New Wednesday Weekly Deals Are Here!

by Joanne James5. August 2015 21:06

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! The same as last week there are more offers than usual, with increased reductions of up to 30% on Weekly Deals this month, although there are specific allocated quantities at the increased offer price; once they're gone, the price will revert to RRP, so don't delay in ordering if there is something on your wish list. Each week items are proving very popular and some are sold out within a couple of days of the offers being published. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for August SCFAMEG2 if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

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

Not quite as many deals to be had this week, but those that are there are all good! The must-have has to be the Envelope Punch Board; I know they have been featured several times, but at £13.50 this truly is a bargain! The Metric Scoring Plate is a great deal too; it makes light work of scoring card blanks and is a great deal at only £8.25.

So what are you waiting for? Get clicking over to my online store!

I'll be back later with a quick creative post. Until then, happy shopping!

Age Awareness Meets Cherry On Top Square Birthday Card

by Joanne James2. August 2015 11:00

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my fellow Brit, the lovely Jaydee, to host and she has a fun theme challenge for you:

    

Yes - square cards! It's always fun to create a square card for a change - when I saw this week's challenge I knew exactly where I wanted to start: the striped paper in the Cherry On Top stack was calling my name! I'm also linking up with the Friday Mashup where the challenge this week is also square cards, although obviously given my paper choice I decided not to go for the 'mashup' and use the colours over there too. Here's my card:

 

Now the pattern I chose actually has an off-centre point (check out your paper stack to see what I mean!) so I chose to cut my square of DSP square so that the lines all came together in the centre. I chose to use the 'happy' and 'birthday' sentiments from the 'Age Awareness' set as the focal point for my card - I like the contrasting swirls combined with the lined detail, which I infilled with my Stampin' Write markers in the colours that co-ordinated with the striped paper. To balance my sentiment in the square I also included a couple of the swirls across the top, which I joined together using a Crushed Curry Candy Dot. I simply measured my mats and layers and cut them with my trimmer, but you could always use your Square Framelits to make it easier if you prefer. A great clean and layered card and I love the way the striped paper draws your eye to the sentiment. A colourful custom envelope in Watermelon Wonder completes my card!

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

The Paper Players Design Team
Anne Marie Hile - on leave
 
 
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 three challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

One of the reasons people avoid making a square card is that it often calls for a bespoke envelope. Don't forget about your Envelope Punch Board! Along with the gorgeous new Envelope Paper in the annual catalogue, and my Envelope Expert tool of course, there is no excuse to not make perfectly customised square envelopes (or rectangular for that matter!) every time. No fuss, no wastage, no guesswork required - if you're not already a fan, check out my free Envelope Expert tool today!

I look forward to seeing how you interpret Jaydee's fun challenge and seeing all your square creations in the gallery this week. As you read this I will be flying high somewhere above Europe, on my way back to the rather wetter climes of the UK. Don't worry - I'm doing my best to bring the sunshine back with me everyone! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, however you choose to spend it.

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.

Doodling with Dots Decorative Mask For A Teacher Thank You Card

by Joanne James7. July 2015 08:00

Today I have a card using the sketch challenge over at Paper Craft Crew and the colours over at Pals Paper Arts as the inspiration for my teacher thank you card:

Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch 151. #stampinup #papercraftcrew   PPA 258 Jul. 2

Now I know I entered a teacher thank you card into last week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts (if you missed it you can see that card here) but what can I say - I need lots of them! I love the bright colour combination here so took the opportunity to do a little doodling - take a look:

I used Night of Navy for my card base which measures 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" and matted a strip of Cucumber Crush striped envelope paper with a strip of Watermelon Wonder cardstock. For my central panel, I embossed a piece of Whisper White with the large polka dot embossing folder for added texture, although difficult to see in the photograph, and then overlaid this with my circle stencil and used my Watermelon Wonder Stampin' Write Marker to doodle an apple shape. I added my stem and leaves freehand and finished with a navy seam binding ribbon bow, some Cucumber Crush lace trim and a trio of white candy dots. I finished with the thank you sentiment from the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set - this is such a great set, I've used it lots already and haven't even made my tin of cards yet!! - stamped in Night of Navy on Watermelon Wonder, and finished with a juicy green apple punched using my tree builder punch. 

