Storybook Gnomes Toadstool Christmas

by Joanne James23. February 2024 08:00

Today I'm sharing a card for the challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown that uses the current layout over at Tuesday Morning Sketches:

   

As with my previous Christmas card make, today's card features another of the patterns in the retired Storybook Gnomes designer series paper pack - where else can you find Christmas mushrooms?! Here's my card:

 

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

I chose a busy pattern featuring lots of gnomes and mushrooms/toadstools, split it into 3 as per the sketch layout, then added a circle embossed with the retired Wintry 3D snowflake embossing folder, where I highlighted the details with some white craft ink, before adding another toadstool and gnome that I diecut from another sheet of designer paper. I also added some puffy snow to my toadstool for an added wintry detail:

 

My sentiment comes from the coordinating 'Kindest Gnomes' stamp set, which I also used to add some detail to the inside of my card:

 

I couple of sparkly enamel dots complete the detail on the front of my card. The hubby ventured into my craft room the other evening as I was finishing this card, and was properly bemused to see me making a Christmas card in February. As I pointed out, it pays to be prepared! How is your Christmas card stash coming along?

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Storybook Gnomes Blue Christmas

by Joanne James10. February 2024 06:00

Today I have a nice early post for you as I'm guesting with the lovely team over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week! I won their December sketch challenge with this card so was delighted to be invited by Andreja to join them as a guest. This week it's colour week and they are inviting us to make cards using a blue and white colour combination:

    

For my card I used the current layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and grabbed some retired Storybook Gnomes designer series paper and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

My card started with that vertical panel of blue and white patterned paper - so pretty! I added a simple Balmy Blue banner then a sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Hug In A Mug' and a gnome that I diecut from another sheet of paper using my Gnomes Dies:

 

 I added a little extra detail on the inside - a sentiment from 'Gnome For The Holidays' and a partial toadstool house: 

 

Lots of little touches of blue for another Christmas card to add to my stash!  Thank you to the team over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown for having me as their guest this week and for keeping me making Christmas cards throughout the year!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Shining Brightly Country Wreath Christmas

by Joanne James26. January 2024 16:00

I've managed to get a little extra cardmaking time this week, but as for writing up my blog posts - not so much! Today I'm taking a departure from the 'new' to share a Christmas card just in time for the January theme challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown where the theme is wreaths:

Today's card also uses their January sketch layout which I missed, but is perfect for a showcase of a sparkly layered Christmas wreath - take a look:

 

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

I used a piece of the now-retired (but hoarded!) Shining Brightly foiled paper to cover my cardfront and added a banner with a sentiment from 'Brightest Glow' and paired it with a navy and gold layered wreath, with a combination of gold sequin and navy gem 'berries' and a brushed gold bow:

 

I really love these papers and the colour scheme, so don't be surprised to see me use them throughout the year as I endeavour to play along with the team at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown to keep me on track in my Christmas card making throughout the year. If you don't have these papers though, you could easily change out this paper for an alternative Christmas design and alter the colours of your wreath accordingly.

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. 

Just a quick post from me today; I have a basket of ironing to get through before I prepare dinner and get myself ready for this evening's final episode of 'The Traitors' - anyone else out there as hooked as me? I can't wait! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project that has an altogether more Spring-like feel. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Festive And Fun Christmas Tag Card PP670

by Joanne James10. December 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 bright colour challenge for us to work with:

       

I am still in festive card making mode, so thought I would use these colours for a card to play along with the 'Christmas' theme over at Inspire.Create and the the 'Christmas Animals (with hats)' theme over at Double D Challenges and create another card using the 'Festive & Fun' stamp set - take a look:

 

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

I used a Melon Mambo card base and added a strip of Real Red cardstock that I had added some strips of (retired) red glimmer paper to, then set about creating my Christmas tag. I decided to use the fun image of the rhino pulling a sleigh full of Christmas gifts and robins, and created my tag by just snipping off the corners of my rectangle - no die required! I added just a hint of the three main challenge colours to my design using my Stampin' Blends markers; slightly unconventional, but I think it works?

