Kindest Gnomes You Gnome Me So Well

by Joanne James13. October 2022 20:46

Hi everyone! I've a quick post this evening with a cute card I made using the triple dare colours over at Color Dare for the 1/9ths challenge over at AAA Cards, with the optional twist of gnomes:

    

I went for a cute girly gnome - check her out:

 

Some simple colouring with Stampin' Blends and a paper-pieced hat using some retired plaid paper in my scraps box. I diecut my stamped image using my Gnomes Dies and added some Balmy blue ink with a blending brush behind my sweet gnome:

 

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. 

Clean and simple - done! 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.

Natures Harvest Echinacea and Meadow Dies Watercolour Print for PP612

by Joanne James9. October 2022 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 Laurie to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for us to work with:

       

I say interesting because Laurie's colours immediately made me think of Halloween, but since I rarely send Halloween cards and I don't have much in the way of current Halloween product, I was determined to use these colours on anything but a Halloween card! So much so, I started creating and ended up with not one but two cards to share with you today - and neither remotely anything to do with October 31st! Here's the first one using Amy's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week - take a look:

 

Here's the low-down on my first card:

Staying faithful to Amy's sketch, I added a band of Brights designer series paper to my Gorgeous Grape card base and decided to create a nature-inspired watercolour as my focal point. I stamped the echinacea from the 'Nature's Harvest' stamp set in Stazon onto watercolour paper, then loosley watercoloured my image using the challenge colours and my aquapainters. Once I'd painted my image, I added some speckles by flicking my black Stampin' Blends marker across the image before cutting out with the largest circle in my Stylish Shapes Dies:

 

I added a white-on-black sentiment from 'Art Gallery' to complete my card. I liked this card so much, I thought I'd use one of the dies in the co-ordinating set to try out a watercolour print technique that I'd seen on Pinterest. My first attempt was a hot mess, but taking my learns and a different die from the Meadow Dies set I had a second attempt and like this one much better! Here's the card in question:

 

Have you ever tried the watercolour print technique using diecuts? It's actually quite straightforward: diecut your flower from watercolour paper and colour with Stampin' Write markers. Once coloured, place the flower onto a blank piece of watercolour paper and lightly spritz with water. The water 'spreads' the ink from the diecut one the blank piece - you can also 'stamp' this piece with the wet, coloured flower (but I didn't do that here). Allow both pieces to dry then add to your card; I cut a frame out of my spritzed piece and then added my diecut flower offset from the relief image on the frame. I added some clear faceted gems and a sentiment from the 'Charming Sentiments' stamp set that, when paired with the words 'faith over fear' stamped on the inside were the perfect words of encouragement needed for a card to send to a friend battling breast cancer right now:

 

What do you think? I quite like the effect and will definitely be trying this with other dies in other colours. I am also linking my second card up over at Time Out since the sentiment is perfect for their theme this week.

Here are the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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. 

So what do these colours say to you - Halloween, or something else completely? 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; I'll be back on Tuesday 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.

Changing Seasons with Autumn Leaves PP611

by Joanne James2. October 2022 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a timely theme challenge for you to work with:

 

I chose Changing Seasons and the arrival of Autumn as my theme this week. With cooler temperatures and shorter days already making an appearance here in the UK, it seems appropriate. When I think of Autumn, I think of the changing colours of the leaves and that was the inspiration for my card today - take a look:

 

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

I went with a square card for a change and inspired by a similar layout I'd seen on Pinterest, I created a series of layered circles with my changing colours below and a circle of Crumb Cake above that had a leaf shape cut out with the oak leaf in the Country Wreaths die set, so that the colour showed through the negative space:

My ninth and final circle was  where I stamped my simple sentiment, adding one of the die cut leaves, along with a twine bow and enamel dot as a final embellishment.

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. 

I love the range of colours, from greens through to yellows, oranges red and rust - a great showcase of Stampin' Up! cardstock too! What do you think of today's card and what does Autumn mean to you? Do leave me a comment below, as always I'd love you to share your thoughts. Or you could even play along with this week's challenge!