I think the colours of this card really pack a punch and my non-standard card size meant a custom envelope would be the order of the day. What better way to finish than with a co-ordinating envelope made from the gorgeous new Cucumber Crush envelope paper? This lightweight paper makes beautifully crisp envelopes and with the aid of my trusty Envelope Expert from The Crafty Owl it was easy to work out what size paper and punch markings I required (9 1/4" and 4 5/8" respectively, in case you were wondering!)

I hope you like today's card; I'll be back tomorrow with a new set of Wednesday Weekly Deals and another project for you. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

New Wednesday Weekly Deals for the Last Week of Sale-A-Bration 2015

by Joanne James25. March 2015 08:00

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for March 4AHTZQVW and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

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

My all-time favourite product in there, the Envelope Punch Board - an absolute bargain at only £13.46 - and also some great offers on paper. I used the Gold Soiree paper on the card I shared on Monday - see it here - and you can stock up on A4 cardstock in two of the soon-to-be-retiring 2013-15 In-colours. Cardstock, along with markers, ink pads and re-inkers in Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana and Baked Brown Sugar are all set to leave us at the end of May and are usually the first things to run out when the list of retiring products from the current catalogue are announced, so if these colours are favourites of yours, stock up now before it's too late.  

This is the last opportunity you will have this year to place an order where your Weekly Deals purchases can go towards earning a free Sale-A-Bration product with a spend of £45. There are a whole host of catalogue and exclusive products that you can receive free with a £45 order - see them all on the links in the side bar on the right hand side.

Here is a card I made with one of the free Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, called 'A Happy Thing':

This is a card I made a few weeks ago and haven't yet shared with you, which in addition to the lemon stamp also features one of the patterns in the Best Year Ever DSP pack, another exclusive Sale-A-Bration item. If these or any other Sale-A-Bration items are on your wish list, you have only 7 more days to acquire them. So what are you waiting for? I'll be back tomorrow with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Marie. Until then, happy shopping!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

 

Best Ever Wednesday Weekly Deals!

by Joanne James7. January 2015 07:00

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for January (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right) and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

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

There are some great offers on cardstock and designer series paper this week, but why do I think these Wednesday Weekly Deals are the best ever? Well, because my beloved Envelope Punch Board is on offer - I think it's a steal at its full price of £17.95, but at this week's offer price of £13.46 there really is no excuse for everyone not to own one!!

This really is such a versatile piece of kit and when you combine it with my Envelope Expert and Box Buster tools, the sky really is the limit! Nothing more to say other than get yours today!!

Back shortly with today's creative post - happy shopping!

Gift Packaging Made Easy with the Gift Box Punch Board and Banner Framelits

by Joanne James27. December 2014 16:40

Merry Christmas to you all, my lovely blog readers! After a welcome few days break hosting Christmas for my family, today I'm back to the blog! I have a couple of pre-Christmas makes to share still; do you ever find yourself so busy crafting in the run up to the big day that you spend more time 'in the moment' rather than recording it and sharing? Well, this year that was definitely me! Today I am being treated to a day of rest - my seven year old has declared that he is doing the cooking today, from his new boy's cookbook (doing well so far - fresh fruit and pancakes for breakfast, followed by shepherd's pie for lunch) - so whilst he prepares a feast of chicken dippers for tea, I thought I would take the opportunity to get back into my blog. 

