Hello Friend Tortoise CCS535

by Joanne James16. April 2024 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. First up - a confession! I got my dates mixed up and I actually used this sketch last week for my Tuesday post - you can see that card here if you missed it - but since this week is actually CAS Colours and Sketches week, I'm showing you another way to use it! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we use a trio of balanced shapes. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card and remember the shapes you choose don't have to be squares. 

       

I paired Rachel's fun sketch with the 'take 5' challenge over at Color Dare this week (I ended up using all 5 colours) and created a simple notecard to say hello to a friend - take a look:

 

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

I tweaked Rachel's sketch slightly and balanced my stamped and diecut tortoise from 'Playing In The Rain' onto a stacked sentiment from the 'Biggest Wish' stamp set, stamped in Flirty Flamingo. In place of the sentiment on the sketch, I added some flowers - perhaps the meadow where my tortoise had picked his daisy? 

 

My colours do seem a little off today for some reason, with my pink letters looking almost coral; my sage greens are also looking a little darker than they are in real life; notwithstanding, I like this second take on the sketch and the stacked sentiment is a fun idea too. The 'Biggest Wish' stamp set is retiring at the end of this month, although its companion set 'More Wishes' is staying, so if you are wanting to take advantage of the full combination of greetings, be sure to pick up this set before it's too late.

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.

Playing In The Rain Pink Rabbit

by Joanne James15. April 2024 08:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card for a couple of challenges:

    

The word of the week at Just Us Girls is 'rain' and whilst I didn't have an image of pink rainboots I could use, I loved the pinks in this week's Inspired By photo so took my inspiration from the pink coat and florals to give my puddle-jumping rabbit a pretty little raincoat - take a look:

 

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

I stamped my bunny onto my card base then stamped it again on a separate piece of cardstock and diecut it, minus the puddle. I coloured her with my Stampin' Blends and paper-pieced her raincoat with a piece of pink floral designer paper that I found in my scrapbox. I stamped my raindrops directly onto my cardbase, then added some diecut clouds, to which I added some Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle. There is something so cute about this little bunny I think: 

 

This image so remind me of when the James Juniors were toddlers and loved nothing more than an afternoon walk in the rain, jumping in the puddles - happy memories! 

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. 

A short post from me today as I need to crack on with my decorating! 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.

Paper Florist Meet Petal Patterns PP685

by Joanne James14. April 2024 08:00

 

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a bright colour challenge for us to work with:

          Tic Tac Toe Challenge #245

I love brights so was excited to get to work with Claire's chosen colours this week. I decided to go square this week and use the fabulous Jen T's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week for the layout of my special birthday card - take a look:

 

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

Petal Patterns Background - Since I was going with a square card today, I decided to use my Petal Patterns Dies for my background. I diecut them in Bermuda Bay and layered them onto a piece of Melon mambo onto my Bermuda Bay cardbase. I offset the top layer and before I glued it to the solid layer, I went over the outline die with my light Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends marker to make it stand out more. I also added some rhinestones that I had coloured with my Melon Mambo Stampin' Blends marker to the centre of the flowers to highlight the pink. 

Paper Florist Dies Flower - The background would look pretty on its own, but the focal point of today's card is most certainly the over-the-top flower that I created using the Paper Florist Dies. I wanted to create a peony-type flower that was full of dimension, so I layered the centre then kept adding the outer petals until I was happy. I added some diecut leaves and flower buds behind it and a few loops of Bermuda Bay ribbon from my stash - isn't it pretty?

All those layers make this the perfect card to share with the team over at The Flower Challenge where their current challenge is to 'add layers'.

And A Charming Sentiment - I finished my card with a heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Charming Sentiments' stamp set, diecut with the co-ordinating Sentiment Silhouettes Dies. This is also the final part of my middle column for the challenge over at TicTacToe Challenge this week (square card/diecut/embossing)

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. 

Since this card won't fit into an envelope, I am going to make a co-ordinating box to present it in. This is a special card for someone with a milestone birthday later in the year, so it will be worth the effort. I really love the 3D effect of this card! Everything on this card is either retired (Bermuda Bay) or is due to retire at the end of the month; this will be the last opportunity to purchase any of the dies or the stamp set that I used on today's card, so if they are on your wishlist, you don't have long to act.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; the hubby is off to Washington DC for the week today, so it will be just the youngest of the James Juniors and I at home. Since there is another week of school holiday to go, I am taking the opportunity to get some decorating done so my week will be a busy one. Never fear - I have some things to share here too though so be sure to pop by this week.  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.

