Sophisticated Sled Season of Elegance Christmas Card

by Joanne James14. October 2024 18:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made using Karren's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

I loved Karen's layout and loved the idea of featuring a tag, although when it came down to it I wanted to play with a Christmas bundle I hadn't yet opened and that tag shape became a sled - take a look:

 

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

There are some fabulous festive sets in the Online Exclusives section of the Stampin' Up! online store and the Sophisticated Sled bundle is definitely one of my favourites so I was excited to break it out for the first time today. I used a gold/vanilla pattern from the Season of Elegance specialty designer series paper to create my split background, bordered with a strip of gold foil, before adding my diecut sled. I used Cherry Cobbler for my sled base and cut the slats out of a piece of dark Country Woods designer series paper to emphasise the embossed woodgrain for a realistic finish - you can see the textural detail more closely below: 

 

Some greenery and berries, a gold twine bow and a simple gold heat-embossed sentiment complete my card. Having cut a panel of the Season of Elegance paper across the diagonal for my first card, I decided to make a second one with the remaining DSP for the lower portion of the card and some vanilla berries on my greenery:

 

Here's a photo of both cards together; my favourite is still the first one, but what do you think - do you have a favourite? 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. 

Enjoy your evening; I have to dash - I need to get my card linked up! 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.

Why Today Might Just Be The Best Day Of The Year To Shop At Stampin Up

by Joanne James9. October 2024 12:00

Any day is a good day to shop at Stampin' Up!, but today might just be the best day of the year yet! Why? Well, there are so many opportunities to get 'more for less' today, you really shouldn't pass up the opportunity!

 

First up - it's the final day of the 15% off stamp sale; yes, that's right you can get 15% off all stamp sets (excluding bundles) that are found in the annual catalogue - that's a great deal! Some of my favourites include the 'Sweet Peas' stamp set and the 'Spotlight on Nature' stamp sets. Here are some reminders of cards that I've made with using these sets:

 

 

I shall be taking the opportunity to stock up on sentiment sets and one or two other sets I've had my eye on; with 15% off in addition to my demonstrator discount, it's a bargain!

 

Secondly - the October kit sale is still on, with 30% off all kits in the Kit Collection. This is a great time to stock up on kits to have on hand as Christmas gifts - both the new 'A Look Back' kit and the no stamping 'Happy Houseplants' kit would make great gifts:

 

HAPPY HOUSEPLANTS KIT

Alternatively, why not grab a kit and enjoy a little pre-Christmas crafting: You could try the 'Christmas Wishes' card kit, or alternatively how about the 'Christmas Ornaments' kit or the 'Rustic Christmas Countdown' advent calendar kit? Both would make great activities to undertake with children during the upcoming half-term school holiday too: 

 

 

Both of these offers represent great savings; however the best deal of all has to be the Stampin' Up! starter kit:

 

Not only do you receive an extra £30 of product in your starter kit, that's £160 for just £99 - you get to include items that are discounted as part of both of the offers I've previously mentioned above, along with exclusive preorder items from next month's Online Exclusives release, an exclusive perk to demonstrators, along with the benefits of joining my Stampin' Up! team and the wider Stampin' up! community - and we would love to welcome you!

Whilst it's only the stamp sale that's ending today - both the Kits Collection promotion and the Starter Kit Offer will be available throughout the month of October - today really is the best day of the month to get the biggest 'bang for your buck'. So, if you'd like to place an order then do click the link to my online store, click here to join my team or get in touch with me today to arrange to place your order or chat more about the benefits of joining Stampin' Up! and what it means to be a part of my team.

Also - for those of you who signed up to watch and/or participate in Stampin' Up!s World Card making Day Virtual Class last Saturday, be sure to check your post-session emails as you have a money-off coupon that can be used against your next order too!

Iconic Imagery Charming Landscapes Christmas Card

by Joanne James29. September 2024 11:10

Today I've another quick post that I meant to share yesterday, but didn't get around to it! I finally managed to create a card for the Color Hues Challenge that is almost over that is also perfect for stencil week over at Just Us Girlstake a look:

    

I had a little 'something old, something new' in mind for today's card - another Christmas card - take a look:

 

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

Charming Landscapes - This card features a panel embossed with one of the retired Charming Landscapes embossing folders that is still a favourite of mine. These folders are great for adding embossed background layers to your cards, but I love pairing them with blended sky and making them the main feature. The village scene is my favourite of the two, so that's what I used for my card. 

