by Joanne James15. October 2013 20:23A quick post from me today as I'm keen to finish watching the rest of tonight's Great British Bake Off semi-final. Here's a birthday card I made last week, very similar to this one by Mary Fish, which is so easy yet so effective:
I thought this would be the perfect card for my teenage niece - girly, but not too childish with clean geometric lines. The in-colour designer paper does most of the work here without the need for lots of stamping. It was also a good excuse to get my bird punch out of the drawer, as he hasn't been used in a while. If you're quite new to stamping and reading this and thinking I've finally lost the plot as there isn't a bird to be seen on this card, you'd be right - but the wing shape from the punch in question makes the perfect flame for the birthday candles (so I'm not completely mad, just a little!)
Just before I go, it's Tuesday which means MDS Digital Download Day. Here's a quick look at some of today's new downloads:
Just click on the date button to go straight to my online store to download them.
Back tomorrow with another project - right now I'm off to watch the end of the Bake Off! Until tomorrow, happy stampin!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
by Joanne James14. October 2013 20:28Today I'm sharing another birthday card that I made last week, this time for my daughter to give to one of her school friends who celebrated his birthday yesterday. After much consultation, we decided that we would go with something fun. They've both seen the Dispicable Me movies, so I decided to have a go at creating my very own punch art minion. Here is the end result:
He was actually quite easy to make with the aid of a selection of circle punches and I'm very pleased with the result. I particularly like the striped embossing on his dungarees and the white stitching to add definition. The hair was made following a tip by Tanya Bell of StampingT.com.au by stripping some standard black ribbon into strands and threading through some holes. I've never been one for sewing, but as far as cards are concerned I think this is about as far as it gets! The only stamping on this card was on the inside - I don't have a photo, but I used my ABC 123 Sketch Alphabet to stamp 'You're One In A Minion!' A perfect sentiment to finish off this fun card.
Before I go, a quick reminder that we are 7 days in to the 14 day 'Join Stampin' Up! for £25'. This is a once in a lifetime offer to celebrate Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary and is unlikely to be repeated. You can find more information in my previous post here - if you're thinking of signing up, do give me a call to talk about the benefits that being a part of Stampin' Up and my team has to offer.
Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
by Joanne James13. October 2013 20:57Well, the weather here has been dreadful here but yesterday our monster home-grown pumpkin was harvested during one of the day's few dry spells (photos to follow!) and today we went to the theatre to watch 'Dinosaur Zoo', so all in all not a bad weekend. Today I've a change from Christmas cards for you: I thought I would share a birthday card commission I made for someone whose birthday it is today. Another football-mad Chelsea fan, so here's what I came up with:
I used my 'Great Sport' football stamp to decorate a background base panel, then created a central panel with some great football paraphanelia: a trophy, a shirt with the recipient's player number (not age, as one of my eagle-eyed offspring was quick to point out!) and a football and finished the panel with some co-ordinating bunting, Chelsea blue, of course.
If you're a stamper and wondering where I got the trophy stamp from, it's from one of the stamps in the 'Tag It' set. I've just covered the wording with a DSP 'ribbon' so that it fits with my football theme.
Hope you like the card; tomorrow I'll be sharing another birthday card; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
by Joanne James12. October 2013 20:27It's the weekend and today I have the last of the cards from this week's class to share with you. This time another Merry Little Christmas, but with spots instead of stripes:
This time I used two of the stamps in the Merry Little Christmas set, and stamped the 'Merry' part of the main stamp again in Gumball Green and cut out with paper snips into a little banner to add some dimension. I also embossed the background piece of Cherry Cobbler with the Stylish Stripes embossing folder to add texture. Another simple yet effective design.
All the ladies at this month's classes were very pleased with their makes and we are already looking forward to next month when we will be adding to our Christmas card collection. If you would like to join us, please contact me for more details.
