Clean and Simple Christmas Classics Noel CCS 525

by Joanne James7. November 2023 13:00

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

 

I thought these colours would work perfectly for a Christmas card, but feel free to use them any way you choose. Here's my card for today:

 

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

Those bright red 'NOEL' letters will by now be familiar to my regular readers - the 'Joy of Noel' stamp set is my number one stamp set this Christmas. I added them to foam adhesive sheets before diecutting with the co-ordinating die. For today's card I've paired them with the other die set in the suite, the Christmas Classics Dies, and added them to the holly decorative label that I cut from Mossy Meadow. I added a little Boho Blue ink to my Basic White card base with a blending brush and added some Real Red (retired) glittered enamel dot berries to the stems for a pop of festive colour. Check out the sparkle when they catch the light:

This is one of those cards that really is so quick and easy - I think the simple design is really effective though and the label really draws the eye to those fabulous letters.

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 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.

Deck The Halls With The Joy of Christmas AYSI 311

by Joanne James3. November 2023 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 festive recipe challenge chosen by Jane:

       

So many lovely things to incorporate! I chose Christmas as my holiday and grabbed the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout (I flipped my sentiment/foliage panels) - take a look:

 

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

I added a split panel of Joy of Christmas designer series paper with a panel of white cardstock embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder, adding a wrap of festive red satin ribbon to join them together. I used a sentiment from the 'Christmas Classics' stamp set featuring the beginning of the Christmas carol of the same name and backed this with the square foliage die from the Christmas Classics bundle cut out of retired platinum foil - it has a matt shine that picks out the subtle grey detailing in the designer paper:

Some diecut greenery and a wooden textural element, along with a red ribbon bow, complete my card. I love the texture and dimension on this card - definitely one for hand delivering rather than posting, but so many interesting elements. 

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day; we are hoping to attend the annual fireworks display at school this evening, assuming it stops raining and we are spared from the worst of Storm Ciaran - keep your fingers crossed for me! 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.

Last Few Hours To Take Advantage of Stampin' Up Awesome 35 Joining Offer

by Joanne James31. October 2023 12:32

It's the end of October and I just wanted to remind you that you have until 11.59pm this evening to take advantage of this month's fantastic joining offer:

 

Stampin' Up! wants to celebrate our 35th anniversary in style! From 3 to 31 October, anyone who joins our fun crafting community as a new demonstrator can choose either 35% OFF the cost of their Starter Kit or get 35% MORE product with their Starter Kit! What a deal! 

New demonstrators can choose one of the following options for their Starter Kit:

Option 1: Get 35% OFF the normal cost of a Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit. Those who select this option will receive £130 worth of product for only £64.35!

Option 2: Get 35% MORE product with their Starter Kit. Those who select this option will receive £175.50 worth of product by spending £99!

No matter which option new demonstrators choose for your Starter Kit, both provide you with free business supplies and free shipping on your Starter Kit—not to mention all the fun that comes with being part of Stampin’ Up!

If that wasn't enough - it gets better! Those who sign up for a Starter Kit during this offer will also be automatically registered for FREE to our virtual OnStage@Home event on 11 November—an event that has a £72 value! At this virtual, one-day event, we’ll celebrate our 35th Stampin’ Up! anniversary, watch lots of presentations, and view new products in action from the January–April 2024 Mini Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration Brochure. In fact, attendees will be able to order brand new products for the Craft Along Experience where they’ll follow along and create crafts from the comfort of their own homes!

Joining offers like this one don't come along often, so whether you're looking for friendship, a hobby, a business or lots more besides, there really is no better time to consider joining Stampin' Up! If you would like more information or help in deciding which option suits you best, do get in touch with me - I would love to chat to you about the benefits of being a part of our stamping community. If you've read this far and have already decided you want to be a part of it - click here to join my awesome Stampin' Up! team.

Season of Chic Autumn Leaves CC&S 524 Double

by Joanne James31. October 2023 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. We have a third Tuesday in the month so Patricia has designed a retro-double for us, featuring a retired colour palette and a sketch we've used previously: 

 

These colours were perfect for autumn so for my card today I decided to feature the 'Season of Chic' stamp set and co-ordinating Chic Dies - take a look:

 

I blended all three colours and added some autumnal stencilling using one of the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks into the triangles. I tied some twine to define the triangle borders and added a couple of diecut leaves as a focal point:

 

Inking my sentiment in two colours added a little extra interest and completed 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. 

