It's My Party Balloon Birthday Shaker Card

by Joanne James3. January 2016 10:00

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's our first challenge of the new year and the first thing to do is welcome our three new guest designers that are joining us from today: Linda Callaghan, Hannelie Bester and Colleen Begley, we are so happy you are joining us and sharing your collective talents over the next 6 months.

This week it is my turn to host the first challenge of the new year and I have a fun theme for you to play along with:

    

It's all about numbers! You can use them in any way on your cards and can make a card with any theme - as long as it features at least one number. For my card this week I was inspired to use the layout over at Fusion and my new Large Numbers Framelits Dies to create a fun shaker card: 

 

I used my numbers to create a shaker card by backing them with a piece of window sheet in the negative space, through which you can see both the fun It's My Party balloon-festooned designer series paper behind and also the mix of metallics and brights sequins inside. My greeting is stamped from the co-ordinating 'Number of Years' set and a trio of balloons punched with my new Balloon Bouquet Punch and tied with two-tone baker's twine finish my card.

Here's a close up view of the shaker:

Rebecca and many of her friends will be turning 11 this year, hence my choice of number - her Christmas shaker cards proved very popular and now they are requesting birthday equivalents! I am loving the bright colours and patterns of the new It's My Party suite - only two more days to go until the Spring-Summer catalogue launches and I just know you are going to love it too!

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
 
 
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! 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's theme. We are off to basketball today but no hockey for another week yet; then we are going to start taking the Christmas decorations down this afternoon and if we get everything finished we may even fit in a visit to the cinema - watch this space!

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

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Available 5th January:

140811 - Number of Years & Large Numbers Framelits Dies Bundle

140609 - Balloon Punch

140552 - It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack

140718 - It's My Party Cardstock Pack

140555 - Baker's Twine Combo Pack 

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

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Love Blossoms With The Bloomin' Heart Thinlit Die

by Joanne James2. January 2016 08:00

Today I have another 'sneak peek' card for you, featuring some beautiful new designer series paper and a most beautiful die. I used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for the layout for today's card:

   SIP Challenge 28 - No Christmas 800

I'm also linking up with the team over at Stamps Ink Paper who are asking for anything so long as it's not Christmas! The 'Love Blossoms' suite on the new Spring-Summer catalogue includes a stamp set, papers, thinlit die, pink glimmer paper and an accessory kit and my card today uses each of the first three:

The thinlit die looks great in a single colour with or without the flowers highlighted, but for my card today I chose to cut out my heart in Garden Green, adding additional flowers in Rose Red and Blushing Bride that I cut with the other thinlits in the set and also paper-piecing some flowers into the negative spaces of the die. I highlighted the hearts in pink and added some tiny pearls to break up the green further. 

You can see the detail of the subtle layering and finish on the close-ups below: 

The die itself is so intricate, yet with another new tool available with the new catalogue, the Big Shot Die Brush, it is really easy to separate into its various parts - just look at the detail on the flowers themselves:

The sentiment is from the 'Bloomin' Love' set and the banner cut out with the co-ordinating framelit from the 'Large Numbers' framelits dies, also available in the new catalogue.

Whilst the Love Blossoms set and in particular the Bloomin' Heart thinlit die makes for beautiful Valentine's Day cards, it is versatile enough to be used for anniversaries, weddings, birthdays or even Mother's Day too. I paired my outer sentiment with one from another set, 'First Sight', on the inside of my card to make a very fitting tribute to a Mum - take a look:

A beautiful sentiment for the prettiest of cards!

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. I am the hostess for our first challenge of the new year, so do pop back to see what I've chosen as the challenge this week. Until then, I have a few jobs to do today and we are back to the pool for our first swimming following the Christmas break. I'm almost envious that it's only the James Juniors getting in the water; I could do with losing a few post-Christmas pounds and this seems like it could be a good place to start! Happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Available 5th January:

140818 Bloom' Love Stamp Set and Bloomin' Hearts Thinlits Dies Bundle

140548 Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack

140685 First Sight (clear mount) 

140603 Big Shot Die Brush

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

 

Smooshing Into 2016 With A New Technique

by Joanne James1. January 2016 09:00

A new card for a new year! I know I shared a new year card with you yesterday - well, I have another one for you today! As a rule I only send one happy new year card each year, to my mother-in-law for hosting our family New Year's gathering, however when I saw that the theme this week over at Global Design Project was CASE The Designer and set eyes on Bibi Cameron's gorgeous card, inspiration most definitely struck. Here is her original card:

Isn't it lovely? I was really attracted to the background and decided to have a go at another technique that my good friend Kim Fee over at Simply Fairies affectionately calls the 'smooshing technique' as the basis for my card. So here is my card:

 

You might wonder why I struggled with this background - looks simple enough, right? Well, having thrown away many a piece of ruined cardstock I would have to disagree - there is clearly an art to getting it right! The lovely Kim recently made a short video after much pleading by myself and other smoosh-challenged friends; you can watch it here and I seriously recommend you do if you want to try this technique as it contains some great hints and tips. 

