Designer Tee When In Doubt STAMP Card

by Joanne James8. March 2017 21:48

I've had a busy week so far but it's about time I squeezed in a quick blog post! I realise I haven't shared the card that I sent out to my lovely customers with my Spring-Summer catalogues and Sale-A-Bration catalogues at the beginning of January and since it's super clean and simple (well, I had a lot of them to make!) this is a great time to share it - take a look:

 

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

Design Your Tee FOR FREE - Each of my cards features a cute t-shirt featuring one of the stamps from the Sale-A-Bration Designer Tee set, stamped onto Whisper White cardstock and cut out using one of the T-Shirt Builder Framelit Dies in the Spring-Summer catalogue. A number of this year's SAB products co-ordinate with bundles in the Spring-Summer catalogue, which is such a plus; this Designer Tee stamp set extends the creative possibilities of the Customer Tee Bundle even further and I thought the stamp on my t-shirt was just perfect to send to a bunch of people who share my love of all things Stampin' Up! Better still, if you buy the Custom Tee bundle you are well on your way to receiving the Designer Tee stamp set - or any other SAB promotional item - for FREE! We are in the third and final month of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion - if you haven't yet reaped the benefits, there's still time!

Itty Bitty Flower - I added a punched flower to my t-shirts, finished with a rhinestone for a little girly bling. So many of you lament the retiring of the Itty Bitty Punch Pack, but did you know that the Tree Builder Punch has this tiny flower that is very similar and just as useful? What's more it's a current product and is still available to purchase.

Perpetual Birthday Flowers - I wanted to add a little background to my cards, so I went to one of my 'go to' stamp sets for a little background pattern - Perpetual Birthday. I love the little motifs in this set, so useful for backgrounds, creating your own designer paper and seasonal projects. I guess you could say this set is my personal 'Gorgeous Grunge', a set that I know is a stamp room staple for many of my customers - a little more gorgeous and a little less grunge!

When I'm mass-producing cards in this volume, I also like to make the same card in a rainbow of colours (it stops me from getting bored!) and I often reach for my favourite brights - here's a little shot showing the colours I used:

 

If you received one of these, which colour did you get? Feel free to leave a comment below or better still upload a picture of you and your card on my Facebook page - I would love to see! If you didn't receive one, it will be because you're not on my customer list; if you don't already have a demonstrator and would like to receive a catalogue, just get in touch and I can pop one in the post to you.

Lastly, check out this video from the Stampin' Up! Home Office Team that shows you lots of other cool things you can do with this stamp set:

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.

Birthday Blast Diecut Pop Up Card

by Joanne James5. 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 fantastic Sandy to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

 

Now I know from the outside of my card you could be forgiven for thinking that I was working to the wrong theme this week; with the exception of a punched circle and a snipped banner, there isn't any evidence of punching, cutting or snipping: 

 

A fun and colourful front featuring the 'Birthday Blast' stamp set - but look what I did with the inside of my card: 

 

I created a bright pop-up using the largest piece in the Star Blast Edgelits die set! How cool is that?!

Here's a close-up of the pop-up:

 

I lined my card with Daffodil Delight and attached my Real Red diecut to my simple pop-up fold so that as the card is opened, it looks just like a starburst. I added a few extra stars that were the waste from the same piece cut in each of the other feature colours and some gold metallic enamel stars for extra sparkle. 

This card was so easy to make and such a fun way to showcase this edgelit die; if you would like to see more detail on how I made it including measurements, pop back later this week and I will have a short video tutorial for you that explains all.

To complete my project, I also decorated up one of the white gift boxes with another starburst, some leftover stars and some extra thick Bermuda Bay baker's twine to create a little co-ordinated packaging for an accompanying birthday treat:

 

Lastly, here's my card and box together:

 

This set would work in lots of different colourways and is great for young and old - I think I'm going to have to make a few more of them to have on hand! Thank you Sandy for such a great challenge this week.

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 fun theme this week. 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.

