A quick - and late! - post from me today, but since I didn't post yesterday I thought I'd better squeeze one in today! I was fundraising at a MacMillan Coffee morning yesterday and have been busy with the usual flurry of household chores, homework and swimming clubs that generally occupy a Saturday in the James household today. The lovely ladies over at Less Is More have a challenge for 'something shiny' this week and I have the perfect CAS creation to fit - here's my card:

I used a simple base of Real Red and a mat of Whisper White, onto which I stamped 'have a' and 'Christmas' in red around a gold foil 'Merry' diecut, formed using my Christmas Greetings thinlits (I am so in love with these!) I cut an ornament shape out of gold foil using my Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies and my Big Shot and backed this with a 1 3/4" circle of red glimmer paper (well what is shine without a little sparkle too?!), added a gold cord trim bow and adhered the ornament slightly off the edge of the card to look as if it was hanging from the 'y' of 'merry'. 

I designed this card as one of the makes for my all day Christmas stamp-a-stack this week and the ladies present loved it, although having to remove the tiny pieces from the ornament was proving tedious by the time they had made six of them! I'm also using the ornament dies in my October technique class in a couple of weeks time and can't wait - combined with the Embellished Ornaments stamp set (another 15% off bundle when you buy the two together!) they really are very versatile.

Back tomorrow with my card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players; come back then, you won't want to miss it!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets
Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Red Glimmer Paper

Did you know that September is classical music month? In honour of this, the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge has 'musical' as its theme and that's where I'm linking up my card today:

It might not be classical, but I had that classic of all Christmas carols, Jingle Bells, in my head when I made today's clean and simple card:

I used a base of Very Vanilla with a piece of musical notepaper (I used some retired paper) - the current 'Home For Christmas' dsp has some paper printed with Christmas carol sheet music that would be perfect for this. I then set my top panel of Very Vanilla at a jaunty angle and stamped my sentiment from the 'Jingle All The Way' stamp set in Real Red alongside the bell image from Cozy Christmas', which I coloured in using Crushed Curry and Garden Green Stampin' Write Markers, adding some red berry pearls that I coloured with a red Sharpie.

A super simple card - maybe one for my piano teacher this Christmas, I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday deals; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Jingle All The Way Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Many Marvelous Markers	Pearl Basic Jewels

I've been busy today with the final preparations for the first of my all day Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks later this week but today's card that I'm going to share is the final one from last month's technique class using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set:

For this card we used a base of Real Red and decorated the front with a piece of Merry Moments DSP, then cut away a section using a 2" circle punch, so that it would fit around a 3D poinsettia flower made from Real Red card stock and adhered to the inside to the card. We used two layers of petals and a trio of leaves for our flower and wrapped a few loops of fine gold metallic thread behind it. This was a great card to get everyone used to building the 3D flower using the punch, having stamped the patterns onto the petals and leaves beforehand. These flowers also look great on festive packaging and really make the most of this versatile stamp set. This is one of the many great value bundles in the seasonal catalogue - with 15% off when you purchase the bundle, it represents a great saving. If you would like to see this stamp and punch combo in action (and a refresher for the ladies that attended my class!), here's a great video from Stampin' Up! that gives you the lowdown:

I hope you enjoyed that video. Don't forget, if you live in or around Northampton and would like more information on attending any of my classes, you can find full details here or just get in touch to confirm availability. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper	Gold Metallic Thread	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
2" Circle Punch	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Good evening blog readers! I had a lovely time with the ladies - and gent! - that attend my card class at a local residential care home this morning. As always, the lovely Sheila and Brenda were wonderful hostesses and today we were joined a new resident, Peggy, for the first time. We enjoyed a pleasant few hours making Christmas cards and this afternoon I caught up with one of my team over a quick coffee and got some jobs done before collecting the children and embarking on the usual Tuesday round of homework, piano lessons and dinner. Anyway, enough about my day! No time to make a card today, so I thought I'd share with you another of the cards we made at my Technique class this month. Another using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set, but this time in white and gold:

I used extra thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created a layered central panel using a piece of gold foil cardstock and a piece of Whisper White covered with a piece of the gorgeous gold foil Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack. I stamped the sentiment and flower onto a piece of Whisper White in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then fussy cut the flower and punched the sentiment out using a 2" circle punch. To put together, I created a few loops of gold corded trim and adhered these to my card, followed by the sentiment then lastly the flower, overlapping each slightly. A sprinkling of gold sequins from the Metallics Sequin Assortment completes my card.