Stencilled Sky - In order to keep my blended colour to the sky portion of my scene only, I created stencil masks for each embossing folder, by running it through my Big Shot with some acetate window sheet and using a scissors and craft knife to cut around the mountains/houses. I attached each to my white embossed cardstock and held in place before adding my ink colours, then removed when complete. I think the fresh blue and pink works really well, even if it makes for a slightly less conventional festive colour scheme. Once my blended sky was complete, I went over the star and snowflake details with a white gel pen and added a couple of rhinestones for a subtle sparkle. 

Iconic Imagery - I wanted to bring my embossing folder up to date by pairing with a new sentiment set, and the bold script of the online exclusive 'Iconic Imagery' stamp set was just the thing. I stamped one part in pink directly onto the embossed panel, then fussy cut the word 'celebrate' stamped in blue for a little extra impact:

I matted my decorated panel with each of the challenge colours too to 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. 

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.

Pine Woods Embossed Snowflake Sky Christmas Card AYSI333

by Joanne James27. September 2024 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 an interesting colour challenge from Deborah:

 

I  love bold colours, but I was initially stumped as to what to do with this week's colour palette. Then I saw last week's Freshly Made Sketches layout and since I'm in Christmas mode, I decided a bright Christmas tree (or two!) was in order - take a look:

 

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

I used a couple of retired tree dies from the Pine Woods Dies set (I've included a current set that's very similar below) to make a pair of layered pine trees and added them to a panel of Azure Afternoon cardstock that I embossed with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder - so pretty! I added some deetail to the background by carefully outlining some of the snowflakes with a white gel pen and adding some (retired) iridescent snowflake sequins to others - you can see the detail more closely below: 

A blanket of white snow on the ground and a sentiment from the (retired) Sweet Candy Canes stamp set complete my card. I actually really like the finished result - the bold blocks of colour are really impactful and I love the finished look. Another Christmas card for my stash! 

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
    • White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
    • In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
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.

Golden Greenery Christmas Card for PP708

by Joanne James22. September 2024 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

 

I created a sketch with a few layers, that also includes a diagonal, something I generally avoid! I decided that the layering lent itself to showcasing some papers, so I decided to break into a new pack and create a few Christmas cards. Here's the first one:

 

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

Season of Green & Gold - The Season of Green & Gold Specialty Designer Series Paper is the star of today's cards. This paper is part of the Season of Green & Gold Suite Collection that is one of the Online Exclusives, so does not appear in the mini catalogue and can only be viewed online. The paper is a specialty paper featuring festive foliage and one side of each design includes gold foil detailing I can honestly say each of the patterns is truly beautiful. The gold and vanilla pattern I used on my card is my favourite, so that had to be the one I used on my first card. I matted my panel with one of gold foil and did the same to my second layer, onto which I heat embossed a sentiment from the 'Greetings Of The Season' stamp set. 

Golden Greenery - For my 'any shape' element, I decided to add a bunch of coordinating foliage in Very Vanilla and gold foil, cut using the Golden Greenery Dies. It has a beautiful embossed detail and I finished my bunch with a simple gold twine bow:

I left my card base plain so as not to detract from the detail of the paper and foliage; a couple of sparkly gems was all I needed to complete my card.

Three Variations On My Design - I loved my first card so much, I decided to make a few more using other patterns and colour combos. The first one still uses a Very Vanilla card base, but this time with a panel of green and gold designer paper and green diecut foliage, cut straight from another of the sheets in the pack:

 

You could of course stamp the foliage too using hte 'Golden Greenery' stamp set and then diecut it too, but using the pre-printed paper is a great timesaver! My third card uses the same papers, but this time on an Old Olive card base. to pick up on the colour of the papers more:

 

My final card is similar to the one above, but this time with a slightly shorter sentiment layer (I prefer the longer length but this was my first one made and I couldn't bare to see it go to waste!) and a pair of bells nestled in my foliage, also cut from another of the paper sheets:

 

Here's all four of the cards together - which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The reverse of these papers have some fabulous patterns too, but I couldn't resist showcasing the gold foiled side - so elegant! If you haven't already, you should check out the 'Online Exclusives' area of my Stampin' Up! website - there are some fabulous products for your festive crafting. As for my sketch - I hope you'll play along with us over at The Paper Players this week - I can't wait to see what you create!

