Waves of Inspiration Striped Birthday Card

by Joanne James20. February 2023 16:29

Today I've a quick post in between my housework to share a card I made for a few challenges:

   

I was intrigued by Kim's stripes on her Freshly Made Sketches layout this week and wanted to try and use them for a slightly different, slightly abstract card using the trio of blues over at Color Daretake a look:

 

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

I added a panel of alternating stripes and used these as a backdrop for a pair of waves in white and (retired) night of Navy foil, cut with my Waves Dies - I thought these colours had quite a nautical feel to them. A simple birthday sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set completed the front of my card:

 

I added a little decoration to the inside of my card, this time stamping the wave and adding a trio of stripes to extend it to the edge, along with another sentiment from the set:

 

A clean and simple card that will be perfect for a masculine birthday - so I'm linking up over at Sparkles too where they are creating for 'men only' this month and over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are on 'W for Water'.

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. 

Short and sweet from me today - dinner needs to be prepared and there is an overflowing ironing basket to be tackled! Enjoy the rest of 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.

Cup Of Tea Get Well Soon PP628

by Joanne James19. February 2023 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 Claire to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

       

Isn't a cup of tea the cure for all ills? It is in my house, for sure! As such I reached for the 'Cup of Tea' stamp set and set about creating a soothing paper-based version for the perfect pick-me-up, using this week's Color Throwdown colours and the layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments - take a look:

 

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

Claire has chosen 'get well soon' as our theme however since it is clean and simple week, it's worth a reminder of what we at The Paper Players mean by Clean and Simple:

  • Minimal layers and embellishments
  • Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
  • Simple and uncluttered

I have taken a slight liberty with my card today - ordinarily I would have not included the dots & spots diecut layer, but I liked this additional detail, especially with the three panels, and it seemed a little too 'clean' without, so I decided to go with it! My card is otherwise simple and uncluttered, with minimal layers and embellishments, so that's all good.

I added a cup of tea, stamped and filled with flowers as the focal point for my card and added a couple of lemon slices and my fussy cut sentiment to finish:

 

If you are under the weather, I think this card would be the perfect way to send get well wishes.

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; 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.

Hand-Penned Petals Feel Better Friend Card

by Joanne James18. February 2023 13:28

 

Today I'm sharing a card that I made using this week's colour palette over at Global Design Project #GDP381:

 

I love purples, but wasn't sure I could balance this colour combination. I decided I needed to balance it with a lot of white. I had also been considering which of the cards on page 5 of the Sale-A-Bration catalogue I was going to CASE for the current SUO Challenges challenge, and then I had an idea as to how I could bring the two together! I still had my Hand-Penned Petals bundle out on my desk from Thursday's card, so grabbed it and this is what I came up with:

 

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

CASE Copy And Share Everything - Despite the rather literal definition, as a rule of thumb you should aim to alter the least three things on your card so that whilst the similarities to the original card are clear, you create something that is unique to you. So can you see from the photo below which card I CASE'd? 

  

Yes, it's the one with the bird's nest, coloured strips and spring sentiment. The layout is instantly recognisable - but the colours, stamp set, dies and sentiment are all different.

Make Your Own Background - The Hand-Penned Petal stamp set is a two-step set and has lots of Small stamps that can be used as infills for the flower and leaf outlines. Do you ever look at these stamps and consider how they could be used differently? Today's card is a good example. I used a different stamp for each of my coloured strips to create a unique tone-on-tone pattern. You can see each pattern more closely on the photo below:

 

What stamps do you have in your collection that could be used in this way?  

White on White - With those blocks of colour as my base, I wanted my diecut focal point to be white. I layered the large posy from the Penned Petal Dies, along with a few additional flowers and leaves, with just a single gem of colour. A trio of loose flower embellishments in Fresh Freesia and my get well soon sentiment complete 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. 

I've done double duty at the hockey pitch today covering home and away matches, so I am going to enjoy an evening with my feet up in front of the TV.  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.

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas FF128

by Joanne James17. February 2023 09:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge

    

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Music Therapy Day' which is on March 2nd. 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 the layout over at Sketch Saturday and notes, lyrics and twine from the inspo list and this is what I came up with:

 

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

I went with a Christmas card for today's theme - I know it's February, but you can never start too early with festive preparations! I used the Merry Melody Embossing Folder for my background and continued my musical theme with the lyrics to a seasonal tune (apologies now if you end up singing along to Michael Buble for the rest of the day!), embellished with some stamped holly:

 

I finished the inside with a little additional co-ordinated stamping:

I think this might be my first Christmas card of 2023 - let's hope I can keep it up!

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 Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

 

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.

