by Joanne James21. January 2021 09:00
Today I'm squeaking in a card for the current challenge over at CAS(E) THis Sketch that also uses a trio of colours over at Color Dare too:

I was intrigued by this sketch and as I sat at my desk and looked out onto yet another grey and rainy day, I wanted to work with some bright colours that reminded me of spring - here's my card:

Here's the low-down on today's card:
I used some of the black and white True Love designer series paper for my background and took some of the flowers from another sheet, fussy cut them and coloured them with my Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and light Pumpkin Pie Blends and used them to sit either side of my diagonal sentiment strip. I actually used some of the flowers from the edge of the paper that were incomplete, as they are really useful to sit either side of a border line. For the bottom flower, I cut into the paper and placed it partially under and partially onto my sentiment strip; you can see that here:

My sentiment is taken from the 'Always in my Heart' stamp set - perfect for a card to celebrate friendship or a birthday and a great example of how this set goes beyond valentine's, weddings or anniversary. A trio of matte black enamel dots finished my 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.
Enjoy your day; finally the sun is shining here - it's amazing what some sunshine does to lift your mood. Well, that and restoration of the internet of course - hurrah! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
by Joanne James7. January 2021 15:00
Today I'm sharing a card that I made with this week's colour challenge over at TGIF Challenges in mind:

I had a piece of black and white True love Designer Series Paper out on my desk after making this card, so decided instead if tidying it away to use it up and this black and white challenge seemed like a great opportunity. This is what I came up with:

Here's the low-down on today's card:
I used lots of the same elements as my previous card, including those gorgeous Always Dies. This time I diecut my 'Love' 3 times and stacked it to create a dimension diecut and combined it with a reverse white-on-black 'with'. There are lots of ways you can combine sentiments using these dies and they don't all have to be with weddings/anniversaries/Valentines in mind; the sentiment on my card is sufficiently generic that it could be used for anything. Again I added some of those matt dots, along with some twine to jazz up my scalloped rectangle. I offset this layer slightly to show a wider piece of the DSP behind, as the pattern got a little lost when it was centred and I really like the effect. And that's all there was to it!
If you love working with black and white as a combo, you should definitely check out the TGIF DT cards and the gallery this week - there are some great examples to feast your eyes on!
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:
by Joanne James2. January 2021 21:00
Happy new year lovely readers! I hope you have all enjoyed a restful Christmas and peaceful new year with your nearest and dearest. I have enjoyed a craft-free break over the festive period, instead spending some quality time with my family and indulging in some of my other passions, such as Lego building, board games and book reading. I am slowly getting back to crafting; I have lots of new goodies to play with so am looking forward to sharing some of those with you.Today I'm sharing a card I made for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I love this sketch by Jennifer T and decided to create a layered sentiment and start cutting in to my new pack of True Love black and white designer series paper for my card - take a look:

I diecut the larger of my 'always' outlines out of the patterned paper and after adding some colour to the blooms on the paper with my Flirty Flamingo Blends, I popped this panel up on dimensionals. I cut the narrower 'always' out of Basic Black that I first adhered to a foam sheet and then inset this into the aperture onto the background layer and added a stamped 'forever &' to complete my sentiment, with a trio of black mat dots to finish. I also added some coloured DSP to the flap of my envelope too for a co-ordinated finishing touch.
You can see the dimension of the sentiment and the colour detail better 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. No online store links as these products are not available to purchase until 5th January.
Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with my first challenge post for The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: