Peaceful Place Evergreen Winter Wonderland PP570

by Joanne James5. December 2021 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 Jaydee to host this week and she has a festive theme challenge for us to work with:

    

We've had snow twice this week in my part of the world and the current freezing temperatures are definitely showing early signs of a winter wonderland! I decided to make another card using the current colours over at The Color Throwdown and decided to get creative with my Peaceful Place designer series papers and create my own idyllic winter wonderland - take a look:

 

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

Peaceful Place - I decided to fussy cut one of the log cabins from the Peaceful Place designer paper, across the upper horizon including some trees, and added this to a precut white circle, that I had added Polished Pink ink to with a blending brush and stamped on some snowflakes in Encore silver. I allowed the trees to overhang the circle border and liberally brushed the snowy areas of the scene with clear Wink of Stella. It's difficult to see on the photos, but this card is so sparkly in real life!

Evergreen Forest - I used another sheet of Peaceful Place designer series paper for my background, this time the sparkly silver snowflakes on a mottled grey background. I ran this panel through the Evergreen Forest Embossing folder to add a row of embossed fir trees to the background for added interest. Again, it's easier to see in real life - the texture adds subtle additional detail. I used the pink for my sentiment banner and borders for a pop of colour against the silver and grey:

 

Don't Forget The Inside - I carried the winter wonderland theme over to the inside of my card, adding a strip of the sparkly snowflake paper along with a couple of fussy-cut trees and a sentiment from the 'Snowflake Wishes' stamp set:

 

Doesn't that cosy log cabin look inviting? I could totally hole myself up there with my craft supplies and a roaring log fire for a week or two! 

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!

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; 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.

 

Peaceful Place Well Defined Winter

by Joanne James4. December 2021 20:00

Today I have a card that was inspired by this week's Color Throwdown colours that finally gave me the opportunity to get out on paper an idea that's been floating around in my head for a while:

 

The Peaceful Place designer series papers have some great designs that are perfect for adding colour to or creating scenes and the grey and silver were perfect with the addition of some Polished Pink to create a scenic Winter Wonderland - take a look:

 

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

Peaceful Place - One of the designs in the Peaceful Place pack comprises 4 6"x6" designs of a landscape of snowy trees. I cut the sheet into 4 then cut the bottom off each square and using a blending brush, I added some Polished Pink ink to the outer edges of the panel. I also added some stamped pink snowflakes, before flicking the paper with water then Frosted shimmer paint for splatter detail. I added another contrasting piece of paper for a border along the bottom of my card, along with a double ribbon bow.

 

Well Defined - I split the 'winter' sentiment in the 'Well Defined' stamp set and added the first part to a label on the front of my card, with the remainder on the inside to complete my sentiment:

 

I carried the winter wonderland theme over to the inside of my card, adding a strip of the sparkly snowflake paper along with a couple of fussy-cut trees and a sentiment from the 'Snowflake Wishes' stamp set.

I liked this card so much I made a second one at the same time - here's a shot of them both together:

 

I made two of these in the same colours to save time, but I think it would look great in other colours too. I think I'm going to cut up more of my paper and make some with Balmy Blue ink next.  

I'm also linking today's card up for a second entry into the current Christmas challenge over at SUO Challenges.

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. 

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow with another project using these papers, this time for our new 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.

Snowflake Wishes Wintry 3D Embossed Thank You TTT142

by Joanne James1. December 2021 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: 

       

Betty made a fabulous board this week and I really was spoiled for choice! Having finally taken receipt of my Wintry 3D embossing folder this week after a very protracted wait, I knew I would have to use it on today's card. I went down the middle column of the grid with snowflakes/free/winter and used both the sketch layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday and the sparkly snowflake in this week's Inspired By photo for a wintry card that is choc full of snowflakes and sparkle in equal measure - take a look:

 

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

A Wintry Ombre - I embossed two panels of basic white cardstock and another of ombre glimmer paper with the snowflake Wintry 3D embossing folder for some textured panels - I love how the snowflakes appear to swirl with the design. On the ombre glimmer paper, which is in hues of Night of Navy, I lightly sanded the embossed areas to highlight the texture and detail - you can see it more closely on the photo below:

The ombre glimmer paper is gorgeous and embosses beautifully - I just love the effect!

Tag-tastic - I used one of my Tailored Tag Dies to cut my tag as per the sketch, and stamped it with snowflakes and swirls, adding a sentiment heat-embossed onto a stitched label. I added an over-the-top bow using some sparkly ribbons and accented my tag with some glimmer paper snowflakes in white and navy. I cut these with my Stitched Snowflakes Dies; if you've had your eye on these and not yet ordered, I'm afraid you will be disappointed as they were one of the first things to fly off yesterday's 'Last Chance Products' retiring items list. If you missed that post, check it out here.