 I added a trio of enamel dots and a sentiment fussy cut from the 'Merry Christmas To You' stamp set, before incorporating my black and white with my trusty gingham ribbon, wrapped around the card and tied to my tag with a bow. Such a bold colour scheme was asking for a similarly bold sentiment inside my card too:

 

What do you think? I really rather like these colours for a Christmas card - it's fun to ring the changes with an unconventional colour palette. Are you done with your Christmas card making yet? I've written most of mine now, so any more Christmas makes will be heading into the 2024 pile!

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!

This will be our last Paper Players challenge of the year, and is also the time when we say goodbye to our wonderful 2023 guest designers, Suzy, Fran and Tara. Ladies you have been amazing - we will miss you! We have some exciting new guests lined up for 2024, so keep an eye out on The Paper Players blog for a future announcement!

Enjoy your day; I am recovering from the festivities of last night's office Christmas party (Jason's, not mine!) and we are collecting the eldest of the James Juniors from university, having just completed her first term - that just flew by! I will also be packing for a last minute pre-Christmas vacation - more on that another time! So all in all, a busy day. I'll be back soon with another project but until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Festive and Fun Candy Cane Treat FF0149

by Joanne James8. December 2023 09:00

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

 

In the run up to Christmas, for this challenge we are celebrating 'Christmas Festive Food'. 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 white, brown, red and candy cane and this is what I came up with:

 

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

A treat instead of a card today! At this time of year, quick and easy decorating ideas to add personal touches to festive treats are a great idea; I added a label and tag, featuring the cute candy cane-holding beaver from the 'Festive and Fun' stamp set to decorate a candy cane - here's a close up:

 

Small images that are quick to colour are perfect for the personal touch; add some festive foliage and a ribbon bow to complete the look:

 

How do you like to decorate your treats during the festive season? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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.

Gorgeous Garden Glittered Christmas Amaryllis TTT238

by Joanne James7. December 2023 18:00

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 Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

    May be an image of flower and text that says '#156 Real Red TI COLOUR NKSPIRATION CHALLENGES Shaded Spruce Basic White Basic Black'   

I went down the right-hand column with red or green (I used both), patterned paper and diecut, and paired it with the fabulously festive colours over at Colour Inkspiration and made a card that is perfect for the 'add glitter' challenge over at Inkspirational - there's definitely plenty of that! I'm definitely in full-on Christmas mode still, so couldn't resist another Christmas card - or two! - take a look:

 

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

Gorgeous Garden - I decided to use a die that you possibly don't immediately consider as a Christmas one. The Gorgeous Garden Dies feature both a leaf coverplate and a floral coverplate die. The floral die reminds me of amarylllis flowers, that are often associated with the festive season, so I decided to create a card using red and green as my chosen colours to add to the Christmassy feel. 

All That Glitters - Whilst my card looks quite simple and straightforward, it actually showcases a neat technique. I covered a two-ply cardstock panel with an adhesive sheet, then placed the die on top and ran it through my diecutting machine so that the adhesive sheet was cut but the cardstock based remained intact. I then firstly removed the backing paper from the green sections, and having diecut another floral plate out of the mottled Shaded Spruce pattern in the Joy of Christmas designer series paper set, added the negative space green diecut pieces to the adhesive background. The pattern is subtle, but it adds just a little more interest than a plain green. Next, I removed the backing paper from the negative space of the flowers themselves, then sprinkled this with some Real Red glittered embossing powder that I found in my drawer. I heated it to set the powder, then finally removed the main piece of backing paper and add a double-layered diecut coverplate in Real Red. I just love the finished effect - check out the sparkle on the close up below:

 

 I also made a second version of this card, this time using pure fine red glitter. This wasn't Stampin' Up! branded glitter, so the colour is slightly deeper. I gives a slightly more textured finish - just as effective though:

