A Mountain Air Adventure Times Two TTT 74

by Joanne James23. July 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 I am the featured designer. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

 

I decided to go long and skinny with today's card and went both across the first row - mountain/sunshine/adventure - and down the first column - mountain/hot air balloon/pink and create a summer evening landscape - take a look:

 

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

Brayered Sunset - I started by taking a selection of inks and a sponge brayer to create my sunset sky. I masked a space for my sun and after stamping in my mountains reverse-masked the mountains and sky and sponged in my dark pink setting sun.

Mountain Air - I used the mountains from the 'Mountain Air' stamp set to create my mountain landscape. This is an interesting set of reversible stamps that I initially bought for scrapbooking as you can make great scenes with them, but they also work for cards and especially the 'long and skinny' design that is all the rage currently. I created depth by stamping off and only adding the detailing to the foremost layer. I used a combination of blues to create a silhouette-type feel and stamped in a trio of hot air balloons from the retired 'Above The Clouds' stamp set in blue too to add to the effect.

Sweet Silhouette Adventure - I added a diecut 'adventure' from the Sweet Silhouettes Dies set to the front of my card as it seemed to fit with my scene. This would be a great card to send to someone about to embark on a gap year who is planning to travel; I'm not sure there are any teens able to do this currently, so will have to add this to my box for the future when we can all move more freely again. In the meantime, we can but dream of adventures far and wide!

I actually created a couple of brayered backgrounds whilst I was getting inky, so here's a second, slightly smaller card with the same design and a more pink sky:

Finally here's both of my cards together - which one do you prefer?

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.

Give Thanks With Arrange A Wreath Square Card

by Joanne James20. July 2020 18:15

Happy Monday everyone! Mine has been a busy one and has run away with me somewhat; I just realised if I didn't get today's post written I would miss linking up with the wonderful team over at Freshly Made Sketches where I used the fabulous Jen T's sketch as the starting point for my card today:

This is such a great sketch! I have been playing with the new 'Arrange A Wreath' set for the past week or so in readiness for my upcoming class using this set and thought Jen's square design would be the perfect place to showcase it - take a look:

 

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

Plaid Tidings - The colour inspiration came from this fabulous plaid design from the forthcoming DSP pack 'Plaid Tidings' that will debut next month in the new Autumn-Winter catalogue. It contains some great patterns and colour schemes and I loved the autumnal colours of this one.

Build A Wreath - I used the Wreath Builder dies to cut two wreaths and layer them, to which I added my stamped leaves and a bow made from the edge of some Pretty Peacock scallop edge ribbon. 

Autumn Leaves - I stamped a collection of leaves, some in solid colour and some that I used my sponge daubers to add colour to the edges to create that variagated coloured look that is often a feature of autumn leaves. The colours maybe a little atypical with the Pretty Peacock in the mix, but it does provide a lovely contrast to the warm tones of Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry and I think overall it works - don't you? I also added a little detail to the inside:

 

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 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.

Seaside Notions And A Speedy Trio of Seahorses AYSI230

by Joanne James17. July 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 challenge:

    

A card in under 10 minutes - always a challenge! I took my inspiration from the ocean scenes and beautiful shades of turquoise in the Hand Stamped Sentiments photo and set to work - take a look:

 

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

Seaside Notions - I purchased the stamp set 'Seaside Notions' a while ago, following so many marvellous cards that my friend and fellow AYSI teamie Jan Clothier had made with this set, but I had yet to ink it up so this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity. I love this seahorse and whilst my rough blue colouring with my watercolour pencils is not typical of these shy creatures in the wild, I wanted to contrast with my Crumb Cake background and white embossing. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges where their current challenge is 'Animals'.