Today's share is some lovely gift packaging made with the Gift Box Punch Board, Envelope Punch Board and the Big Shot and Banner Framelits. I decorated some gifts using boxes made with the gorgeous Under the Tree speciality DSP and the Gift Box Punch board and some easy die cut tags to co-ordinate:

 

If your gift fits the standard boxes that the Gift Box Punch Board makes, it is a quick and easy 'no glue' packaging solution. With some ribbon and a fancy tag they really look the part:

 

I also made some bottle tags using the Banner framelits and a circle punch, again decorating with some simple wreaths cut with the Wonderful Wreath framelits - here's a close up:

 

As my regular readers will know, I am a big fan of the Envelope Punch Board and it is still my tool of choice for creating custom boxes - this is so easy to do with my BoxBuster tool - it enables you to create the perfect box size first time with no paper wastage. Here's one I made for my niece's Christmas gift that is the perfect case in point, this time finished with a tag made with the tree punch to co-ordinate with the Under The Tree paper:

 

If you are a fan of creating easy, attractive gift packaging, you will be pleased to know that the Gift Box Punch Board is carrying over and will still be available when the current Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue ends. The Envelope Punch Board is always available as a standard annual catalogue item - phew, I don't know what I'd do if this tool was ever discontinued!

Back tomorrow with another of my pre-Christmas makes and a special announcement, so check back then for more crafting lovliness!

Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

 

'I *Heart* You Dad!' with New Photopolymer Stamps

by Joanne James12. May 2014 21:29

Good evening everyone! Firstly, can I say a big than you to Helen, Dotty and Granny for your lovely comments on Rebecca's blog post yesterday - it's always nice to get comments and she was very touched by your kind words and asked me to say thank you to you all today.

On to today's post! I wanted to play with my new photopolymer stamps that arrived last week (free with each order of £60 or more - read all about the May offer here) and am just managing to squeeze in my entry to this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge, where this week there is a colour challenge. I also loosely based my card on the sketch over at Fab Friday:

Whilst the PPA design team came up with a great variety of cards suitable for both men and women this week, this colour scheme led me to make a masculine card. As I mentioned, I wanted to use my photopolymer stamps to try out an idea inspired by a printed card I saw recently on Pinterest (you can see that card here) - here is my card:

Clearly without the absolute pinpoint accuracy of the printed medium, yet this alphabet was relatively easy to stamp and align using the Sans and Stripes photopolymer stamps without the need for a stamp-a-ma-jig. I cut the word bubble by hand (another reason to add to my list of 'Why I need an e-cutter'!) and backed this with a contrasting coloured panel that I embossed with the Chevron embossing folder, rounding the corners to echo the shape of the word bubble. Lastly, I punched a contrasting heart and popped it on a dimensional. I liked this card so much, I also made one in the reverse colourway:

I think I like my Cajun Craze base the most, but this alternative version comes a close second. What about you - which one appeals to you most? I made this card with Father's Day in mind - still a good month away, but it pays to be organised! It would equally make a good birthday card for a special Dad.

That's all from me today; 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.

 

Fresh Prints Envelope Punch Board Tote and Notelets

by Joanne James9. May 2014 20:39

Good evening lovely blog readers! I've had a busy day today with lots of household chores and last minute preparations for an all day class that I'm running tomorrow with some of my favourite crafting ladies. Today I thought I would share with you one of the projects that we are making at our class tomorrow - a cute little tote made using the Envelope Punch Board:

This project was designed by Monica Gale and is one that I made at our last team quarterly training day. It's made using the papers from the Fresh Prints DSP stack and decorated with a tag stamped from the 'Hello Lovely' stamp set. I just love the colours and patterns in this paper stack and as a card maker these papers offer such great value for money at just £6.25 for 48 sheets. We are also making a set of thank you notelets to go inside - this would make such a nice little gift for someone. I'm looking forward to making this and lots of other projects with my ladies tomorrow; if you live in or around Northampton and would be interested in attending any of my cardmaking or project classes, you can find my current class schedule here or just contact me for more information.

That's all from me; 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.

