A Spotlight on Dragonfly Garden CCS 403

by Joanne James19. January 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week Jeanne has a colour challenge for us: 

    

I like all of these colours, yet for some reason I really struggled to create my card. Then the more I tinkered, the more my card strayed from the 'clean and simple'. Check out my card and I'll walk you through my creative process:

 

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

A Spotlight on Dandy Garden - I thought these colours would be perfect for florals, so decided to use the single large grassy wildflower image from the Dandy Garden stamp set. I decided to use the spotlight technique to highlight a small area of the florals with the challenge colours, with some no-line watercolouring on a rectangle of watercolour paper, stamping the main image tone-on-tone on a panel of Old Olive.  

A Balance of Colour - I decided to use a Crushed Curry cardbase instead of white, with a panel of Old Olive; this base was run through my Subtle Embossing Folder to add some texture and create a seamless panel. I also added a border detail of Melon Mambo, for another touch of colour. Whilst I don't always use white as a base for a clean and simple card, the all important 'white space' is usually a single colour - my earlier card here is a good example of that. In hindsight, I think using all three colours of cardstock was probably too much and perhaps just using Old Olive without highlighting the flowers with an alternative base colour would have been a better idea. 

It's In The Details - There are a number of small details that in themselves I love - the subtle embossed texture of the base, the Melon Mambo border detail, the tone-on-tone twine bow and the heat-embossed fussy cut sentiment. Again, on reflection all of these things together may be why my card feels less 'clean and simple' than it otherwise would be. So a lesson learned for me this week and hopefully as you're reading this a lesson in clean and simple cardmaking for you too! All that said, I still like this card and it's already been sent to someone who will hopefully love it too ;-)

The visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference is to follow. 

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day; we woke up this morning to find that we have no broadband at Casa James and on investigation that it's unlikely to be fixed until the end of the week. Not ideal, when everyone is working at home due to lockdown and both James Juniors are having to follow a distance learning programme. We are managing so far, but seriously rationing access to the internet, much to the dismay of the teenagers!! Wish me luck!!!All being well, 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 Birthday Snail CCS 402

by Joanne James12. January 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Today we have a sketch challenge and Jeanne has asked that we use any non-geometric shape. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

 

For my card today I decided to make another card using the 'Snailed It' set. I know I used this set last week for my CC&S card too, but I just couldn't resist another outing (don't worry, if you're not a snail fan I have something different in store for my challenge card next week!) These snails are just perfect for a clean and simple card - take a look:

 

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

Snailed It - For today's card, I used the alternative snail in the 'Snailed It' set, who instead of bearing snail mail comes bearing gifts - of the birthday kind! I coloured him using my Stampin' Blends markers and took the inspiration for my colours from the other elements of the suite.

Snail Mail - I decided to create a recessed panel from the horizontal line of the sketch that is both spanned by my birth!day snail and home to a narrow strip of Snail Mail designer paper on the panel below. It's a rare thing to use designer series paper on a clean-and-simple card, but used sparingly and to accentuate a specific design element, such as the recess, and with a clear pattern element, it can be used to great effect (as I've shown here, even if I say so myself ;-) ) 

Art Gallery Birthday - Lastly, the sentiment from today's comes from the Art Gallery stamp set. This set is so, so beautiful and contain some of the most amazing florals, but is also home to some fabulous basic block-type greetings, which are perfect for clean and simple cards.

And that's it - clean and simple, done!

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; today both James Juniors are officially 'back to (virtual) school. I was fully anticipating getting some of my desk jobs ticked off, but so far I have had a steady stream of interruptions from each of them, who are both on breaks at different times and are requiring attention of one form or another, even if it's just real-life human interaction. Something tells me home-schooling is not a route to peace and quiet ... or productivity, or at least not for me anyway! Sanity aside, all being well 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.

Snail Mail Hello CCS 401

by Joanne James5. January 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This is my first proper post as a full-time design team member and am thrilled to be joining these lovely ladies! Jeanne is hosting this month and our first challenge of the new year is a colour challenge: 

    

 For my card today I decided to break into one of my favourite sets from the new January-June mini catalogue and create a fun card that is also perfect for the current theme word challenge over at Just Us Girls this week - take a look:

 

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

Snail Mail - I love the collection of cute snails that feature in the Snail Mail Suite and couldn't wait to stamp and colour one with my Blends for my card today - cute, right?! And with a friendly 'hello' speech bubble, the perfect way to send someone a little 'happy mail' and let them know you are thinking of them.

All Hearts  - I created a two-tone base for my card front and used the tiny hearts border die from the Floral Hearts Dies set to create a border edge in my Pool Party layer that reveals the Cherry Cobbler hearts from the main card base, to pick up on the heart that features on the snail's happy mail envelope. I love to find co-ordination details like this across the products in my collection.

It's In The Detail - I used the same die to add a top and bottom border to my insert and another of the stamp sets to decorate the back of my envelope to complete my card:

I left the remainder of my card insert blank as I want to use this card to send a long-overdue note to a friend of mine who now lives in the USA, so need plenty of space to write. Whilst we do share photos and such like via social media, we make an effort to keep in touch with each other the old fashioned pen-and-paper way, so I know she will appreciate the sentiment of this little snail and the preview decoration on the back of the envelope 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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.

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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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