Stampin' Up! Bonus Day Money-Off Coupons Are Here For One Month Only!

by Joanne James7. July 2016 09:00

 

This is my second post for today; you can see my earlier post with my card for this week's Connie and Mary challenge here. Today I have exciting news of a Stampin' Up! promotion that is due to run for the rest of July - Bonus Days! 

Did you get everything you want from the new annual catalogue yet? Since it came out only a month ago, you probably still have some items on your wish list, and I have some great news for you! For every £45.00 you spend between today, 7 July and 31 July (before delivery), you’ll get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon that you can use between 2 and 31 August . Since our new annual catalogue has only been out a month ago, you will probably still have some items on your wish list and this is a great opportunity to shop from it, whether you buy your favourite products now or later 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: 7–31 July 2016 
  • Redemption period: 2–31 August 2016 
  • An email address is required to participate in this promotion; Bonus Days coupon codes can only be delivered via email.
  • 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.

I'm so excited about this promotion - it really is the first of its kind, as Stampin' Up! has never offered money-off coupons before. Furthermore, there is also going to be a new exclusive bundle for sale from 2 August until 31 August called Thoughtful Branches, so you could get this limited-time product and use your coupons to get a great deal!

Don't forget if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code 63RNATE3 to receive a free thank you gift from me too!

Here is a sneak peak of the exclusive bundle available from 2nd August - you can choose to spend your coupon on this bundle or any other items of your choice!

 

That's all from me today; happy shopping, knowing that get a spending spree next month too!

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Promotions | Shop Online | Stamping

Swirly Bird Flowers Thank You Card

by Joanne James7. July 2016 08:05

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

 

I initially was drawn to the lovely Fruit Stand designer series paper to make today's card, but when I'd finished my card decided it didn't have enough Cucumber Crush so decided to take a different approach. I will share my Fruit Stand card another day, but for now this is the card I came up with:

 

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

Swirly Bird Scribble Flowers - I've been longing to use my Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribbles Framelits to create a modern floral card and today's bright and fresh colour combination provided the perfect opportunity. I stamped the bases in Peekaboo Peach and used the Scribbles in Tangerine Tango for a real pop of juicy colour. The Cucumber Crush provides wonderfully bright leaves and I added a few enamel dots too here and there.

Playful Palette Border - The hatched pattern from the Playful Palette DSP stack comes in both pink and Peekabooo Peach and it provided the perfect border for my card. I added a strip of Customer Crush to the stamped panel too for definition and contrast.

Thank You Tin of Cards - The sentiments in the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set are some of my 'go to' sentiments, I love the size and style of the scripting so much. Thank you Stampin' Up! for keeping this set, even though the Tin of Cards kit has had a refresh and makeover and now has a new set that co-ordinates with it. 

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

  • Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle
  • Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack
  • Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set
  • Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock
  • Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
  • Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
  • Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock
  • Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad
  • 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes

Swirly Scribbles Tree Teacher Thank You Cards

by Joanne James6. July 2016 07:00

Happy hump day one and all! Today as promised I have this year's teacher thank you cards to share with you. Both of the James Juniors are moving schools at the end of this term so it feels like there are even more people to thank thank usual. Coupled with the fact that terms ends this week and we have all had packed social calendars, a seriously CAS card capable of mass production was the order of the day! Those of you that follow my blog will know that I generally like to send school thank you cards that are school/teacher themed, so they will often feature school imagery or apples - I don't know if it's just me, but I still think that the 'apple for a teacher' thing holds true!

Here is my final design: 

 

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

Clean and Simple - This card is literally all about the white space! I used Whisper White Extra Thick cardstock for my base and used one simple image - the apple tree - alongside my sentiment to serve as a focal point. I added Cucumber Crush thick baker's twine to one of the cards, but didn't add it to the remainder as it was too much for my ultra clean and simple look.