Beach Day Ombre Sunshine Wishes AYSI321

by Joanne James12. April 2024 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where the lovely Heather C has a pretty colour challenge for us:

 

I almost went with florals for today's card, but I couldn't get past the idea that these colours would make a beautiful sunset so I grabbed a new bundle that I recently picked up and set to work - take a look:

 

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

I used a series of floating stripes for the sunset sky on today's card. I've used this technique before and it's really easy to do: all you need is to take your stripes in a variety of widths, adhere to a piece of window sheet acetate (the ones your stamps come on will work nicely) and cut out with a circle die or to your desired shape. I wanted an ombre effect using the challenge colours, so in order to get additional shades, I used two strips of cardstock in each of the challenge colours, then coloured one of each with the darker and lighter shades of Stampin' Blends markers respectively. The colour change is subtle, but this is a great way to gain additional variety - you can see the detail more closely below:

 

I wanted the sunset to be the main focus on my card, so created my beach scene around it using white diecuts only. The Beach Day Dies have lots of additional detail, so don't really need colour to create interest. My sentiment is stamped in Calypso Coral and from the bundled 'Beach Day' stamp set. Both the Beach Day stamp set and dies are on carryover into the new catalogue, but the bundle price isn't so if they are on your list, if you want that additional saving, you'll need to order before the end of the month. I bought this set because I love all of the little details in both the stamp and dies sets - I have so many holiday and beach day scrapbook pages to complete, I know it will come in handy - not to mention for summer-themed cards too. I added a trio of rainbow enamel dots to complete my card.

This card has me dreaming of Caribbean beaches and sunnier climes - the sun is out here in the UK for once and there's a good breeze, so it looks like it might be time to take laundry out to the washing line - I can but dream of faraway places! So what do these colours make you think of? I'd love to see your projects in the gallery this week - why not play along?

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 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.

Color And Contour You Are Amazing

by Joanne James11. April 2024 20:00

Today I'm sharing a card that used the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and the colour palette over at TGIF Challenges:

   

I love bright colours and thought this palette would work well for some unconventionally coloured retiring florals - take a look:

 

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

I paired a couple of stems from the Color and Contour stamp set with a vibrant background using a piece of Masterfully Made designer series paper and a fancy shredded bow beneath my sentiment:

 

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, but I tweaked the positioning to suit the sketch design better. A trio of tinsel gems complete my card.

I feel like 'Color and Contour' is an underused set, but I will miss the co-ordinating Scalloped Contour Dies so much - the labels and borders in this set have been used on so many projects! If you don't have them in your collection, you should definitely consider picking up a set before they retire if they are still available in your market. 

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.

Hey Chuck Rise And Shine CCS535

by Joanne James9. April 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 Rachel has asked that we use a trio of balanced shapes. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card and remember the shapes you choose don't have to be squares. 

    

I paired Rachel's fun sketch with the bright colour combo over at Just Us Girls this week that was perfect for what I had in mind - take a look:

 

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

Those retiring lists I mentioned in yesterday's post are now well and truly live and so for today's card I just had to highlight one of my favourite retiring sets: Hey Chuck. As a previous chicken owner, I knew I'd never be able to resist these comical feathered friends! They are great for colouring, especially if you're a beginner as there is only a small area to focus on at a time. In addition to the chickens themselves, the dies contain a bunch of 'extras' in addition to those that cut out the chickens; on today's card I used the semi-circle sunshine to make a stencil so that I could stencil in my morning sun (this is something I've done previously here too) and the weather vane - so great for creating fun scenes, the possibilities are endless! The dies are also discounted as part of the retiring sale - so if you buy the stamps and the dies, you get a better deal if you purchase them separately than if you purchase them as a bundle. Here's my colourful poultry in close up:

A trio of sparkly Gorgeous Grape enamel dots complete my fun card (I've provided a link to one that is similar below). 

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. 

This will be the perfect card to send to my daughter on her return to university - students in general are not known for being early risers so I suspect this will make her smile!

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.

Sunshine And Rainbows With Just My Type PP684

by Joanne James7. April 2024 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

    

Sunshine and rainbows! You can take your inspiration from anything relating to sunshine, rain and rainbows with some great inspiration on our badge this week. I decided to take Anne Marie's theme quite literally and built my card around a sentiment from the 'Just My Type' stamp set that includes both elements - take a look:

 

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

Saying Goodbye - It's that time of year when we are getting ready to say goodbye to lots of products in both the mini and annual catalogues and today's card is a celebration of some of my favourites: the 'Just My Type' stamp set that my sentiment hails from, the 'Rays of Light' background stamp that I used to create my sunshine shining through the clouds, the Basic Borders Dies that I used for my cloud cutaway, the Lighter Than Air rainbow-striped paper and the iridescent gems are all leaving us at the end of the month. Many of these will be available at a substantial discount from 9th April onwards and all will be available only whilst stocks last - so be sure to place your order in a timely manner if you don't want to miss out!

Lighter Than Air Rainbow Stripes - Instead of stamping a rainbow alongside my rays of sunshine, I decided to use a sheet of rainbow-striped pastel designer series paper from the Lighter Than Air pack. I made my stamped layer slightly smaller than my card base to give a rainbow border then used one of my Basic Borders Dies to create the cloud-shaped cut-away, revealing the detail of the paper in all of its striped glory. Since the team over at Time Out are asking us to feature stripes for their current challenge, I'm linking my card there too.