This is my favourite of all the cards we made in this month's technique class - I love the modern, crisp gold and white finish. That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a new collection of weekly deals. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	2" Circle Punch

Today I have another Christmas card for you! I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch as my inspiration:

This is such a great sketch - I can see me using it for lots of cards. Today I combined it with the Merry Monday Challenge that I haven't played along with for a while - this week we are challenged to use holly on our card and I immediately reached for my favourite new Home For Christmas DSP. Holly is also the theme over at Happy Little Stampers, so I'm linking up there too. Here's my card:

I used Real Red for my base, with a piece of striped DSP across the horizontal. I then mounted a piece of the holly patterned DSP onto a mat of Mossy Meadow, then cut a striped banner with my Triple Banner Punch and popped it up on dimensionals in the centre of the holly panel. I then stamped my sentiment, from the super-useful sentiment set 'Oh What Fun', in Mossy Meadow on a piece of Very Vanilla, mounted this on a mat of Real Red and added some red berries (tiny pearls that I coloured red with a Sharpie) to add a little dimension. I rounded the corners of all my mats and panels using my Project Life corner rounder as per the sketch; this softens the sharp lines of the panels, which I rather like.

A rather simple layout, but a great way to use a combination of co-ordinating patterns and I love the added berry detail on the sentiment.

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players; this week it's a colour challenge and I'm hosting, so come back then and check it out!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set	Banner Triple Punch	Punch Corner Project Life	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels

Yay it's Friday! This has been a busy week, but a good one nonetheless. Today I'm sharing a card that I made earlier this week for this week's Less Is More challenge but am only just getting the opportunity to share - how does that happen?! Anyway, the LIM girls have a challenge this week to use the colours green and gold on your card (with lots of white space!) and I just couldn't resist. Here's my card:

I decided to use Cucumber Crush as my green as I think it has a real vibrancy with the gold and white for a Christmas card. I heat embossed the pattern on my tree using the Festival of Trees stamp set in gold and combined this with a piece of Cherry on Top check DSP, my sentiment which is a combination of a gold foil 'merry' cut using the new Christmas Greetings thinlits and the stamped 'Christmas' from the Holly Jolly Greetings on a white banner. I added a couple of loops of gold corded trim and a sprinkle of gold star sequins - on offer on weekly deals this week and so easy to adhere with my new fine tip glue pen! - and that's my card done. 

A super modern CAS Christmas card that would be easy to mass-produce and in tradition colours. Maybe this will make the 'shortlist for mass production' pile this holiday season!

That's all from me today; my week has worn me out! Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Big Shot
Magnetic Platform	Heat Tool (Uk)	Banner Triple Punch	Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Gold Cording Trim	Fine-Tip Glue Pen

I held the second of my monthly technique classes today so I thought I would share with you one of our class cards. We have been using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set this month and this is the first of our cards, our 'warm up' card:

I created a lovely 'tone on tone' background, by stamping the petal flower image in Real Red onto Real Red cardstock. We then created a white panel to go across the front, where we stamped the complete flower in Real Red and Garden Green, including the outline. 'Reason For The Season' is a two-step stamp set, where you stamp the outline then infill the coloured areas with separate stamps for the petals, leaves and centres. This sounds much more difficult than it actually is, when the stamps are photopolymer like this one; because the stamps are transparent it makes aligning the images a breeze, with no stamp-a-ma-jig required. 