Back tomorrow with a birthday card; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
by Joanne James11. October 2013 19:53Today I'm sharing another of this week's class cards using the Festive Flurry stamp set and framelits bundle. Another simple layout featuring the Winter Frost paper stack. Here's the card we made:
This time we layered the snowflakes and overstamped on the top one (the snowflake was stamped in Smoky Slate, having been stamped off once first onto scrap paper to give a softer background). Bermuda Bay cardstock adds a real striking background and gives this colourway quite a modern feel. Some silver Dazzling Details on the tips of the snowflake adds a little finishing sparkle.
We used both of the seasonal colourways in our class, and I'm really undecided as to which one I prefer most. Which one do you like the most?
Back with another card tomorrow; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
6a2ba4c3-2cd4-4294-9958-badb0e698470|0|.0|96d5b379-7e1d-4dac-a6ba-1e50db561b04
Tags: Big Shot, Christmas, Festive Flurry, Festive Flurry Framelits, Christmas Messages, Magnetic Platform, Shop online, Stampin' Up, Stampin' Up Card, Stampin' Up Card ideas, Stampin' Up Supplies, Winter Frost
Cards | Classes | Stamping
by Joanne James10. October 2013 20:29Today I'm sharing another of this week's class Christmas cards. This one uses the 'Merry Little Christmas' stamp and some of the papers in the Season of Style paper stack:
I love that the designer series paper stacks in the seasonal catalogue enable you to make some great cards with minimal stamping as the paper does a lot of the work for you in terms of colour and pattern; at £6.25 a stack they are great value for cardmakers too, and each stack has 4 different paper designs to choose from. For this card we stamped a simple flag and layered on some DSP edged with Chocolate Chip and created a couple of smaller flags made from offcuts from other projects. Did you notice the little button beneath the twine bow on the card? We were aiming to keep all of our cards post-friendly and largely flat in design, so instead of adding a real button we instead used a cardstock button made with the Sweet Buttons Embosslits to allow for added detail but without the bulk.
I had my second class of the week last night with a great bunch of ladies, who made me laugh so much my eyes watered! I was also delighted to see some of the great cards they've been making with My Digital Studio having downloaded their 30 day free trial. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so couldn't take any pictures but will be sure to get some next time to share with you. I was particularly pleased to hear them say how easy they found it to use, with no prior knowledge or experience. If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, I urge you to go to my online store and download your free trial version today. Equally, if you would like to join one of my monthly card classes, do get in touch for more details.
Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
Stamps: Merry Little Christmas
Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Season of Style DSP
Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Cherry Cobbler
Tools: Sweet Buttons Embosslits, Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Finishing Touches: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine
by Joanne James8. October 2013 15:40A quick post from me today as I'm out again this evening preparing for our school annual bonfire and fireworks display. I promised to share a card with you today, so thought I'd share this lovely festive flurry card that we made in my card class yesterday:
This is a case of a Mary Fish card (you can see her original card here) minus the frosted finish embellishment. Whilst I love the embellishment and you will see them on future blog cards, our class cards are all intended to be post-friendly, so the frosted embellishment on this card had to go! We replaced with a large rhinestone instead to give a little sparkle but not add too much bulk. I love the Winter Frost colours of this card - they have a real fresh and modern feel.
Lastly, it's Tuesday, also known as Digital Download Day. Click on the link below to see all of the new digital downloads available in the online store this week:
There are some great new downloads this week, including calendar and photobook templates that would make lovely Christmas presents. Why not have a click and take a look?
Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
5b1c2ae0-6b18-4876-8e97-5269f69f496c|0|.0|96d5b379-7e1d-4dac-a6ba-1e50db561b04
Tags: Stampin' Up Supplies, Stampin' Up Card ideas, Stampin' Up Card, Stampin' Up, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Shop online, Festive Flurry Framelits, Festive Flurry, Winter Frost, Sweet Essentials, Stylish Stripes TIEF, Big Shot, Magnetic Platform
Cards | Classes | Stamping
by Joanne James5. October 2013 21:42So I almost didn't blog today for the second day in a row, I've had such a busy couple of days (husband's birthday, daughter's hockey match and swimming gala, birthday lunch, theatre outing and more!) but since today is World Cardmaking Day, I felt I couldn't end the day without sharing a card.