Borders and Clouds - Having used my cloud-shaped Basics Borders Die to create the corner cutaway to reveal more of my rainbow stripes, I decided that I wanted to put my sentiment into a cloud too. Since I didn't have a die large enough, I used my border die to create my own custom cloud:

A triple coloured twine bow and a sprinkling of iridescent gems complete today's 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; I am enjoying having the eldest of the James Juniors home from university so will be making the most of the next few days before she returns to her studies for the final term of the year - I can't quite believe her first year is almost done! 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.

Timeless Arrangements Thank You Card CCS534

by Joanne James2. April 2024 13:00

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

      

For my card today I used the layout over at Sketch Saturday and used Rachel's fresh colour combination for a pretty floral thank you card - take a look:

 

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

I stamped my sentiment from the 'Timeless Arrangements' stamp set onto a label from the same set, and backed it with a selection of diecuts in the challenge colours. I also stamped and coloured a couple of flower stems and added them to the mix. I used diecuts that broadly followed the diagonal shape of the lines on the sketch and added seven scored lines with my scoring tool to my white cardbase - you can see the detail if you look closely below:

 

The scored lines add a real touch of elegance to the card and are a great way to incorporate the stripes in a more subtle way. A trio of pink pearls was all I needed to complete my card. 

I will so miss the Timeless Arrangements bundle when it retirees - it makes the prettiest thank you 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. 

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.

Textured Floral Hues of Happiness Birthday Card PP683

by Joanne James31. March 2024 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a tic-tac-toe challenge for us to work with. here's the board:

    

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities and my card today is a case in point; I had decided to use the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for my layout and was planning on going across the bottom row, but ended up settling on the first column of designer paper/sparkle/flowers - take a look:

 

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

I had a couple of floral stamp sets out on my desk and was intending to stamp a whole bunch of pastel flowers, however as I went on the hunt through my DSP for a piece to use to my background panel, I found a pack of flowers that I had diecut ages ago from the (retired) Hues of Happiness designer series paper and decided instead to use those up. I gathered a selection of flowers in yellow and blue, along with some diecut leaves, and set to work. Since I was using designer paper for my flowers, I decided to emboss my Lemon Lolly background panel with the hatched Basics 3D embossing folder. I added in some white foliage diecuts and decided on a Nested Essentials Dies label with a greeting from the 'Textured Floral' stamp set, stamped in Coastal Cabana and Early Espresso:

A trio of golden sparkly enamel dots to pick up on the warm yellow tones complete both my tictactoe column and my card. I love how this card turned out and it was a great way to use up those diecut flowers 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; I am looking forward to a delicious Easter lunch today followed by the spoils of the morning Easter egg hunt that is obligatory in the James household (apparently the offspring are NEVER too old for such activity where chocolate is concerned!) 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.

Natures Sweetness Notes of Nature Thank You Card AYSI320

by Joanne James29. March 2024 13:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge designed by the lovely Jan:

    

I love our sketch this week; it's the kind of layout that can be dressed up or down, with a clean and simple or much more detailed design - lots of possibilities! I decided to go over-the-top with this one and go big on designer series paper - there are no less than 5 different patterns used on this card! Too much? Here's my card - take a look:

 

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

Nature's Sweetness - It's that time of year when we are getting ready to say goodbye to lots of product from the Stampin' Up! annual and mini catalogues and time to get using up that designer series paper! On today's card I used 5 different patterns from the Nature's Sweetness specialty designer series papers - can you spot them all? One for the background, a couple for the strips behind the circle (another one) and finally the cocoa pods have been diecut from another of the sheets, bringing the total to 5. I wouldn't normally use so many on one card, but I think the colours and patterns work sufficiently well together to not be too overwhelming. 

A Touch of Colour - I used a diecut cocoa pod for the focal point on my card - I'm hoping this is ok for the theme of 'Just Add Chocolate' over at Just Add Ink this week - I'm sure they were thinking chocolate eggs and bunnies, but I don't have any of those in my current stash so I'm hoping my cocoa pods as the purest form of the brown stuff still ticks the box. I added a touch of colour to the designer paper with my Soft Sea Foam and Pecan Pie Stampin' Blends to make my pods stand out against the background detail:

 

Accessorize, Accessorize - I added a few leafy diecuts, some elegant gold trim and gold sequins as finishing touches to my card. I trimmed down to a simple 'thanks' sentiment and also stamped the inside of my card and the envelope with the 'Notes of Nature' stamp set to complete my card.

 I was a 'late bloomer' as far as this suite is concerned (I have Jan to thank for finally convincing me I needed it in my life), so definitely feel as if I'm making up for lost time!

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 sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your Good Friday. Amongst other things, I will be visiting the farm shop today and driving to Birmingham to collect the oldest of the James Juniors who is coming home for the Easter break - we are all excited! 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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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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