Merry Snowflakes Inside - I used the 'Snowflake Wishes' stamp for the details and sentiment on the front of my card, but added decoration and a further sentiment from the 'Merry Snowflakes' set to decorate the inside:

I know I made today's card as a seasonal thank you, but I think it's still ok to have a Christmassy sentiment on the inside too, don't you think? 

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 hopefully be back tomorrow with another project, but no promises - the Christmas rush is getting the better of me! Until next time, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Giving Gifts Santa Tag Christmas Cards CCS 448 Double

by Joanne James30. November 2021 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am your host for the month of November and as we near the end of the month this will be my last challenge as hostess. There are 5 Tuesdays in November so we are ending the month with the double: one of our previous sketches and a retired colour combination. For my final challenge I chose the following:  

  

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch. 

For my card today I did turn the sketch through 180 degrees and used one of the Giving Gifts Dies featuring Santa and his reindeer as my focal point along with the Tailor Made Tags Dies to create a tag for my card - take a look:

 

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

I found some starry retired designer series paper in Delightful Dijon to use for my panel and it seemed more appropriate to have this running across the top rather than the bottom. I then cut my layered tag out of the remaining colours. I added a tiny diecut bow and rhinestone, along with a small sentiment from the retired ‘Itty Bitty Christmas’ stamp set stamped in Midnight Muse to complete my card:

 

I chose these colours because I thought they could be used for festive or non-festive cards and could also be substituted with similar current colours if you didn't have them.  To that end, and since I love these tag dies, I  decided to create a slight stepped up version of the same card that uses similar colours and current product. This time I also followed my sketch to the letter! I used a Very Vanilla base and added a panel of Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series Paper, then added a ribbon bow using gold-trimmed Cherry Cobbler ribbon, along with my layered tag, along with a gold foil moon and stars and allowing more depth to the tag itself. 

 

You can see the layering of the tag more clearly in the picture 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. 

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.

Sweets And Treats Christmas Pudding Card

by Joanne James29. November 2021 07:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card using Jen B's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was also inspired by the colours of the festive photo over at Inspired By:

   

I loved Jen's sketch and combined with the red, green and brown of the Inspired By photo it was perfect for me to use two things in my crafting stash from the current mini catalogue that have yet to see ink - take a look:

 

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Sweets & Treats - The minute I saw Jen's sketch I knew that it would be a great opportunity for me to ink up the Christmas pudding in the 'Sweets & Treats' stamp set. I bought this set for this very stamp! A Christmas or 'plum' pudding is a quintessentially British festive tradition dating back to medieval times; I coloured mine with my Stampin' Blends and fussy cut it and positioned it over a strip of Heartwarming Hugs DSP with a stitched scalloped edge. I used the same stamp set to add a festive cupcake to the inside of my card too:

 

A Merry Melody - The Merry Melody Embossing Folder was another of those items that made it into my pre-order basket but I have yet to use. I thought it would make a fun background for my Christmas pudding (I am hearing a chorus of 'So bring us some figgy pudding...' as I type!) - you can see the texture in more detail below - I blended some ink around the edges with a blender brush to accentuate the detail:

 

A fussy cut heat-embossed sentiment completes my card.

The Pudding Club - I decided I liked this card so much, I'd make another one in the same style but using Cinnamon Cider instead of Soft Suede for my background:

 

What do you think? Which card do you prefer? I think on balance I prefer my original version; do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts! You can see them next to each other further down this post for comparison. 

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.
 
Edit: My card was chosen by Linda as a Princess of Clean for FMS513 - yay!
See the source image

Painted Christmas PP569

by Joanne James28. November 2021 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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

 

I struggled a little to decide what to do about the split background layer on today's card; I eventually decided to use a single, bright patterned paper from the Painted Christmas pack - take a look:

 

There are some gorgeous patterns in the Painted Christmas pack, all with a loose watercoloured feel. I love this red and white pattern but it needed an otherwise uncluttered card to show it off to best advantage. So I split the panel into three as per the sketch, then added a red label with a white heat-embossed sentiment, accented with some holly and foliage stamped with the Christmas Season stamp set, some loops of sheer red ribbon and some red sparkly gems to finish:

This card was actually quite straightforward to put together, but I spent ages procrastinating about which paper or papers to feature so seemed to take forever to design!! I really like the pop of red against the white though, with just a little green foliage too. I used one of the sentiments from 'Merriest Moments' - this is most certainly my favourite sentiment set in the current catalogue.

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'm also linking today's card up over at Global Design Project #GDP319 where the theme is 'Christmas'.

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!

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 have had a freezing few days here in the UK so today I will most definitely be staying indoors, keeping warm and might even indulge in a spot of festive baking! 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.