Carousel Circle Trio Birthday Card

by Joanne James1. March 2017 12:00

I've had a busy couple of days making costumes for World Book Day which is today and helping with some fundraising project that Rebecca is involved with so no time to blog. Good news is though I'm back today and I'm sharing a card using items from the Cupcakes and Carousels Suite - take a look:

 

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

All The Fun Of The Fair - Cupcakes and Carousels Suite is described in the Stampin' Up! literature as 'funfair imagery with vintage flair'. This is one of those sets that didn't overly appeal to me at first glance, but having seen so many lovely things made with it by fellow demonstrators my mind was changed. The carousel horse is a definite favourite and I love how the images work together with the unusual retro styling of the fonts.  

An alternative Approach to Layers - Today's card is based on this week's Paper Players sketch. You can see my Design Team card here in Sunday's post; I also created this one still with three images, but as the images were larger I decided to stamp the ferris wheel directly onto the background paper, then added a vanilla doily behind the carousel horse image on the medium sized circle before finishing with the smallest one up front.

A Colourful Combo - The colour scheme for my card was inspired by the starburst-style sheet of designer series paper I chose from the Cupcakes and Carousels Paper Stack. Rich tones of Early Espresso, with the bright red and orange along with a hint of vanilla - feel free to save this combination if it's one that appeals to you:

 

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. 

In addition there is still time to play along with our challenge over at The Paper Players - you can get the full details here.

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.

Baking Makes Life Sweeter - Perfect Mix Card

by Joanne James26. February 2017 09:00

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! My good friend LeAnne is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

 

Now you know me - I love a good sketch and this one is a keeper! I had a couple of ideas for this sketch and made two quite different cards. The one I'm sharing today is very much in keeping with my style (maybe that's why it won the James family vote 2 to 1 when I conducted a quick poll!) I went with my signature 'clean and layered' style and took the opportunity to make another card using my 'Perfect Mix' stamp set - take a look:

 

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

It's In The Detail - My card today is my usual clean and layered style. I toyed with adding some additional background pattern or even designer series paper, however the size of my circle elements would have made this too busy. Instead I opted to create detail in other ways: I used my circle Stitched Shape Framelits to cut out my stamped images and layered these onto some punched circles to add a thin border of colour. I also used the partial die cutting technique to add interest by allowing part of the image to overhang the circle. The mixer I inked using my Stampin' Write marker so that I could omit the sentiment that goes with it. I also stamped my oven glove onto coloured cardstock and fussy cut it before popping up on a dimensional for added colour and impact.

Rule of Threes - It is a known principle that things that come in threes are somehow more satisfying or more effective than other numbers. LeAnne's sketch uses three circular elements; I also added a trio of enamel shapes to echo my layered circles and continue the harmony of my card.

A Perfectly Purple Colour Combination - I love purple but it's not a colour I use often on a card, so I chose to use a combination of purples and neutrals today for a change - here it is if you'd like to try it too:

 

This is such a great stamp set! I love the punny sentiments but if you, like me, are a baker then you will find so many uses for these images.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 **To be updated - Stampin' Up! Website currently unavailable due to overrunning maintenance work. Online ordering currently offline.**

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 off to spend the day at the swimming pool as Rebecca is racing in her rescheduled Counties Competition. I don't know which I'd rather - the gale-force icy winds I experienced as I stood outside watching her play in her netball match yesterday morning or the sauna-like temperatures of the swimming pool today! The things us mothers do for love!. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

To be updated - Stampin' Up! Website currently unavailable due to overrunning maintenance work.

SING Movie-Inspired Faux Illuminated Card Using Large Letters Framelits

by Joanne James24. February 2017 20:29

Yay it's Friday! Today I'm sharing a card that I made last week following my half-term visit to the movies with the James Juniors - take a look:

 

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

Movie Inspiration - We had been to the movies to see the fun computer-animated comedy movie 'Sing' (you can read all about that here if you're interested) and with this week's Paper Players challenge in mind (use a sentiment as the focal point on your card) I decided to create something using the movie title image as my inspiration:

Image result

With a daughter who sings and often participates in public performances and examinations, I knew that this would make a great encouragement card for her - I'm sure you can see the similarities.

