Warm and Toasty Reindeer and Polar Bear

by Joanne James26. October 2020 19:30

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a super busy and productive day and am finally getting to today's blog post! Today I've a couple of cards to share with you for a couple of challenges, both featuring the Warm and Toasty stamp set. My first card features this week's Color Throwdown colours:

 

And the first animal to feature is the reindeer, resplendent with his red bow:

I've coloured the reindeer in the challenge colours with my Stampin' Blends and my card also features a couple of sneak peeks: the sentiment is from a new stamp set called 'Curvy Christmas' and is paired with a fabulous die from the Curvy Die set, both of which will be available to customers from the 1st November as a special release - exciting stuff! I couldn't resist adding a large red enamel dot to christen my reindeer Rudolf:

 

My second card uses the polar bear from the 'Warm and Toasty' stamp set, this time using this week's CAS Colours and Sketches colour palette:

 

I've seen some great examples of sponging recently, so wanted to have a go at creating a sponged background and decided that the blues would make a great backdrop for my iceskating polar bear:

 

I added a snow drift using my Freezin' Friends Dies and cut an ice rink freehand from vellum and coated it with a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella for an icy sparkle, before adding my polar bear to the finished scene.

 

I did a little extra stamping on the inside of this one too:

 

So what do you think? I think creating sponged backgrounds, whilst messy, is also quite addictive; and to that end, I have another one for you tomorrow!

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

 

And for the second one:

 

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 - Card 1:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.
 
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - Card 2:
Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Beautiful Boughs and Pine Cones AYSI 237

by Joanne James23. October 2020 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As You See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge:

 

For my card today I paired an old favourite with some new Christmas papers - a look:

 

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

Beautiful Boughs - The Beautiful Boughs Dies are in the annual catalogue as a carryover from the last Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and whilst I don't have the bundled stamp set (hence choosing a greeting from 'Itty Bitty Christmas' for today's card, that most useful of Christmas sentiment sets!) I do love the dies; their beautiful layered detail is great to add bold festive greenery to a project.

Pine Cone Poinsettias - The starting point for today's card was most definitely the designer series paper (no surprises there then!) I decided to use one of the papers that is on offer as part of this month's designer series paper sale (you can read all about that here) so I chose the Poinsettia Place paper pack and a pattern that I haven't yet used featuring pine cones, hence the fit with the Beautiful Boughs dies.

A Slight Confession - Whilst the layout of today's sketch is clearly visible on my card, I chose not to follow the suggested sentiment placement, instead making mine a feature of the circle. This is in part because I was originally going to use an alternative paper and use a diecut flower as the focal point, but in the end changed my mind at the last minute as I wanted to play with a new paper design. Either way, the sketch is a suggestion and does not have to be followed to the absolute letter; as long as the broad elements are visible, artistic licence is welcome!

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 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.

Both of the James Juniors are now officially on half-term for a week; I've spent the last few days enjoying some quality mother-daughter time with Rebecca as Ben was still at school, and tidying up some odds and ends, hence my lack of blog posts. They are both having a 'lazy day' today though so once I've battled my way slowly through the ironing pile, I am hoping to make a card or too later :-) 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.

Foiled Autumn Leaves TTT86

by Joanne James15. October 2020 18:00

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: 

    

My card works for either of the diagonals: stitching, circle, diecut or gold foil, circle, designer paper today! I decided to CASe Sharon's card over at Less Is More with a trio of punched autumn leaves for a card for someone special today - take a look:

 

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

I featured a small area of the vanilla foiled Gilded Autumn designer paper between some curvy stitched borders (courtesy of the snowdrifts in the Freezin' Friends Dies!) and then punched a trio of leaves and mounted these on a selection of gold and copper foil and glimmer paper stitched circles at the meeting point. A gold heat-embossed fussy cut sentiment from 'Rooted In Nature' on the front was paired with this sentiment on the inside of my card:

 

Foil is always difficult to photograph, so I hope you can see how pretty this card is! I must say having seen some of the other cards from the design team this week, I now have a desire to go and make this card in burgundy 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

One more look at that pretty glittery leaf trio:

 

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 am still resting up and will be spending my evening attending a 6th Form Virtual Open Evening with Rebecca from the comfort of the sofa whilst recovering from today's physiotherapy session. 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.

Let Faith Be Your Biggest Fear Meets Artistry Blooms

by Joanne James12. October 2020 07:00

It's Monday and to start the week I have a short post to share a couple of cards I made with this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout:

       

They are both encouragement cards, this time with the optional addition of pink, perfect for the current Time Out challenge. One of my cards also features an ombre background which is the trend over at Just Us Girls this week. Here's the first one:

 

And here's the second one, featuring another of the papers in the Artistry Blooms paper pack: 

 

Both cards feature a wonderful encouraging sentiment from the 'Ridiculously Awesome' stamp set, that is rather appropriate today as I am headed off for shoulder surgery. I am putting all my faith on my surgeon, that's for sure!

So which one is your favourite? I love them both and will be making a few more with these papers this month whilst they are on offer in the DSP sale :-)

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.