Swirly Scribbles Meets Tree Builder - I could have created my tree using the Tree Builder Punch in its entirety, but I love the stylised look you get when you switch out the leaves for a Swirly Scribble diecut. I actually used two pieces from the this framelit set: the round Cucumber Crush circle is the inner piece from the large swirly scribble, and the darker Garden Green is the smaller swirly scribble die cut. So don't throw away those middles of the larger scribbles diecut - they have their uses too!

Helping Me Grow - My two-tone sentiment comes from the 'Helping Me Grow' stamp set, which as much as I love the flowers in this set, I must confess I bought it for this sentiment primarily; is there anything more fitting to put on a teacher appreciation 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. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Thank You Friend Ladybirds

by Joanne James5. July 2016 17:31

I've had a busy day today with my 'Jar of Love' technique class this morning and a wonderful afternoon of Project Life memory keeping. I made a quick card yesterday for a couple of challenges that I wanted to share with you today:

 PCCCS 162-205-011   AYSIBackground_Theme-001

I loved this sketch over at Paper Craft Crew and was attracted to the red and white theme over at As You See It, although I don't have a Canadian card I'm afraid! I've been keen to ink up the cute ladybird pair from the hostess set 'Love You Lots' so that was straight where I headed for today's card: 

 

Here's the low-down on the detail:

Thank You, Friend - This adorable ladybird pair comes in one of the new hostess sets in the annual catalogue called 'Love You Lots'. This is such a fun set with a fun frog, cute pair of hedgehogs, and an adorable elephant and mouse in addition to this spotted pair and is exclusively available to anyone who hosts a Stampin' Up! party or places a single order of £150 or more. I stamped my ladybirds in black and coloured them with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker and added my simple sentiment.

Faux Washi Tape Border - I used the striped stamp from Gorgeous Grunge that I used on my Jar of Blooms card yesterday (you can see that card here if you missed it) to create a border along the top of the central panel; I think it looks like washi tape, which would of course be a good alternative if you don't have this set. I added some white baker's twine, a red button and a tiny banner to finish this edge.

Paper With Meaning - For my background frame, I decided to use the scripted paper from the Brights designer series paper stack. I love this paper but as it's so busy I tend to use it with caution. The clean and simple central panel and the overall sentiment of my card made this paper a good choice here.

This card and a couple more just like it are headed to Rebecca's friends this week; I haven't made a monochromatic card in a while and this one is really fun.

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'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.

Blue Jar of Thanks Card

by Joanne James4. July 2016 22:04

Happy Monday everyone! I hope yours was a good one; I had a very early class today, followed by school sports day for the James Juniors, the bad weather having caused it to be postponed from last week. Today was beautifully sunny though and there was some great sporting action out on the field. Back to a late blog post though as a result!

Whilst finishing up the preparations for my classes this week on Saturday I managed to sneak in an extra card too, using this week's Colour Q colours (or their closest current equivalents):

 

One of my classes this week features the Jar of Love stamp set, and I've been having so much fun stamping and cutting out the flowers that I decided to make another card with it - take a look:

 

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

Jar of Blooms - The 'Jar of Love' set has a trio of jars, each a different size, with so many content options. My jar today is a vase filled with a mix of blue and orange blooms, stamped off first for the base layer of colour to allow for contrast - and cut out easily using my Big Shot and co-ordinating Everyday Jars Framelits Dies. There are also a host of co-ordinating sentiments. I've used the retro-styled 'thanks' on my card today, heat embossed in white onto Night of Navy cardstock.

Gorgeous Grunge Border - I used the striped stamp in the Gorgeous Grunge set for my border, stamped in Pumpkin Pie for a bright pop of orange.

Soften With Vellum - I stamped my jar, water and leaf stems directly onto my Whisper White cardstock. To soften the appearance of my glass jar, I used my framelits to cut a jar out of vellum and adhered it over the top, adding some Night of Navy twine around the neck of the jar and finishing with a bow.

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'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 Little Foxy Festive Reindeer

by Joanne James3. July 2016 09:00

It's been a busy week with blogging every other day I'm afraid as there is just so much happening in the James household. Rebecca gave a sterling performance as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz on Thursday and whilst Friday evening was a relatively quiet one, I did not manage a post! Yesterday I did manage to finish my preparations for next week's classes and make a few more cards, so onwards and upwards as the saying goes! 