I used extra-thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created my inked layer on a piece of shimmery white cardstock using Pacific Point, Island Indigo and Night of Navy inks. The cardstock gives the card a wonderful all over shimmer in real life. I then used the stars stamp from Holly Jolly Greetings (a carryover set, yay!) stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold for added interest, then used some gold glimmer numbers, diecut using the new Large Numbers Framelits Dies (love these!). My Hello is from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set, which I popped up on dimensionals and finished with a trio of gold metallics sequins.

I really love the randomness of this background, which is quite different from my usual style, even though the card still feels true to me. So thanks Bibi and Kim for the inspiration for today's card. I hope it inspires you too to create something a little different this week - the new year is full of new creative possibilities and I am so looking forward to sharing them with you!

Happy New Year wishes to you all, my customers, blog and social media followers and friends and the ladies over at SUO Challenges where I'm linking up my second New Year card. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Available January 5th:

140622 Large Numbers Framelits Dies

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

 

Make A Wish Birthday Card

by Joanne James30. December 2015 21:31

Good evening lovely readers! I hope you've all had a pleasant day. I went for my second visit of the week to the pantomime, this time the turn of The Snow Queen, which was excellent. I love pantomime - for me it is one of those traditions that make my Christmas. As for crafting - I'm back today with another 'sneak peek' for you, this time using the current sketch over at Mojo Monday as the basis for my birthday card:

Today's card features not one, but FIVE new products from the forthcoming Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer catalogue. Here's my card - can you spot them all?

 

So how did you do? Check out the fun party-themed designer series paper from the 'It's My Party' Designer Series Paper Stack, along with the stamps, both from a new set called 'Party Wishes' (I coloured them with my Stampin' Write markers to get the detail). Then there's the fabby two-tone baker's twine that I also shared on yesterday's card and check out the trio of enamel dots on my birthday cake - these come in a pack with Mint Macaron coloured dots too! Finally, did you spot the fifth item? This is a slightly sneaky one - the candle on the cake was punched with one of a trio of punches in the 'Party Punch Pack' (it also includes a balloon and a mini cupcake!) If you are wondering where the striped paper across the bottom panel came from - this is actually a piece of black and white striped paper from the Neutrals paper stack where I coloured in the white stripes with my Melon Mambo Stampin' Write marker to create my custom paper to co-ordinate in with the rest of my colour scheme.

So much party fun in one card! I just love the bold colour combinations of the 'It's My Party' Suite - they offer so many different creative possibilities!

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary where it's out with the old and in with the new! Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

The following items will be available on 5th January:

140552 It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack

140961 Party Wishes Stamp Set

140608 Party Punch Pack

140555 Baker's Twine Combo Pack

140554 It's My Party Enamel Dots

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

 

New Wednesday Weekly Deals Are Here!

by Joanne James30. December 2015 09:00

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. 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 December 99Y3W6CF 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.

This is a great opportunity to remind you that the Stampin' Up! Year End Sale is still underway, with more lines having been added.

 

There are some great bargains to be had, some of the most notable being:

 Festive Designer Kraft Paper Rolls

Festive Designer Kraft Wrapping Paper Rolls - just £3.58 for a pack of two and versatile enough to be used all year round.

Angled Tag Topper Punch

Angled Tag Topper Punch - just £12.57, a great tool to make light work of tags all year round.

Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper  by Stampin' Up!

Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper - just £3.98 a pack!

All this plus lots of ribbon, Christmas stamps and kits - only available until 4th January or while supplies last! You can check out the full list here

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

 

'Love You Sew' Envelope Punch Board Cotton Reel Card

by Joanne James29. December 2015 22:56

Good evening lovely readers! Have you missed me? I took a week off to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. Whilst I had plenty of projects to share, my blogging opportunities have been few and far between. I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas and are still making the most of the festivities. Today has seen me back in my craft room though and the first real opportunity to create with my new Spring-Summer catalogue goodies, so I now have lots of sneak peeks to share with you in advance of the catalogue launch next week!

The first is a sweet little project using the new hostess set 'Love You Sew' and showcasing some of the fabby new baker's twine that is in the new catalogue - take a look: 

I made a fun little cotton reel card from a Stampin' Up! notelet using my Envelope Punch Board and stamped it with the cross-stitch hearts and sentiment from 'I love you sew' and wound a long length of the gorgeous new two-tone baker's twine (available in a combo pack with a roll of Basic Black/Mint Macaron twine too), finished with a Melon Mambo Brights button and a bow. An epoxy pink heart embellishment and a decorated envelope finish my card.

