Sunshine Sayings Meets Thankful Life

by Joanne James13. March 2017 10:55

Good morning and welcome to another week! Mine is going to be a busy one so without further ado I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

These ladies have some great sketches and this one from Jen M is no exception - I love the layering of the panels. I went bright today - take a look:

 

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

Get A Vase of Flowers For Hosting A Stampin' Up! Party - Yes, that's right - today's card features the vase of flowers from the hostess set in the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue, 'Thankful Life', a set available to purchase exclusively to customers who host a Stampin' Up! party or place a single order of £150 or more. Extra Stampin' Rewards during Sale-A-Bration make this an excellent time to host, although stamp sets like this one make it worth hosting a party all year round. The stamps are photopolymer and so easy to line up to create a vase of colourful blooms that will last so much longer than fresh ones! This set will be available to hostesses until the Spring-Summer catalogue ends on 31st May, so if it's a set you would like to own, do get in touch with me to arrange a night for your crafty night in with friends. 

You Brighten My Day - The 'Thankful Life' hostess set does come with two sentiments of its own, however both were too too big for the embellishment 'button' that I wanted to create. I opted instead for this one from 'Sunshine Sayings' that seemed particularly appropriate given my colour choices for today's card.  

A Fiesta Of Colour - I took the inspiration for my colour combination straight from the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper that I used for my background panel - as a brights girl these colours really appeal to me and I just love the mix of patterns they contain: 

Here is the colour combination if you would like to save it to use on your projects too:

 

What a great combination of bold and bright colours - guaranteed to cheer!

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.

It's Your Day My Foxy Friend!

by Joanne James14. 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 sketch for you:

 

For my card today I headed straight to my Little Foxy suite of products and decided on another card using the cute Foxy Friends set and co-ordinating Fox Builder Punch - I just couldn't resist!

 

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

My Foxy Friend - I know I could have made so many animals with my Foxy Friends stamp set, but the fox won me over again! I stamped him in Calypso Coral and punched all the pieces out separately (I punched the tail backwards, as I still wanted it on the left, although it would have been much easier to stamp and punch the right way around and stick it on the right!) and layered them onto my tree stump, which I cut out by hand.

Toadstools Galore - I chose another of the great patterns from the A Little Foxy DSP stack for my feature panel and used its colour scheme to dictate the mat layers and base colour of my card. I went with a square base as per the sketch in Smoky Slate and left it plain; on reflection I think it could use some texture as it is a rather large expanse of plain cardstock, but I am not unhappy with it! I also added a swathe of Pool Party Satin Ribbon beneath my fox as one of the horizontal banners; I love this satin ribbon and am so pleased we now have it in more colours.

Sunburst Sayings - I went with a simple birthday sentiment from the 'Sunburst Sayings' set, continued on the inside of my card with 'Happy Birthday to you', stamped in Archival Grey directly onto my card base. Nothing too fussy as I think this card would work well as either a male or female card, so wanted to keep it neutral.

The Foxy Friends bundle just has so many creative possibilities! If you haven't bought yours yet, this month would be the perfect time to do so; if you purchase the bundle and a pack of the 'A Little Foxy' Designer Series Paper Stack together you will have spent £45 and so you will earn yourself a £4.50 money-off coupon any purchases next month too - bargain! Just click on the links below to hop on over to my online store to order yours today - and don't forget to add this month's hostess code 63RNATE3 to get a little thank you in the post from me 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 '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!

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.

Cupcake Party Punch Subtles Birthday Card

by Joanne James26. May 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:

 

When I saw today's colours, I thought Easter, ice-cream and cupcakes in that order! I went with the latter as I had a card in mind that I had wanted to try out for a little while - here it is:

 

I CASE'd the idea for today's card from this fabulous masculine card from the talented Bruno Bertucci. I fell in love with Bruno's fabulous masculine birthday card and when I saw this week's colours, I knew I was going to have to re-create an altogether more feminine take on Bruno's card, whilst preserving the clean and graphic layout. A change of colours and punch and there you have it - thank you Bruno for the inspiration! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Farewell Mini Muffin - The trio of punches that comprise the Party Punch Pack in the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue are not carrying over into the new annual catalogue - boo hoo! Along with the candle and balloon, this adorable mini muffin (or cupcake if you prefer!) will be retiring, so snap up a set now. I promise you that I will not be selling on mine, so don't expect to see them in a retiring items sale any time soon. you have been warned :-)

Sunburst Sayings - My sentiment is from the Sunburst Sayings stamp set - slim and perfectly in keeping with this graphic card. I anchored mine with a pink candy dot too by way of embellishment.

