Easter Basket Bunch For The Paper Players

by Joanne James26. March 2017 09:00

To all my UK readers - Happy Mother's Day! It is of course Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! My good friend the super-talented Claire is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

       

I love a good sketch and this one has some great layering options. I decided that I would use the pretty Spring colours over at Fab Friday to create a basket of flowers for an Easter card - take a look:

 

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

I kept my layers fairly neutral - a stitched circle in Mint Macaron, a panel of Calypso Coral By The Shore designer series paper - and used the Easter sentiment from the 'Suite Sentiments' set on a Very Vanilla banner, with the real focal point for my card being my basket of flowers. I cut and layered my basket using the Basket Builder framelits then stamped my daffodils and peach flowers in Memento Black onto solid colour cardstock using the Basket Bunch set and cut the out with the co-ordinating framelits, finishing them with some Calypso Coral subtles candy dots. I love the Basket Bunch bundle, not only for the Easter eggs and bunny, but also the perfect daffodils (well, I am Welsh so it is to be expected!). The framelits make cutting out these little pieces so easy and offer some great layering options too.

I'm also linking up with those lovely ladies over at As You See It too - for me, there is nothing that says Spring more than daffodils. They are so bright and cheery and inexpensive and I love to have them cut in a vase, but also to see them along the banks and hedgerows as I drive around the countryside. At the moment there are rows and rows of them on my journey driving Ben to school - they never fail to brighten my day!

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:

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'm looking forward to a family lunch and maybe, just maybe, a sneaky visit into my craft room this afternoon. 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.

Showers Of Happiness To Welcome Little Miss Croghan Blog Hop

by Joanne James25. March 2017 14:00

Today I'm sharing a special baby card for a very special person!  The wonderfully talented and amazing Lesley Croghan, designer and creator of many popular online papercraft challenges, and her husband Corey, are expecting their first child, a little girl. To this end the lovely Lori Turner of Caffeinated Creativity has organised a fabulous blog hop to celebrate the forthcoming new arrival into the Croghan family.

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I have participated in many of Lesley's challenges, am a regular reader of her blog, Always Playing With Paper and I am privileged to be a designer with The Paper Players, a challenge that Lesley founded some years ago that is still going strong. I have a lot to thank her for and am thrilled to be participating in this hop to celebrate the arrival of Little Miss Croghan.

I knew immediately what kind of card I wanted to create - it had to feature one of the cuties from the Moon Baby stamp set:

 

As my card was going to have to travel from the UK to Canada to reach Lesley, I decided I was best to stick to my clean and simple style. Here's the low-down on today's card:

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice - I just had to go with 'Moon Baby' for my baby card this week - this is such a perfect baby set! You know how I am a fan of partial die cutting and today decided to use my sweet umbrella baby to overhang the top layer of my card for added visual interest. I watercoloured my baby and umbrella in Melon Mambo using my aquapainter to add a pop of colour to my pale pink card.

Hello, Hello, Hello - I decided to use one of the sentiments in the 'Moon Baby' set to create a repeat 'Hello Baby' background panel - a great way to combine the sentiments in the set. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get everything nicely lined up and staggered the words on each row to create a uniform pattern. 

A Shower of Hearts - I felt like my baby needed a shower of something to warrant the umbrella, so decided to use the hearts framelit from the Umbrella Weather set to create my shower. With the pink layer beneath, the little hearts against the beautiful lustre of the Shimmery White top layer look so pretty: 

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. 

There are a huge number of people participating in today's blog hop; you can see the full collection of cards on Lori's blog here and it would be great if you could visit as many of these as possible and leave the owners some love. We have also sent our cards to Lesley for her to open today en masse, so you will get a sense of the wonderful shower of love we sent to the Croghan family this morning!

Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

 

 

New Sale-A-Bration Items Added!

by Joanne James21. March 2017 10:00

Today I have some exciting news! You all know that this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion will end on 31st March and in addition to hosting and joining benefits (you can read about those here) you also earn a free product for every £45 spend - you can see the existing items here and here.

Good news: from now until the 31st March, you will also be able to choose from the catalogue items below (you must use the special code as detailed as opposed to the usual item code to get one of these items free with a £45 spend):

 

To make things easier for you, I've created a table linking each of the products directly to the promotional item in my online store - just click on the links below:

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

If you have your eye on any of the other Sale-A-Bration items, do bear in mind that they will only be available whilst stocks last - the glimmer paper is already sold out, so don't leave it to late to place your order. 

I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Boy and Girl Moon Baby Cards

by Joanne James19. March 2017 09:00

   

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host again this week and I have a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

 

I've had the need for a few baby cards recently - all girls, funnily enough, whereas the last time I had a run on baby cards it was all boys, funny how that happens! So I decided that this week's challenge would be a great opportunity to replenish my stock, especially as we have some great new Stampin' Up! baby sets in the Spring-Summer Catalogue. I decided to create two cards today, identical in design but one each in a boy and girl colour scheme, using this week's sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches - I'm also linking up with the team over at TGIF Challenges where their challenge this week is also all things baby:

   #tgifc99 Baby! Oh, Baby!