Love Those Letters - I know I say it every time I use them, but the Large Letters Framelits are so worth the investment - I love them! Buying them during Sale-A-Bration leaves you only £1 away from two free gifts too, what a great time to invest! Here I layered them, cutting one set in red and then tracing the inner line of the framelit with a pencil and fussy-cutting them by hand in order to leave a thin border visible. I also used my Labeler Alphabet for the 'loud' part of my sentiment - a great 'mix and match'. 

Fake Illumination - I used a liberal dose of gold metallic enamel shapes  to create my illuminated letters and heat embossed the starburst from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set to give the illusion of bright lights shining in the background along with a strip of gold glimmer for extra sparkle. The layering and lettering detail made this card less than 'clean and simple', hence the reason why I decided not to use it as my Paper Players card.

I love this card though - just shows that sometimes inspiration can strike in the strangest places. What things inspire you? 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. 

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.

Love Sparkles Congratulations Card

by Joanne James23. February 2017 07:00

Today I'm sharing a congratulations card that I made for one of the hard-working members of my team who has been achieving great things during Sale-A-Bration - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Sparkly Celebration - I took the 'Celebrate' stamp in the 'Love Sparkles' stamp set and decided to create a multi-coloured embossed background to echo the idea of sparklers and fireworks. I used a selection of (retired) coloured embossing powders - Melon Mambo,Blushing Bride and Crushed Curry - but you could equally ink your stamp with the same colour inks and a sponge dauber, then heat emboss with clear embossing powder. 

Going For Gold - I added a stacked gold glimmer 'you', diecut with my Hello You Thinlits, a couple of strips of gold glimmer top and bottom and a starburst of gold glitter stars to add to the celebratory feel.

Be A Hoot Too - My team of demonstrators, known as The Hoots, range from happy hobbyists to full-time business builders - everyone is welcome and they are all united by a love of crafting and more specifically, a love of crafting with Stampin' Up! products. If you have ever considered joining Stampin' Up!, whether to get a discount on your hobby supplies or because you want to run your own successful direct sales company (or somewhere in between), Sale-A-Bration is one of the best times of the year to do so. During Sale-A-Bration, your starter kit is extra special as not only do you get your choice of £130/175 Euros worth of product for £99/129 Euros, but you get to choose an additional 2 stamp sets FOR FREE - that could be worth as much as an extra £93/126 Euros. There are so many ways in which you can benefit from being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - please do give me a call on 07773 421446 or email me if you'd like to discuss further.

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. 

Congratulations Helen and I hope you liked your colourful card! 

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.

Irresistibly Floral Spring Thank You Card

by Joanne James22. February 2017 07:00

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I decided to break out one of my new sponge brayers and some Irresistibly Floral embossed paper for my card today - take a look:

 

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

Easy Embossing - I decided to brayer the circle shape onto a piece of Irresistibly Floral Specialty Designer Series Paper using a sponge brayer. This is the first time I've brayered with one of these and I must confess I'm rather impressed - they make it so easy to get a smooth graduated finish and are great for this kind of ink technique, really bringing out the pattern of the paper. I created a simple circle stencil using a spare piece of cardstock and my Circle Framelits and brayered from bottom left to top right of my circle as I wanted to try and emulate the less-than-perfect circle of the sketch. As for the paper - this patterned clear-embossed white paper is great for colouring and sponging - a great embossed finish without any for of Versamark or heat tool required. Cheating? No! Easy? Most definitely!!

Co-ordinating Florals - I stamped a flower from the Falling Flowers stamp set and diecut it and a couple of leaves from the co-ordinating May Flowers Framelits to ground my simple diecut sentiment (cut from the now retired Greetings Thinlits - still one of my go-to sets!) This bundle which you can see on page 127 of the annual catalogue also co-ordinates with the patterns on the Irresistibly Floral embossed paper - and makes designing easy!

Fresh Colour Combination - I chose a fresh, spring colour combination of pink and green to compliment my contrasting black and white background and sentiment today - here it is if you would like to save it for future inspiration 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.

Hot Glue Embossed Moon Watercolour

by Joanne James21. February 2017 07:00

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at As You See It -  so happy to see these fabulous ladies back up and running and thank you for choosing me for the Featured Artist spot last week with this card

My second colour challenge this week - a rare thing! I find with colours as my starting point it takes me longer to come up with an idea (so glad that AYSI is on a two week challenge schedule now, it gives my ideas time to percolate!) I had so much fun making my card for Nance's challenge over at The Paper Players a couple of weeks ago (you can see that card here) and received such a lot of interested comments about the technique that I used - hot glue embossing - I thought I would make another card using the same idea but this time inspired by the AYSI challenge photo, I created a moonscape over the water - take a look:

 

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

A Fun Technique - I used the same layout and technique as for my previous card here, but this time embossed my hot glue in silver with a moon in my pinky-purple twilight sky. I then blended the pink and purple with the Dapper Denim blue for the water and reflection below the horizon using my re-inkers and aquapainter. I added a liberal does of Clear Wink of Stella to the sea to finish - this adds a wonderful sparkle that is difficult to see in the photo, but trust me, it's there!

Love Sparkles - The colours of this card I thought lent themselves to a more romantic card, so I decided to use the sparkly 'Love' sentiment from the Love Sparkles stamp set and turn this into an anniversary card for my husband since it was our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday. I'm not sure my husband was as impressed with my handiwork, but then I think he sees so many of my cards theses days he just takes it all in his stride! 

All Heart - I added a tiny pink enamel heart shape to finish my card in keeping with my theme and also stamped the inside of the card and the envelope to co-ordinate.

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. 

So what do you think - does the card say 'romance' to you? I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts below.

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.

New 2017 Sale-A-Bration Free Products Added!

by Joanne James21. February 2017 01:00

 

I know how much you've all been enjoying the benefits of the Sale-A-Bration promotion; as if it couldn't get any better this is a quick early post today to let you know that there are some new items being added to the selection of products that can be earned free with a £45 order: there are two new stamp sets and some rather lovely glimmer paper. 

Like the other items in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue, these items will be available free with each £45 spend from now until the end of the Sale-A-Bration period, 31st March. You can see full details for each of the new product on the new Sale-A-Bration flyer here.

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

Clean And Simple Cake Crazy Birthday Card

by Joanne James19. February 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 lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

 

So I have a slight confession: if you read my blog post on Friday you may have been expecting something else today! I had a moment of inspiration for a sentiment-based card on Friday and was so pleased with myself when it was finished. All was well until I came to load it up onto the Paper Players blog and I remembered this week was 'clean and simple' week and my card definitely wasn't! So I will share that card with you another day and in the meantime I took the opportunity to make another card using one of the great sentiment-based sets in the current Spring-Summer catalogue - take a look:

 

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

Cake Crazy - The Cake Crazy stamp set is a fun cake-building stamp set with lots of words. I made my cake stack entirely out of words, coloured to co-ordinate with my side strips of designer series paper for a fun, unisex birthday card.

Party With Balloons - I used some balloon-patterned Party Animal Designer Series Paper to border the edges of my central panel and tie in with my Emerald Envy baker's twine and fun balloon embellishment. After all, what's a party without balloons?

Add A Banner - I added a little stepped banner in Pacific Point to my card to top off my cake - whilst not designed to co-ordinate, the photopolymer stamp sits perfectly into the banner shape for easy co-ordination. 

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 your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have basketball this morning (riding high on last week's regional-qualifying tournament win!) and then a social lunch with the swim squad - should be fun. 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.