I often make these little cotton reel cards to share ribbon and twine samples with customers as it's such a nice way to present it - the addition of a sentiment makes this into a fun card! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at 'Less is More' where the theme this week is 'Homespun'; I think my cotton reel works! 

If you like this set, it will be available exclusively to all customers who either place a single order or who have combined party sales of £150 or more. There are some great incentives to host a party during Stampin' Up!'s Sale-A-Bration event that also begins next week on 5th January when the new catalogue launches; more information on this to follow, but if you would like to book a party please contact me now to get a date in the diary. This is such a lovely set for crafters with lots of humorous sayings, you will definitely want to add it to your collection. 

Back tomorrow with another 'sneak peek' project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hostess set - 140640 Love You Sew - available 5th January

140555 Baker's Twine Combo Pack - available 5th January

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

 

Sleigh Ride Edgelits Christmas Ornament with Salt Technique Background

by Joanne James20. December 2015 21:29

It's Sunday and whilst there is no Paper Players post from me today - we are taking a couple of weeks off from our design commitments to enjoy the festive season with our families - however fear not - as promised I still have a project to share with you today! 

My December technique classes featured creating backgrounds with the salt technique. I had created the following pair of cards cased from the lovely Jen Timko just for fun:

I just loved the white, layering and beautiful and unique sky created using this fun technique:

 

You can see Jen's card and a great video on the technique here. In my class we made a similar card using the 'Jingle All the Way' stamp set but the real focus of our class was a 3 dimensional Christmas bauble ornament and a co-ordinating box to gift it in, all featuring backgrounds made using this technique. Here is my finished bauble:

This bauble is quite stunning in real life; the layering, silver foil and embossing and dazzling diamonds glimmer paper, along with that amazing sky, really show the Sleigh Ride Edgelits off to full advantage. I'm so sorry that these will not be carried over on 4th January; if you haven't already purchased them, place your order now before it's too late!

Back soon 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.

 

This Week's Wednesday Deals!

by Joanne James16. December 2015 09:00

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. 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 December 99Y3W6CF 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.

 

A fun stamp set and lots of colour today! 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Tis The Season To Be Holly

by Joanne James13. December 2015 10:00

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my good friend LeAnne to host and she has the following colour palette to get our creative juices flowing this week:

    

This is a special week for us as we say goodbye to our guest designers Jodi, Amy and Lisa. We are grateful that these lovely ladies have shared their considerable talent and creativity with us for the last 6 months and we wish them well on their respective journeys. We will miss you!

For my card this week I was inspired to use yet more of the lovely Home For Christmas paper and designed my card all around the holly. I also used the sketch over at The Global Design Project for my layout:

 

Really simple, allowing the holly patterned paper to do all the hard work on this one. The sentiment is from 'Oh What Fun' and the sentiment piece cut using the Tags and Labels Framelits. I added some Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and highlighted the berries on my holly with pearls coloured with my retired Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities. I also created a second version of this card whilst I had everything out on my desk, using the same sketch but this time using the similar but slightly different colour palette over at Paper Pals Arts this week:

   12-10 PPA279

I used gold foil to make my sentiment banner stand out and fussy cut some holly from the dsp in place of the stamped sentiment and also added a flatter, more post-friendly bow with a scrap of ribbon I found in my stash:

 

Here's a close up of the label detail:

I really like how the gold gives a different effect.

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! 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with this colour combination this week. We are hoping to put our Christmas tree up today - it's time to really get our Christmas preparations underway!

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.

 

The Stampin' Up! Year-End Sale is Here!

by Joanne James10. December 2015 14:11

 

 

It’s the end of the year, so Stampin' Up! is having a clear out and making room for new products - and they are offering us some great savings while they do it! More products have been added to the clearance rack and select items from the autumn/winter catalogue have been discounted (products on the Autumn/Winter Retiring List are now discounted up to 40 percent.) During the Year-End Sale, you can find ALL discounted products in one location in the online store: under the Year-End Sale category. So don’t fret if you don’t see the category “Clearance Rack” on the online store right now - it has been integrated into the Year-End Sale.

Key details of this promotion are as follows:

  • Promotion Dates: 10 December 2015–4 January 2016.        
  • No minimum purchase required.
  • No refunds or exchanges on Year-End Sale items.
  • Items offered during the Year-End Sale are while supplies last.
  • Non-Year-End-Sale items can be added to their online or demonstrator orders.
  • Year-End Sale orders are eligible for Stampin’ Rewards with qualifying orders.

You can find a link to everything that is available in the online store here or give me a call to place your order over the phone or if you live locally in Northampton to save on postage.

There are some great bargains to be had; until tomorrow, happy shopping!

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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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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.