A Clean and Simple Rainbow Happy Birthday

by Joanne James20. June 2023 11:00

Today I've a second post to share a quick second card that I made yesterday pairing a little something old with something new for the following challenges:

   

I realised at the weekend that I was out of options for simple birthday cards suitable for teenage boys, so I decided to embrace those diagonals over at Just Add Ink and incorporate some rainbow colour for the peeps over at Addicted To CAS who are featuring rainbow colours  - take a look:

 

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

Whilst searching for something else the other day (isn't that always the way?!) I rediscovered my retired Happy Dies that I thought would make a great diagonal (with a score line top and bottom to be true to the sketch). I popped my top layer up on dimensionals and added a strip of the current Bright and Beautiful designer series paper behind, adding the remainder of my sentiment from the co-ordinating (retired) 'So Much Happy' stamp set in Blueberry Bushel below the diecut:

 

At the last moment I decided to add a trio of sparkly tinsel gems to finish. I added a happy birthday sentiment inside, but realised afterwards that without it this would make a good congratulations card too - and since I am still stocking up on exam congratulations cards as I'm hopefully going to need a fair few in August, I might go back and make another couple of these to add to my stash and the two birthday cards I made!

There is something so happy about a flash of rainbow stripes against all that white with just as hint of sparkle too, don't you think? Remember that paper is currently on sale too - and with free shipping tomorrow, there couldn't be a better time to stock up!

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project, but everything that is current and still available is listed in the supplies table below.

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.

Under My Umbrella Rainbow Scraps Card CCS417

by Joanne James27. April 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Wei has asked that we get creative with diagonals this week:

     

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card - which I did this week! I looked at those diagonals and thought that if I rotated the base through 180 degrees, they would make a rainbow! Take a look to see what I mean:

 

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

I used a selection of 5mm wide offcuts from my scrapbox in a selection of rainbow colours (see below) and glue them across the diagonal of my Balmy Blue card base. I extended the Highland Heather piece across the card front, then took a piece of Basic White and cut an angled border with my clouds die from the retiring Happy Dies set for my top panel:

A simple sentiment from the also retiring 'Under My Umbrella' stamp set in Pacific Point finished my card - and not an umbrella in sight!

Our lovely DT member Vicky is also the hostess over at Addicted to CAS this week where she has chosen the code word 'sky' so I'm linking up there too - with sky, rainbow and clouds, my card today doesn't have anything else!!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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.

Under My Umbrella Hello Sunshine and Green Wellies

by Joanne James26. April 2021 19:17

It's Monday and the start of a new week! Today was class day for me so I'm a little later with my blog post. Today's card is totally inspired by the inspiration photo over at Just Us Girls this week and also uses the Paper Craft Crew sketch:

   

I couldn't resist those green wellies and spring flowers! So I combined with some clouds and sunny yellow cardstock to create a cheery card using the retiring stamp set 'Under My Umbrella' that will be leaving us next week - take a look:

 

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

I went with a rather abstract interpretation using some of the elements in the photo, paper-piecing some dotty green wellies onto a stitched circle and filling them with some fussy cut, colourful spring blooms. I sponged some clouds onto my Whisper White card base using my trusty Happy Dies cloud stencil and some Balmy Blue ink and a blending brush, then added a layer of Daffodil Delight, which I bordered using one of the Curvy Dies (also retiring in June) and stamped my sentiment directly onto this layer, next to my popped-up circle - 'Hello Sunshine' seemed like the most appropriate sentiment from this set for today's card! Are those wellies not just so much fun? Who wouldn'y love to go romping in the great outdoors in those?!

 

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 seem to be having a run of clouds on my cards, having featured them on Saturday's card and they pop up on tomorrow's card too - as does the 'Under My Umbrella stamp set!

Do come back tomorrow to see what I created. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Free As A Bird One Layer Slimline Card

by Joanne James24. April 2021 21:07

I've had a productive day of crafting today so have a quick card to share with you that uses the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

    

I was intrigued by Karren's sketch and loved the idea of another slimline card, so perused my retiring stamp sets for something suitable and decided upon the row of birds from the 'Free As A Bird' set - take a look:

 

I turned the card through 90 degrees so that I could work across the width and sponged clouds using my blending brush and trusty cloud mask made from my Happy Dies for the longer element, overlapping with the row of birds, coloured with my Blends:

 

I decided to leave my card as a one layer card as I liked the simplicity of it. My dear friend Vicky is the hostess this week over at Addicted to CAS and has chosen the code word 'sky' for the new challenge there, so I'm linking my fluffy blended clouds there 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 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.
 
I was Amy's pick for Perfect Princess this week!
 
I also made the TOP 3 over at Addicted to CAS!