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; 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.

Clean and Simple Dots and Spots Thank You Card

by Joanne James1. October 2022 18:00

Happy World Card Making Day everyone! No cardmaking for me today as both the James Juniors were hosts at their respective school open days this morning then one played hockey and I took the other to the theatre to watch 'An Inspector Calls'. I thought I'd pop by with a quick post to share a card that was inspired by the challenge over at AAA Cards that I made last week and have finally found time to blog.

I love the bright colours of the inspo photo and went with the option of dots & spots too for today’s no-stamping card - take a look:

 

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

I used the Dots and Spots die for my background and cut it in each of the colours, so that once I’d put my Coastal Cabana panel onto my white card base, I could use some dots in the remaining colours to fill in some of the holes.

I added a layered diecut sentiment from the Amazing Thanks dies popped up on some dimensionals to complete my card:

 

That’s it - done! A perfect quick thank you and no stamping required!

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 my card for this week's Paper Players challenge where I am the hostess this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Cottage Wreaths Autumn Thank You FF119

by Joanne James30. September 2022 08:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

       

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Farmer's Day' which is on October 12th. 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 gingham, die cut, kraft card and a thank you sentiment, along with the sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the colour palette over at Color Throwdown this week and this is what I came up with:

 

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

Timber Texture - For my base layer, I added some texture to my kraft 'frame' using the Timber 3D embossing folder. I really like the effect of the added texture, which adds to the rudtic feel of my card. 

Cottage Wreath - The star of today's card is the autumn wreath, decorated with acorns (and pumpkins) courtesy of the Cottage Wreaths bundle. There are some great standalone wreath dies in this set, but today I chose to diecut one of the stamped versions, full of leaves. I went neutral and decorated my wreath, before finishing with a gingham bow cut from the Country Gingham DSP pack:

 

A Throwback Trio - I did use a trio of retired products on today's card - did you spot them all? They were Misty Moonlight cardstock for my layers, a piece of Harvest Meadow DSP for the central panel as the blue design coordinated perfectly and finally my pumpkins were cut using the retired Seasonal Swirls Dies, which I rediscovered when I was hinting for retired pumpkin goodies for the pumpkin speed stamping challenge a couple of weeks ago! Some things will always have a use in the craft space, right?! 

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 Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

 

Enjoy your day; mine is going to be a busy one and it includes a visit to the hairdressers for an overdue colour. I might be happy to grow old(er) gracefully but go grey in the process - I'm afraid not! I'll be back tomorrow with another quick project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Celebrate Sunflowers Thank You

by Joanne James26. September 2022 12:44

Here's my second card for today! This one was inspired by both the colours and inspiration photo over at Color Throwdown and uses the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday for my layout:

   

Another card with a dark background - this time courtesy of some (retired) Pretty Peacock cardstock - the perfect base for some vibrant sunflowers - take a look:

 

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

I used an embossed tree ring for the centre of my card and added my quartet of sunflowers, coloured with a combination of Stampin' Write and Blends markers, and some diecut green leaves around this. I added a heat embossed sentiment with some twine and enamel dots for extra touches of gold. Whilst it's tricky to see on the main photo, I did add in the option of stencilling to the card base, by using some tone-on-tone blending through a stencil made from one of my Sunflower Dies - you can see it a little better on the photo below:

 

I also used my (retired) Pretty Peacock Blends to colour the edges of my stamped sunflower images to remove the harsh white border against my background. I haven't used the oldie-but-goodie 'Celebrate Sunflowers' stamp set in ages, but it is so perfect for this time of year as summer fades all too quickly into autumn. Another thank you card that will be winging its way to one of my lovely customers this month!