Penned Flowers Thank You in Pretty Peacock and Gold

by Joanne James16. February 2023 14:00

Today I'm sharing a card I made to squeak in an entry for this week's Just Us Girls Challenge using the colour combo over at AAA Cards and the Paper Craft Crew layout:

      

So the best thing to add sparkle to a card? Glimmer paper, of course! No shed, no mess - it's the best! I chose some gold glimmer paper (sadly now retired again, but every time it comes back I grab some to keep me going!) and paired it with some (retired) Pretty Peacock ink and cardstock for a clean an simple card using a bundle I haven't used in ages - take a look:

 

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

I stamped the posy image from the 'Hand Penned Petals' stamp set directly onto my cardfront for a tone-on-tone effect, then added a strip of (retired) designer paper that I sponged in ink to dull the white pattern and trimmed this with a border cut from distressed gold paper. I then diecut the same posy image from gold glimmer paper and popped it on dimensionals, slightly offset from the stamped image:

I heat embossed my sentiment in gold and added a trio of gold enamel dots for a final touch of sparkle.

Were you a fan of Pretty Peacock when it was an in-colour a few years ago? If so, I have some news for you! This colour, along with one other previous retired in-colour, Lost Lagoon, are returning with the launch of some Online Exclusives on 1st March - this will be a rolling collection of products that will only be available online. I'll have more on that at the start of March - if you can't wait that long, do get in touch; for those who join Stampin' Up! before the end of this month, there is the opportunity to order these items that are currently on pre-order as part of your starter kit - another reason to join Stampin' Up! sooner rather than later!

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.

Loveliest Layers Coral CAS Hello Card

by Joanne James15. February 2023 18:06

It's half term week so with the kiddos around, I haven't had much time for crafting or blogging, but I am popping by today I'm sharing a card that I made for a couple of challenges that are allowing me the opportunity to indulge my new-found love of stencils:

   

The team at AAA Birthday are asking for birthday cards featuring stencils and the team at Inkspirational are also using stencils - with an optional addition of splatter. I went all-in and used both on my card - take a look:

 

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

Nothing too complicated here: I stencilled my flower using the Loveliest Layers Decorative Masks in Petal Pink and Calypso Coral, with leaves in Soft Succulent, then added splatters both with a Soft Succulent marker and a mix of adhesive and water, that I then sprinkled with gold and heat embossed. You can see that detail more closely below:

 

I finished my card with a fussy cut gold heat-embossed sentiment that continues inside my card with 'and wishing you a happy birthday' and a trio of enamel dots. I don't usually add splatters to my clean and simple cards, but I quite like the effect for a change. 

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.

Adorable Owls Baby Card PP627

by Joanne James12. February 2023 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 Ann to host this week and she has a fresh colour challenge for us to work with:

    

I thought these colours were perfect for a card to welcome a new baby so I grabbed Linda's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and my 'Adorable Owls' stamp set and set to work. I This is what I came up with:

 

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

I added a piece of Balmy Blue Country Gingham to the lower portion of my cardfront, then added a horizontal panel of clouds cut using the Basic Borders Dies. I stamped and coloured two owls in the challenge colours with my Stampin' Blends, then fussy cut them out. I sat my baby owl on her own cloud, courtesy of the Give It A Whirl Dies, popped up on dimensionals, then added my second owl. My baby owl has a pink bow since Rebecca's piano teacher has just become a father to a beautiful daughter named Harriet, so this card will be winging its way to him to congratulate the family on their new arrival. My heat-embossed sentiment is from the 'Charming Sentiments' bundle, which I diecut with the co-ordinating dies: 

These sentiments come in two halves - I used the second one on the inside of my card:

'Adorable Owls' is such a cute stamp set and even better because it's free with a £45 order during Sale-A-Bration which runs until the end of the month - got to love a free stamp set, 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 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; the James Juniors are on half term this week, so this will be a week of exam revision mixed with a little R&R before getting back to it. 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.

Happy Galentines Day Hearts Cards

by Joanne James11. February 2023 20:00

Today I've a quick post to share a couple of cards I made using this week's Color Throwdown palette and SUO Challenges #SUOC319 theme of Galentine's Day:

   

I created two cards in the same design - take a look:

 

This card uses some striped Country Floral Lane DSP in Sweet Sorbet; I also created a second, brighter version, using Poppy Parade and some retired host DSP from the previous mini catalogue:

 

The coolest thing about both cards is the sentiment:

 

I made a custom 'Happy Galentine's Day' sentiment using the Valentine's stamp in the 'Love For You' stamp set and stamping it by masking the 'v' and heat embossing the sentiment in gold, then selectively masking the 'g' in the word 'gets' on one of the other sentiments in the set and then heat embossing for a second time. This results in the perfect sentiment for the occasion:

 

A few gold enamel shapes added a final touch of sparkle to my cards. Finally, here's a photo of both cards together:

 

Galentine's Day is traditional celebrated on 13th February - will you be sending girly greetings to the women in your life?