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; no plans here today so I'm hoping to squeeze in a little crafty time at some point. I'll be back later in the week 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 Little Bit Festive Joyful Sayings CCS 545

by Joanne James17. September 2024 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches.This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Nancy has asked that we add any non-square shape and a sentiment banner:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I used another of the diecuts from the A Little Bit of Festive designer paper pack - take a look:

 

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

I masked off a panel on my card and used my blending brush to add a strip of Cherry Cobbler ink, onto which I heat embossed part of my sentiment and then added a diecut element from the Joyful Sayings pack to complete my greeting. I used a pair of drums from my paper pack as my irregular shape:

That's all there is to it - super simple and another Christmas card for the 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 '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.

Iconic Imagery Peace on Earth and Christmas Tree Trio

by Joanne James16. September 2024 10:49

Another week, another Monday! Today I'm sharing a couple of Christmas cards that I made at the weekend using a mix and match of old and new. First up is a card that was inspired by the lovely Kim S's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

    

Kim wants us to make a focal feature of a large sentiment. I love a large sentiment, whether a diecut or stamp, and there is some great inspiration from both the design team and in the gallery this week, so if you're a fan or need some inspiration on how to use a large sentiment, I urge you to check out this week's challenge. I perused my collection of large sentiments and decided that I had the perfect one in my retired collection that I could give a fresh look to with some new product - take a look:

 

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

'Peace on Earth' is one of my favourite large sentiments from the retired 'Thinking Thanks and Peace' stamp set. I often use it on its own (if you use the 'search' function you can find lots of clean and simple cards using this stamp elsewhere on my blog) but one of the things I love to do with a large sentiment is frame it in some way. I was excited to see that one of the patterns in the Online Exclusives Iconic Celebrations pack is of a repeating dove, that is similar in style to the one that forms part of the sentiment stamp - perfect!  I used a sheet of DSP to cover the whole of the base of my card, then heat embossed my sentiment in white onto Misty Moonlight card and placed it in the centre. I cropped my sentiment quite tightly to allow the image on the background to be seen. Here's a close up:

 

Since my card is monochromatic too I'm also linking this card up over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown where I've not played along in ages. I've also just realised that Kim's design team card used both the same colour scheme and sentiment, albeit using completely different supplies - clearly I was channelling her in more ways than one this week!

Since I had the Iconic Celebrations designer paper stack out on my desk and I was on a roll, I made another card - this time using the layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the muted colour scheme at Color Throwdown:

   

The tree paper pattern had 2 of the 3 muted, woodsy colours in it, so again I used this as my base, before diecutting a stitched rectangle and adding a trio of stamped Christmas trees using the coordinating Iconic Imagery bundle:

 

The stamps in this set are two-step, super easy to line up and give a lovely dimensional effect to the completed image. I used Cherry Cobbler for a subtle pop of red on the sentiment and carried the colour over the sentiment on the inside of my card:

 

I love the fonts of the sentiments in this set - they were what prompted me to add it to my collection. I was trying to resist the paper, but well it coordinates so beautifully and makes for a relatively quick card too. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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; time for me to crack on with some household tasks before I can hopefully squeak in a little extra crafting time later. 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.
 

 

Reindeer Days Christmas Wreath PP707

by Joanne James15. September 2024 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 fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

    

The woodland animals on our badge this week are so sweet, but I have new goodies and am trying to rapidly increase my stock of Christmas cards, so I grabbed the sketch over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday and set to work - take a look:

 

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

Reindeer Days - The starting point for today's card was my festive reindeer, that I fussy cut from a piece of Reindeer Days designer series paper. There are some great reindeer patterns in this pack; some of them fit the co-ordinating Reindeer Fun Dies too. You can see my reindeer more closely in the photo below:

All Around Wreath - Taking my cue from the wreath around my reindeer's neck, I added a layered wreath, diecut using my All Around Wreath Dies and decorated with red rhinestones, in place of the oval on the sketch. My strip on red was inspired by the wreath's bow.

