Clean and Simple Modern Heart PP487

by Joanne James19. April 2020 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Anne Marie to host this week and she has a sparkly clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

 

 

I decided to go back to one of my annual catalogue favourites, Modern Heart, for today's card - take a look:

 

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

A Touch of Sparkle - So with the emphasis on sparkle for today's card, I started with a base of Shimmery white. Difficult to see in the photos, the whole of the cardfront has a subtle sparkle which is so pretty in real life. I paired this with my modern heart, heat embossed in gold, that I decorated with a trio of gilded gems and a tiny geometrical heart fussy cut from gold glimmer paper. 

Clean and Simple - Whilst this week is all about sparkle, it's also 'clean and simple' week. So does today's card meet the guidelines? Minimal layers and embellishments - check. Plenty of open space, aka "white" space - check. Simple and uncluttered - check. Remember to follow this check list if you are going to play along this week!

Hearts of Blue - I decided to use blues for my card colour today; every other time I've used this set it has been with female cards in mind, so I thought it would be nice to create something with a more masculine feel. The unfussy nature of this card suits a more masculine card too - check out the detail on the heart itself:

I added a little fussy cut detail to the sentiment too for an additional pop of navy blue. I'm linking today's card up over at SUO Challenges where they are featuring embossing - this time I'm going with heat embossing.

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!

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; yesterday was wet and miserable here, so perfect for crafting; I'm hoping today will be brighter and therefore offer more chance to get outside, but either way I'm sure there will be fun to be had in one form or another! 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.

Clean and Simple Timeless Tulips for PP482

by Joanne James15. March 2020 10:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I am the hostess this week and I have a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

      

The daffodils are blooming in my garden and after an extremely wet and windy winter here in the UK, I am so ready for Spring! In addition to that, and the current battoning down the hatches in light of the Corona virus worldwide, I think we could all do with a little colour in our lives, so I hope you will play along with my challenge this week!

Remember in addition to the theme of "Spring Flowers", this week is a Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenge!  What do we mean by CAS?

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

I've made lots of projects using the Timeless Tulips bundle but haven't shared many of any on my blog so thought that today would be a good opportunity to remedy this! I grabbed the fabulous sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch this week and set to work - take a look:

 

I deliberated for ages over my card, as I so often do when it's clean-and-simple week, but in the end came up with something that was so easy to create. I added a strip of gingham check to the edge of my card, stamped my sentiment in Basic Grey then added a trio of short stemmed tulips stamped in Flirty Flamingo pink, one in each size that is included in the set, and either fussy cut them or used the co-ordinating Tulip Builder punch. I adhered them at the base so that they had a slight lift and added some small epoxy dots to symbolise raindrops to the petals to finish. As easy as that - another #SimpleStamping card this week, we all need some of those!

Just 6 items is all it took to create this sweet tulip 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. 

I'm also linking up with the lovely ladies over at Festive Friday where they are celebrating spring - my choices from the inspo list are flowers, green, pastels (and raindrops!)

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; it's wet and miserable here today and I was hoping to hibernate to my craft room, but against all my better judgements I might have to venture out to the supermarket, since all of the panic buying has resulted in my regular weekly shop being delivered minus much of what I ordered so I'm not quite sure how I am going to feed the James family this week! 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.

P-P-P-Pick Up A Christmas Penguin Or Two!

by Joanne James13. January 2020 08:00

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I made for my 2020 Christmas card stash; I always try and make some Christmas cards throughout the year, although I must confess I often get sidetracked as the year goes on! I was encouraged by a few challenges that are currently running:

      

The theme over at Christmas Kickstart Challenge is 'penguin parade' so I decided to use one of my (now retired) penguin stamps from the 'Making Everyday Bright' stamp set, along with the CASology cue word 'repeat' to create this little festive gang - take a look:

 

I used my Stamparatus to get all of my penguins in an even row across the centre of my Whisper White card base, and taking my cue from the current challenge over at Less Is More, used my Calypso Coral and Blueberry Bushel Stampin' Write markers to add colour to their hats. I punched out the central one and gave him a coral retired enamel heart to hold. I stamped my sentiment, from the (retired) 'Christmas Crowd' set in Blueberry Bushel and popped it up on dimensionals, using it to ground my row of penguins, and finished the inside with another sentiment from this set:

 

I had a few aborted attempts at getting my penguins in a neat line, but I liked the above card when I was done so I used my Christmas Bulb Builder Punch to punch out some of my leftovers and this time stuck them in a neat line (in hindsight I should have done this the first time, it would have been much quicker!) and coloured them in with a festive Real Red and Call Me Clover colour combo:

 

Here are both of my cards together:

 

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. 

