I was having a sort out in my craft box and found this card that I actually made in our January demonstrator training session, but haven't yet shared with you. It was designed by Monica Gale and is a great example of how you can use shapes and dies to make your own mask and create some lovely effects. So here is the card:

This card is quite different in design to the kind of thing that comes naturally to me - in particular, I had to be almost held down before I could bring myself to crumple the cardstock that has the stamped image on! - yet this, along with the torn edges, give the card a real 'vintage' feel. This card also showcases a great technique - by creating your own mask, you can create an outline image that can give your card a different perspective.

For this card, I made a mask using vellum cardstock and one of the Delicate Doilies Sizzlits. By adding a thin layer of Tombow glue to the back of the shape and allowing it to dry (wait until the glue turns from white to clear in colour), you can create a repositionable mask. This was then placed onto the Early Espresso card and sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. When you then remove the mask, you are left with the mask shape and detail. Another tip to achieve a uniform ripped edge: hold all three sheets of card together and tear, holding one hand steady and tearing the card with the other by pulling towards you. The hints of Rich Razzleberry card and ribbon, along with the sparing use of silver glimmer paper, add a much needed edge to an otherwise quite muted card. The stamp used here is one of this year's Sale-A-Bration stamps from the set Vintage Verses, but this layout would work with lots of other stamps - the ones in the 'From My Heart' set would work particularly well I think.

So not my usual style, but lots of creative food for thought. That's one of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator; regular training sessions are great for pushing you out of your stamping comfort zone and encouraging you to try new techniques and ideas. If you would like to benefit from the development resources that Stampin' Up! has to offer, then there's never been a better time to sign up; you can find the full details of the current promotion that runs until May 30th here.

Back tomorrow with another project - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Vintage Verses (Sale-A-Bration - retired)

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso, First Edition Specialty Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Rich Razzleberry

Tools: Bitty Butterfly Punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Punches

Finishing Touches: Basics Pearls, 1/4"Rich Razzleberry Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz

Today's card is one I made as a commission for a friend of mine, who wanted a 'thoughtful' sentiment and bright blues, yellows and oranges. I love rising to the challenge of working to a specific brief and actually used it as the basis for a number of very different cards. I'll share the others with you some other time, but here's one of them for today:

The sentiment is from a set called 'Word Play' and is the perfect size for one of my oval framelits, which also made creating a frame for it a breeze. I used a strip of striped brights DSP to tie the frame to the card background, then used the Beautiful Wings butterfly embosslits to make a variety of butterflies and really create a strong focal point. I love these butterflies - well, I love all butterflies, but these have lovely textures and are great for using with plain coloured cardstock. A cheery card that meets the brief - job done!

There are lots of other great sentiments in the Word Play set, so I've included an illustration of the whole set below. They are suitable for so many occasions and work for both for cards and scrapbooking.

A quick post from me today - I have a Parents' Association meeting at school to attend, so am rushing out the door. Back tomorrow with another project - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Brights DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Tempting Turquoise

Tools: Ovals Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosslits

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

Another Monday, another card! Today I thought I would share something a little different: a birthday card featuring the 'Fabulous You' shoe on page 39 of the annual catalogue:

If you're partial to a little colouring-in, this is a great stamp to express your artistic side. I've made a couple of cards with this stamp already and the great thing is you can go with a really simple layout and design and let the colouring do all the talking. The above card has quite a muted palette of lilacs and greens, with just a touch of red and three rhinestones to highlight the sentiment - well, every girl friend deserves a little 'bling' on her birthday, right? - whereas the card below, which I stamped without a sentiment as a sample wedding invitation, has a much brighter feel with a colour palette of pinks, greens, yellows and oranges:

Which one do you prefer? I love using a blender pen to create different shades and effects so that no two shoes are the same; colouring with pens is so theraputic. The next task is to have a go at embossing a shoe - I'm sure it will look equally elegant.

That's all for today - back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Fabulous You

Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz (retired)

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Basic Grey, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Elegant Eggplant, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzazz (retired)

Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Blender Pen

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

It's the middle of April and finally my tulips in the garden are starting to bud! Still not yet in bloom, unlike my neighbour's daffodils which cheer me up every time I drive on and off the drive. So whilst I'm waiting for the real thing, I thought I would share a tulip card I made:

Can you tell how I made the tulips? Yes, my much beloved Owl Punch was used to create the petals; a whole one (minus feet!) for the base, followed by two sections overlaid for petals. I sponged the edges of the sections in the co-ordinating ink colours to add body and tied the stems with some linen thread for simplicity. I also paper-pierced the background just for added interest; this was so easy with my piercing tool and guide template, yet quite effective I think.

