my blending brush, before running through my Subtle Embossing Folder for some added light texture. I embossed my sentiment in white onto a contrasting Real Red banner, adding some twine and pearls to finish.

 

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'm also liking today's card up over at SUO Challenges where they have the theme of 'sweet things - food and drink'. These strawberries definitely look good enough to eat, which will have to do for a few months yet until the real thing comes into season here in the UK in mid June.

Enjoy your day; I'm off on the school run but I'll be back later with another card from my crafty weekend endeavours! Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Sand and Sea Square Split Panel Card

by Joanne James20. March 2021 22:00

A quick post from me this evening with a card inspired by the following challenges:

      

I don't often use diagonals, but funnily enough had designed a rectangular card using a layout similar to Jen's Freshly Made Sketches design for this month's class featuring the Friends Are Like Seashells bundle (I can't share that one yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the ladies attending Monday's class!) so decided to change it up and make an altered square version along with blue, patterned paper and square card from the Festive Friday inspo list to create another card using the Sand and Sea Suite - take a look:

 

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

I used some sand and sea-inspired DSP for my background triangles, cutting the blue sea piece freehand along the line of the waves for a more natural effect, placing my sentiment in a stitched square in the centre and embellishing it with a selection of shells, seaweed, pearls and split braided linen trim. I used some of the pearlescent paper for my large, embossed shell - isn't it so pretty?

 

I just love the sentiments in this set too; this is how I finished the inside of 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. 

That's all from me; 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.

Springtime Joy Easter Lamb AYSI 246

by Joanne James19. March 2021 13:00

Today has not quite gone according to plan so I'm a little late sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It - and it's my choice of theme this week too! For our new challenge we have a seasonal theme challenge:

    

Easter! Whether you are looking forward to potentially gathering face-to-face with friends or your congregation for the first time in a while, or simply enjoying hot cross buns and the prospect of a chocolate egg or two, Easter is I am going for a less traditional take on Easter today and instead, somewhat inspired by the chocolate bunny in our challenge photo, I'm going with a cute spring lamb to decorate my Easter card today - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

My little lamb decorated with flowers is from the new 'Springtime Joy' stamp set, a set full of cute animals along with some lovely sentiments. I actually coloured two and made a couple of cards, paired with some retired All Ablooms designer paper that is covered in spring flowers (these papers feature the retired in-colours Strawberry Slush and Pistachio Pudding - remember those?) that I thought would work perfectly with my sweet lambkins. Here's the second one, using a different paper from the same pack:

 

I added some extra DSP to my envelope flap and a liner too (great ways to dress up your card further and use up paper if you have lots of it going spare!) From the outside, my card could potentially be for any occasion - I added my favourite sentiment from the stamp set to the inside of my card:

 

Because Easter is the perfect reminder of new beginnings, I think.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference (details for current products only):

 

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'm also linking today's card up over at The Paper Craft Crew where they are all about cards featuring our favourite critters this week - I think my sweet lamb qualifies. We have a farm near where we live and as it's currently lambing season, Rebecca takes any and every opportunity to head over on foot or bicycle so that she can visit the newborn lambs in the field or take a peek into the lambing shed. I must confess, they are adorable! 

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 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.
 

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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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