Best Dad Ever Masculine Card And A Frog Story

by Joanne James29. May 2017 08:00

Happy Bank Holiday Monday to all my UK readers today and to all those in the USA - Happy Memorial Day. I hope you've all been enjoying the long weekend and perhaps have even been able to squeeze in a little extra crafting time too. Today I'm sharing a couple of cards - the first one using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I still need a couple of Father's Day cards so decided to use up a few more retiring products and 'go masculine' - perfect for the challenge over at SUO Challenges too. Here's my card:

 

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

Best Dad Ever - This sentiment is from the 'Everyday Tags' stamp set, whilst designed to co-ordinate with the Cheerful Tags Framelits Dies, also makes a great focal sentiment for my card. 

Layered Squares - I can't seem to put down my Layering Squares lately! Here I adapted them slightly to create a rectangle that would frame my sentiment better and used a piece of Urban Underground Specialty Designer Series Paper for my background. 

Nailed It - I paper-pieced three tools from the 'Nailed It' set for my embellishments and cut them out by hand as I didn't want a border around the edge. I also used the 'Happy Father's Day' stamp inside 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. Is your Dad a tools man into DIY or would you choose an alternative theme for your card? Do let me know in the comments below - I would love to hear your thoughts.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

My second card today is a super quick clean and simple card that uses this week's sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches and just so happens to use this week's palette over at the Color Throwdown:

    

Here's my card:

 

No real explanation required here - some retired washi tape, a sentiment from 'Greatest Greetings' and that sweet frog from the retiring 'Love You Lots' hostess set - but there is a funny story that goes with it: Rebecca was playing a game with her friends at school this week where they were Googling the song that was number one in the charts the day that they were born. I must confess I had no idea what was at the top of the hit parade when Rebecca was born, however I was mildly amused when she informed me it was 'Crazy Frog' by Axel F (yes, that irritating tune that was little more than a mobile phone ringtone!) and that everyone else was really jealous as theirs was quite boring by comparison! I must be getting old as I don't even consider 'Crazy Frog' music!!! Anyway, after this fun revelation I had the urge to make her a frog card; I sometimes make little notes to go into the James Juniors pencil cases as a little surprise and this is where this notelet is headed!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Nailed It #GDP084

by Joanne James30. April 2017 20:00

I've had a busy day - we have today welcomed 4 new additions to the James Family - yet still managed to find time to photograph this little number that I made yesterday for this week's challenge over at The Global Design Project. Thank you for to the GDP team for choosing my card last week as a GDP Winner  - I'm honoured. If you missed it, you can see that card here. This week the challenge is to case one of their design team, the lovely Michelle Last, and this is her inspiration card:

 

I liked the way Michelle embossed the whole front panel, as this isn't something I do on a card often, and combined it with the focal point frame and I wanted to retain these elements. I considered using butterflies but a quick glance at the gallery showed lots of other examples so I went through my box of embossing folders for inspiration and this is what I came up with:

 

Here's the lowdown on today's card:

Pick A Pattern - I chose to use the Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for my background and that formed the basis of the masculine theme for my card. This folder creates such a deep impression with wonderful dimension it makes a great background.

A Creative Frame - I decided to create a frame shaped like a nut to tie in with my masculine hexagonal theme. The hexagonal shape in the Build It Framelits was too small for my card, so I just punched a 2" circle into a piece of cardstock and freehand cut my hexagon around it. It is not perfectly proportioned because I needed a larger hole in order to accommodate my sentiment, so a little creative licence used.

Nailed It - The real feature of my card has to be the tools from the Nailed It bundle. I was so surprised and disappointed to see that this set and the Build It Framelits were not carrying over into the new annual catalogue. It's a great set and I haven't used it much on my blog yet as I was building up to Father's Day in June. The framelits have unfortunately already sold out but at the moment the stamp set is still available. I would really recommend it as it makes a great masculine set and the main tools can be easily fussy cut my hand. I watercoloured my tools with ink and an aquapainter to reflect the style of the card I was casing - a quick and easy way to add a splash of colour.

The fun thing about casing someone else's card is that you can take lots of basic elements that are the same - the embossed background, fancy frame and watercoloured image - yet make them your own to produce something completely different. My card is a completely different theme to the challenge card, but similar in many other ways and it's clear to see where I did a 'Copy And Selectively Edit' of Michelle's original. Thanks Michelle for the inspiration this week!

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'll be back tomorrow with a new 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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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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