Quickfire Crafting - As always, the secret of quick card making is to be organised! I got everything out on my desk before I started and I already had the stitched rectangle in my card box leftover from another project, along with the card base and mats, so my energies went into speedy stamping and heat embossing with a quick scribble of colour. I used my blender pen to even out the pencil lines and added a little Wink of Stella to the backbone of each seahorse for some added sparkle:

 

From The Mouths of Babes - So how long did my card take me? I squeezed it in under the wire at 9 minutes 24 seconds - and left the usual craftermath in my wake:

 

When having the discussion over dinner with the James Juniors as to who I would send this card to, they immediately agreed it should go to one of my scuba diving friends who lives in Canada, called Cathy. They then proceeded to question why I was making a card with three seahorses on anyway; as I explained that I needed three of something and my card needed to be completed in under 10 minutes, Rebecca promptly announced "Well that's easy - why didn't you just make a one layer Christmas card with the three wise men on it? You'd have been done in minutes!" Oh if only I'd engaged her earlier in the crafty process!

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.

 

 

Lovely You Baby Wipe Technique Cards

by Joanne James15. July 2020 09:00

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I made using the sketch layout over at TGIF Challenges this week:

I thought this was the perfect layout to showcase a couple of panels I made in one of my online Zoom demonstrations yesterday morning - take a look:

 

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

Lovely You - Further to my class featuring the 'Lovely You' stamp set last week, I have been continuing my online demonstrations showcasing additional ideas and techniques that can be used with this set. The little leaves and flowers in this stamp set are useful for so many things and particularly good for creating patterned backgrounds.

Baby Wipe Technique - I created a variegated ink pad using a trio of reinkers and a stack of baby wipes that I then used t create my multi-coloured background. If you've never tried this technique, I recommend you give it a go - it is really fun and you can achieve a unique result each time. Here are the colours I used to create my ink pad:

 

Delightful Tag Topper Punch - When is a tag not a tag? Well, when it's used to create an interesting design feature on a card! I love the way the sketch has this split panel - perfect for 2 tags punched with the Delightful Tag Topper punch and after heat embossing with my sentiment, I tied them both together with some soft white seam binding ribbon.

I liked the sketch so much I created two panels then mounted each separately, one onto an Old Olive base and one on to Mint Macaron. The ladies on my call were unanimous in their preference for the Old Olive base, but I thought I'd share the alternative with you too:

 

Lastly, here's both cards together:

 

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 loving my online sessions with my ladies; we are having an Autumn-Winter pre-order unboxing on Thursday this week - if you would like to join us just let me know!

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.

Thanks A Ton With Whale Done TTT72

by Joanne James9. July 2020 12:00

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 Amy is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

    

I used this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and went down the central column of patterned paper/sea creatures/purple for my card today - take a look:

 

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

Whale Of A Time - I used a piece of the 'Whale of A Time' designer paper as the basis for today's card - this sheet covered in swimming whales makes the perfect centrepiece, or rather backdrop for that striking diagonal and punny sentiment.

Thanks A Ton - My sentiment comes from the 'Whale Done' stamp set and actually appears differently on the stamp itself (you can see that on the stamp set product image below). I wanted my sentiment to run in a single line so carefully masked and stamped it in two separate movements to achieve the desired effect. I added a heart to accent it, which also comes from the same set.

Inside Action - The front of my card came together pretty quickly and was mostly about getting the angles and corners even on each of the layers, which I always find quite tricky where diagonals are involved. I did have time to add a little extra stamping to the inside of my card in the same colours to echo the design on the front and I punched out my whale using the co-ordinating punch to save masking my seaweed:

 

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 did all of my jobs yesterday so I am getting crafty today with a Zoom session this morning all about Stampin' Write markers and hopefully time for more crafty makes 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.

Lovely You Ornate Layers Pastels Card

by Joanne James6. July 2020 21:05

I've had a busy day today with an online class this morning so I'm late blogging and an just squeezing in a card for this week's challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches

I usually shy away from 'the double' but I still had my 'Lovely You' stamp set on my desk from this morning's class and saw an opportunity to combine something that featured in this morning's class - making our own patterned paper - with something we are looking at in our demonstration session on Thursday later this week - using our Stampin' Write markers to colour stamps - to create a card. Here's what I came up with:

 

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

I changed the colours to the closest current ones and used one of the Ornate Layers Dies to frame my two-colour marker inked image, and paired my randomly stamped panel with a plain green one to ground it. I added a soft white ribbon bow; in hindsight, this along with the frame makes this card a little less 'CAS' than I would usually consider a card to be, but I do like the end result.