I couldn't wait to ink up my 'Moon Baby' stamp set again for my cards today - take a look, here's the baby boy card:

 

And here is the baby girl card:

 

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

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - I stamped the moon baby onto Shimmery White cardstock and watercoloured them using my inks and aquapainters. I used my Stitched Shape Framelits to cut out my circle and added a layer of Clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle to my moon. I also added a gold metallic shape star to each of my cards for a fun detail.

Tone on Tone - To add interest to my background, I stamped the trio of stars randomly in the same colour ink as my cardstock base. This is a great way to add extra detail and interest whilst still keep your card clean and simple.

Blue For A Boy, Pink For A Girl - I used a duo of light and dark colours for each of my cards, with the darker colour for my card base and the lighter colour picked up in the banner. Here is my colour combination if you would like to save it:

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. 

I just love the images in the 'Moon Baby' stamp set - it makes for such cute baby cards! I can't decide which of these colour combinations I like the most - if you have a preference, why not let me know in the comments below - I love to hear your thoughts!

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

 

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend - the James household is busy today with one of the James Juniors playing in a hockey tournament, whilst the other is attending a skills day in connection with school which will see him learning shooting and fencing (I think I'll be taking cover!!)

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.

High Tide By The Shore

by Joanne James18. March 2017 21:00

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that also fits the current code word over at Addicted to CAS:

I decided to create a little scene for that central panel using the High Tide stamp set - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

High Tide - High Tide is one of those sets that has oodles of possibilities: great for masculine cards and beach scenes, with some great sentiments too. The lighthouse is a two-step stamp, but because it is photopolymer this makes the stamps really easy to align the images. 

By The Shore - The colours for my card today were inspired by that wonderful striped panel from the By The Shore Designer Paper. It actually reminds me of old fashioned deckchairs on the beach, so reminiscent of my childhood when I spent many hours happily whiling away my summer days at the beach. 

The Obvious Mistake - Did you spot the obvious mistake on my card today? I didn't until I glued my card together; the funny thing is, I then stamped an alternative panel without the mistake and it wasn't as well balanced - so I went with my original design! If you've spotted it then do leave me a comment below and let me know if you think I should have changed it; if you're reading this and wondering what I'm talking about, then I guess it's not as obvious as one might think - and you should continue, none the wiser!

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'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for the new challenge over at The Paper Players where I am the hostess this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

So Detailed Thinlit Die Mother's Day Card

by Joanne James17. March 2017 17:00

Now I know since it's St Patrick's Day I should probably be sharing something green, however my plans today took a different turn so instead with Mother's Day only just over a week away here in the UK I'm sharing a Mother's Day card with you instead - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

So In Love - The inspiration for my card today came from the patterned paper that forms the base of my card. A busy, detailed outline pattern that features the same floral that can be found in the 'So In Love' stamp set (featured behind my sentiment) and the largest image in the So Detailed Thinlits Dies. I used this die to create a feature detail on the left of my card, backing it with vellum so that the detail continues to stand out from the paper behind it. My card measures a slightly larger than usual 6" x 6".

Love At First Sight - The sentiment that I featured on my card is from the 'First Sight' stamp set in the annual catalogue; beautiful words that seem so appropriate to show appreciation on Mothering Sunday. It's easy to overlook the annual catalogue when we have a seasonal with so many new and exciting sets, yet it contains many hidden gems, including ones that work for seasonal occasions such as Mother's Day so don't forget to take a look when your deciding on products for your projects.

A Little Flower - I added some vanilla ribbon and one of those gorgeous vanilla Falling in Love floral embellishments to finish off my card today. I kept to neutral colours to avoid any clash with the other more detailed elements of my design.

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 is the card that I've made for my Mum for Mother's Day (I'm safe to post it early as she doesn't read my blog) and I've already made another identical one for a friend's Mum too. 

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.
 

Party Animal Surprise Birthday Card

by Joanne James16. March 2017 06:00

I had a busy day yesterday, part of which was spent kicking off a new project that I will be sharing with you soon, but alas no time to blog. I'm back nice and early today though to share a card inspired by the sketch over at TGIF Challenges:

 #tgifc98 Card Sketch Challenge

 The moment I saw the sketch I saw a present! Can you see it too? I rotated the sketch anti-clockwise and this is what I came up with:

 

Fun, right? This is a card with a surprise though - read on to find out more!

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

Be A Party Animal - My card today was inspired by the bright colours and patterns of the Party Animal Suite of products - bright and fun, just perfect for a birthday celebration.