The outline and sentiment were stamped in the new Basic Black archival ink, which gives a lovely crisp image. To finish, I added a row of gold sequins either side of the panel and some decoration to the inside of the card. This is a great stamp set with so many creative possibilities. Best of all, it has a co-ordinating punch and is one of the many fantastic bundle offers in the seasonal catalogue - buy both items and save 15%, can't get better than that!

If you live in or around Northampton and would like to attend one of my classes, please do check out my class schedule or contact me for more details. They are a great way to learn new crafting techniques and enjoy a pleasant few hours creating with like-minded individuals.

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals and another creative project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Gold Sequin Trim	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! Today is an especially happy one for me as it's my birthday - yay! There has been lots going on today: the James Juniors are back at school today, I had the first of this month's technique stamp classes and there were lots of presents, flowers and birthday cake! Anyway, onto today's card! We are using 'Reason For the Season' stamp set in my technique classes this month and whilst I was making up some samples last week, I decided to use the set to make a card using last week's Mojo Monday sketch, although I didn't get a chance to link up. Here's my card:

I used a piece of the 'Season of Cheer' poinsettia patterned paper for my background, picking out the Mossy Meadow for my mat and Soft Sky for my card base. I stamped three flowers in Cherry Cobbler and Hello Honey on Whisper White and fussy cut them out, mounting each on a double-mounted circle and linking them together with a piece of retired Mossy Meadow satin ribbon. I stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow and mounted this on a panel in the centre of my card.

I wasn't sure about the busy background paper, but this is one of those cards that has really grown on me the more I look at it and I actually quite like. The 'tall and skinny' 6"x4" layout also means that it is a little different from the norm.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another festive project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Season Of Cheer Designer Series Paper	Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	1-3/4" Circle Punch	2" Circle Punch	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

New Season Paper and Accessory Shares are here!

The new Stampin' Up! Seasonal Autumn/Winter Catalogue goes live tomorrow so it's time to announce my new Product Shares!

You know that feeling - you want it all, but your budget just doesn't stretch that far? Well shares are the perfect answer! You get a little bit of everything, without having to purchase a full pack. A share can also act as a 'try before you buy' - you get to see papers, ribbons, buttons and accessories 'up close and personal' before deciding which ones you like the most and would like to purchase as a full pack.

Shares work really easily: you decide which shares and how many you would like to take part in. You place your order by clicking on the button below, which takes you to my Paypal page to enable payment. Once the closing date for the first round of shares is reached, I collate the orders, place an order with Stampin' Up! for the product, then once I receive it, I package the papers and embellishments and send them out to you. Simple!

I have been running paper, ribbon and accessory shares with my local customers for a while and starting with the new seasonal Autumn-Winter Holiday catalogue I am going to be offering them to all my online customers too. Your paper, ribbon and embellishments will come beautifully packaged like this:

Here are my swatchbooks with a glimpse of all of the patterns included in the various shares:

So much to choose from! Here are the details of the various shares on offer:

New Christmas Designer Series Paper Share - all sheets measure 6" x 6" - £12 plus £3.90 P&P:

• Home for Christmas – 6 (one of each double-sided design)
• Winter Wonderland Specialty – 12 (two of each of 5 double-sided designs and one each of 2 single-sided designs)
• Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack – 12
• Red Foil Sheets – 1
• Silver Foil Sheets - 1
• Gold Foil Sheets - 1
• Real Red Envelope Paper – 4
• Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Stack – 8 (4 of each design)
• Season of Cheer – 6
• Holiday Fancy Foil Designer Vellum – 6 (2 of each design)

In all you'll receive 57 6"x6" sheets of festive Designer Series Paper!