This is just one of many alternative uses for the owl punch. I will be sharing this and many more of them in my next card class on May 15th; if you would like to attend, just contact me at [email protected] for more details. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Cardstock: Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers:  Rose Red, Daffodil Delight

Tools: Owl Punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool

Finishing Touches: Linen Thread

The sun is shining here in the UK - oh, happy days at last! Back to cards today and I thought I'd share a card I made a little while ago using one of the stamps in the 'Feel Goods' stamp set. I loved this stamp set the first time I set eyes on it - 5 great sayings that can be suitable for so many occasions. This is the first card I made with this set, although I will have many more to share in days to come I'm sure:

My favourite bright colours again for this card, with a ribbon of Summer Smooches designer series paper along with a couple of butterflies for interest. Centre stage absolutely goes to the 'feel good' though. I made this card for a good friend of mine for whom the sentiment absolutely fits. In the words of a Fergal Sharkey pop song from the 80s (I know, it shows my age when I start reminiscing like this!) 'A good heart these days is hard to find'. I think the same can be said of good friends - but the recipient of this card is one of the best!

Back tomorrow with another project - until then, enjoy the sunshine and happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Feel Goods

Cardstock: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Brights DSP, Summer Smooches DSP

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Rich Razzleberry

Tools: Elegant Butterfly punch, Bitty Butterfly punch, Labels Framelits

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

I enjoyed a pleasant card class yesterday evening with a lovely group of crafty ladies. We were using the 'Mixed Bunch' stamp set and the co-ordinating blossom punch and learning a few new techniques and tricks along the way. We made a number of different cards that can be used for different occasions and today I thought I would share with you my favourite of them all:

This four inch square card features the most detailed of the flower stamps in the Mixed Bunch set and the variagated colour effect was created by making our own ink pad using a baby wipe and three different coloured reinkers. We stamped and punched the first image, then without reinking the stamp, stamped off onto a square of white card to create a muted background paper. If you've never tried it, you should give it a go - it's great fun and the stamped images are really unique! We then layered the punched flower with a red punched blossom to add definition, finished with a basic rhinestone coloured red to match and layered the double flower using a dimensional to make it 'pop'. The addition of a sentiment in the bottom corner completed the card.

When I was making up the instruction sample before the class, I must confess to getting rather carried away with all the pretty stamped images I was producing, so printed a few extra to make into butterflies similar to the Easter egg butterfly I shared here, but this time to make into thank you cards to pop in with some customer orders and also to make this cute little magnetic note holder to stick on my fridge:

Cute, don't you think? The baker's twine antennae are the perfect finishing touch too. All in all, a fun class and with quite a few laughs along the way - what better way to spend a Wednesday evening. I'll share some of the other things I made for this class in future blog posts; meanwhile, I'm already looking forward to next month's class, when we will be using the owl punch and looking at both great owl cards and some of the many other things that can be made using this shape.

Back tomorrow with another project - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Sassy Salutations

Cardstock: Real Red, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise

Tools: Blossom Punch

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones

Lots to share today: new Stampin' Up! offers, some lovely makes and a 'sneak peek' of tomorrow's post - but you'll have to read everything else first!

Stampin' Up! has announced two great offers that will run from April 15th-May 30th: If you host a £250 party, you will earn an additional £25 in hostess credits to spend on any items you like from the current annual and Spring-Summer catalogues - that's a whopping £65 worth of product absolutely free, just for hosting a party. All you need to do is contact me to arrange a date, invite your friends round and pop the kettle on - I'll take care of the rest.

If you've ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, there's another great offer that will be of interest to you: if you sign up before 30th May, you will receive an extra £25 worth of product of your choice in your starter kit - that's a total of £155 worth of product for £99 cost - bargain! You will also receive a business supplies pack worth £45, which brings the total value of the starter pack to £200 - a great deal at half the price. Whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and simply take advantage of the opportunity to purchase your craft supplies at a discount, supplement your existing income or work with a specific financial goal in mind, or build a business out of your love of crafting that has endless opportunities and the flexibility to work the hours of your choice and do a much or as little as you like, Stampin' Up! has something for everyone. In addition to the extensive resources that Stampin' Up! offers, I like to give my team members something 'extra'. In addition to my personal support in helping you make the most of everything that Stampin' Up! has to offer, I like to share my enthusiasm and passion and inspire them to create great things. Here's the welcome card and gift I made for new members of my team during Sale-A-Bration earlier this year, inspired by something similar I had seen on the SU corporate blog:

A lovely decorated notebook for those all important moments when inspiration strikes and a co-ordinating welcome card. I used the Vine Embossing Folder and co-ordinating stamp from the Madison Avenue stamp set, highlighting with some hearts from my Owl Punch and the 'Oh Hello' stamp set from the stamp set of the same name. Here's a close-up of the notebook:

And here's a close-up of the co-ordinating welcome card: 

So if you would like to say 'Oh Hello' and join my team of Crafty Owls, do get in touch with me here if you'd like more information. Alternatively, if you've already decided and are ready to order your starter pack, just click here to complete the form online - it's really straightforward.