The 'Making Spirits Bright' stamp set is one of the (many!) retired stamp sets I own that didn't see much love first time around, so it was fun to revisit it for today's cards. 

I have the first of my monthly card classes today using the Beautifully Braided Bundle so will be sharing some of those creations with you later this week. In the meantime, enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

No product table today as the stamp sets used on today's cards are retired; current colours are listed above.

 

Frosted Foliage Single Branch One Layer Card

by Joanne James6. January 2020 07:00

Today I have a quick card for the current challenges over at Color Throwdown and CASology:

   

It's a Christmas card and uses a now retired stamp set, but these colours and the Color Throwdown badge inspired me to experiment with a clean and simple one layer technique that I've been wanting to try for some time - take a look:

 

I masked a corner frame then sponged Cherry Cobbler ink to create a graduated effect, then used the single branch from Frosted Foliage to over-stamp the edge. I stamped the branch in Early Espresso, then coloured the berries with my Cherry Cobbler Blends. I added some highlights with my chalk marker, but you can't really see these since I decided to add a liberal dose of Dazzling Diamonds to look like frost. I balanced my rectangle with my sentiment 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. 

So what do you think? Does the same-colour sponging work to add interest to my one layer card? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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.

A Clean and Simple Christmas Crowd for PP468

by Joanne James17. November 2019 09:00

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 great seasonal Clean and Simple challenge for you to work with:

    

Since this challenge theme was the North Pole, I had to go with a Santa and his festive friends - take a look:

 

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

I used this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout and heat embossed my sentiment in white onto my Real Red card base before stamping my single stamp image from 'Christmas Crowd' in Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto my top layer of Whisper White and colouring with my Stampin' Blends. I added some clear Wink of Stella to the fur on Santa's suit and a sprinkling of snowflake sequins, before popping my panel up on dimensionals and attaching to the front of my card base. I also stamped the outline image on the inside of my card behind my sentiment:

Now I know not all of Santa's Christmas crowd can be normally found in the North Pole (cue the penguin!!) however I think for such a cute bunch we can make an exception and grant a little creative licence!

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!

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; we had a day packed with sport yesterday so today will be about homework and baking for tomorrow's school charity bake sale. I have a busy week ahead but I have managed to make and photograph some other projects, so I'll be back tomorrow with more Christmas goodness to share. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

CAS Perfectly Plaid Merry Christmas Card

by Joanne James25. October 2019 14:00

This is my second post for today - you can see my earlier As You See It challenge post here. I had a little extra time yesterday and managed to make another card, this time for the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the challenge is to use plaid on your card:

I had some piece of leftover paper having wrapped some gift boxes for the lovely ladies on my retreat last weekend so decided to use one of them for a quick clean and simple Christmas card - take a look:

 

 Whilst this card looks like it has a few steps, it really did take me next to no time to make: I always have some white cardbases cut, the plaid and thin strip of red cardstock were leftovers from other projects, as was the gold foil 'Christmas' - I had a few of these in the die case that I had cut previously, complete with self-adhesive backing. So all that was left to do was cut the paper to size, glue the pieces together and stamp the 'merry' and the holly and add a trio of red rhinestone berries. I even had time to use one of my favourite sentiments from the same 'Merry Christmas To All' stamp set on the inside of my card: 

 

So simple and a great way to use up some of those leftover bits and pieces 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. 

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.

From Our House To Yours In Shades of Blue For AYSI 212

by Joanne James25. October 2019 13:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for the dreaded speed-stamping challenge:

    

 For a card in under 10 minutes I had to keep things fairly clean and simple so armed with the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches this is what I came up with:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Shades of Blue - I chose Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel and Night of Navy as the trio of blues I wanted to feature on my card. I stamped each house in all three colours and added some balmy blue snowflakes to suggest the oval shape of the sketch. 

From Our House To Yours - I love these little houses in the 'From Our House To Yours' set and because they come in separate pieces they are easy to stamp in different colours. They're photopolymer too so they are super easy to line up. 