Today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Sandy to host this week and she has a festive themed challenge for us to play along with:

       

Christmas in July - now that is what I call organised! For my card this week I decided to use my Foxy Friends bundle again - this time to create a cute reindeer for my Christmas card. I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Color Throwdown colour palette for my creation:

 

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

A Little Foxy Festive Reindeer - As I mentioned last week, the 'Foxy Friends' stamp set makes all kinds of cute baby critters and woodland animals - including a festive reindeer. Aren't those little antlers just adorable?

Lots of Labels - I decided to frame my stamped reindeer with a double mat in Real Red and Chocolate Chip using the Lots of Labels framelits. These framelits are great for layering and create a little more interest than a standard rectangle.

Red-Nosed Rudolf - I have used a number of retired products on my card today: the red button, the circle framelits to cut the background circle and the paper that I used for it (it's so vintage I don't even remember its name!) but since the background paper has a lovely glittery red polka dot pattern, I decided I did need to use one of my new favourite embellishments to finish my card in style: a Real Red Enamel Shape circle - the perfect finishing touch for my reindeer's nose!

I just love the versatility of this stamp set; that coupled with my first Christmas card of the year I think makes this a worthy 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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

The Paper Players Design Team
 
 
Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

I look forward to seeing your Christmas creations in the gallery this week.

It is another big day in the James household today: Ben was selected for the Northamptonshire county allstars under-10s basketball team and he has his first match against Oxfordshire this afternoon. It's a big deal as he is one of only 12 children selected across the whole of the county - and we are all going to cheer him on for his match. Wish him luck!

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.

Floral Phrases Congratulations Card

by Joanne James30. June 2016 08:05

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

 

For my card today I decided to go with a classically elegant wedding/anniversary card using the new Floral Phrases stamp set that is part of the Floral Boutique suite:

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

Hand Painted Florals - The stamps in the Floral Phrases set, just like the co-ordinating Floral Boutique designer papers, have the appearance of hand painted images when stamped, with gradations in colour for artistic effect. They also include a beautiful script and some heartfelt sentiments - I included the one in my card in the thumbnail above.

Not Quite Mirrored - I stamped the floral image then rotated it through 180 degrees and stamped it again to give me my focal point. The images are not a mirror image of each other, yet combining the two images in this way does create a seamless focal point, with the join covered by my sentiment banner. 

A Classic Colour Combination - Navy and white is a classic colour combination that features throughout the Floral Boutique suite. I wound some Night of Navy solid baker's twine around my card behind my banner and added a strip of gold sequins to add a little extra sparkle to my otherwise monochromatic card.

Today's card is a nice easy one to re-create and perfect for a summer wedding - why not have a go yourself?

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

We have a big day today: it's finally time for The Wizard of Oz and Rebecca's performance of the Dorothy. She has four performances today, so I'm wishing her well - I'll report back in full tomorrow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

  • Floral Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set
  • Night Of Navy Solid Baker's Twine
  • Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock
  • Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
  • Gold Sequin Trim

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Cards | Shop Online | Stamping

Just Beecause - Pun Intended

by Joanne James28. June 2016 07:00

Good morning lovely readers! I have a nice early post today, as I have a busy day ahead and managed amongst all my cooking and cleaning yesterday to make my card for today too. I decided to go with the sketch over at Pals Paper Arts today - such inspiring design team samples too:

PPA-306-June23

I decided to showcase another of the patterns in my favourite designer series paper pack, Affectionately Yours. Today's post comes with a warning: you might need sunglasses to view today's card, it is rather bright!!

 

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

Just Beecause - I love a good play on words, so the 'Pun Intended' exclusive hostess set is perfect for me. Today I used the bee from this set and stamped him twice each time, once onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and once onto vellum. I fussy cut both pieces and attached the vellum wings to the yellow bodies, for a realistic feel. I then paired him with one of the two bee-related sentiments in this set - how fun!