New Christmas Ribbon and Embellishment Share – £13 plus £3.90 P&P:

You will receive:

• Real Red Pompom Trim – approximately 50cm
• Home for Christmas Enamel Dots – 18 Dots (3 of each color and size)
• Very Vanilla 1-1/4” Subtle Stripes Satin Ribbon – approximately 1 metre
• Home for Christmas Designer Buttons – 6 (2 of each design)
• Snowflake Elements – 6 (2 of each design)
• Winter Wonderland Embellishments – 4
• Cording Trim - approximately 5.5m each of gold and silver
• Iced Rhinestone Embellishments – 6 (3 of each size)
• Reindeer Paper Clips – 3
• Gold & White 3/8” Glitter Ribbon – approximately 1.1m of each color
• 1/8” Striped Ribbon – approximately 1 metre of each color

With the Christmas Ribbon and Embellishment share you will receive approximately 16.7 metres of ribbon/trim and 43 new embellishments - everything you need to decorate your Christmas cards, tags and packaging!

Autumn Share - £3.60 plus £3.15 P&P:

• Into the Woods Designer Series Paper – 6
• Into the Woods 3/8” Cotton Ribbon – approximately 1 metre
• Into the Woods Elements – 6 (2 of each design)

Halloween Share - £3.40 plus £3.15 P&P:

• Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper – 6
• Black Glimmer Paper – 2
• Spider Web Doilies - 6

There are a number of bundles for further savings:

£22.50 Double Christmas Bundle for both the Christmas Designer Series Paper and Christmas Ribbon and Embellishment share - plus £3.90 postage and packaging

£6.50 Double Season Bundle for both Autumn and Halloween shares - plus £3.90 postage and packaging

Want It All? £32 - and you'll get shares of all the new Designer Series Papers, Designer Series Paper Stacks, ribbons and embellishments, and that includes postage & packaging! 

If you would like double or more shares of any particular thing, then that's fine too. I will cut your paper shares into 6" x 12" sheets where possible to give you more crafting flexibility (for the DSP stacks you will simply get double the number of sheets since they are already pre-cut to 6" x 6").

All postage & packaging quoted is for UK only - if you would like a cost for shipping to Europe, then please email me for a separate quotation.

The deadline to sign up to the first round of shares is Monday 14th September at 8pm GMT. 

If you live local to me and would like to save on postage and packaging costs, please email me with your requirements and I will happily place your order, to be collected on delivery. If you have any questions, just email me at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or give me a call!

Good evening lovely blog readers! You may well have to bear with me this week; I am away spending some quality time with the James juniors before returning to school in a couple of weeks time, but our coastal location is virtually devoid of a mobile phone signal and even the local wifi is hit and miss, so even with pre-prepared blog posts communicating with the online world is proving something of a challenge! Likewise I am struggling with sending and receiving emails, so if you have emailed me in the last few days, bear with me - it may take a few days longer than usual for me to respond to you!

I did send out some good old snail mail before I left for our mini-vacation; my seasonal catalogues were shipped to all of my online mail order customers, and I know from the texts and emails that have managed to get through that you are liking what you are seeing! That's all great news - there is lots be excited about! If you are reading this and don't already have yourself a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and you would like a seasonal catalogue, do email me at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk and I will pop one in the post to you. 

So along with the catalogue, I had to send out a little card showcasing some of my favourite 'sneak peek' Christmas product and I though you might like to see it today - here it is, featuring the adorable penguin from the 'Snow Place' stamp set:

I stamped the penguin and sentiment in the new Basic Black Archival ink onto an extra-thick Whisper White card base, then ran the card front through the new 'Gently Falling' Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - this is the perfect finish for falling snow, so pretty! Lastly, I added some earmuffs and a matching scarf in a variety of colours - the one above is Rich Razzleberry and the one below is Watermelon Wonder (beak and feet coloured with a Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write marker):

Here's a shot showing the rainbow of colours I used - how lovely are they?! The little earmuffs and scarfs were so easy to cut out using my Big Shot and the co-ordinating Snow Frames framelits - this is also one of the many great product bundle deals on offer in the new seasonal catalogue too, making them great value. 

So not Christmas already, but we are definitely well on the way! I can guarantee you'll be seeing lots more of this little fella, along with his snowman friends, throughout the festive season; in fact, he is also making an appearance tomorrow, so come back for another great sneak peek!

Until then, happy stampin'!