Silly Goose Friendship Card PP624

by Joanne James22. January 2023 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and she has a fun Clean and Simple challenge for us to work with:

       

Time to feature a bird on our cards! I used the fresh colour palette over at Global Design Project and the sketch layout at Try Stamping on Tuesday to make a clean and simple card for a friend using another new set featuring a comical feathered friend - take a look:

 

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

Today's card features one of the comical feathered friends in the 'Silly Goose' stamp set; a great set with lots of fun small images that are great for colouring. I chose to use the image of the goose, complete with straw hat, floating in her rubber ring with her friend the frog. Simply coloured with my Stampin' Blends and cut out using one of the Stylish Shapes Dies, I backed it with a couple of strips of spotted designer paper, one retired and one from the Dandy Designs Sale-A-Bration pack - they tie in with the spots on the goose's rubber ring:

I added a simple banner sentiment to complete my card (anybody else singing that song from Toy Story now?) I originally made yesterday's cards for today's challenge, but decided they weren't quite clean and simple enough - if you missed yesterday's post and you'd like to see a couple more cards made with a different bird, then be sure to check it out here

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. 

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

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!

Enjoy your day; we may or may not be off to the hockey pitch again today, if the temperatures rise high enough above zero for the ice to melt. If not, a warm afternoon in my craft room beckons! 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.

Adorable Owls Time To Party Birthday Cards

by Joanne James21. January 2023 18:30

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards using Jacquie's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Today's cards feature three new products, and two of them can be yours FREE with a qualifying Sale-A-Bration purchase - take a look at the first one:

 

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

Alphabet A La Mode - I used the big open space of the sketch to feature part of my sentiment, diecutting the word 'PARTY' minus the 'A' using the new Alphabet A La Mode Dies. This is a great value set of letters, numbers and punctuation that are perfectly sized to make custom sentiments for your cards. 

Adorable Owls - The star of today's card though is the cutest little owl from the 'Adorable Owls' stamp set - one of the products that can be yours FREE with a £45 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. I stamped the owl, complete with party hat, coloured him with my Blends and fussy cut him, before popping him up on dimensionals and adding him to my sentiment in place of the letter 'A':

 

Dandy Designs - Both cards feature patterns from the Dandy Designs designer series paper for the frame - a great bumper pack of 48 sheets in fresh pastel colours. I loved the first card so much, I made a second one featuring a more girly colour palette, with another of the Dandy Designs patterns as the basis for my colour scheme:

 

Here's a close up of this card - I went with violet eyes for this little owl:

 

I love both of these cards - the Adorable Owls are just my favourite Sale-A-Bration freebie during this promotion. They are just so cute!

Here's a photo of both cards together:

 

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - 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. 

It has been freezing here again today - so no hockey at all, although I did enjoy a frosty walk in the countryside as an alternative. The canal that runs close to our house has totally frozen over - all of the ducks were sheltering under the bridges where the water was a little warmer and not yet turned to ice, poor things. 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.
 

 

Country Floral Around The Bend Courage Card FF126

by Joanne James20. January 2023 09:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge

 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Wear Red Day' which is on February 3rd - who knew?! Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week my card  is definitely 'wearing' red; I used red, ribbon and texture from the inspo list and grabbed another of those Sale-A-Bration freebies that I haven't shared with you yet and this is what I came up with:

 

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

Around The Bend - Today's card features another of those Country Lane designer papers which inspired the overall colour scheme, and was perfect to pick out the red which I highlighted with two layered pieces cut using the Around The Bend Dies. These dies offer lots of decorative and layering options - here I've used both the scalloped curve die and the curved perforated stitched layer on top, which allows more of my red to show through. 

Sending Support - The sentiment is from 'Sending Support' - another of the stamp sets you can receive free with a £45 order. It's full of encouraging and uplifting sentiments - I added a second one with a diecut heart to the corner of the inside too:

 

So Much Texture - The Around The Bend Dies are great for adding detail and texture: the layers, along with the embossed diecut flowers and leaves which are from the same set, along with the woven ribbon all add texture and interest to my card:

 

These dies are great for adding texture and interest to a card with minimum effort - I can't wait to share more samples with you.

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

 

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.

Tech Support Clean and Simple Valentine Card

by Joanne James19. January 2023 10:40

Today I'm sharing a second entry for the challenge over at Just Us Girls where the word of the week is 'heart', this time using the sketch over at TGIF Challenges (turned through 90 degrees):  

    

I decided it was time to make my Valentine's Day card for my DH so I pulled a not-yet used stamp set from the shelf that I had purchased with him in mind and set to work - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Tech Support - Stampin' Up! suggests that the Tech Support stamp set is perfect to “Captcha” the heart of your computer-savvy loved ones and i couldn't agree more! My husband is a lover of all things tech and I knew from the moment I saw it this word be the perfect set for cards to make him smile. It is perfect for a clean, and uncluttered Valentine's card - and I love that the 'autocomplete' options also has a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of my favourite films too, that won't go unnoticed. 