Layering Squares - Each of my bees is grounded by a triple layered square, all cut using the new Layering Squares framelits. This helps them stand out from my busy background paper, whilst also following the sketch and uses my base colours, taken from the Affectionately Yours paper:

 

Add A Wink - I brushed my bees wings with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. Difficult to see in the photo (the thumbnail at the top of the post is the best opportunity) but I can assure you adds such a pretty sparkle in real life.

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day; I'm off to prize giving awards ceremony at school this afternoon. Rebecca is making her final speech as outgoing Head Girl so I'm taking some tissues as I'm sure there will be a tear or two! 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.

Extra Stampin' Rewards and Free Stamps End 30 June!

by Joanne James27. June 2016 22:01

Happy Monday everyone! No creative post from me today; with only 4 days left this month, I thought it was a good time to remind you of the two offers that will finish at the end of this month:

  • Earn Additional Stampin' Rewards with a single order or qualifying party sales  You can earn an additional £25 in Stampin' Rewards when you place an individual order for or reach qualifying party sales of £250 or more during the month of June. Don't forget these Stampin' Rewards can also be used towards a starter kit if you choose to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator - making the starter kit even better value! If you would like to host your own Stampin' Up! party and take full advantage of the extra rewards, then please do get in touch! 

 

  • Earn Free Stamps in June’s Promotion for New SU! Joiners.  As a demonstrator on my team, you will belong to a friendly team where you get to be the first to see and order products from upcoming catalogues. You also get to earn a discount on the products you already love – with no risks or penalties if you don't meet your quarterly minimum.  During the month of June when you join, you also earn two free stamp sets of your choice (they’ll be added to your starter kit). These can be any stamps at all from the new catalogue - so if you choose wisely (think alphabets and large sentiment sets!) these two stamp sets alone could be worth £91 or more. The Starter Kit is £99 for £130 of free product of your choice. My team is a mix of both hobby stampers and business demonstrators and I love and appreciate them all.  If you would like to take to me about becoming a demonstrator and joining us, please do get in touch for a no obligation chat about the benefits. Alternatively if you know this is the deal for you, don't delay and click here to join today!

Back tomorrow with a new card project; until then, happy stampin'!

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What Does The Fox Say? Foxy Friends

by Joanne James26. June 2016 09:00

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 300th anniversary celebrations last week - there were some fabulous cards in the gallery and it's your support for our challenge that keeps us going. Congratulations to all those who were winners in our grab bag prize draw - I'm looking forward to sending mine out to someone soon!

It's my turn to host again this week and I have my most favourite of all challenges, a sketch, for to play along with:

    

For my card this week I decided to go with some of my favourite new items from the new annual catalogue - the Little Foxy Suite:

  

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

More Than A Little Foxy - So I'm in love with this cute fox! The 'Foxy Friends' stamp set makes all kinds of cute baby critters and woodland animals - I think this fox is just the sweetest. The fact that he comes with a co-ordinating punch - I used it here to punch out his head for extra dimension - is a bonus and the co-ordinating paper stack makes this suite a force to be reckoned with. 

Layered Layers - My card today is all about the layers. Whilst my sketch looks quite simple, I used a total of 9 separate layers on my card. In addition to my mats and patterned papers, I used the new Layering Circles Framelits to create the surrounds for my woodland scene, added to which partial diecutting of the uppermost circle and the masked stamping of the fox, tree stump and trees, adds further depth and the illusion of even more layers.

What Does The Fox Say? - I thought this would make a fun sentiment for my card today, easily created using the Labeler Alphabet, which is perfect for bespoke sentiments and cut out with the Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits. I highlighted the word 'Fox' in Calypso Coral with the solid letters and added an enamel heart too. Oh and my fox - he says "Happy Birthday!" in case you were wondering :-)

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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

The Paper Players Design Team
 
 
Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with my sketch this week. I have a day of sewing in store with some last minute guard costumes to make for Rebecca's school production of the Wizard of Oz this week, so my day will involve much green fur fabric - wish me luck!

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.