A Hidden Message - I added an 'open me already!' tag to my parcel as there is more to my gift than meets the eye: I used the tag topper pieces of the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits Dies to create a parcel-shaped tag that fits inside a gift sleeve and reveals a hidden birthday greeting - take a look:

 

Here's my greeting tag, stamped with a sentiment from the 'Big On Birthdays' stamp set, completely removed:

Adventures On The Inside - I also added a little birthday fun to the inside of my card too:

I love this kind of card - a truly universal birthday greeting that can't fail to raise a smile!

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.
 
 

Falling For You Anniversary Card

by Joanne James14. March 2017 07:00

Today I'm here nice and early sharing a card for the current sketch challenge over at Fab Friday:

This team have such great sketch designs and I've been playing with this one a lot of the weekend. I instinctively wanted to avoid using a doily for that bottom semi-circle, but I had a card design in mind that wouldn't go away and suited a doily perfectly so I went with it - take a look:

 

It's all about the pretty today! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Falling For You - Do you ever buy a stamp set because it contains one sentiment that resonates with you and you just have to have, regardless of whatever else the set has to offer? I do - and this is one of those sets! 'Falling For You' contains some lovely sentiments in a fabulous swirly, romantic font that work for weddings and anniversaries, but this one for me sells it - who wouldn't want to receive a card that says 'Every heart needs one special person to love - you're my person'? Maybe I'm an old romantic at heart, but it's fair to say I definitely fell for this stamp set hook, line and sinker!

Falling In Love Too - I used a piece if the Falling In Love designer series paper for my background and embellished with some of the other products in the Falling In Love Suite - including that doily! I'm not overly partial to a doily, but I do like these ones - the sharp laser-cut design and the versatility of them being white on one side and vanilla means they don't look as out of place with my clean and layered style. 

A Romantic Colour Combo - I took today's colour combination straight from the Falling In Love papers too - perfect for softer cards that evoke that marriage of romance and shabby chic. Feel free to save it if you would like to try it out too:

I just love the soft colours, falling hearts pattern and romantic feel of this card - all I need now is to find someone to send it to me!!!

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 - perhaps an alternative take on the same sketch! Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Sunshine Sayings Meets Thankful Life

by Joanne James13. March 2017 10:55

Good morning and welcome to another week! Mine is going to be a busy one so without further ado I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

These ladies have some great sketches and this one from Jen M is no exception - I love the layering of the panels. I went bright today - take a look:

 

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

Get A Vase of Flowers For Hosting A Stampin' Up! Party - Yes, that's right - today's card features the vase of flowers from the hostess set in the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue, 'Thankful Life', a set available to purchase exclusively to customers who host a Stampin' Up! party or place a single order of £150 or more. Extra Stampin' Rewards during Sale-A-Bration make this an excellent time to host, although stamp sets like this one make it worth hosting a party all year round. The stamps are photopolymer and so easy to line up to create a vase of colourful blooms that will last so much longer than fresh ones! This set will be available to hostesses until the Spring-Summer catalogue ends on 31st May, so if it's a set you would like to own, do get in touch with me to arrange a night for your crafty night in with friends. 

You Brighten My Day - The 'Thankful Life' hostess set does come with two sentiments of its own, however both were too too big for the embellishment 'button' that I wanted to create. I opted instead for this one from 'Sunshine Sayings' that seemed particularly appropriate given my colour choices for today's card.  

A Fiesta Of Colour - I took the inspiration for my colour combination straight from the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper that I used for my background panel - as a brights girl these colours really appeal to me and I just love the mix of patterns they contain: 

Here is the colour combination if you would like to save it to use on your projects too:

 

What a great combination of bold and bright colours - guaranteed to cheer!

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.

Thankful Thoughts Meets Succulent Garden

by Joanne James12. March 2017 09:00

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Jaydee to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for us to work with:

 

I love green, especially bright greens - Cucumber Crush is one of my all time favourites! - but for today's challenge I decided to go with an altogether more subtle green in Mint Macaron - take a look:

 

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

Succulent Garden - I chose to use a 'tricky' piece of designer series paper on my card today from the Succulent Garden pack. I have been at a loss as to how I should use some of the papers and patterns in this pack and I felt that this sheet in particular lent itself to a monochromatic card in green and white, so used is to cover my entire card front.

A Bold Sentiment - With such a busy paper pattern, I needed a simple, bold sentiment so I chose this bold thank you from the 'Thankful Thoughts' stamp set. I stamped in Mint Macaron onto Whisper White and I used my Stitched Shape Framelits to add a little interest to my otherwise plain circle. With the exception of my row of stamped cacti inside my card and on the front of my co-ordinating envelope, this is all the stamping to feature on my card.

Triple Banners That Sparkle - I added a trio of banners to anchor my sentiment circle, one each in green and white and the third in Mint Macaron glimmer paper, the latest in the Sale-A-Bration free product offering. The sparkle and texture of the glimmer paper introduces another element yet is still in keeping with the overall monochromatic feel of 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So a super simple card today, but one with a very calming colour scheme that I hope Jaydee will appreciate.

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 four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN! 

 

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; 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.