It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the super-talented Claire to host our challenge this week and she has a timely theme for you to play along with:

With only a couple of weeks to go until Father's Day, today's challenge is a great opportunity for you to get your cards made (and posted if necessary!) in a timely manner. For my card this week I debated with myself what stamps to use: old or new! In the end I ended up making not one but 3 cards, each using a different set. I will be sharing them all over the next three days so if you're in need of masculine inspiration be sure to check back for three very different cards, each of which would work for both Father's Day or a male/Dad's birthday.

For today's card I used this week's sketch over at the Global Design Project and decided to go with one of my favourite existing masculine sets, Guy Greetings, along with some new product - copper embossing powder. Take a look:

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

Add Shine With Copper - Heat embossing adds a 'wow' to any project and the new copper embossing powder is no exception. I stamped my anchors from the 'Guy Greetings' stamp set in Versamark onto a panel of Whisper White and heat embossed them in copper. Check out the lovely sheen that you get when the light bounces off it on my card above! I chose Bermuda Bay for the base and top split layer above my recessed anchor panel; it looks great with the copper and reminds me of the sea, so seemed appropriate for today's card. 

A Multi-Purpose Guy Greeting - I saved my 'Happy Father's Day' sentiment for the inside of my card and chose the anchor one for the front. It ties in with my visuals of course, but would also make this card a multi-purpose masculine card that could be used for other occasions too.

A Layered Label And Embellished Anchor - I used a layered label from the Tags & Labels Framelits set for my sentiment, modifying the mat as I wanted it to have a thinner border than the standard framelit size. This was easy to do: I just cut a standard sized one, then cut it again to remove a slice off two of the four sides. To finish I embossed another anchor in copper, then fussy cut it by hand, removing the rope pieces. I then took some thick Bermuda Bay baker's twine and wrapped it around the anchor where the embossed rope would have been and secured it in place with glue dots. You can see it in more detail in the thumbnail at the top of today's post.

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:

I look forward to seeing your masculine creations in our gallery this week. The weather hasn't been great here this week, however yesterday was a little warmer and today is forecast the same, so I'm looking forward to a BBQ lunch in the garden - doesn't food always taste better if eaten in the open air? I think so! Then I'm hoping to spend some time in the afternoon preparing for my Annual Catalogue Open House on Friday later this week. I hope you enjoy your Sunday too.

I'll be back tomorrow with another masculine project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Guy Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tags & Labels Framelits Dies	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder	Bermuda Bay Thick Baker’S Twine	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)

It's Saturday and the weekend! I've had a hugely productive day today, which has included collecting my brand new car - exciting stuff! I also have all-new products to share today, for my floral card using this week's sketch over at Stamp Ink Paper:

My card today features products from the Affectionately Yours product suite - take a look:

Isn't that just so pretty? (even if I say so myself!) Here's the low-down on today's card:

Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper - Ok, so you know how much I love (and hoard!) paper and I always get excited when there are new ones to choose from - well, this one is gorgeous! Bright pops of colour with Night of Navy and Crumb Cake having a starring role. The best bit though is that the two special sheets are copper embossed - I haven't used either of those on today's card - can't quite bring myself to cut into them yet! - but all in good time, they are too beautiful not to be showcased on a project!

In Love With Love And Affection - I used the Love and Affection stamp set on yesterday's card and I love the bold floral images that co-ordinate with the paper. Here I've stamped the individual elements in Night of Navy onto colours of co-ordinating cardstock and fussy cut them to create the floral bough that frames my sentiment circle. 

And Washi Makes Three! - The Affectionately Yours suite also includes a set of co-ordinating washi tapes. After stamping my sentiment, i needed something to balance the flowers around my circle, so I taped some washi to some Whisper White cardstock and snipped a couple of banners. With a thick baker's twine bow in Cucumber Crush it was just what I needed to complete my card. It's quite difficult to tell on today's card, but the spotted one is actually metallic copper - it even made it onto the washi tape!

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 this week's card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Love & Affection Photopolymer Stamp Set	Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper	Affectionately Yours Designer Washi Tape	Affectionately Yours A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Cucumber Crush Thick Baker's Twine	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe the week is almost over - time seems to have zipped by this week! We have achieved lots though, including a trip to the theatre yesterday to see the musical 'Annie', which was great. I have a really quick post today for the challenge over at CASology where they are celebrating their 200th anniversary - wowsers! Their challenge this week:

The CASology guidelines for a clean and simple card are summarised as:

1. One main image
2. Lots of open space, uncluttered
3. Limited layers & embellishments
4. Quick & easy to recreate 

I decided to go with a one layer white card using some new in colours and a couple of products from the Affectionately Yours product suite:

My sentiment from the Love and Affection stamp set in Dapper Denim, along with some embossing courtesy of one of the Floral Affection embossing folders (there are two in the set) and finished with a few flowers and sprays in Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo and Emerald Envy to complete the oval shape. Super clean, super quick!

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: 

Love & Affection Photopolymer Stamp Set	Floral Affection Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad
Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

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 use one of the new hostess sets, 'Pun Intended', along with some new paper from the Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack:

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

News Flash - You Are Awesome - ... and so are the extra Stampin' Rewards you could get if you hosted a Stampin' Up! party in June! The 'Pun Intended' stamp set has lots of fun images, including a bee, a light bulb and some super-punny sentiments. This set is exclusive to hostesses - and with an extra £25 of Stampin' Rewards for all party sales of £250 or more, you will have more than enough rewards for to get your hands on this stamp set or any of the other fabulous new hostess sets or other new catalogue goodies. I'm in love with this retro camera; here I've stamped it in black and punched out two circles to give a 3D look to the lens - I have lots more ideas for it though, so stay tuned!

Playful Palette - The Playful Palette suite contains lots of lovely products, including a designer series paper stack that includes papers with three of five of the new in-colours. It also contains some great black and vanilla patterns, such as the one I've used to create the background panel for my card today.

Watermelon Wonder-ful - When deciding what colour to choose to compliment my black/vanilla colour combo, I decided I would highlight the heart on my sentiment banner and wanted a red that was not too 'red', so happened upon Watermelon Wonder, one of my in-colour favourites from last year. It was the perfect colour for my card base and flagged banner too. I also added a little epoxy heart to add shine and subtle dimension to my heart, along with the final trio of rhinestones for sparkle.

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:

The wait is over - it's June 1st and the new 2016-17 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! I have updated my links on the right hand side of my blog and you will find a permanent link to the new catalogue there, but for today you need look no further than the picture below which will take you straight to the new catalogue:

The catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. The new catalogue is posted above and will be permanently linked via my blog if you don’t have a paper copy. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here. Don't forget to add the hostess code for June R2QV9WE6 if your order is less than £150 and ensure your preferences are set to 'contactable' to receive a thank you in the post from me.

As if that wasn't enough though, there are also two fantastic promotions that make this catalogue launch even sweeter:

• 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! I still have some calendar dates free in June so 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! Which brings me on to the next 'big news' item for today:

• Earn Free Stamps in June’s Promotion for New SU! Joiners.  June 1 also kicks off a new promotion for customers to become demonstrators.  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.  Starting today 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 or call in at my open house event next week. Alternatively if you know this is the deal for you, don't delay and click here to join today!

• Save The Date - I will be holding my Annual Catalogue Open House Launch next week on Friday 10th June - if you live in or around Northampton this is a great opportunity for you to see some of the products up close, take advantage of my BOGOF sale of retired stamp sets, do a make and take and more! More details to follow in a separate post but if you would like to put your name down for this exclusive event then do get in touch!

That's a lot of information for one post; if I were you I would put the kettle on, put your feet up and get comfy and settle down with your new catalogue for a browse and start creating that all-important wish list!

Back tomorrow with a new project; until then, happy shopping!

Bank Holiday Monday - what better than a long weekend! I spent yesterday catching up on some gardening and had dinner with my in-laws and nephew, which made for a nice change. Today my parents are visiting so I'm looking forward to more time in the garden and another BBQ - is it me, or is there something that makes food taste so much better when cooked and eaten outdoors?!

Anyway, my card for today uses this week's sketch over at Less is More; I was so pleased to see my turtle card from a couple of weeks ago chosen as a Top 3 card this week - the competition over there is stiff, so this makes a win all the more special (thank you ladies!) With only 6 weeks to go until the end of the school year here in the UK, I thought it was time to get cracking on my teacher thank you cards, so here is today's card:

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

ABC, 123 - I used a piece of retiring Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper to cover one of the portions of my background on my extra-thick Whisper White card base. Perfect for adding to the school theme, whilst leaving the all-important white space.

An Apple For The Teacher - I stamped my apple from the retiring 'Apple of My Eye' set in Real Red and fussy cut it out, cutting the leaf out separately and adding it on top. I'm not sure that children give an apple to their teacher any more (we are more likely to send cake in to ours!) Nevertheless this is such a good stamp set for teacher cards - a keeper, for sure.

Thanks, You're The Best - I finished my card with a die cut sentiment cut using my Big Shot and 'thanks' from the Greetings Thinlits. I used black cardstock and stamped the front in Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder a few times to give a nice shiny finish. I popped this up on dimensionals aligned with my apple and finished my card inside with 'you're the best' from the 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set.

Easy and quick to create - just what you need if you've lots of these to make. 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:

Apple Of My Eye Photopolymer Stamp Set	Greetings Thinlits Dies	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Versamark Pad	Big Shot
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host our challenge this week and I have my very own tic-tac-toe board for you to play along with:

Tic Tac Toe - hmmm, so many possibilities! For my card this week I decided to go with the diagonal - yellow, die-cut, paper clip - and using this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch for my layout, this is what I came up with:

My card is a card from a special little girl to her precious Daddy - here's the low-down:

Bear Hugs - The front of my card features the baby bear from the Bear Hugs stamp set, cut out with the co-ordinating Bear Hugs framelits. I also fussy cut his nose and added a couple of pearls coloured black with my Sharpie for eyes. These little bears are so cute - I'm glad that these are being carried over to the new catalogue. I also carried this little sweetie over to the inside, where I paired her with her Daddy and finished the final part of the sentiment:

Bow Paper Clip - I added my oversize bow paper clip with a little white seam binding ribbon tied around the middle to the ear of my little bear for an obvious feminine touch. 

A Daffodil Delight - I added a piece of Daffodil Delight flower-patterned designer series paper from the Brights DSP Stack for the main panel of my card. I wanted my card to feel girly, even though the recipient was the world's best Dad - I think he'll appreciate it! I think the yellow really compliments the Soft Suede too; here's my colour combo should you wish to save it:

I'm also linking up with the team over at Just Add Ink where the challenge this week is to 'Just Add B' which in my case, is B for Bear.

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. 

Whilst I love the bright yellow and cute bear, I must confess the execution of today's card is lacking a little something. I played around with it lots and couldn't work out exactly what it was that wasn't working, so in the end time constraints meant I had to just go with it. Don't you just hate it when that happens?!

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

I look forward to seeing how many different combinations you make with my board this week. We are off to basketball today and are having a little James family get-together later, which should be fun. Otherwise the day will be spent clearing up the mess that was yesterday's flooded kitchen. We had such a busy day, that included shopping for Rebecca's new bike, a trip to the garden centre and a mow of the lawns, that when a pipe burst in the kitchen as we were cooking dinner we spent the rest of the evening filling bowls, waiting for emergency plumbers and mopping up. Hence no blog post yesterday - just too exhausted! Today I'm hoping will be the start of the restful Bank Holiday I was hoping for...

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bear Hugs Clear-Mount Bundle	Bow Paper Clips Embellishments	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad
Soft Suede A4 Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made in my shaker card technique class that featured the Hearth & Home Thinlits at the back end of last year:

So long ago I know, and whilst some of the products on this card are retiring (namely the flower and bird punches, the Alphabet Rotary Stamp and the ribbon), the Hearth & Home Thinlits are staying so it's still worth a share! Not only that, but the new Foam Adhesive Strips that are coming in the new catalogue will make this kind of card a breeze. 

This one isn't a shaker card; I made a little video tutorial to show how I created my colourful roman blind window treatment and have finally got around to editing it, so here it is:

I'm so glad the Hearth & Home Thinlits are staying, they really are so useful. I'm looking forward to seeing what new ribbons are coming our way to see how I can give my next window a makeover!

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. 

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Hearth & Home Thinlits Dies	Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Bermuda Bay 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon	Kraft And White Corrugated Paper	Window Sheets
Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Foam Adhesive Strips

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: 

Wednesday - how did we get to the middle of the week already?! I've had a busy couple of days, with today including my fortnightly coffee and card drop-in session at Bells in Kingsthorpe, Northampton followed by a get-together over lunch with one of my team members. I am busy preparing my new catalogue samples and getting my catalogues ready to go out to both my online and face to face customers. If you've purchased Stampin' Up! products from me in the last six months, a complimentary catalogue will be winging its way out to you within the next week. If you haven't purchased from me recently but would like a copy of the new catalogue, please do get in touch with me either via email joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or by phone and I will arrange to send a catalogue out to you too!

Today I have a video tutorial to share with you! Do you remember this card that I made a while ago?

I used this fun flower embellishment made with the It's My Party Baker's twine to decorate my Botanical Builder Framelits Die colour-blocked card. You can read more about it on the original blog post here if you missed it or would like to refresh your memory.

I promised you a video tutorial on how to make those cute baker's twine looped flower embellishments and finally here it is: 

They really are such fun to make and can be used to dress up cards and packaging and can be made from all kinds of baker's twine and linen thread. 

I hope you enjoyed today's video and it inspires you to have a go and try something new. I'll be back tomorrow with a fun birthday card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!