If you would like to join me for a free 30 minute demonstration session later this week that demonstrates the techniques I used on today's card, then do leave me a comment below or send me an email and I will send you the joining details - everyone 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. 

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.

 

Bonus Days Are Back - Earn In July, Spend In August!

by Joanne James5. July 2020 10:47

 

Good morning everyone! I am playing catch up slightly due to a busy week. I hope you are enjoying your weekends and if you're in the UK are enjoying the return of the sunshine, even if it's windy enough to lose your hat! 

I just wanted to let you know that BONUS DAYS ARE BACK! Do you remember this promotion from last year? It was so successful, Stampin' Up! have decided to repeat it this year. 

For every £45.00 you spend between 1 July and 3 August (before delivery), you’ll get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon that you can use between 4 and 31 August. Our new annual catalogue has been out for a month now, so I'm sure you will still have long wish lists; this is a great opportunity to shop from it and make savings when you shop again in August with your coupons! 

There are some details in terms of small print that you need to take note of, as follows: 

  • Promotion period: 1 July –3 August 2020
  • Redemption period: 4–31 August 2020
  • An email address is required to participate in this promotion; Bonus Days coupon codes can only be delivered via email.
  • If a participant earns multiple codes from a single order, they will receive one e-mail with multiple codes. If they earn multiple codes from multiple orders, they will receive separate e-mails for each code earned.
  • It is strongly recommended that you both save emails containing their Bonus Days coupon codes AND write down the coupon codes in a safe place. Codes cannot be resent if the email is lost, and lost codes cannot be recovered.
  • Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits.
  • There is no limit to the number of coupons you can receive per order or throughout the duration of the promotion.
  • There is no limit on the number of coupons you can use on an order during redemption.

With redemption of any coupons earned coinciding with the launch of the new Autumn Winter catalogue too, you will have the perfect excuse to put them to good use! In the meantime, happy shopping!

Rainbow Glimmer Balloons for an Amazing Daughter Birthday Card

by Joanne James4. July 2020 20:00

Today I'm sharing a card that is totally fitting for the current Color My Heart Color Dare colour combo - this challenge is celebrating it's 400th challenge, although this is a new-to-me challenge and this is only the second time I've played along (the first time was #399!)

   RRCB 138

My card is for a special celebration too - a certain member of the James household recently celebrated her 15th birthday and as anyone who has been reading my blog for a long time knows, she usually has some exacting requirements as far as her birthday card is concerned! Here is my finished card:

 

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

Rainbow Glimmer and Artistry Blooms - Like me, the minute Miss Rebecca saw the rainbow glimmer paper she fell in love with it - and wanted me to use the green, blue and purple hues for her card. I punched a whole bunch of balloons from this glittery paper, added an epoxy dot to highlight each one and tied each one with some silver thread tied with some retired two-tone ribbon to create my bunch. They really are so pretty and sparkly in real life! I paired them with a co-ordinating ombre paper from the Artistry Blooms pack for the perfect backdrop.Check out all that sparkle and dimension:

Everything Amazing - I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to combine my glimmer paper with; Master James came to the rescue with his '3 word' game. He suggested we choose 3 words that describe Rebecca that we should then try to incorporate into her card. One of his words was 'amazing' - which led me to the now retired 'Everything Amazing' stamp set. This set dates back to June 2019 and is now but is one I never got to use whilst it was current, so it was good to be able to give it an airing. It's also perfect for Retro Rubber this week since anything goes! I heat embossed the main sentiment in silver then infilled the words in Night of Navy.