A Binary Message - Did you know that the stamp that has two rows of 1s and 0s actually spells a message in binary code, the language used in digital computers? I am reliably informed it spells 'for you' - who knew?! I stamped this repeatedly to achieve the banner effect of the TGIF sketch, stamping directly onto my cardbase, rather than use another layer. 

All About Alignment - The trickiest part on today's card was creating the banner element. I used my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to repeatedly stamp the two rows of 1s and 0s down the centre of my card; you could of course use a Stamparatus stamping platform too, but for repeats that are so close together I prefer the former. I will confess, I took a few attempts before I had a perfect cardfront - I accidentally smudged a few, but got there in the end. I added a Sweet Sorbet heart to my message block for a final pop of colour - I did take the Just Us Girls theme this week quite literally, and used just one heart - I love that it has a digital appearance too and is in keeping with the other stamps in the Tech Support set:

I added a mat layer of Sweet Sorbet too just to add a little more colour, although this card is intentionally neutral - it is a man's card after all, so too much pink would not be welcome! I am so glad I have inked up this set at last - the punny sentiments are perfect for the tech geeks in our lives!

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; I have some crafting time today which is awesome so will be getting a few extra makes together to share with you. 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.

Loveliest Layers Love For You Thanks PP623

by Joanne James15. January 2023 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a gorgeous colour challenge for us to work with:

 

Isn't that such a great palette of colours?! They are right in my wheelhouse and I couldn't wait to get to started. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with these colours - take a look:

 

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

Loveliest Layers - The highlight of today's card is the flower that is stencilled onto the central panel of my card. I used the Loveliest Layers Decorative Masks that you can find on page 62 of the mini catalogue. They contain a background stencil and this layered flower and I think with so many great new stamps, dies and papers, these masks are easily overlooked, yet they are so easy to use and make great designs. Using my blending brushes, I first inked the base flower in Highland Heather, then added the definition in Orchid Oasis. For the leaves I used Parakeet Party for both layers, inking the second one more heavily to give the contrast.

Love For You - I decided to add a thank you sentiment comprising a tiny heat-embossed stamped 'thanks' with a die cut 'so much' courtesy of the 'Love For You' bundle. I only used two of the three layers of the dies, and adhered them flat to my panel whilst adding my stamped element with dimensionals to help it standout:

I am a big fan of the 'Love For You' bundle and the versatility it offers in terms of how to layer the dies and the way various elements combine to create a wide variety of sentiments.

Even More Layers - Whilst my card layout is quite simple, it does contain lots of layers - 7 in fact. Each of them serves a purpose though, from the in-color DSP that frames my central focal point, to the thin borders to highlight the central panel and the double-layering of the sentiment and the use of white is also key here to give definition to the overall design.

So what do you think of today's card? I love it and can't wait to create more with these stencils.

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. 

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

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!

Enjoy your day; we are having a quiet one as we are part way through GCSE mock examinations for the youngest of the James Juniors, so revision reigns! 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.

Country Floral Lane With Love Stitched Panels Card

by Joanne James14. January 2023 09:00

Today I'm sharing a card showcasing more of the lovely Country Floral Lane and Country Gingham papers for a card made using this week's Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch:

Here's my card:

 

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

There's really not much to say about this card - it features two more designs from packs you've seen me use already; I simply diecut a number of stitched rectangles and layered them as per the sketch, adding in some (retired) white cotton ribbon for the vertical element and a simple heat-embossed sentiment from the Country Bouquet stamp set:

 

I just love the fresh blue and white colour scheme of this card - I am yearning for spring! - and a great quick and easy card for you to recreate if you have some crafty time this weekend. 

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; both of the James Juniors are playing hockey away today, so hubby and I will be dividing and conquering to ensure everyone gets to where they need to be. I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players and will be sharing something new that I think you'll like so you you won't want to miss it. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Love Cats Meet Country Gingham Clean and Simple

by Joanne James11. January 2023 20:54

Today I'm sharing a quick clean and simple card for this week's colour challenge over at TGIF Challenges:

 

I thought this trio of colours would be perfect for a card using the new 'Love Cats' stamp set and a piece of Country Gingham paper in Balmy Blue - take a look:

 

This card really did come together in a flash; I stamped the cat image partially onto white cardstock and partially onto the gingham (your Stamparatus will make light work of this) and butted both pieces together and adhered to a thick white cardbase:

 

I masked off the hearts so that I could stamp them in separately in pink and masked and partially stamped the sentiment - this is a great way to make what is a Valentine's sentiment something more generic.

I really love this set - I am not a cat lover at all, but these quirky felines are so 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. 

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.

Country Floral Lane Friendship Tag Card

by Joanne James8. January 2023 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's first challenge of the new year over at The Paper Players! We have three fabulous new guest designers Suzy, Fran and Tara, and this week it's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host and she has a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

 

Use a tag on your project! I decided to go all-out with the Country Floral Lane Suite for today's card and use lots of different elements to create a pretty card for a friend - take a look:

 

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

Country Floral Lane - Today's card features both the Country Gingham and Country Floral Lane DSPs, both of which feature in this suite. Hearts, flowers and gingham in co-ordinating colours of Balmy Blue, Sweet Sorbet, Mint Macaron and Petal Pink - what's not to love?! 