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.

All About Autumn Oak Leaves Thank You TTT 232

by Joanne James26. October 2023 18:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

    

I went on the diagonal from top left with metallics/free/leaves-foliage and took inspiration from the dried leaves and purple tones of the book in the Card Concept inspiration photo for my clean and layered card - take a look:

 

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

I am loving the photo prints in the All About Autumn paper pack - they truly are so evocative of the season. For today's card I chose a pattern of dried leaves which co-ordinates with Moody Mauve perfectly. I heat-embossed my sentiment and edged it with a snippet of copper foil and to incorporate a little more of the copper metallic once I'd diecut my panel of designer paper using the largest rectangle in the Nested Essentials Dies set, I cut an extra piece of the pattern that is actually on the reverse of the leaf image as it features a distressed copper embossed design - you can see the shine a little more closely below:

I added a background panel that I'd run through my diecutting machine with the (retired) Stitched Greenery Die for a little added interest and detail. Quite a simple card, with lovely warm autumnal tones of mauve, brown and copper - time to wrap up warm and go romping through the autumn leaves methinks!

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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at Festive Friday. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Christmas Tidings Embossed Vellum Christmas Card AYSI 310

by Joanne James20. October 2023 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 an interesting 'fill in the blank' challenge from Heather C:

    

Vellum - so many creative things you can do with it and the Design Team will be sharing lots of them for this challenge. One of my favourite things to do with vellum is ... to dry emboss it! I made a Christmas card using the colours over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week that showcases embossed vellum in all its glory - take a look:

 

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

For my card today, I created a faux bookbinding card. I embossed a whole sheet of vellum using the Christmas Tidings embossing folder and attached it along the edge beneath my binding edge - this is a useful way to avoid visible adhesive, which is something you need to think about when working with vellum. This embossing folder has lots of festive words and images and I chose to highlight the gingerbread man (you can see him near the bind) and add a couple of stamped gingerbread men to my card. I stamped them in Pecan Pie using a long-retired set, 'Scentsational Season', and added bows from 'Cookie Cutter Christmas' (also retired). I've included the link to a current set with a cute gingerbread man in below, in case you don't have one in your collection. You can see mine more closely below - they provide a nice contrast to the fabulous dimension and texture of the embossed vellum:

 

I added another gingerbread man and a sentiment from 'Joy to You' to the inside of my card too:

 

You might also notice on the photo above that I embossed the envelope flap too for a co-ordinated look. I love to decorate envelopes in this way - it's super simple and so effective.

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
  • In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.
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.

Joy Of Noel Slimline Christmas Card CC&S 523

by Joanne James17. October 2023 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & SketchesThis week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Lucy has asked that we create a slimline card with a central sentiment panel:

  

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to have another outing with the beautiful 'NOEL' stamps and dies from the 'Joy of Noel' bundle - take a look:

 

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

The slimline layout worked really well to keep the square design of the 'NOEL' letters, which I heat embossed in gold onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I added the 'Joyous' on vellum, so that it didn't obscure the letters and edged the central panel with some thin strips of gold foil. Here's a close up of that layered sentiment:

 

Above and below that I added a couple of panels of Shining Brightly designer series paper - the starry design is open enough to still work on an otherwise clean and simple card. I adore this paper and so do many of you, judging by the speed with which it comes into and out of stock in the online store! I was hoping that when I posted my card today I would be able to tell you it was back in stock again - but alas, the most recent stocks have once again been depleted. I placed more orders yesterday for customer who had been patiently waiting for it; additional supplies are still due in soon, so keep an eye on the online store if it's on your list.

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; we are having a week of breakdowns in the James household: so far the broadband, my steam iron and the central heating are all casualties! The latter means that I am spending as little time as possible at my desk, so a short post from me as I'm off for a romp through the countryside to keep warm! 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.