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; I spent the day at the side of the hockey pitch again; spring is clearly on the way - I managed a short coat and could still feel my toes when the final whistle blew - progress! 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.

 

 

Daffodil Daydream Vellum Daffodils Easter Card AYSI 292

by Joanne James10. February 2023 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal 'fill in the blank' challenge:

 

My favourite thing about Spring - this was an easy one! I always know that spring is on its way when I see daffodils poking their heads through the soil and there is something so cheery about their trumpets nodding in the wind, in their various shades of yellow. I love a tulip too, but as a Welsh person my national flower will always win out. So I grabbed my 'Daffodil Daydream' stamp set and set to work. I have made many cards with this set, and I'm sure that flowers will be a popular choice for Deborah's fill in the blank challenge this week, so I set out to create with mine in a different way. Inspired by a number of cards I'd seen on Pinterest using other kinds of flowers, this is what I came up with - take a look:

 

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

Ring The Changes With Vellum - I decided that instead of stamping and colouring my daffodils, I would heat emboss them in white onto vellum. For those of you that are not big fans of colouring, this is a great alternative way to use those line-drawn stamps. I wanted them to stand away from my background, so used a white frame made using my stitched rectangle dies and carefully adhered the points of my vellum flower to the frame, adding a small foam pad beneath the leaf that sits directly on the background as it can't be seen beneath the embossing.

Use Up Those Scraps - I used a selection of stripes measuring 1cm in width in a repeating pattern to add colour to my card, using the five colours I would have used if I was colouring the image. This is a great way to use up scraps that are leftover from other projects - we all have these random strips, don't we? My top tip for creating this kind of background is to cut a piece of white cardstock slightly smaller than your desired finished size and glue your strips to this before trimming the edges to size to create a neat finish. I added a sentiment combined from the two in the set, along with a scattering of clear sequins to complete my card:

A Daffodil Pair - I loved this card so much, I created a second one using the other daffodil in the set too. This time I rotated it from portrait to landscape, as the single daffodil is smaller:

 

I paired this with a layered diecut sentiment from my favourite Love For You Dies, for a card that could work for any occasion - I will probably send it to one of my dearest old school friends for St David's Day on March 1st - I know she will appreciate it! Check out the detail below:

 

Here's a photo of both cards together - which one do you prefer?

 

I love them both and had so much fun experimenting with this technique. This was such a fun way to bring new life to this much-loved stamp set. 

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
  • In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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.

Love is Kindness and Blessed Easter TTT196

by Joanne James9. February 2023 16:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Elizabeth is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

       RRCB 199

I took the diagonal of heart/free/diecut on our board (it also works for the first column heart/red/stitching) and was totally inspired by the image over at The Card Concept too for my clean and layered card - those pretty tulips and the chalkboard hearts. This led me to go rooting through my retired stamps for the perfect stamp - and I ended up finding not one but two stamps, so I made two cards! Since they are old stamps and my colours also match the current challenge over at Retro Rubber (I used pink, white and green) I'm linking up there too. So here's my first card - take a look:

 

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

Love Is Kindness - 'Love is Kindness' is a stamp from way back in 2015 but one I couldn't part with! I love those wrapped tulips and that sentiment quote is just so beautiful and true. It is actually a single wood-mount stamp, but for today's card I stamped just the sentiment first in Versamark onto Basic Black cardstock so that I could heat emboss it in white and cut it out with my (retired) Sweet & Sassy Hearts Framelit Dies. I then stamped the stamp again in black onto white cardstock, so that I could fussy cut the tulips and colour them with my Stampin' Blends. I added a piece of Sweet Sorbet baker's twine before adding to the edge of my chalkboard heart. 

 

Stitched Greenery - The background for both of my cards features the current Stitched Greenery coverplate die. I don't use this nearly enough - it gives such a delicate background detail and adds interest without overwhelm. A few complimentary pink sequins was the final finishing touch for my cards - here's a photo of them both together:

 

A Blessed Easter Bonus - As I mentioned above, whilst rooting through my retired stamps, the next one on the shelf was 'Blessed Easter' from 2014 and I thought these tulips would also work in this colourway. I switched out the heart for an oval and added an Easter sentiment. A little extra envelope decoration on this one too:

 

 Here's a close up of this one - which version do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

 

I have to say for me I think the first one wins - but I love them both and hope you enjoyed seeing the same idea with two different sets.

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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.

 

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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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