Good evening blog readers! I had lots of jobs to do today, but after a morning of paperwork I decided the housework could wait and I spent the afternoon cardmaking instead (oops!!) Today I'm sharing another Valentine's card, this time with a more masculine feel. I used the colours from this week's challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary as my starting point:

I decided to use my 'Hearts A Flutter' stamp set, as although this is one of my favourite sets and one I use a lot all year round, I haven't used it on any of my Valentine's cards yet this year. Here is my card:

I stamped my hearts somewhat randomly across the lower half of my card, either side of my focal point. I mounted the top layer of cardstock on dimensionals for two reasons: firstly, to make the ribbon easier to attach and secondly so that the heart that I cut out (I used my hearts framelits for this) would have some depth and my die cut 'love' would have more impact. I deliberately chose to use Smoky Slate for my middle layer, as I wanted the heart to have a more masculine appeal, especially as I used ribbon on my card too; Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon isn't too girly, but adds a luxurious feel to the card. A few candy dots to finish just to add balance and done.

Whilst I designed this card with a man in mind, I think it would work equally well for a woman, especially if you're not the kind of person who is into all things pink and red.

Back tomorrow with another Valentine's themed card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Expressions Thinlits Dies	Hearts A Flutter Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Regals Candy Dots	Neutrals Candy Dots	Island Indigo 3/4" Chevron Ribbon

Today I have another Flowerfull Heart card to share with you; this time a larger A5 size card that could be used for a wedding, anniversary, birthday or Valentine's for someone special. So here is my card:

I love this card! It is elegant in its simplicity, yet at the same time packed with detail. Whilst the card has a lot of 'white space' (the actual base card colour is Very Vanilla, just to confuse you!), I created a double-layered centre panel on which I stamped both the Flowerfull Heart in Cherry Cobbler and then edged the bottom with some Cherry Cobbler Core'dinations cardstock, which I embossed then sanded lightly to show the contrasting layer. I covered the join with some Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon which I tied in a bow at the side, then lastly finished with a flower made from Stampin' Up!'s Simply Pressed Clay, which I first coloured with Cherry Cobbler reinker before moulding. Here's a close up of the flower:

These really are so easy to make: you just press the clay into the mould, pop it out and leave it to dry. you can colour it before or after you put it in the mould, depending on the effect you're after.

A quick post from me today; having barely got rid of my last cold, I now seem to be catching another, so it's a hot drink and early night for me!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Flowerfull Heart Wood-Mount Stamp	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Regals Core'dinations	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Cherry Cobbler 1/2 Inch Seam Binding Ribbon	Simply Pressed Clay	Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin Ink Refill
Stampin' Sanding Block

Once a quarter, my wider upline team get together for a team training day. We craft, we share business tips and ideas and we catch up with friends. It's a fun day devoted to our Stampin' Up! businesses and one of the many benefits of being a part of a wider Stampin' Up! team. One of the important parts of these events is the process of 'swapping'. Everyone prepares a card, scrapbook or 3D sample using current products in line with a chosen theme. Today our theme was the forthcoming Sale-A-Bration campaign; as promised, today I'm sharing the swap I prepared:

This card uses three of the products that you can earn free with a £45 purchase: The Petal Parade stamp set, the Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, and one of the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series paper designs. I used a 1 1/4" circle punch and my circle framelits to cut out the flowers and mounted them on dimensionals for extra interest.

If you would like to make this card, you have only nine more days to go until Sale-A-Bration is live and these products will be available online or through the Sale-A-Bration mini catalogue - not much longer to wait now! I am already taking party bookings for the Sale-A-Bration period; if you would like to host a party during Sale-A-Bration, then contact me to book a slot. Sale-A-Bration is a great time to join Stampin' Up! too; if you would like to know more about the benefits of becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, then check out the link on the right hand side of my blog page or get in touch for an informal chat; I would be happy to share with you the benefits that being a demonstrator can offer.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Pool Party A4 Card Stock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch

Well it's the weekend and in our house that can only mean one thing - even more Lego on the living room floor than during the week! This morning we even paid a visit to the Lego store to spend some of the money that James' juniors received at Christmas, so we've further added to the total brick count. I would share a picture of the living room floor, but to be honest I'm embarrassed at the state of it; at least I'm out at team training all day tomorrow, so I can pretend it's neat and tidy whilst I'm gone :-)

Anyway, today's card is my entry for this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge. This week it's a sketch by the very talented Margaret Moody:

This is something of a classic sketch, as it's a layout that can be used for all kinds of occasions. I decided I was in need of a bright card today, so went with this bold and cheerful birthday card:

I let the bold and bright 'Birthday Basics' DSP pattern take centre stage with its colourful party hats. Instead of leaving my vertical band straight, I decided to echo the scallop trim seen on some of the hats and create a layered strip that I cut with the Large Scallop Edgelit - it reminded me of party streamers too (I know, I have a vivid imagination!) I finished off with a sentiment from the 'Label Love' set stamped in Raspberry Ripple and punched with the Artisan Label Punch, then layered on another two pieces of punched cardstock in co-ordinating colours.