Lastly, I promised a 'sneak peek' of tomorrow's post, which will feature one of the cards from my class tomorrow evening - so here it is:

You'll have to come back tomorrow to see the whole thing though - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Oh Hello, Madison Avenue (Sale-A-Bration - retired)

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade (retired)

Inks: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo

Tools: Vine Embossing Folder (Sale-A-Bration - retired), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Owl Punch

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was on a team training day yesterday. One of the things we like to do at these events is share 'swaps', where we each make multiples of a card or 3D project with a particular theme in mind and then 'swap' with each other. This is a great way to share in each others creativity, inspire others and to be inspired and also gives lots of items to share with customers at parties and classes. The theme for yesterday's swaps was 'masculine' and whilst I often struggle with 'grown-up' masculine, having a 5 year old son gives me plenty of opportunity to design for 'young' masculine and I'm never short of ideas. As you can see in yesterday's post, Angry Birds is an ever-popular theme at the moment, so with this in mind I worked up a slightly altered version to a card that I seem to make quite a lot of these days. Here's my original card that I've made a number of times:

And here's the slightly altered version that I made for my swaps yesterday - can you spot the key difference?

Did you spot it? Instead of sponging around a template for clouds as in the first card (I use the top of the cupcake from the Cupcake Builder Punch for this  - it makes a great cloud!) I partially embossed the background using the new Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and sponged blue in between the clouds, leaving the bottom right hand corner un-embossed to allow me to stamp my sentiment onto a flat card surface. Another small difference is that instead of using Chocolate Chip cardstock for the slingshot, I used Crumb Cake, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink with the Woodgrain stamp. This last decision was prompted more by the fact that I had a large number of Crumb Cake card offcuts from a previous project that were perfect for use here (if you're reading this Chris P, this one's for you - I told you I'd find a use for those Crumb Cake offcuts!!) Punch art is great for using up all those odds and ends of cardstock left over from other projects, although having set out to make 30 of these, I did wonder if I should have chosen something a little more straightforward!

Anyway, I was really pleased with the way the all turned out. The design of this bird is slightly different to the red bird on yesterday's bookmark - I think the eyebrows make him look angrier. Here's a close up of the detail:

I love the beak too - there's just so much going on in this card, even after making so many I don't really tire of it. All my swaps were exchanged yesterday so I can't show you a photo of all 30, however I did make a few extras for some upcoming birthdays so I'll leave you with this last group shot of the little red fellas getting ready to be launched from their slingshots:

On that happy note, I'm off to start prepping; the Easter holidays are finally over and the children are back to school tomorrow. i'll be sad to see them go, but on the up side I'll have more time to spend in my craft room and I have lots there to keep me busy. I'll be back tomorrow with a new project - and possibly a 'sneak peek' of one of the cards we will be making in Wednesday's card class. So come back tomorrow and check it out; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Wacky Wishes (Hostess), Woodgrain

Cardstock: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Inks: Real Red, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue

Tools: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Owl Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch (circle), Big Shot, Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Finishing Touches: Linen Thread

It's rained pretty much all day today, so I thought I'd share a blue card for a 'blue' mood, at least as far as the weather is concerned! This is a card I designed and made for a recent team 'Rainbow Swap'. Across my wider team, we all chose one of the colours of the rainbow, then made five cards with that colour as the basis for the colour scheme and sent them to the others in the same colour group. In return, we received a 'swap' of a different design but with the same colour scheme. I was in the Blue colour group; here is the card I made: 

I used one of the flower stamps from the Mixed Bunch stamp set and the co-ordinating Blossom Punch for my bold all-blue card. I used Pool Party as my base card, then layered flowers across the front in Island Indigo, Pool Party, Island Indigo and Midnight Muse. A simple greeting for any occasion and some ruffled ribbon and rhinestone detail on the uppermost flower added just enough sparkle to turn this card into something special. I got a lovely set of cards in return (but unfortunately haven't had the chance to photograph them - I will share them another time).

The Mixed Bunch stamp set and Blossom punch used to make this card is the stamp set that will feature in my card and technique class next week. The class will be held on Wednesday 17th April, 7.30-9.30pm. The class costs £10: we will be making four cards using the various stamps in this set and learning a number of new techniques along the way. All stamps, punches, cardstock and embellishments will be provided; all you need to bring is a basic toolkit (wet/dry adhesives, pencil, ruler, rubber, scissors, bone folder and cutter if you have one). If you would like to attend this class or any of the others currently planned, please contact me at [email protected] for more details.

I'll be back tomorrow with a 3D project made using the Blossom Punch. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Tea Shoppe

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Midnight Muse

Tools: Blossom Punch

Finishing Touches: Ruffled Ribbon, basics Rhinestones

So all busy here in the James household; it's the Easter holidays, so something has to give and yesterday it was the blog! Back with it today, with the layered version of yesterday's Spring Sampler trio one layer card: 

It's amazing what another couple of layers and some ribbon makes, isn't it? The design is still simple, but the overall effect quite different. The layer of Melon Mambo cardstock is lifted on dimensionals to still give the 3D window effect, but unlike yesterday's card the detail is all on the front. I love the Sunshine and Sprinkles designer paper on this card and the Melon Mambo striped organdy ribbon makes it just that little bit special. I think this would make a lovely birthday card for a little girl; in fact, I have just the person in mind - better make sure I stamp a birthday greeting inside!

Back tomorrow with more stamping loveliness; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Spring Sampler

Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Sunshine and Sprinkles Designer Series Paper

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist

Tools: 1 1/4" Square Punch

Finishing Touches: 3/8" Striped Organdy Ribbon