 

Video Tutorial: Make Any Size Envelope Using Your Envelope Punch Board and Envelope Expert from The Crafty Owl

by Joanne James28. April 2014 21:16

Good evening blog readers! Today I'm just in time with a card for this week's Colour Q challenge - here is the colour palette:

Last week I was chosen as one of the ColourQ Courtiers - you can see my winning card here. I saw this week's colour palette and photo inspiration and decided to make a card using a technique that I'm teaching in my card classes this week - painting on a white watercoloured background within a heat-embossed outline (not sure if there's a more succinct title for this technique, but that's how you do it!). Here is my card:

I went for a simple and bright layered background of Daffodil Delight on a Pear Pizzazz base, as I wanted the detail on my tag to take centre stage. I stamped my flower image in white kraft ink onto a piece of Crumb Cake cut with the Scallop Tag Topper Punch, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then, using my aquapainter, I painted the whole of the image white using the white craft ink, then when dry used my aquapainter again to over-paint with Daffodil Delight and Elegant Eggplant on the flowers, and Pear Pizzazz for the stems. I backed this tag with a second one cut out of Elegant Eggplant for another splash of colour and finished with a double ribbon bow topper and stamped a simple birthday sentiment.

The stamp that I used on my tag is from the 'Happy Watercolour' set and does require quite a long tag to fit it onto, which doesn't lend itself to a standard A6 card size. So I made a bespoke card, 200mm x 105mm, for which I then needed a bespoke envelope. And so to the exciting news that I hinted at the end of yesterday's post - I have another cool tool for you!

Following on from the huge success of Box Buster from The Crafty Owl, which enables you to make any size box using your Envelope Punch Board, I had so many requests for a similar tool to create an envelope of any size, I thought I had better get on with it - and Envelope Expert from The Crafty owl is the result! In truth I don't make that many unusually sized cards, and therefore envelopes, I didn't appreciate there was such a need to go beyond the 66 standard envelope sizes that come with the board - but having 'busted' boxes, Envelope Expert was pretty straightforward. So for everyone who asked, here it is! you can find this free to use tool at www.thecraftyowl.co.uk/envelopeexpert or simply go to www.thecraftyowl.co.uk and on the menu choose 'Tools' and 'Envelope Expert'. To see Envelope Expert in action, why not watch the short video below:

 

Now you can make any size card and matching envelope you like, just as easily as you can make an any size box - can you tell how much I love my Envelope Punch Board?!

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin' - and envelope-making :-)

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

Blossom Party Originals Melon Mambo Flower

by Joanne James21. April 2014 08:00

Today I'm sharing a card I made with Jen Brum's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches - I combined it with the colours over at The Colour Throwdown, where one of my favourite colour combinations - Basic Grey and Melon Mambo - is trio'd with Garden Green:

A great combination - here is my card:

I used Basic Grey for my base and matted this with a piece of Melon Mambo to create a narrow border between my base and my central panel of High Tide DSP. I decided to use a flower as my focal point, but instead of stamping I decided to die cut two flowers with my Blossoms Originals die and layer them together, finishing with a small grey circle and pink candy dot centre. I tucked a Gumball Green leaf behind (cut with the Secret Garden framelits) and stamped my sentiment in Versamark onto Basic Grey and heat embossed with Melon Mambo embossing powder. The green leaf provides a lovely 'pop' of colour behind the flower and lifts the whole card, I think. Gumball Green has to be my favourite of the soon-to-be retiring In-Colours - I will so miss it when it's gone!

As I stepped back to admire my card, I realised that I had adhered my mat panels upside down in relation to Jen's sketch - and by this point, my Tombo was well and truly stuck fast - oops! I am hoping the team at FMS will forgive me this oversight ;-)

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

New Online Exclusives

There are new products available exclusively in the online store from 5 November - check them out here.

Latest Kits!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Perpetual Beauty Calendar Kit and Cherry Blossoms Treat Boxes Kit are the latest kits in the online store - get yours here!

Shop Online

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

Current December hostess code:

9NKXDTTR

Shop Online

Mini Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

'Tis The Season - the new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue is here! For more details and to download your copy click here

Scrapbooking

Stampin' Up! has introduced a new range of 12x12" scrapbooking product and kit - the full range is now available to purchase online. To download a copy of the new digital Scrapbooking Catalogue click here.

2024-25 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the image to download your copy of the 2024-25 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.

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! 

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.

DSP Special Release

Check out 3 popular designer series paper designs in fresh new colourways! Available exclusively in the online store from 3 December - check them out here

Last Chance Products

Last Chance Products will now be updated every other month - check them out here.