I really like this card, as it's as versatile as the layout and would suit either a boy or a girl. Don't forget to check out how the design team over at the Pals interpreted this week's sketch for lots more card making inspiration.

Back tomorrow with all the latest news from training and a picture of my swaps. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Label Love	Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper	Raspberry Ripple A4 Card Stock	Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay
Large Scallop Edgelits Die	Artisan Label Punch	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Raspberry Ripple Classic Stampin' Pad

Good evening blog readers! Today I've been busy putting together my swaps for our team training session on Sunday and watching a couple of netball matches at school this afternoon. The theme for our swaps at training this month is 'Sale-A-Bration' and along with my final swap card, which I'll share with you on Sunday, I've made one or two other cards using some of the items you can earn free with a £45 order during the Sale-A-Bration promotion, which starts on 28th January. Here's another card that I made using one of the flower stamps from the Petal Parade set, that also features one of the papers from the Sweet Sorbet DSP pack:

This time I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour the flowers so that I could give them a two-tone look with different coloured centres, and I anchored them to the card with some of the fabby extra-thick baker's twine that is another of the SAB promotional products.

I created a split front to my patterned paper layer and included the 'happy day' sentiment from the stamp set of the same name.

I'm off now to finish my swaps. Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Happy Day	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Pool Party A4 Card Stock
2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform

Good day blog readers - I'm back today with a one-layer card! I haven't made a truly one layered card in a while, as I like to frame and layer when I make cards. That said, one layer cards are post-friendly and great if you are sending mail abroad, when weight is more of an issue. They also offer a great design challenge for those of us who don't often design in this way and it can be kind of liberating to design on just one sheet of card stock.

I follow the 'Less is More' blog as it's a great source of inspiration, particularly for one layer cards. This week's Less is More challenge is to create a one layer card with the theme 'Hearts'(week 154), so following a few days reprieve I'm back on the love theme today so that I can join in - here's my card:

We received the 'Language of Love' set free at Stampin' Up! Convention and it was out on my desk for another project I am working on, so thought I would use it to create this card. I started by positioning and stamping the large heart, then using a mask made from a post-it note using a heart framelit, I positioned this over my stamped image and stamped the rows of smaller hearts around it. I stamped each row in alternating colours and moved the stamp one 'heart' space along each time to create added design interest, allowing them to 'fade' into the masked area so that I retained the heart-shaped space around my focal image. I love the main stamp here - when you say 'love' in so many different ways, no other sentiment is needed!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

Language Of Love

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad

Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad

A quick post from me today! With all the coughs and colds that are ever-present in our house at the moment, I thought I would take the opportunity today to create a get well soon card. Here is my card:

I used my Stampin' Write Markers to ink up the flowers on my 'Wildflower Meadow' stamp, leaving out the dots and replacing the bird with the sentiment. I then simply embossed the coloured image and mounted using the Coastal Cabana blue as my accent colour. I took the colours from this week's challenge over at 'The Paper Players' as the inspiration for my card:

I actually found it tricky to work with four different colours and did break the 'blue and green should never be seen without a colour in between' rule with this one, but I like it!

Back tomorrow with a one layer card: until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Wildflower Meadow	Wildflower Meadow Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz
Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker	Regals Stampin' Write Markers	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Delightful Dozen - Clear-Mount Stamp
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Well, it had to happen - I successfully shared my cold with my daughter, who as a result is off school today feeling considerably down in the dumps! Even a bonus dose of 'Animal Rescue' on TV can't make up for missing two of her favourite lessons of the week - Art and PE. I'm sure a couple of days in the warm to catch up on some sleep and get things under control will help no end. As for me - my day is not quite turning out as planned, although this does mean one thing - an early blog post for a change!