Positive Thoughts For AYSI 236

by Joanne James9. October 2020 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a speed stamping challenge:

       

I've been so short on time this week that a speed challenge was just what I needed! I grabbed some supplies in this week's Color Throwdown colours (what can I say - they chose my favourite - purple!) along with my 'Positive Thoughts' stamp set and this is what I came up with:

 

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

Positive Thoughts - Hmm, butterflies! I don't use them all that often but I have so many stamps and dies that feature them! I decided to go with 'Positive Thoughts', because I was persuaded to buy it having seen the wonderful makes of my As You See It teamie and Artisan friend, the lovely Jan Clothier, and yet I haven't used if much at all, but this is a great set for both simple and speedy stamping - with or without the co-ordinating Nature's Thoughts Dies. I love the slightly speckled nature of the stamps and as you would expect from the name, this set also has some wonderful uplifting sentiments - perfect for the current Time Out challenge too, who are all about cards with words of encouragement this week (I didn't go with the optional pink, but may come back for a second go to include this!)

Speedy Stamping - As always, the key to speedy stamping is keeping it simple. I had designed my card in my head and had everything out ready on my desk before I started the timer. Some quick cuts of my card and designer paper (from the 'Heartwarming Hugs' Christmas designer paper pack that is on offer this month - bargain!), only two colours to stamp and then one run through the diecutting machine to cut the edged panel and the butterfly and I was ready to start sticking together.

Time To Step Up -  As I had glued on everything but my sentiment, I glanced at my stopwatch - 5 minutes and 33 seconds - a personal record and almost finished! I decided to spend a few more minutes to step things up a little, so grabbed some Gorgeous Grape cardstock and added an offset strip behind my sentiment before attaching to my card. I added some clear Wink of Stella to my butterfly, to blur the lines and add a little sparkle, a linen bow and a few clear epoxy drops to finish my card. Final time: 7 minutes, 59 seconds - still something of a record for me, maybe I should work with butterflies more often!

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 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.
  • In a speed stamping challenge, time yourself and tell us how long it took you to complete your card.

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.

Always Grateful With Celebration Tidings TTT84

by Joanne James1. October 2020 18:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host and I am the featured designer this week. I chose lots of autumnal elements for my board: 

    

I used the same layout on today's card as the one I used for Monday's Christmas card (you can see that card here if you missed it). I went across the first row of the tictactoe board, with Plaid-Pumpkin-Thankful and I embraced those fresh Color Dare colours to make a bright autumnal thank you card - take a look:

 

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

I stamped the pumpkin image from the 'Celebration Tidings' stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black onto a stitched rectangle and coloured this image with my Stampin' Blends, using a panel of bright Plaid Tidings designer paper for my background and some retired Old Olive ribbon from my box to add in a little more green. I used Mango Melody cardstock for my cardbase and Pumpkin Pie for my mat layer - I love how bright this card looks, compared to if I'd used darker, richer colours. Good news on that Plaid Tidings paper too - it, along with many other designs, is on sale for the whole of the month of October as part of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper sale - more details to follow on that in another post later!

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 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.

Stitched Leaf Trio Thank You Card AYSI 235

by Joanne James25. September 2020 12:00

Friday already - wow, that was a quick week! Thank you to everyone who placed orders during the 24 hour stamp sale - there will be lots of lovely bargains heading your way next week! For those of you that missed out - please be sure that you are following my blog and social media channels I'm sh to be reminded of special offers and events and make sure you are signed up for my newsletter by clicking here.

Back to today 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 was struggling to be creative with my AYSI card this week (too many other things on my mind I think!), so I paired up with those intriguing colours over at Color Throwdown and the Autumn theme over at Paper Craft Crew and decided to go with some atypical leaves - take a look at what I came up with:

 

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

All About The Stitching - Today's card is definitely all about the stitching! I was tempted to use my most favourite of stitched items, my Stitched Shapes Dies, on today's card, but for once they don't feature at all! I decided to go with the Lovely Leaves bundle and Stitched Leaves Dies. Not only do they have those lovely leaf outlines with detailed dies for the centre, there is the fabulous stitched lines die that I used on the panel behind my leaves, which is great for adding interest on all kinds of cards. I also used my Rectangle Stitched Framelits to cut out this panel for added stitch detail. 

Beautiful Autumn - I could have used a sentiment from the Lovely Leaves set on today's card, but I had someone in mind for today's card and instead reached for one of my personal favourites from the 'Beautiful Autumn' stamp set, which is more appropriate. I stamped it in Early Espresso as opposed to black as it fitted in better with the autumnal feel of my card.

Stitched Detail Tip - The other lovely thing about the central stitched detail pieces is that they can be used to add detail to stamped leaves too, even if they haven't been cut out. I've shown this on my envelope flap before and I also added this detail onto my inner lining:

 

Whilst Cinnamon Cider and Sahara Sand are the dominant colours on today's card, the pop of colour from my blue and aqua leaves really brightens up my card, don't you think? It makes a nice change from the reds and yellows in my view, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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 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 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.

24 Hour Stamp Sale Starts Tonight - Save 15% on Selected Stamps

by Joanne James22. September 2020 12:58

 

Are you ready? The biggest stamp sale of the year is coming up on 23 September - that's tomorrow! It’ll only last for 24 hours, so you will need to act fast to grab the goods. It actually starts at 11pm this evening here in the UK. 

For 24 hours from 22 September at 11:00 p.m. to September 23 10:59 p.m. (UK) online, a select number of cling and photopolymer stamp sets from the 2020–2021 Annual Catalogue will be available for purchase at a 15% discount.

Here's a list of all of the stamp sets included in the sale:

 

 

If like me, you're more of a visual person, then you may find the following pictoral summary more useful so that you can see 'at a glance' the stamp sets that are included:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you see something you like, you can either place an order through me, or you can shop directly through my online store. My shop will have a category entitled “Stamp Sale” that displays every stamp set on sale to ensure a quick and easy shopping experience.

The discount applies to individual stamp sets (not bundles) and can also be used in conjunction with a starter kit. Place your order here through my online store or by clicking on the shopping bag icon in the menu on the right hand side - don't forget to include the current hostess code TSEGA7FU for an extra thank you from me. 

I'll be back with more creative projects later in the week but in the meantime this is a 24 hour event only so you have to act fast to benefit from 15% off these amazing sets, so time to go shopping - don't miss out! 

Evergreen Forest Embossed Trees Christmas Card TTT82

by Joanne James17. September 2020 18:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and this week's board was designed by Amy. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

    

We are rapidly approaching autumn and this week's board has lots of elements that would suit a fall card, but I combined it with the current Fab Friday sketch and went straight to Christmas as I continue to build my card stash! The Fab Friday sketch has a lovely open panel that is open to all kinds of interpretation and after some deliberation I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for - take a look:

 

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

Centre Stage Embossing - I'm not generally a big user of embossing folders, although I do have my favourites: any that create a lightly textured background (bring on Subtle or Tasteful Textile 3D!) or embossing folders that make a statement in their own right (past favourites include Seasonal Wreath or Winter Wonder). The current Autumn Winter catalogue includes an embossing folder that can be used either as a background or a centrepiece - love a double-duty solution! The Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder has a ton of texture and whilst it doesn't need to be confined to Christmas projects, I wanted to showcase it today as a forest of potential Christmas trees - just look at the depth of the embossed detailing:

It's In The Detail - I went down the first column of the TicTacToe board for today's card - Trees, Embossing, Diecut - and whilst it's easy to see where the first two elements are on my card, blink and you could miss the last one! I used a Rectangle Stitched Die to cut out my heat embossed sentiment (tick!) and backed this with a simple punch banner. The colours on today's card were inspired by this retired piece of Wrapped in Plaid designer series paper that I chose so that I could highlight my lovely green embossed trees and tie in the gold sentiment and brushed gold foil matting too.

Perfectly Plaid Inside Too - I continued the plaid theme onto the inside of my card too with a stamped plaid Christmas tree and sentiment from the annual catalogue set, 'Perfectly Plaid':

 

I like this card so much I think I'll make a few more - a great excuse to use up some of that retired plaid paper 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 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.

Autumn Plaid Tidings Stitched Leaves Trio

by Joanne James17. September 2020 09:10

I'm flitting between Autumn and Winter/Christmas projects at the moments so I'm back with more leaves today, although the wonderfully warm temperatures here in the UK this week are prolonging our Summer just a little longer and are determined to stave off the change in seasons for as long as possible. No complaints from me on that front! Back to my card, that was inspired by both this week's Global Design Project #GDP258 sketch and the trend over at Just Us Girls this week, where they are looking for cards divided into thirds:

   

I love things in threes so this sketch really appealed to me - it also gave me the opportunity to create another card using my Stitched Leaves Dies - take a look:

 

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

Autumnal Plaid Tidings - I used one of the warm plaid patterns from the Plaid Tidings DSP pack as the basis for the colour scheme for today's card; those warm orange, red and purple tones reminded me of warm flannel shirts and are a great colour combination for autumn.

Positive and Negative - Leaves, that is! I decided to break up my trio and use both the positive diecuts of the leaves with their stitched detailing, backed by a plaid stitched rectangle, and in the centre the negative stitched outline of the same leaf, with the plaid showing in the negative space. I added a stitched banner in keeping with my theme and one of my favourite uplifting sentiments of the moment from the coordinating 'Love of Leaves' set across the centre to complete my card. Just check out all that lovely stitched detail:

 

Stitched Envelope Detail - I left the inside of my card blank, apart from some stamped leaf detail on the corner, however in addition to stamping leaves on my envelope, I added the embossed stitch detail to the leaf on the rear envelope flap for an interesting textural detail. This is really easy to do: simply stamp the leaf and run the centre part of the die through your diecutting machine, without the outline piece.

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 my card for this week's new TicTacToe challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.
 
Edited To Add: This card was a winner over at Just Us Girls:

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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.