Hey Birthday Chick Best of Cluck CCS 413

by Joanne James30. March 2021 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's the fifth Tuesday of March, and you know what that means:  Timeless Tuesday Double Challenge!  We're throwing back with a trio of retired Stampin' Up colours and one of our past sketch challenges, combining them into one color and sketch challenge:  

     

For our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutrals such as white, ivory, black, brown, grey, or metallics; however, no other colours should be added to your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.  Also, you're free to flip or rotate the sketch when creating your card.  Just remember to keep it clean and simple in style!

For my card today I decided to create a fun tongue-in-cheek good luck card for my favourite chicken expert - take a look:

 

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

A Colour Challenge - This week's colours were something of a challenge for me, as whilst I still have a Tempting Turquoise ink pad to hand, the same can't be said of the other two colours so some creative colour-matching was required! Fortunately the light Pumpkin Pie Blends marker is very close to Peekaboo Peach, and the light Night of Navy my closest match to Marina Mist, so they are the colours I used for my balloon and chicken respectively. I kept with the square format of the sketch, and the orange dotty paper you can see to the left of my card is the customised envelope flap of the co-ordinating envelope (just in case you were wondering!)

Happy Dies Masking - I used some large post-it notes and a stencil made using the cloud die from the Happy Dies set to create a column of masked sky and clouds, using my blending brush and Tempting Turquoise ink to work down the card. I then positioned my chicken (in lieu of the circle on the sketch) to the right of this and added my sentiment to the corner of my white space. I am pleased with my clean and simple look this week - so much so, I am also linking up with the lovely peeps over at Less Is More who are looking for CAS inking on no more than a third of your card - I think I managed it!

Best of Cluck: Spot The Difference - So I have two versions of my card today; the second one is below. Can you spot the difference? 

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that in order to comply with our colour challenge, I did not colour the comb of my chicken on my original card. I really missed that pop of red though, so subsequently added it to version two! Did you know that not all chickens have red combs, with some breeds of chicken displaying purple or even black combs, although I must confess I've never seen one. Did you know that chickens are attracted to red, but not in a positive sense? If a chicken sees red blood on another chicken, they will turn cannibal and left untreated, peck at it until the wounded chicken eventually dies. Gruesome, I know! My investigation into comb colours caused me to wonder why, given the former, those with red combs don't automatically all attack each other; it turns out that comb size and redness is one of the things that chickens use to establish their pecking order and will peck each other within a flock until this has been established, however not usually to the lengths of devouring each other to oblivion!

I made today's card for Rebecca, who is currently studying for her GCSEs and still has exams to sit next term after the Easter break in order to form part of the teacher assessment criteria, as I knew she would find it funny. She loves all things chicken-related and is an absolute mine of information as far as her feathered friends is concerned. We keep chickens and in order to prevent the scenario outlined above, one of them is currently bright purple, curtesy of a liberal dose of antiseptic spray to confuse the others - she really does look funny! As the saying goes, no harm, no fowl - or something like that!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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.

Hey Birthday Chick Meets So Much Happy

by Joanne James1. March 2021 18:47

Today I'm squeezing a card for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches and Color Dare (bottom row):

   

I procrastinated somewhat with Judy's sketch this week (too many ideas!) In the end I took a couple of liberties and went with a floating birthday chicken - take a look:

 

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

Hey Birthday Chick - I  kept the basic layout of Judy's sketch but used a landscape rather than portrait orientiation, in order that I could accommodate my 'happy' diecut into the horizontal stripe. I thought the floating chicken was the perfect shape to cross the horizontal element - and so easy to cut out with my Birthday Chick Dies too.

 So Much Happy - I used my 'Happy' die to create the horizontal element of the sketch and paired it with one of the stamped sentiments from the bundled 'So Much Happy' stamp set (my second sketch liberty, as I need to position it below rather than above the horizontal strip). I used another sentiment from this set on the inside of my card, along with another chicken to decorate:

 

Blended Clouds - I decided to make my floating chicken part of a simple scene, so used the cloud-shaped die from the Happy Dies set to create a stencil and with my blending brush, created a simple pattern with some Pool Party ink so that it looked as if my chicken was floating up, up and away:

I so love these new blending brushes! My skyscape was so easy to create and the ink blends so beautifully and evenly with 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. 

I've had a busy day, with a few errands and online Parents' Evening earlier, hence me being later than I hoped with this post. 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.
 

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About Me

Hi I'm Joanne and live in Northampton and when I'm not looking after my husband and two beautiful children, am an avid crafter with a passion for all things Stampin' Up!

I must confess that I have never been a big rubber stamper - until I discovered Stampin' Up! that is. I love the fact that I can get such great results with co-ordinating stamps, inks, papers and punches - the possibilities are endless! Join me on my stamping journey as I share the things I love and be inspired to create amazing things yourself!

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