The title of my post today is 'Two For One - Time Two' for two reasons: I am entering today's card into two challenges, and I also used two different flower sets to create my pattern. So, here is my card:

My card layout was inspired by this week's sketch challenge at Create with Connie and Mary CCMC285 - here is the sketch:

My colour combination was inspired by the current colour combination over at Dynamic Duos DD#85 - Summer Starfruit and Garden Green:

So here's a confession for you: I've had a Garden Green inkpad for 12 months and the first time I broke the seal on it was yesterday to make this card!! Whilst I use Garden Green card occasionally, I don't use Regals collection ink pads very often at all (Cherry Cobbler being the notable exception, of course). I have one other ink pad in this collection still in it's cellophane too; any guesses as to which one?! For a first time use, I quite like this colour combination. And for my other combination - did you spot which flower stamp sets my pattern came from? The yellow flower is from the 'Petal Parade' set that will be available during Sale-A-Bration at the end of the month and the green one is from 'Mixed Bunch'. I toyed with embellishing my flower centres, but decided against it, instead using three candy dots to 'anchor' my banner in place.

I'm off to replenish the tissue box and hopefully make a start on swaps for team training this weekend.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Lots Of Thanks	Mixed Bunch - Clear-Mount Stamp	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Card Stock
Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad	Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Regals Candy Dots

A busy day today: key highlights were getting to the bottom of the ironing basket (always worth celebrating!), finding Ben's mislaid PE training shoes at school and completing my card for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge. This week it's a colour challenge to incorporate the following colours:

I decided to stick with the Valentine's theme and use the contrasting colours to work up a card design that I've been wanting to have a go at for a while - here's my card:

I'm not sure what the term is for this angular layered design (or even if there is one!) but it's the perfect simple layout to highlight both the Eiffel Tower and 'True Love' sentiment from the 'Follow Your Heart' stamp set; I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to ensure perfect placement. Lastly, I added a small punched red heart with a rhinestone on a dimensional for added interest. I love the simplicity of this card and the statement that the bold red colour makes against the white and soft sky.

I hope you like my card - there's lots more inspiration from the Design Team over at Paper Pal Arts using this colour combination if you fancy having a go.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Follow My Heart Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Small Heart Punch	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Good evening lovely blog readers - I hope you have all enjoyed a lovely weekend. Mine seems to have revolved around cooking for a change, with more time in the kitchen trying out new things. I blame Gordon Ramsey - I caught the last few episodes of his recent home cooking series on Channel 4 and just had to buy the accompanying book. The whole family pored over it yesterday morning and are now in a race to work our way through the delicious recipes within! Coupled with the fact that I seem to have passed my recent ailments to my daughter, such that she couldn't manage her swim squad training today as usual, it has felt like a less frantic weekend than is usually the case in the James household.

Anyway, today I thought I would share something different with you: wedding stationery. I recently wrote an article for the Winter Edition of a local wedding magazine called 'Local Wedding Connections' on just how easy it is to create the wedding stationery of your dreams, at a fraction of the cost of purchasing ready-made. You can read my article in full here, but I wanted to share more of the samples I created for this shoot in my post today. So here is the entire collection: 

Creating your own wedding stationery can be not only cost-effective, but also means you can produce something that is unique and personal to you. I created the above range using the 'Hearts-A-Flutter' stamp set and matching framelits - here are some additional images that show some of the close-up design detail:

Wedding favour 'crackers' made using the Envelope Punch Board:

A dinner menu for the Reception dinner, where you can see the subtle layering of the design:

A place card, to denote the bride's place setting:

The inside of one of the 'Save The Date' cards:

You can go to my own website, www.thecraftyowl.co.uk for more information on the services I provide. As customers of mine that have made their own stationery will attest, if you choose a simple yet elegant design it is easier to produce large volumes of perfectly co-ordinating stationery than you might think. Best of all, Stampin' Up!'s extensive range of co-ordinating inks, papers, ribbons, embellishments and cardstock, alongside an extensive range of stamp designs, mean that pretty much anything is possible. That said, if making your own wedding stationery really isn't for you, I also offer a bespoke 'make to order' service - just contact me to discuss your requirements.

Christmas time is popular for engagements and many people will be making wedding plans at this time of year, so if you know someone who fits the bill do share my details with them - I can make a huge chunk of their wedding preparations easier! In addition, point them in the direction of the Local Wedding Connections website at www.localweddingconnections.co.uk; it contains lots of useful information, supplier details and general useful bits and pieces for anyone in the market for a wedding.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Standard Cutting Pads	Hearts A Flutter Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Hearts A Flutter Framelits Dies
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Primrose Petals Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Very Vanilla C6 Envelopes	Primrose Petals 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon