Up to 30% Off Stampin' Up! Kits During August

by Joanne James1. August 2023 14:00

You all know what a fan I am of Stampin' Up!'s kits - they make for a perfect crafty evening in with friends, whether you are a seasoned crafter or have never crafted before and would like to try something new. Kits are fun, quick and easy and all-inclusive so there's nothing to buy and nothing to store afterwards and with so many different styles and types, there's something for everyone. During August you can save up to 30% on all kits - what could be better?! You don't need a code - all kits have already been discounted in the online store - links to each of those currently available are below; I'll be sharing details on some of my favourites on social media during this month, but I just want to draw your attention to some recent new additions, including the Festive Tags kit that launches today:

If you would like to start crafting handmade creations for Christmas and New Year, the Festive Tags Kit has everything you need to create 15 festive gift tags in less than an hour - no stamping required! There are several other Christmas card and tag kits in the online store too, so definitely worth a look.

Another recently launched stamping kit is the Boho Beach kit:

This all-inclusive kit comes with everything you need to make eight beautiful beach-inspired cards. Send a friendly note to the people you love and don’t miss the acrylic-poured paint art style used in this kit for a dazzling marbled colour effect! It’s time to take a well-deserved break, sit back, and take friends and family to the beach from the comfort of your home!

Finally the Blossom Wishes Kit:

Celebrate your friends with special slimline cards from the Blossom Wishes Kit! With vellum blossoms and foiled details, you can quickly put together a fun paper craft! This kit also comes with pre-cut sentiments in Dutch, English, French, and German, so you can send a card and say hello to friends near and far.

Kits make great gifts too - you can make up the projects and then give them away for someone else to use or give them an unopened kit to bring them crafting pleasure of their own and there are some great kits for children, including the fun Love This Memory Notebook - this could be a fun way to record and document vacation activities:

To get your hands on a discounted kit, you can either get in touch to place your order or alternatively visit my online store. Or if you would like to arrange a 'kit together' event with friends for a fun evening out, then do get in touch!

As with all kits, they are available whilst stocks last; the online store will show a full range of what is currently available; to purchase, simply click on the links below. Happy shopping!

 

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

Peaceful Poppies in Red, White and Grey CTD578

by Joanne James3. February 2020 19:00

I'm here with my second card of the day - and on a class day too, go me! And it's only Monday - let's hope that this is a sign of a productive week! This card is one of the ones that we made in my technique class this morning featuring the Painted Poppies bundle and I used this week's colours over The Color Throwdown as my inspiration:

This is the card I came up with: 

 

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

Painted Poppies and Peaceful Moments - All of our class cards featured the Peaceful Poppies stamps and co-ordinating Painted Labels Dies. Here the poppies were simply coloured using Real Red ink and the watercolour 'splodge' stamp in the set, with a little detailing added with a marker and then diecut. The leaves were stamped in black and some tiny splodges added in Smoky Slate before fussy cutting by hand. We paired it with a sentiment of our choice from the 'Peaceful Moments' set - I chose this one, but everyone in my class used the 'With Deepest Sympathy as they thought this card wold work well as a sympathy card.  

Sweetly Stitched - I used the largest of the Stitched So Sweetly rectangular dies as the mat on my card; these are on page 20 of the Spring-Summer mini catalogue and worth a look if you've passed over them as they are easy to miss, especially if the co-ordinating stamp set is one that doesn't appeal. You're welcome ;-) 

A Pattern Party - I sponged some darker Basic Grey onto my scalloped rectangle piece using one of the Pattern Party masks, graduating the colour outwards from the corner, to add interest and tie in with my flowers. I added some clear sequins and some black pearls (regular ones coloured with a black marker) to the centre of my flowers to finish.

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. 

This was the middle card from my class today and it's fair to say the ladies loved it. I'll share the others another time; in the meantime, if you live in or around Northampton and would like to attend a class, do get in touch - we would love you to join us! The next one features the 'Peaceful Moments' bundle and will be held on Monday 9th March - the day after my residential weekend craft retreat!

Enjoy your evening; I have to go and start on my ironing pile now - I can't put it off any longer! 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.

Let It Snow Card In A Box For PP470

by Joanne James1. December 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 lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

    

I have a fancy card to share with you today that is perfect to give someone special for the festive season - take a look:

 

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

A Card In A Box - Is it a gift? Is it a card? I guess it's a little of both! When closed it looks like a gift box, but undo the ribbon and the top and bottom of the box separate to reveal an accordion-style expanding card:

 

I made a holly-themed 'card in a box' project at my October Creative Escapes Craft Retreat using the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set and made a few other versions to show the attendees how they could use the same concept using other papers and stamp sets - this is one of them. They are quite straightforward to make and rather addictive; I've had lots of photos from my retreat weekend attendees after the event showing me more examples of ones they've created too, so it must be catching! One of my top tips when making this type of card is to use temporary adhesive or a couple of glue dots to hold the last panel in place so that you can remove it to write your message to the recipient before gluing it in place; this is much easier than trying to write it when it's already in the box.

Let It Snow - I used the 'Let It Snow' papers for the accordion-fold of my card and the letters that spell out 'snow', which I diecut using the Hand-Lettered Prose dies and I used the adorable Let It Snow Embellishment Kit to dress up the snowman on the front of my box - how cute are those little felt accessories?!

 

Snowman Season - The sentiment on the front and inside my card are from the 'Snowman Season' stamp set. The 'Let It Snow' stamp was perfect for a partial stamp to then finish the sentiment with the diecut letter panels. I also used the snowflakes in the stamp set with some Stampin' Glitter to add some sparkle to each of the Coastal Cabana panels and a snowman on the first panel that I coloured with co-ordinating Stampin' Blends markers:

 

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 today's project up with the current fancy fold challenge over at Inspire Create.

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; as it's the first of December we are going to begin decorating the house for Christmas today, much to the children's delight! Especially as we have a couple of extra Christmas trees and some new rainbow baubles too. 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.

Follow Your Art In Purple In Under 10 Minutes

by Joanne James5. August 2019 16:00

Today I'm sharing a card that I made yesterday for the new challenge over at As you See It using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, that also works for the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week:

      

Whilst I didn't set out to combine all three of these challenges this week, with the challenge over at As You See It being speed stamping, today's card was definitely no accident - take a look:

 

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

It's All In The Preparation - I'll be honest: I rarely make a card in under 10 minutes! For me the fun is in the planning and designing and I often make multiple bits and pieces and 'tinker' with my cards until I'm happy with them. That said, it can be done - the key is in the preparation. Fortunately for me, the AYSI speed stamping challenge requires you to complete a card in under 10 minutes and the clock starts as soon as you put ink to paper; you can decide on your design and gather your supplies in advance. So I grabbed Jen B's FMS sketch (a great go-to design) my co-ordinating shades of purple (Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather) in cardstock, ink and markers, a Whisper White card base, stamps, dies, Big Shot and got ready to start my timer!

'C' Is For Craft - I decided to base my card around the stamps and dies in the 'Follow your Art' suite. I stamped my ink bottle and clip (and a couple of sentiments to diecut, although I didn't then use these as I stamped directly onto my card base) then ran them through my Big Shot with the purple die cut pieces, making two runs to get the duplicates. I added a quick dash of colour to my stamped diecut pieces, then set about constructing. It was only when I had finished my card that I realised it would be perfect for Just Add Ink this week too; it will a least spare the girls another of my Christmas cards, which I seem to have made for their last few challenges!!

Speedy Indeed - So I did work at fever pace and my desk looked like a bomb had gone off once I'd finished, but I managed to finish my card in 9 minutes and 46 seconds - hurrah! It was helped by the fact that my card base and mat layers were already cut to size - I keep a box of sizes that I use a lot ready prepared so that I can just 'grab and go' - the most time-consuming aspects were poking out the paper clips from the dies without tearing and tying the twine bow. Purple is one of my favourite colours, so this was a fun speed challenge indeed! Lastly, a disclaimer: I decorated a co-ordinating envelope too, but completed this outside of the speed stamping time - I couldn't quite manage this in the time constraints as well!

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. 

I like my finished card so much I think I'm going to create a few more of these and send them to the ladies who are booked to attend my Creative Escapes Craft Retreat in October - this is the perfect time to stay up late and craft together!! I still have a couple of spaces left if you would like to join us for a fun weekend; you can get the full details here.

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.