And For The Inside - I created a customised inside with the super-useful Family Party set and perfect for special, personalised greetings:

 

I'm glad to report Rebecca loved her card so another successful birthday card challenge achieved!

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 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.

Collect Beautiful Moments Memories of Shell Collecting AYSI 229

by Joanne James3. July 2020 11:00

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

       

I was all set to go with sunsets and palm trees for today's cards, then I saw some of the other Design Team cards and the new challenge over at Time Out and as I perused the stamp sets on my shelf decided to go in an entirely different direction - take a look:

 

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

Holiday Nostalgia - I'm sure that many of you, myself included, have vacation plans have been put into disarray this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't remember all that is good about a vacation. The image on my card today comes from the stamp set 'Beautiful Moments' and is one I haven't used before. It reminds me of childhood summer vacations at the seaside, paddling in rock pools, building sandcastles and shell collecting, always with a bucket and spade in hand and this image could well have been my sister and I some 40+ years ago! I coloured it with my Stampin' Blends in pastel shades for a feeling of softness. 

Texture and Layers - I split the colours on my base and panels to loosely represent sand and sea/sky and added a panel of vellum to blur the join. I also ran the whole of the layered panel through my Subtles embossing folder to add some subtle texture and interest and wrapped the join with a linen thread bow.

A Beachcomber Embellishment - I was intrigued by Time Out's optional twist to add an embellishment; normally I would have left my card alone at this point, but on the windowsill in my office I have a vase filled with shells. These shells were all collected in the Caribbean as an adult and I keep them because they are beautiful and remind me of happy times and warm, sunny days and most of them are quite large, but there are also some that are teeny-tiny. I selected a pretty, tiny pearlescent shell from my jar and adhered it next to my bow - job done! I am also linking today's card over at Global Design Project as it fits with their theme this week of fun in the sun.

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.

Today is a bittersweet day in the James household: young Master James is spending the last day at the prep school he has attended for the last 4 years, before embarking on pastures new in September. He has had the best time at this school and we are thankful that he has been able to return to school for the last 2 weeks to have some goodbye fun with his friends and fellow leavers before they all embark on pastures new in September, but we are all sad to be going our separate ways too. I think tissues will be needed at pickup today! 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 Summer Cocktails Kind Of Day TTT70

by Joanne James25. June 2020 10:00

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

    

I must confess I totally struggled with our board this week! I found myself getting 2 out of 3 squares, but struggling to make a complete row. In the end I grabbed this week's CAS Colours & Sketches sketch for my layout and went down the first column with polka dots, sequins and summer and this is what I came up with:

 

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

A Dotty Dilemma - I got hung up on so many things on this card, including the polka dots! I couldn't find any dotty papers in summery colours but found a scrap of retired polka dot Brights DSP in Daffodil Delight lurking in the scrap box, so went with it!!

A Cocktails Kind of Day - The weather has been glorious here in the UK this week, with yesterday being the hottest day of the year at 31.8 degrees centigrade recorded and the forecasters are predicting that today will be hotter still! For me cocktails are definitely associated with summer - either a vacation treat or something to be enjoyed on a warm summer evening in the garden. I may or may not have indulged in a rhubarb gin cocktail already this week and this inspired the pink drink on my card. The cocktail and diecut sentiment are courtesy of the new 'Nothing's Better Than' bundle that allows options for cocktails, cookies, coffee and chocolate-themed cards too; I love this set and know I will use it lots!

Sunshine and Sprinkles - To further emphasise the sunshine element of my card, I added a stamped and fussy cut sun from the retired set 'Day at The Beach' which I seem to be getting a lot of use out of lately and a scattering of retired iridescent sequins and sprinkles in co-ordinating colours. Check out that sparkle:

 

I actually really love this card and looking at the end result I can't believe it took me so long to get there!! I am also linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges who are also challenging us to celebrate summer this week and I'm definitely doing that!

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 have lots to do today and will be trying to get everything done without melting into a heap. I might have to reward myself this evening with a cocktail! I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather 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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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.