Here's one I made for one of the childrens' friends who celebrated his 8th birthday this week. He was having a spy-themed birthday party, so since we had decided on a suitably themed gift, I had to make a card that was in keeping too. This is what I came up with:
A simple black card base, with a 'Top Secret' stamp on a label fixed with dimensionals and a magnifying or 'spy' glass, made using my Circles Framelits and a piece of clear window sheet. The inside of the card is stamped with 'Happy 8th birthday' which is visible through the magnifying glass. This is quite a cute little card and I'm not sure the photo does it justice; also made a nice change as it's been a few weeks since I last made a boy card!
Hope you've all managed to get more cardmaking done than me today - good job I have a few in reserve! Hoping that I'll manage to squeeze in some time tomorrow to do a little more.
Happy World Cardmaking Day and until next time, happy stampin'.
Stampin' Up Supplies Used:
by Joanne James3. October 2013 21:36Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a friend of mine who had a very special day today. She is beginning a new chapter in her life and today marked a key milestone - the opening of her new beauty salon. I wanted to make her a card to wish her luck and encourage her look forward and not back. This is the card I made for her:
It's a simple card using the two-stepped stamping of the Too Kind stamp set in Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral, on a white background that I cut out with a Circle Framelit and part-pierced to add a little interest and draw the eye to the flagged sentiment. The flag is finished with one of the in-colour embellishments. I used the week 139 #10 sketch at Less is More as my inspiration for this card:
As for me, I hand-delivered this card to the recipient today as I was booked in to have a manicure at the same time - too good an opportunity to pass up I think! If you're local to Northampton, I would recommend you check out Pamper Me Beauty - you can link to their Facebook page here and find out more about the services on offer. My nails look lovely; I might have to shoot a video tutorial for you so that I can show them off - any preferences on what you would like to see?
Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
by Joanne James2. October 2013 21:06A quick post from me today to share a wedding card and gift box I made for my friends and neighbours, Annette and Jason, who got married at the weekend. The theme of the wedding was bright pink and the gerbera was a feature flower, both in the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets and on the invitations and wedding favours. Having made the wedding invitations (I will share these in a future post - I have 'mislaid' the photographs I took on completion!), I decided to make a wedding card that was pink but not flower-themed, but I did design a gift box that complemented the overall décor to house their gift.
Here is the card, using the lovely 'From This Day Forward' stamp, inspired by a similar card by Monica Gale here:
I also created a gift box with a belly band with a gerbera design, that echoed the design of the wedding stationery and favours. My box was inspired by this mini version by Sam MacDonald of Pootles Paparcraft here, and although whilst the shape is the same, the overall dimensions are considerably larger! here is my full size version:
Very large, with a 9cm x 9cm square base, and very pink, but more sturdy than a gift bag and much more personal. I finished it off with some retired Melon Mambo organza ribbon (currently available to purchase on the Clearance Rack!) and a die-cut flower with co-ordinating Chalk Talk gift label. here's a close up of the detail:
The sun shone and the wedding day was perfect - what more can you ask for? Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Harrison - wishing you a happy future together.
Back tomorrow with another project and the detail behind the 2 week £25 sign up offer that begins on October 7th; until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up Supplies Used (for the card only):
db51ab79-74bb-4cf0-a77c-ccfe6124d66d|0|.0|96d5b379-7e1d-4dac-a6ba-1e50db561b04
Tags: 3D Projects, boxes, Chalk Talk, Magnetic Platform, Big Shot, Shop online, Stampin' Up, Stampin' Up Card, Stampin' Up Card ideas, Stampin' Up Supplies, Weddings, From This Day Forward
3D Projects | Boxes | Cards | Stamping