How Sweet It Is Sweetie Shaker Card #GDP179

by Joanne James8. March 2019 11:30

Good morning lovely readers! An apology is in order for the lack of blog posts this week. I have been fairly tired following another successful Creative Escapes Weekend Craft Retreat last weekend and whilst I've spent my days catching up on household chores and preparing for next week's card classes, when it comes to the evenings I've been good for nothing; I've fallen asleep in the chair for three nights in a row way before bedtime, much to the amusement of the James Juniors! So today I thought I would make time to blog early so that you didn't miss out!

I'm sharing a card for a couple of challenges this week: The team over at Global Design Project are all about the candy and the folks at Stamps Ink Paper are asking for cards featuring gingham, plaid or stripes:

     

Not only does my card feature lots of sweet treats and some fetching candy pink stripes, it's a shaker too - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

How Sweet It Is -  If you have a sweet tooth, the 'How Sweet It Is' Suite is for you! Bright and fun, with bold patterns of sweets and traditional sweet jars, it's great for cards and packaging alike. The papers, which feature bold stripes and spots in addition to candy-inspired patterns, really are good enough to eat. I used a pink stripe for the front of my shaker and a sweetie print for the inside at the back of my window, I also used the Jar of Sweets Framelits to cut out one of the sweet jars directly from the designer series paper to decorate the front of my card - I love it when dies and paper co-ordinate like this!

Jar Of Sweets - I used another of the Jar of Sweets Framelits to cut out the aperture for the window of my shaker, stamping the same image onto Whisper White and fussy cutting the jar lid to adhere to the top of my window section. I filled my shaker with a selection of sequins and some diecut sweets in bright, co-ordinating colours; you can see from the extras that I added to the front of my card these dies emboss a pattern onto the diecut sweet shape too which adds an interesting textural detail. There's very little stamping on today's card, save the sentiment and jar lid. A little extra stamping on the inside of my card courtesy of the 'Sweetest Thing' stamp set too:

 

Sweeter Than Candy - The 'How Suite It Is' Suite also includes some fun treat cups, that are perfect for dressing up to contain some sweet treats for your loved ones. I managed to snag these shots with my phone of some of the decorated sweet cups that filled with a selection of jelly beans and gummy bear for the lucky ladies on my retreat as one of their little gifts - I do love to spoil the whilst they are with me! 

 

I covered the cups with designer series paper and stamped a simple label for each of them decorated with a sweet jar cut from the DSP, and tied the tags to the cups with some of the very yummy Coastal Cabana/Granny Apple Green 3/8" reversible ribbon:

 

So cute and easy to decorate and I know from the feedback that my ladies loved them!

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.

Snowflake Showcase Pillow Box Creative Retreat Gifts

by Joanne James2. November 2018 19:00

As promised in my earlier post today (you can read that here if you missed it), today I'm sharing something a little different that I gave a sneak peek of on my Facebook page the week before last - a 3D project! Today is the perfect day to share it since it coincides with the launch of the Snowflake Showcase product suite yesterday - you can read all about that here.

The weekend before last I held my second residential craft retreat this year. I love these weekends: they are a great opportunity for me to spend quality time with my customers, some of whom I see at my regular classes but for many who follow my blog and shop with me online and for whom this is an opportunity to get away from it all for some quality crafting time amongst friends. I am grateful that they choose to spend a weekend with me crafting and as such in addition to their goody bags, they receive lots of little pillow gifts and table favours throughout their stay as a token of my appreciation. When they leave at the end of the weekend, I like to gift them a key ring that is unique to that retreat as a reminder of the fun time that they've had. It has to showcase some fabulous Stampin' Up! product too, both on the keyring and the packaging so for this one I just had to feature the limited edition, exclusive Snowflake Showcase products that went live on sale yesterday. So first up here is the packaging for my gift:

 

I dressed up one of the kraft pillow boxes available in the annual catalogue with some silver-trimmed ribbon and added a sentiment banner stamped tone-on-tone with the border stamp and then heat-embossed my sentiment in silver over the top. I then added the fabulous string of snowflakes diecut to the front of the box for a real 'wow'.

It didn't end there; I continued the snowflake theme inside with a keyring, that had a snowflake tree, a teeny-tiny sentiment and one of my craft retreat logos all stamped onto shrink plastic and reduced in size, along with one of the gorgeous snowflake trinkets that are also part of this suite. I made them in two colourways, Pool Party and Balmy Blue:

 

Here's a picture of them both together - gift and packaging. What do you think - cute enough to hang your keys from? 