Abundant Beauty Autumn Changing Leaves TTT230

by Joanne James12. October 2023 16:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

          

So many lovely seasonal elements on Vicky's board this week! I went down the first column with leaves, autumn colours and twine and used the beautiful autumnal colour palette over at TGIF Challenges to create a clean and simple card with a little 'something old, something new' this week - take a look:

 

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

Blended Autumn Colour - The TGIF colour palette so reminded me of autumn leaves and I thought this trio of colours would be perfect to create a simple blended ink background using the leafy stencil in the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks - so I'm also sharing my card with AAA Cards this week. I applied each of the colours across my stencil randomly, being careful to blend them to avoid any harsh lines. I love the finished effect! These stencils are such great value for money - with 4 different creative options in each pack, they really can be used in so many different ways.

Envelope Detail - I am no stranger to a decorated envelope; my regular readers will be familiar with lots of different ways that I've shared to easily spruce-up the outside of your envelopes so I just had to play along with the current Inkspirational challenge to decorate your envelope to co-ordinate with your card. For today's envelope, I simply repeated the background stencilled pattern across the outer flap of my envelope - you can see it beneath my card in the photo above. So simple and a lovely hint of the detail inside too.

A Seasonal Saying - I chose to make the centrepiece of my card this beautiful quote from the retired 'Beauty of Tomorrow' stamp set - my 'something old' for today. This quote seemed to fit with the ombre blended background perfectly. I stamped it onto a label diecut with the largest of the rounded rectangles in the Nested Essential Dies set and added a twine bow and retired wooden leaf embellishment as a final decoration:

This card doesn't have as much 'white space' as I would like for a super-CAS card, but using a stencil is a great way to add a quick pop of colour to a card base. A larger sentiment panel might have allowed for a little extra white space, albeit resulting in me covering up some of that lovely ombre colour - you see my dilemma, right?!

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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; the unexpected warmth at the start of the week has reverted now to temperatures more typical of this time of year, along with lots of rain in recent days and I am definitely starting to see more autumnal colour on the foliage as I'm driving around and about. 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.

Last Day of Free Shipping!

by Joanne James11. October 2023 08:00

Just a quick reminder that today is the final day to receive free shipping on orders of £60 or more - this offer is available online until 10.59pm tonight. You can place your order in the online store here. Happy shopping!

Playing In The Rain AYSI 309

by Joanne James6. October 2023 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 an interesting colour challenge:

    

I say 'interesting' because I really like this week's colour combination - but I really struggled to make it work! I played around with a few different ideas and eventually decided to go with something clean and simple using a set that hasn't seen ink in a while, using Narelle's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week as the basis for my design. This is what I came up with: 

 

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

Colour Conundrum - Having discounted florals for today's card (sorry Narelle - I know you love them!) I decided that Copper Clay would be the perfect colour for some fox fur, so I grabbed my 'Playing in the Rain' stamp set and started to play. I then discovered that Copper Clay Blends were the only ones I didn't have in my collection (in short - a different colour ordered by mistake!) so I coloured the fox fur with my Stampin' Write marker and the Misty Moonlight clothes and umbrella with my Blends as usual. It gives less definition, but I figured it would be a good way to show that a) nobody's perfect and b) enable you to see the difference in both marker types on one project (well that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!) 

A Circle Trio - I knew my card would end up being clean and simple, because I didn't have many colours to play with. I decided that the three circular elements of the FMS sketch would work really well, enabling me to have my fox represent one element, then use the additional two circles to highlight both some stamped raindrops (I chose Smoky Slate as my neutral of choice) and some stamped puddles on the lower Misty Moonlight one. I layered my circles slightly different to the sketch in order to fit in my sentiment banner and to give balance. All I needed to complete my card was a trio of Misty Moonlight tinsel gems for a touch of raindrop-like sparkle.

 

An Inside Tip - I wanted to share with you a little tip for decorating the inside of your cards when you are colouring onto a white cardbase. As you know, if you colour with Stampin' Blends they do give the best finish but have the disadvantage of bleeding through and being seen on the reverse of your card. To combat this, I stamped another of the images in the set directly onto my cardbase and coloured the puddle with my Stampin' Write marker only. I then stamped the same image onto an additional piece of cardstock, coloured it with my Stampin' Blends, diecut it with my Playing In The Rain Dies, then pieced it into place onto the cardbase - problem solved! 

And yes, I know there's a hint of pink and a Calypso Coral jacket on my bunny, but since it's on the inside of my card I'm not breaking the rules ;-).

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
  • In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day. I am meeting one of my oldest friends for lunch and it looks like it's turning into an unusually warm and sunny day, so that should be nice. 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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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.