Playful Pets Peek A Boo Birthday Card AYSI264

by Joanne James26. November 2021 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 a theme challenge:

    

I decided to use the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday for my layout, grabbed my retired Playful Pets Designer Series Paper and embraced TSOT'S optional theme of 'peek a boo' with today's birthday card. This is what my card looks like when closed:

 

I used a simple birthday greeting from the 'Peaceful Moments' set inside my circle, adding a cat fussy cut from the DSP that fitted the shape perfectly. When you open the card, the magic slider causes a second sentiment to be revealed:

 

This sentiment is from the 'Pampered Pets' set, which I masked and stamped in sections in order that it would fit in my circle. I also added another cat - this one looks more than a little scared of the mouse though! Here's a close up:

 

Here's a little video I made to show the peek-a-boo in action:

As fun folds go, these cards are so easy to make - what fun!

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 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.

Delivering Cheer in Christmas Plaid FF00098

by Joanne James26. November 2021 09:00

This is my first post of a two-post Friday and I'm here with my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Christmas Jumper Day' which is on 10th December this year. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. No jumpers for me this week; instead I used red, green, gold, plaid and glitter as my starting point and this is what I came up with:

 

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

Wrapped In Plaid - First up - I based my card today around a scrap of retired Wrapped in Plaid designer series paper that I found in my scraps box. I just loved the mix of colours and not only did it feature gold, red and green so use three items on the inspiration list straight off the bat, it is perfectly festive to ... 

Delivering Cheer - ... paper-piece onto the skirt of my 'Delivering Cheer' party girl. For the top half I used the armful of gifts, all coloured with my Stampin' Blends to coordinate with her skirt. This is such a fun stamp set with so many mix and match options. It reminds me of the paper dressing up dolls I had as a child! I added another scrap of plaid along with a sentiment from the same set to the inside of my card:

 

All That Glitters - I heat embossed my cover sentiment in gold, added a gold Wink of Stella bow to my parcel pile and added a trio of gold gilded gems, but the real glitter comes from the retired Be Dazzling paper that I used for my mat layer - I can't tell you what a fabulous sparkle this adds in real life:

I love the finished look of this card; this is how I imagine I look on Christmas Day, although I'm sure my family would disagree!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Challenge Design team.

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans

Joanne James

 

Enjoy your morning and I'll be back later with my project for the new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

The Newborn King At Christmas

by Joanne James25. November 2021 08:00

Today I have a quick card for that resulted from a combination of me seeing the current Inkspirational inspiration photo and my recent rummage through the retired Christmas stamp set pile:

I love the effect of that gold-on-black chair in the inspiration photo and thought it would be perfect for a card using the retired stamp 'The Newborn King' - take a look:

 

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

The main scene in this stamp is so effective when stamped in Versamark and heat membossed in metallic gold onto Basic Black cardstock. I stamped the main image, then added the star above the stable and mounted my stamped panel onto gold foil and a Basic Black cardbase. 

 

I added a combination of sentiments from the same stamp set to the inside of my card, along with a star stamped in encore metallic gold ink:

 

All done! I like to have a number of religious Christmas cards to send out and I definitely have my favourites in my retired stamp set stash to make them with - they set I used today (and the one I used on yesterday's card) are two of my favourites.

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've added a link to the basic supplies below, but obviously this doesn't include the stamp set as this is retired. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at SUO Challenges where they are all about Christmas for their next 3 challenges, so you should definitely check them out for some festive inspiration.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another two projects as it's time for Two-Post Friday. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Joyful Nativity Silhouette Christmas Card

by Joanne James24. November 2021 11:29

Today I'm sharing another card for the current challenges over at Less Is More and Time Out:

   

I still had my retired 'Joyful Nativity' stamp set out on my desk from having made my previous entry for these challenges (if you missed it, you can see that card here); I love the silhouette images in this set and couldn't resist making another card with it - take a look:

 

So this one has a little more detail on it: I used the same colour scheme of Night of Navy, gold and white, this time stamping the word 'JOY' in navy and stamping the silhouette of the holy family inside the 'O'. I used my Stamparatus to get the images lined up and to be able to reink several times to ensure full coverage as I didn't want a patchy silhouette to ruin the effect - the Stamparatus is invaluable for this! I then stamped a star in Versamark and heat embossed it in gold just inside the circle to complete my scene:

 

I originally made this as a one layer card, but decided to cut it down and add to a white base to allow a subtle white-on-white border for my central image. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set to the inside of my card and that was it - done! A little more technique involved than my last card, but still beautiful in its simplicity (even if I say so myself!)

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've added a link to the basic supplies below, but obviously this doesn't include the stamp set as this is retired. I have included the link to the Stamparatus too - if you don't own a stamping platform, the Stamparatus is in my view the best of its kind and definitely worth a look - it would make the ideal Christmas gift for a crafter at any level or experience. I hope today's card inspires you to create something, festive or otherwise, with a silhouette. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

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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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