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 for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Sending Thanks with Quiet Meadow

by Joanne James26. September 2022 11:49

Happy Monday everyone! I managed to spend some quality time in my craft room over the weekend and as a result of trying to overcome my 'crafting hiatus' I've a couple of extra cards to share with you today! The first one uses Karren's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and the fabulously bold Colour Inkspiration colour palette:

   May be an image of scooter and text

I really wanted to make the most of the bright blue and mango of the inspiration photo, so I went with a bold use of colour - take a look:

 

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

I used one of my (retired) stencils to add some tone-on-tone colour to my Starry Sky card base, then added a cluster of Meadow Dies flowers to the right hand side in the challenge colours, having added a light touch of Starry Sky ink to my cornflower and embellished my Mango Melody flowers with some sparkly rhinestones.

 

For the horizontal element of the sketch, I layered a diecut 'Sending' in silver foil on white with the remainder of the sentiment stamped and heat embossed in silver directly onto the cardbase. I finished the inside of my card and the corner of my envelope with a collage of stamped images in co-ordinating colours from the 'Quiet Meadow' stamp set:

 

A liberal interpretation of this week's FMS sketch for me, although the shapes are clearly visible - I just love this card! What do you think? 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back shortly with card number two. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Storybook Gnomes PP610

by Joanne James25. September 2022 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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

 

I decided to go with another Christmas card today and spent some time fussy cutting a host of cute and cuddly animals, gnomes and toadstools from my Storybook Gnomes designer series paper to create a sweet festive scene - take a look:

 

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

If you don't mind a little fussy cutting, this card comes together really easily. I added a panel of patterned paper to my Balmy Blue card base, then built my little scene for the horizontal element. The gnome and toadstool can be cut out with the Gnomes Dies - only the remaining animals require fussy cutting. Here's my completed lineup:

 A sprinkling of (retired) adhesive snowflakes, a simple stamped sentiment from the 'Kindest Gnomes' stamp set and a little stamping on the inside completes my card:

I am also linking up today's card over at Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are currently on 'M is for Magic', so my magical gnome and friends should fit right in!

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 day of catching up with homework, ready to start the new school week. I managed a little crafty time yesterday so I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

 

Stitched Greenery Season of Chic CAS Leaves PP609

by Joanne James18. September 2022 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the lovely Claire's turn to host this week and she has a seasonal clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

    

Scarecrows and/or leaves! Well, I don't have any scarecrow stamps in my collection, so it was punch art (rarely a good choice for clean and simple cards!) or leaves! I have lots of leaf options and I thought the Stitched Greenery die would be perfect for a clean and simple card that celebrates leaves - take a look:

 

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

I used the neutral colour palette over at The Color Throwdown and made my Very Vanilla stitched leaves backplate the centrepiece of my card. I added a simple greeting from 'Season of Chic', anchored with a couple of leaves cut using the (retired) Stitched Leaves dies in kraft that I tied with a bow of (retired) thick Pool Party baker's twine. Check out that stitched detailing:

I love the simplicity of this card with the neutrals and the pop of aqua blue from the twine. A great seasonal notecard and so quick and easy to make too!

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

 

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

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 planned here today - if I can find a little crafty time 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.

Twinkling Lights Christmas Tree Pocket Shaker Christmas Card FF118

by Joanne James16. September 2022 08:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

    

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Space Week' which is 4-10 October. 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 went festive rather than space and with the current Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch for my layout, used stars, sparkle and moving parts to create a pocket shaker card with the Lights Aglow paper and Twinkling Lights Christmas tree die - take a look:

 

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

This card is all about the sparkle! I used some gold foil embossed Lights Aglow designer series paper for the background of my shaker pocket and also added gold foil behind my Christmas tree diecut and with the gold glimmer star on top. I heat embossed my sentiment, from the 'Sweet Candy Canes' stamp set in gold onto Evening Evergreen cardstock - I also used another sentiment from this set on the inside of my card:

 

The stars and moving parts comprise the (retired) gold sequins I used for the inside of my pocket shaker - I also added some of the tiny stars to decorate my diecut Christmas tree. Isn't that just so sparkly?! 

These pocket shakers are so fun and so easy to make - you just put your background and shaker elements into a cellophane envelope and take the back shut before adding to your card. They are slimmer than a traditional shaker card, which makes them great for posting, but there is still room for the contents to move around. Have you ever tried one? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear what kinds you've experimented with.

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 Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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.

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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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