Reindeer Days For AYSI 338

by Joanne James6. December 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's our final challenge of the year and it's a sketch challenge, designed by Jane:

 

I don't know whether it's pre-Christmas overwhelm, but I struggled with Jane's sketch this week. I decided to make a Christmas card and feature some of the cute reindeer on the Reindeer Days designer series paper - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I started with the image of the cute baby reindeer building a snowman and used my Stylish Shaped Dies to cut it out to give a little detail to the border edges. I backed this with a panel of snowflake-embossed white cardstock and added this to my Pool Party cardbase before adding a couple of additional strips of designer paper:

 

I took a slight liberty with the sentiment in terms of positioning; I used a pre-printed tag from last year's retired Memories & More Kit, tied with a little silver twine. Quite a quick and easy card, even with all the layers. This was actually the second card I made - here's the first one:

 

On this card I used one of the horizontal elements for the sentiment, again using a retired Memories & More banner sticker. I prefer my second card though - I think that little reindeer building his snowman is super cute! Here's a photo of both cards together - which one is your favourite? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow bright and early with another Christmas card as I am guesting over at AAA Cards. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Iconic Imagery Monochromatic Snowflakes for CCS550

by Joanne James3. December 2024 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & SketchesThis week's we have reached a milestone - it's our 550th challenge! As is traditional, for the final challenge of the year you can choose any of the challenges in 2024 - colour or sketch - and make it seasonal. I decided to choose my sketch from way back in March - here's a reminder of that sketch:

   

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. You can see the original card I made using this sketch hereFor my card today I decided to the Iconic Imagery stamp set - the images are the perfect size for this kind of layout - to create my seasonal card. Check it out:

 

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

I stamped six snowflakes in Azure Afternoon and added rhinestones at the centre for a little sparkle. I added my heat embossed sentiment to a little tag - I used the retired Tailored Tags Dies but you could use the label in the Iconic Imagery bundle or any other one of your choice and finished it with some silver twine:

 

My sentiment is from the retired 'Sparkly Seasons' stamp set as I made this card before I had purchased the current 'Sophisticated Sled' stamp set, which has another stamp with the same wording which would be a better current alternative. Another quick clean and simple Christmas card that is already in the post! I'm linking today's card up over at AAA Cards where the theme is 'anything CAS goes - with the optional theme of Christmas/winter', which I chose.

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 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.

A Little Bit Festive Ornamental Christmas

by Joanne James2. December 2024 09:00

Happy Monday! Today I've a nice quick clean and simple Christmas card to start the week that I made for a couple of challenges:

    

Addicted To CAS are looking for cards featuring ornaments and I used red, green, gold and baubles/ornaments from the Festive Friday inspo list for today's card - take a look:

 

Today's card couldn't be simpler: a strip of Night of Navy added to my Very Vanilla cardbase, picking up the colour from my trio of hanging ornaments that came straight from the A Little Bit Festive designer series paper pack. A diecut sentiment from the Joyful Sayings pack and a sprinkle of gold enamel gems complete my card:

 

And not a stamp in sight! These papers sure do make for great quick CAS cards.

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 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.

A Little Bit Festive Quick Christmas Tree Card AYSI 337

by Joanne James22. November 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a speed challenge chosen by Jan:

 

Trees offer us so many options and feature on so many different types of cards. I am still making Christmas cards and found the perfect answer to a quick card - take a look:

 

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

A Little Bit Festive - It will no surprise to my regular readers that the time-saving hack for today's card was found in the A Little Bit Festive paper pack. The Christmas tree that is the focal point for today's card is a pre-printed panel that was ready to go - I just pushed it out of the paper sheet and done! I couldn't leave it there though! I picked out the red and green colours in the design and added a couple of panels behind to add a little more interest and robustness to my card.

Joyful Sayings - My Christmas tree has a gold foiled star and that led me to one of the pre-diecut sentiments in the Joyful Sayings Ephemera pack for an impactful overlaid sentiment. I added it to my card with some snippets of dimensionals for a little lift and completed my sentiment with the only stamping (apart from the inside) to feature on today's card with the word 'happy' from the 'Greetings of the Season' stamp set:

 

I considered adding some gems to my finished card, but decided it against it, not on the grounds of time but more that I didn't want to clutter my clean design.

Christmas on Speed - The festive season is always a great time to have some quick and easy card making ideas to hand - so this week's challenge is definitely a timely one. How long did my card take today?

 

Six minutes exactly - woohoo! There are lots of other panels in the A Little Bit Festive paper pack that can be used for similar quick and easy cards.

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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.

Season of Green and Gold Noel for CCS549

by Joanne James19. November 2024 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & SketchesThis week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Patricia has asked that we add a horizontal sentiment with a couple of areas of detail top and bottom:

    

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to create another Christmas card using my Golden Greenery bundle and coordinating products - take a look:

 

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

NOEL - The Noel sentiment that I've used on today's card is a diecut straight from the Joyful Sayings Mix & Match Ephemera pack. I added it to a piece of gold foil and cut around the diecut to add a shadow layer, to help my sentiment stand out from the strip of designer series paper. The Joyful Sayings diecuts are so useful for adding quick sentiments to cards - a great standby during the festive season.

Season of Green & Gold - I used a piece of Old Olive and Very Vanilla gingham from the Season of Green & Gold designer paper as the base to highlight my sentiment and bordered it with a thin gold foil border to tie in with my overall design. I love gingham; it works on all types of card.

Golden Greenery - For the other elements of the sketch, I added some greenery and foliage from the 'Golden Greenery' stamp set, just adding the tips of the foliage so that it appears to be 'peeking out' from beneath the sentiment strip:

A few gold faceted gems complete my card. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create where the theme is 'Christmas'.