I received such lovely comments from the ladies who attended my retreat, who all said they felt truly spoiled all weekend. Here's one of the pictures I shared over on my Facebook page of us at dinner on the Saturday evening, with some of them sharing another of their table gifts:

 

Christmas crackers, what else?! I will have more projects using the fabulous Snowflake Showcase in the coming weeks so look out for those and meanwhile do get in touch with me directly or via my online store to order yours whilst supplies last.

Equally, if you would like to be similarly spoiled and enjoy a fabulous crafty weekend away from it all, there are still spaces available on my March 2019 retreat which will be held in the West Midlands on 2-3 March - you can read more about it here and I would love it if you could join me! The dates for next October will be released soon and I already have a waiting list for this event, so if you would like to be one of the first to receive the details as they are published then do get in touch with me via [email protected] to register your interest as spaces are likely to be snapped up quickly!

Enjoy your evening 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.

Snowflake Showcase Exclusive Products - Available Until 30th November Or While Supplies Last!

by Joanne James2. November 2018 07:00

Happy Friday everyone! I've had continuing blog and website issues to contend with this week, so all of my carefully scheduled blog posts have gone awry and you haven't heard from me in the timely manner I had hoped this week! This one should have gone live yesterday, but I'm pleased to be able to publish it finally because this is news of the release of an exclusive limited time collection of products called 'Snowflake Showcase' and trust me you are not going to want to miss it!

It seems following the success of the Blended Seasons stamp set and co-ordinating framelits a few months ago that you love an exclusive, limited offer - so here's another one: two stamp sets, one for Christmas and one all-rounder that both co-ordinate with the Snowfall Thinlits dies - available now until 30 November or whilst stocks last. What's more there are some co-ordinating Snowflake Trinkets and White Velvet paper sheets too. Here's a close up of the products in more detail:

I'm sure this set will be popular and I've taken orders for a few already having given the customers in my Facebook VIP Customer Group a sneak peek a few weeks ago (do get in touch if you would like to know more about the benefits associated with belonging to this group), so don't delay in placing your order - I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. Don't forget if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code RW3QD6VN to receive a free thank you gift from me too! 

For more information on this set, please see today's second post here, which also includes a 3D project made using this gorgeous suite.

If you have any questions on any of the above, then please do get in touch - I am always happy to help!

Back shortly with my second post of the day; until then, happy shopping!

 

 Links to purchase the above items in my online store:

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

Designer Tin Of Cards Kit - A Retirement Kit Bargain!

by Joanne James19. April 2017 20:00

My team and customers know what a fan I am of Stampin' Up!'s kits - they make for a perfect crafty evening in with friends, whether you are a seasoned crafter or have never crafted before and would like to try something new. Today I want to share with you one of the two popular card kits in the Stampin' Up! range that are retiring at the end of May with the end of the current annual catalogue. 

The Designer Tin of Cards Project Kit features on page 160 of the annual catalogue. Here's a picture of everything that's included:

This generous kit contains blanks and envelopes to create 16 cards and comes with a lovely card organiser storage tin and dividers to keep them in when you're done. Add a Designer Tin of Cards stamp set (this set contains some great stamps to decorate your envelopes and the inside of your cards too), a couple of ink pads and some adhesive and you are good to go! Or if you're an existing crafter with supplies, you could use any ink pads and sentiment stamp set to achieve great results. Here's a picture of the finished cards in the set:

First, fiesta-inspired birthday cards:

 Moroccan-inspired thank you cards:

Floral-inspired sending love and best wishes - great for a variety of occasions:

Lastly, some pretty congratulations cards:

Aren't they great? What's more, the kit has been reduced from £24.50 to just £14.70 - that's less than £1 per card and a fabulous tin to store then all in! 

If you would like to order the above kit, please click on the links below to order from my online store or if you live in or around Northampton, please email me or give me a call to get them added to my next order. What's more, if you would like a bargain impromptu get-together with friends where you each get to make one of these kits, then do get in touch and we can book a date in the diary.

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

 

Links to my Stampin' Up! Store - Designer Tin of Cards Kit:

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.

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

Current March hostess code:

S9F2XJJW

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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!

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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.