Party With Cake - Another great birthday set with some fun sentiments that I used for the inside of my card, which you can see in my thumbnail above. I love the typewriter-style font that accompanies the main sentiment 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 '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: 

  • Party Punch Pack
  • Party With Cake Wood-Mount Stamp Set
  • Sunburst Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set
  • So Saffron A4 Cardstock
  • Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock
  • Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
  • Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad
  • Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Last Chance To Take Advantage of Wednesday Weekly Deals!

by Joanne James6. April 2016 08:00

 

It's Wednesday and time for this week's new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! There are changes afoot as far as Weekly Deals are concerned - due to improvements in stock control, this week and next are the last weeks that they will be offered. They will however be replaced with less frequent but better 'Specials' promotions on an adhoc basis - please make sure you're checking my blog regularly for details. So for the final two weeks, there really are some great deals - as always, these offers are valid for one week only. 

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for April UD3KDWM4 if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. If you are local, then give me a call to place your order if you'd like to save on P&P.

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

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

 

If you're tempted to place an order, do check out the clearance rack online too - additional items have been added this week and there are some good bargains to be had!

It just so happens that I've used two of the products on this week's deals on my card today - check it out here!

That's all from me; back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy shopping!

Sunburst Sayings and Thinlits Shine It's Your Day

by Joanne James6. March 2016 09:00

Firstly, happy Mothering Sunday to all UK mothers reading this - today is most certainly our day! It's also Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the talented Sandy to host our challenge this week and she has a great theme for you to play along with:

    PPA-290-Mar03

I was all set to make a rainy day card for today's challenge but I couldn't get the idea in my head to work on paper - so some other time for that card! Instead I decided to use my Sunburst Thinlits and create a bright sunshine card which came together much more like my vision:

 

I used this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts for my layout and created a fun fold card, where the second part of my sentiment acted as a clasp to hold the left-hand panel closed. I used a panel of Daffodil Delight spotted Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper on the right-hand panel and on the left I stamped some sunshines in Versamark and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. This sunshine is from one of the early limited edition Sale-A-Bration sets, 'Hello' and the good news is that availability of this stamp set has been extended while stocks last. You've still time to snap it up, but you'd better be quick!

For my main square, I used a background of Tempting Turquoise to which I added a Daffodil Delight sunburst, edged with Tangelo Twist. For my sunshine centre, I stamped 'Shine' from the 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set onto some Daffodil Delight cardstock and fussy cut the outer elements of the sentiment before cutting the remainder with a circle framelit, which allowed my sentiment to overhang. I backed this circle with a mat cut from a 1 3/4" scalloped circle punch, that I punched once then rotated and punched again to create the starburst effect - this is a neat little trick and perfect for this kind of design. It's also a great way to get a second shape from one punch. I then framed the whole square with a Tangelo Twist frame cut using my square framelits. The second part of my sentiment was cut with the washi tape thinlit from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits set and I adhered this with a dimensional to the right so that it could serve to hold the fold shut. I just love the bright sunshine colours of today's card and the layering of all the elements within the focal square - this will certainly brighten someone's day. The 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set and Sunburst Thinlit die are another of the great 'bundle and save' offers in the current seasonal catalogue, giving you a saving of 15% when you purchase them together - bonus!

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

 

Thank you to everyone who has left me a sweet comment or feedback on these new graphics, which have been very well received; they make great Pins too!

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 our theme this week. We are off to basketball this morning with time for a special Mother's Day lunch before venturing out to a birthday party this afternoon. Not quite the restful Mother's Day I had in mind, but life goes on today as always and as my family frequently tell me "Every day is Mother's Day in the James Household!". I have been treated to cards, flowers and gifts today so I am feeling perhaps a little more loved than usual :-) 

I hope you all have an enjoyable Mothering Sunday, whether you are celebrating or are focused on other things today. 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.

You Brighten My Day Layered Sunburst Card

by Joanne James14. February 2016 09:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper PlayersThis week it is the turn of the queen of die-cuts, the lovely Laurie, to host and she has a colour challenge for you to play along with:

 

This week's colours are about as far from Valentines as you could possibly get, but this colour palette offers some great opportunities for bright cards on a cold Winter's day. For my card this week I was inspired to use my new Sunburst Thinlits to create a layered sunburst, paired with some patterned cloud paper:

To create my sunburst I cut two sunbursts, one in Daffodil Delight to fit my card panel and the other full size in Tangelo Twist. To get a perfect 'shadow' I cut the orange one into three pieces to give equal shadow lines on each ray, then trimmed the ends to fit flush with the yellow one. I mounted my sunburst onto a piece of Pool Party cloud paper, taken from the Sweet L'il Things designer series paper stack. I stamped my sentiment in Tangelo Twist onto Very Vanilla and layered the circles to create the centrepiece for my sun. Finally, I added a trio of orange Brights sequins to finish. Quite a simple card to look at, but consisting of nine layers in total, each of which adds to the finished look and feel of the card. I love the bright colours of this week's colour palette  -so cheery and sure to brighten everyone's day! 

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 this week's colours. We have a restful day planned today, with a sport-free day as it's the start of the half-term holiday for the James Juniors. Pretty much a whole week of lie-ins - bliss!

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.