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.

Iconic Celebrations Acorn Gratitude AYSI 336

by Joanne James8. November 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal theme challenge chosen by Heather H:

 

I had limited options this week as I don't have much current product featuring seeds or acorns, but this actually made the challenge easy as there was only one way to go - take a look:

 

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

The Iconic Celebrations designer series paper has patterns suitable for lots of different occasions and fortunately it has a lovely repeating acorn pattern. I paired a panel of it with a couple of labels cut using the Iconic Imagery Dies and paired it with a sentiment from the co-ordinating stamp set, along with a couple of stamped and diecut leaves and some twine for a little extra embellishment: 

I used Basic Beige for my base and main label - I think it gives a nice natural tone when paired with Mossy Meadow and Pecan Pie - what do you think? The perfect seasonal card to let someone know how thankful you are for all they do. 

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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.

Christmas Classics for CCS548

by Joanne James5. November 2024 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Patricia is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

      

I'm also playing along with the 'anything goes' CAS challenge over at AAA Cards but since I thought these colours would be perfect for a Christmas card, I'm not going with the optional twist of Halloween. I decided to use an old favourite for my card today that would allow me to indulge in some inlaid diecutting - take a look:

 

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

Shy Shamrock is one of this year's new in-colours but I haven't used it much to date. The retired Christmas Classics bundle is a seasonal favourite of mine and the dies were perfect to showcase both shades of green:

I think Shy Shamrock adds a real freshness to this card - I love the colour combo this week and can't wait to see what our challenge entrants make of them 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. 

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! 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.

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.

Falling Leaves Copper Friends For Life AYSI335

by Joanne James25. October 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge from the fabulous Heather C:

    

I don't mind admitting, I struggled with this one! I tried a few things but found combining all of the elements a challenge - but I guess that's kind of the point, right?! In the end it was the inspo photo over at Inspired By that unlocked things for me - take a look:

 

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

Oxidised Copper - I used a panel of Oxidised Copper paper, a gorgeous warm metallic, for my card base. Although I've mostly covered it with my embossed strips, its beauty still shines through. This ticked off both warm tones and metallics. 

Leaf Fall - I decided to make a feature of my dry embossing, so embossed a panel of Early Espresso with the Leaf Fall 3D embossing folder and then cut it into strips, over my oxidised copper panel. I chose this darker brown as I liked the contrast and warmth of those blankets in the Inspired By photo and wanted to evoke that in my fall card. I love the detail of those embossed leaves! Embossed texture - tick.

 Final Copper Touches - I added my sentiment from the 'Friends For Life' stamp set to a tag diecut using one of the Greetings of The Season Dies - these are so useful! - and heat embossed it in copper. A snippet of retired copper ribbon tied with some dark brown baker's twine and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it tiny retired copper pinecone that I found in my stash completed my card and allowed another nod to that Inspired By photo:

Tag and thinking of you sentiment - tick and tick. Recipe complete! So what will you cook up with this week's challenge ingredients? Do share your projects in our gallery and show us your makes!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day; I'm off to tick off some chores in the hope of a little crafty time over the weekend. 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.

Celebrate The Season Of Green and Gold CCS547

by Joanne James15. October 2024 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & SketchesThis week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Laura has asked that we add a diagonal corner detail to our clean and simple cards:

 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to make a feature of that corner with an offcut of Season of Green & Gold Specialty Designer Series Paper (another of my Online Exclusives favourites) that was the perfect fit:

 

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

Isn't that paper beautiful? I added a simple strip of gold foil and 'went large' with my sentiment, choosing one from another Online Exclusive, the 'Iconic Imagery' stamp set, and followed the line of my Old Olive cardstock base; I just love the large 'celebrate' stamp:

 

That's all there is to it - super simple and another Christmas card for the pile! This is such a great card design - perfect for using up scraps or strips of patterned paper and you could pair with any kind of sentiment 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 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.

A Latte Love For My Diecutting Machine AYSI 334

by Joanne James11. October 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge from Deborah:

    

This was a tough one - there are so many things that I love to craft with!! For sheer versatility though, I think my favourite thing to craft with has to be my diecutting machine - it really allows for so much creativity and with such a beautifully crafted finish. In case you thought my choice was going to be designer series paper, it is a very close second - so today's card is a celebration of both! I was inspired by the words of the fun blackboard inspiration over at Time Out and decided to make a coffee-themed card using one of my favourite Online Exclusive Suites, A Little Latte - take a look:

 

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

A Little Latte Love - The A Little Latte Suite is the perfect way to discover your inner barista and create beautiful latte art and today's card contains a little of everything: designer series paper, stamps, dies and adhesive swirl dots all add up to yummy coffee goodness! 

The Diecutting Difference - I used my diecutting machine on today's card in a number of different ways: I used the Latte Love dies to both cut out stamped images (the spoon and coffee beans) and to diecut images directly from the designer series paper (the coffee cup and more coffee beans), as well as standalone dies to create the cafetiere and some additional Spotlight on Nature dies to diecut the stamped sentiment. Each adds another element, but the cafetiere in particular is a standout - if you look at the image below, you can see that it consists of three separate diecut elements to create the finished item:

 

Paper Perfection - A final mention to the gorgeous A Little Latte designer series paper too. I featured a few of the patterns on today's card: two for the background and then I diecut both beans and a latte art-filled coffee cup from a couple of the other sheets - I love it when dies and paper co-ordinate 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. 

I must confess I'm more of a tea drinker than coffee connoisseur, but I do enjoy a nice coffee with friends every once in a while - this card will be winging its way to one with an invitation to join me soon.

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • For a Fill In The Blank Challenge you must tell us how you filled in the blank and completed the sentence.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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.

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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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