 

The glitter just needs to be pressed firmly against the adhesive paper; any stray excess can be removed with the sticky end of your Take Your Pick tool. I know glitter is ecologically out-of-fashion right now (although there are eco-friendly versions available), but if you have old tubs of fine glitter hanging around like I do, this is a fun way to use it up. Here's another photo of both cards together so that you can see the subtle difference between the two:

 

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Brightest Glow - Finally, the sentiment on the front of my card is from the oh-so-useful festive sentiment set in the annual catalogue called 'Brightest Glow', heat-embossed in white on Basic Black for a little more emphasis against that red and green background and added some black and white gingham ribbon too. I added another sentiment from the same set to the inside of my card:

 

So what do you think? I absolutely love these Gorgeous Garden Dies - I think they are one of the unsung heroes of the annual catalogue, since they are standalone dies. You will definitely be seeing more of them in the weeks and months to come - watch this space!

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. 

One last thing to mention: this will be my last challenge with the TicTacToe Challenge team. I have absolutely loved being a part of this team and will miss Felicita and everyone very much; moving into 2024 I will be reducing my design commitments to allow me to focus on other opportunities. 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.

 

A Clean and Simple Christmas Reindeer For CCS 527

by Joanne James5. December 2023 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's the final month of the year and our final challenge of 2023 so we are rounding off with a festive challenge: 

 

For my card today I chose to re-use sketch 505 from earlier in the year, which just so happens to be the one I designed when I was hosting back in February. If you would like a reminder of the original non-seasonal card I made using this sketch, you can see it here. For today's card I decided to pair a current sentiment, from the 'Joy Of Noel' stamp set with some long retired, much hoarded paper called 'Home For Christmas' for a festive card featuring Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer - take a look:

 

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

I have a couple of packs still of this retired paper, which is full of cutesy, vintage-style festive designs. I just love the sheet featuring reindeers and if you do a search of my blog you will see that I've made cards previously featuring them too. They are perfect for fussy-cutting; I paired mine with a border of festive red stripes from the same pack and popped him up on dimensionals for a little extra lift:

 

I stamped the sentiment on the front of the card twice: once in black onto my card base before I added my striped strip, then again in Real Red on some scrap cardstock and fussy cut the word 'spirits' so that I could overlay it onto the stripes. I also added another sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Christmas Classics' set inside my card and mirrored the design on the inside, adding one of Rudolf's friends peeking in at the edge - such a great way to use those partial images from the edge of a sheet of designer paper:

And that's all there is to it! I'm also linking today's card up over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are celebrating 'R is for Reindeer' and with the Christmas theme over at CAS on Sunday

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.

Joy of Noel Shadow Box Christmas Card PP669

by Joanne James3. December 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 Jaydee to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

 

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Christmas! It is indeed, so Jaydee has chosen the perfect theme this week! At the start of December I like to make those 'special' cards for friends and family - those over-the-top, fancy ones that you hand deliver. I set aside my usual clean-and-layered self and throw caution to the wind, so I thought I'd share one of those cards with you today - take a look:

 

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

A Fancy Shadow Box - Today's card is part card, part home decor. Measuring 5 3/4" square by 1/2" deep, the front of the card comprises a shadow box frame, with the main design in the centre. I've made non-festive versions of this card in a 6"x6" size that I've shared on my blog previously, but I've never made a Christmas one. This kind of card does take a little longer to make, but I think it's so worth it for a special occasion, don't you? It's also great for those who like to keep their cards and bring out year after year, as it is as much a decoration as it is a card.