Greetings Of The Season - A simple sentiment from the 'Greetings of the Season' stamp set and some sparkly green enamel dots complete my clean and simple 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 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; we are spending the day with family to celebrate my Mother-in-law's 80th birthday; birthday cake two weeks running - gotta love September birthdays! 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 Little Bit Festive Red Truck For AYSI330

by Joanne James13. September 2024 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 sketch challenge, designed by me:

    

I had a card designed in my head for this sketch, but as is often the way my time has not been my own this week and I did not have the luxury of a peaceful few hours to pull it together. So - time to pivot and instead I grabbed my new 'A Little Bit Festive' designer series paper pack and a few other new items and rustled up a quick Christmas card - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Little Bit Festive - Those of you who are regular visitors know what a fan I am of the 'Frames & Flowers' paper pack ion the annual catalogue; well think of 'A Little Bit Festive' as its Christmas equivalent! Full patterned paper sheets, combined with diecuts and fabulous frames, the pack is great for all kinds of festive projects and is definitely one of my favourite things in the new mini catalogue. On today's card I used a strip of striped paper and a cute red truck, complete with Christmas tree in the back - you can see the diecut detail more closely below:

 

Just One Stamp - With the diecut elements bringing most of the detail to my clean and simple card, I only needed to add a stamped greeting to my card - no other stamping required. I used a sentiment from the new 'Greetings of the Season' stamp set and am linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where this is actually their theme this week. 

Tag or Label - I added my sentiment to a label - or is it a tag? - from the coordinating 'Greetings of the Season' Dies. These dies look like labels but actually have a hole that makes them into a tag; perfect on today's card to tie a twine bow to finish off the red twine that I'd wrapped around my card base. A trio of Garden Green enamel dots complete my clean and simple Christmas card. I can't wait to make a few more using these papers - I think they will help me to build my Christmas card stocks nicely!

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back over the weekend 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.

 

15% Off Designer Series Paper and New Halloween and Christmas Craft Kits

by Joanne James6. August 2024 18:00

 

It's August and there are some important promotions to bring to your attention! Firstly, we all love gorgeous Designer Series Paper, me especially, and during the month of August you can enjoy a 15% discount on select papers from the current annual catalogue. Now is a great time to stock up and save on some of our most popular paper designs! The papers included in the promotion are detailed below:

A reminder too that August is the month to redeem the Bonus Days coupons you earned in July:

The designer series paper sale is perfectly timed for redeeming those Bonus Days coupons earned; remember the must be redeemed before August 31st, so the sooner the better.

Also this month - we have two new great kit collections that have been released. The first of these is the Haunted Home Kit:

 

Get your Halloween crafting on with the Haunted Home Kit! This kit costs £17 and comes with all the paper pieces you need to assemble your very own haunted paper house. You’ll start with cardboard walls, pre-cut vellum, and other paper pieces for accessorising. Assemble the house following the instructions then add your own ghostly touch to it. It’s the perfect paper crafting activity for any gathering with fellow crafters, friends, and family during the spooky season!

The second kit is the Christmas Wishes Christmas card kit:

Keep your Christmas card crafting easy AND elegant with the Christmas Wishes Kit! This kit comes with 8 bright red card bases detailed with gold foil and coordinating gold, shimmer envelopes. Create your own Christmas cards using the pre-cut paper pieces, the stamp set, and Stampin’ Spot. Use the included address labels to send your cards to your recipients! This kit costs £22.

All of the above items can be found in my online store by clicking the links below. Happy shopping!

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

2025-26 Annual Catalogue

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Click on the image to download your copy of the 2025-26 annual catalogue. For a full list of current SU! supplies, go to my online store. If you would like any help or advice, please drop me a line at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or give me a call on 07773 421446 - I'd be happy to help.

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It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! Between 6-31 May, new team members can get £170 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! That's an extra £40 of product - FREE! Stampin' Up! has something for everyone: join my growing team and benefit from my support to enjoy Stampin' Up! however you choose.

If you're interested, call me for a chat to understand how I can help you realise your goals. Alternatively, if you have already decided to sign up and you just can't wait, please click here for the link to the online form where you can sign up and order your starter kit right away! 

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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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This is my personal blog and is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up! Stampin' Up! is a registered trademark of Stampin' up! Inc. I hope you find my blog a plentiful source of ideas and personal inspiration but please don't copy my designs for contest submission or use for classes, publication or sale without express permission.