Speedy Stamping - The stamping on my card took just minutes - it was super quick and easy! I did spend a little extra time creating my diecut edge and adding my teeny tiny snowflake sequins; even with my Take Your Pick tool these were more fiddly than everything else put together! My card ended up taking 9 minutes 24 seconds total - which is still super quick for me!

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. 

Do check out the As you See It gallery to see what the rest of the team have created in shades of blue - and see who was the fastest this week.

Enjoy your day; I'm off to the hospital today, hopefully to sort out my pesky frozen shoulder that's been troubling me the last few months. 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.

Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements CAS Bauble Christmas Card

by Joanne James21. September 2019 21:15

I am a bad blogger! I've had such a busy week that I have managed very little to either create or blog. So a quick share from me with another all-out copper clean and simple metallic, inspired by last week's Paper Players challenge that uses this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout:

 

I created another super clean and simple Christmas card, this time featuring a couple of Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements baubles and a heat embossed sentiment from the 'Perfectly Plaid' stamp set - take a look:

 

 
My card is a simple extra thick Whisper White card base, a layer of copper foil cut with the Rectangle Stitched Framelits, then my copper heat-embossed sentiment on a panel of Whisper White with two foil element baubles hanging from some retired copper metallic thread - definitely clean and simple!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 to follow

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. 

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Clean and Simple Copper Metallic Christmas Tree for PP459

by Joanne James15. September 2019 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and she has a fun clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

 

I couldn't resist going all-out copper for my metallic and created a super clean and simple Christmas card featuring a heat embossed tree from the 'Perfectly Plaid' stamp set - take a look:

 

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
My card is a simple extra thick Whisper White card base, a layer of copper foil cut with the Rectangle Stitched Framelits, then my copper heat-embossed Christmas tree on a panel of Whisper White with the addition of a simple single copper star embellishment - I didn't even add a sentiment to the front of my card. Just 3 layers with a single image and embellishment and a ton of white space - definitely clean and simple!

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. I loved this CAS challenge; I created another card for this theme too which I will hopefully share with you later in the week!

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!

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; we are hoping to make the most of what is turning out to be a pleasantly warm weekend with possibly the last BBQ of the year, along with homework and more cooking of our gluts of home-grown produce. 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.

Bloom and Grow Clean and Simple One Layer Birthday Card

by Joanne James29. August 2019 14:00

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Fusion where both the sketch and inspiration photo got my creative juices flowing this week, so much so that I made two cards! Today I'm sharing a clean and simple one layer card inspired by the photo that is also perfect for the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS and I will be back with a stepped up card that uses the sketch too tomorrow.

   

My card also fits the bill over at SUO Challenges and this month's Stampin' Up! #SimpleStamping challenge since it is a simple combination of stamps, ink and paper to make a birthday card - take a look:

 

This card really was super simple to make: I positioned my sentiment and stamped it in Memento Black ink onto extra thick whisper white cardstock, then took one of the boughs of flowers from the 'Bloom and Grow' stamp set and stamped it both above and below if along the fold of the card, stamping off the edge to add interest. I coloured them with my Stampin' Blends and added a graduated aqua border to make the flowers stand out and mimic the colour of the inspiration photo.

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.

Mini Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

The mini catalogue is now live! Read and download your copy here.

Shop Online

Access my online shop 24 x 7, 365 days of the year:

Current March hostess code:

S9F2XJJW

Shop Online

Join My Team

It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! New team members can get £130 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! 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! 

Latest Kit!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Rock Legend Kit has all you need to make 8 cards with coordinating envelopes. Along with the new Panda Friends Kit, both are available from January 4th for just £14 each - get yours here!

2023-24 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the catalogue for a full list of current SU! supplies - if you would like to order any of the items featured, please drop me a line at [email protected] or give me a call on 07773 421446 - I'd be happy to help.

New Online Exclusives

There will be new products available exclusively in the online store from 5 March - check them out here.

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!

Follow Me

Monthly Newsletter

Box Builder

Click the button above to use Box Buster to create your custom box design using the Envelope Punch Board!

Kits Collection Now Available!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The new Kits Collection from Stampin' Up! is now available!

Click here to see the current kits available and order yours online today.

I Design For

 

 

 

Stampin' Up Stuff

This is my personal blog and is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up! I hope you find it 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.