Shining Brightly - I used one of the gold and vanilla patterns from the Shining Brightly specialty designer series paper to decorate the frame of my card. Now, I know this paper is now sold out in Europe, but it's been in and out of stock all season due to its popularity, so I'm hoping that for those of you who stocked up, you appreciate a project that shows it in all its glory. Given that my shadow box card has depth, I need to create a box 'envelope' to send it in and I used more of this paper for the lid. You can see my box in the photo below:

Joy of Noel - The real star of the show is the 'Joy of Noel' bundle that features in the centre of my frame. By far and away my favourite bundle from this year's mini catalogue, it really is fabulous. This bundle is still available and if you purchase it from me, you will receive a free copy of the 'Join in With Joanne & Jan' Joy of Noel tutorial that I created with my talented friend Jan Clothier. I combined gold embossed foliage and gold glitter pine needles with a gold embossed NOEL for the centrepiece - the foiling and glimmer paper add so much beautiful festive sparkle, don't you think?

A gold embossed sentiment inside completes my fancy card. What do you think? Do you like to make fancy cards for the special people in your life? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear what you think.  

I'm also playing along with a few challenges: My card follows the sketch at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (I hope they'll forgive me the sentiment placement), it's a glitter entry over at Inkspirational and finally I've been saving this one for my entry over at SUO Challenges - my favourite holiday catalogue product, actually products with the bundle and paper!!

      

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 will be spending mine with more Christmas preparations and getting ready for an upcoming vacation - more about that in a future post! 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.

Shining Brightly Star Trio AYSI 313

by Joanne James1. December 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 speed stamping challenge chosen by Deborah:

    

The Shining Brightly specialty designer series paper is the only current 'starry' product that I have in my stash, so that was my starting point for today's card. As I rummaged through my stamp sets and other supplies to find things that would co-ordinate, I came across some wooden stars from last year's Christmas Memories & More packs that I had previously coloured gold for another project but not used. The stars were the same design as those on the paper and so my design was born! I remembered the sketch from Sketch Saturday and grabbed a Night of Navy card base and offcut, a circle die, some gold twine, gold foil, Versamark and gold embossing powder and the 'Joy of Noel' stamp set and set my timer for just under 10 minutes. This is my finished card: 

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I added my DSP to my cardfront, then diecut three circles from the Navy panel, tied it with gold trim and added it to my card with dimensionals and added a wooden star to the centre of each aperture. I then heat-embossed my sentiment and fussy cut it, then added some gold foil behind it and fussy cut that too before adding to my card:

 

So how long did my card take? I used the full 10 minutes, although most of that time was spent heat embossing and fussy cutting my sentiment and foil shadow. I set my timer for just under 10 minutes so that it would give me a warning time to stop fussy cutting and allow me the last bit to add dimensionals and stick it to my card. I could have added it as a straight label which would have taken much less time, but I really wanted to fussy cut it to make it narrower. So what do you think? What starry creation will you create in 10 minutes or less?

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 speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 
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.

More Wishes Festive Fun Framed Card FF0148

by Joanne James24. November 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 'International Animal Rights Day' which is on 10th December. 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 alcohol markers, animals/critters/birds and stripes and I combined both the 'make a statement' and sketch inspiration over at Try Stamping On Tuesday for my card and this is what I came up with:

 

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

More Wishes - Ordinarily if I was going to use a large sentiment, I would make this the central focal point of my card, but the layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday had me intrigued and I wondered if I could instead use my bold sentiment to frame my illustration. The 'More Wishes' stamp set is perfect for this approach: it's just wide enough to create a frame whilst still leaving a central aperture. I did need to get creative with my choice of sentiment and how I laid it out across the four frame elements; as you can see, my repeated sentiment actually starts and ends on the long side. I added a cute robin from 'Festive & Fun' to delineate - I think it works but I'd love to know what you think!

Festive & Fun - I chose one of the images from 'Festive & Fun' to fill the centre of my frame, stamping it in Memento Black and colouring with my Stampin' Blends to co-ordinate with my frame:

Bold Colour - My colour scheme was inspired by the palette over at Global Design Project #GDP421 this week. I stamped the words on my frame using my Stamparatus and stamped them several times each to get a good, solid ink coverage. This does make the colours slightly darker and more intense; I actually really like this colour combination for a modern, festive Christmas 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. 

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.

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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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