Seasonal Labels - I made a bespoke tag for my project, using the Seasonal Labels Dies and cutting a straight age across the bottom so that it made a tag as opposed to a label shape. I cut my tag from one of the floral patterns and used it as the base element for the focal point of my card, using an additional (shortened) label from the same set to add my sentiment.

Finishing Touches - I decorated my tag with another heart-shaped flower (you will be seeing a lot of these in coming weeks!), this time punched directly from the Country Floral Lane designer paper and added some foliage from the Country Bouquet set that I stamped and fussy cut, along with a scattering of a few tiny hearts fussy cut from the Country Floral Lane paper:

A little (retired) ribbon tied with some in-colour baker's twine complete my tag and card. I love that this set can be used in so many ways and embraces 'love' in the broadest sense. I'm linking today's card up over at SUO Challenges where the theme is Designer's Choice - this is definitely mine!

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. 

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

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!

Enjoy your day; nothing special happening here today; it is officially the last day of the school holidays so with the return of the James Juniors to school this week I should see something of a return to a normal schedule. 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.

Celebrate Chinese New Year of the Rabbit with FF125

by Joanne James6. January 2023 10:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge

 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Chinese New Year' which is on 22nd January. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used red, gold, rabbit, envelopes, heat embossing and new year sentiment and decided I would stick with our theme this week and create a card for Chinese new year - this is what I came up with:

 

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

Year of the Rabbit - Since this Chinese new year is the Year of the Rabbit, my new Easter Rabbit punch came in handy! I used a punched rabbit for the centrepiece of my card; whilst my whole card was in red and gold, I wanted it to stand out a little more without adding in another colour, so I swiped my Poppy Parade cardstock with my ink pad in the same colour for a deeper shade - the photo below shows the difference:

 

Brightest Glow - I used a new year sentiment from the 'Brightest Glow' stamp set and another of the co-ordinating diecuts from the Labels Aglow Dies to reveal the gold foil of my mat layer to 'frame' the rabbit:

 

Red Envelopes - I completed my card with a few envelopes snipped from the 'Full of Love' stamp set that I heat embossed in gold on red. Did you know that red envelopes, often with gold detailing and containing money or gift cards, are traditionally given to children to celebrate Chinese new year and are considered to bring good luck, health and prosperity?

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

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at Global Design Project where their theme is 'party'.

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

 

Enjoy your day; mine will be a busy one, as I'm going into Birmingham for some shopping and a trip to the theatre this evening - exciting! 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.

Easy Christmas Leaves of Holly in Silver and Blue

by Joanne James15. December 2022 08:00

Today I'm sharing a card that I made with the leftovers of this card that I just haven't gotten around to sharing yet - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

This is a smaller, cleaner version of my original card, that uses the same holly label and leaves and berries cut from the piece of ink blended cardstock I made for my original project. I added some silver twine too to balance my design:

 

And of course I could resist some variegated holly on the inside and outside of the envelope too:

 

I really love the Leaves of Holly bundle and I'm so sad that it isn't carrying over; I will be holding on to my set for sure. 

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

 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I have made and sent all my Christmas cards for this year and yesterday took receipt of my first pre-order from the new Stampin' Up! January -April catalogue. I can't promise this means an end to festive shares here, but I am excited to be crafting with new things! Today sees the first of the James Juniors to finish school for the Christmas break, with the second one finishing tomorrow, so I will be entering a slightly more 'relaxed' period of blogging over the next couple of weeks. Rest assured though there will be plenty going on and I have some very exciting things planned for 2023. I will be back soon with more to share; meanwhile, enjoy your day and until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Mini Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

The mini catalogue is now live! Read and download your copy here.

Shop Online

Access my online shop 24 x 7, 365 days of the year:

Current March hostess code:

S9F2XJJW

Shop Online

Join My Team

It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! New team members can get £130 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! Stampin' Up! has something for everyone: join my growing team and benefit from my support to enjoy Stampin' Up! however you choose.

If you're interested, call me for a chat to understand how I can help you realise your goals. Alternatively, if you have already decided to sign up and you just can't wait, please click here for the link to the online form where you can sign up and order your starter kit right away! 

Latest Kit!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Rock Legend Kit has all you need to make 8 cards with coordinating envelopes. Along with the new Panda Friends Kit, both are available from January 4th for just £14 each - get yours here!

2023-24 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the catalogue for a full list of current SU! supplies - if you would like to order any of the items featured, please drop me a line at [email protected] or give me a call on 07773 421446 - I'd be happy to help.

New Online Exclusives

There will be new products available exclusively in the online store from 5 March - check them out here.

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!

Follow Me

Monthly Newsletter

Box Builder

Click the button above to use Box Buster to create your custom box design using the Envelope Punch Board!

Kits Collection Now Available!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The new Kits Collection from Stampin' Up! is now available!

Click here to see the current kits available and order yours online today.

I Design For

 

 

 

Stampin' Up Stuff

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.