He's The Man You're A Classic Masculine Card TTT166

by Joanne James16. June 2022 16:00

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

    

I went down the first column with masculine, car/truck and brown and used the current Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch layout for another Father's Day card featuring the He's The Man specialty designer series paper - take a look:

 

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

I combined a couple of different paper patterns and focused on the transport design to make my slightly larger than usual, A5 size card. The size seemed to give a better balance and allow the diecut car to take centre stage, whilst still allowing lots of the pattern to remain visible:

 

I combined it with a sentiment from the retired 'Geared Up Garage' set which seemed appropriate for the vintage automobile. A few more layers on this card compared to yesterday's, but not much more in the way of stamping - still all about the paper, He's The Man! This card is already in the post to my Dad in readiness for Father's Day this weekend - he is a classic, in more ways than one!!

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 am driving to Bath this evening for the first of a number of university open day visits with the birthday girl that we have planned over the next few weeks. We are even spending the night in university accommodation to 'try it for size' - should be fun! I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's As you See It challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Abstract Beauty Clean and Simple Hello CCS 474

by Joanne James14. June 2022 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & SketchesThis week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Samantha has asked that we frame a sentiment as the focal point and decorate with two additional elements. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

    

For my card today I also took my inspiration from the deep blue of the sofas in the Time Out inspiration photo, along with the touches of gold and collections of things in twos - take a look:

 

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

For today's card I reached for my Abstract Beauty Cards and the co-ordinating Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack - these are so great for quick cards and I knew I had everything there that I needed. My card base is pre-printed with a Night of Navy watercolour-effect background (and the envelope co-ordinates too - see the photo at the bottom of the post!) I cut a hexagon shape using my Beautiful Shapes Dies and partially inked one of the stamps in the new 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set so that I could isolate and stamp the word 'hello'. I popped this up on dimensionals, decorated with a couple of the flowers and leaves from the ephemera pack and added some (retired) gold gilded gems and Pumpkin Pie sequins from my stash to complete my card: 

 

Quick and easy! Sometimes this kind of card making feels a little like cheating, when it all comes together so smoothly - but these kinds of cards are great when you are pressed for time and still allow for creativity, so no complaints from me! The Abstract Beauty Cards and Envelopes and the Ephemera Pack are currently on sale, reduced by 50% and 30% respectively until the end of the month when they retire - double bargain! The perfect time to stock up - just click on the links at the bottom of the post to go straight to the online store.

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; mine will be a busy one, with a considerable amount of baking going on in readiness for tomorrow's birthday celebrations - we are treating the whole of Sixth Form at school! 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.

Sending Smiles Clean And Simple CCS473

by Joanne James7. June 2022 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. We are into June so it's all change! Samantha is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

  

This trio of colours are perfect for florals so for my card today I pulled out one of my new favourites, the 'Sending Smiles' bundle, for a clean and simple card - take a look:

 

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

I stamped my stems and leaves directly onto my card base, and blended some additional Pear Pizzazz ink along the bottom edge of my card base, then stamped my flower heads and sentiments onto a separate piece of white cardstock and diecut them with the Sending Dies in order that they would stand out from the background. A trio of brass butterflies complete the front of my card:

I also added a little extra stamping to the inside of my card - no naked insides here: 

The 'Sending Smiles' stamp set is great for clean and simple cards and has a great variety of sentiment combinations too. Combined with this colour combination, this purple-lover couldn't be happier! 

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.

Nothing's Better Than Coffee And Cocktails AYSI276

by Joanne James3. June 2022 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a theme challenge:

 

I was tempted to do something with lemons, as I love the bright yellow of the lemons against the blue in our inspiration photo today, however I have had a rainbow-themed idea percolating in my head for a little while so decided to try that out instead. As a result, I ended up wtih not one but two cards for you today - take a look:

 

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

Rainbow Pastels Coffee - I started off with this card that was inspired by the pastel rainbow colours over at Fusion (you can see them on the badge at the bottom of this post). I stamped and diecut a collection of coffee cups using the Nothing's Better Than stamp set and Love You More Than co-ordinating dies, and adhered them across the centre of my slimline card. I added a simple stamped sentiment either side, with the diecut 'coffee' added on top using adhesive foam sheet:

 

 I carried the sentiment and coffee cup theme through to the inside (and did the same with my second card too):

 

 I was going for a clean and simple card with lots of white space and could have stopped there, but decided that it would be fun to add a selection of sequins from my stash that co-ordinated with my rainbow colours around the cups for a little extra sparkly detail - it's also a nod to the round plates in the Fusion photo. Check out how pretty they shine:

 

Rainbow Brights Cocktails - Having completed this card, I thought it would be fun to make another card with the same idea, this time using the cocktail glass in the Nothing's More Than set. I changed up my rainbow of colours from pastels to brights (I was thinking more of a day to night vibe!) for my second card:

 

The cocktail glasses are larger than the coffee cups, so I went for a more uniform positioning across the centre of the card and placed my stamped sentiments to either side for better balance. I wanted to preserve my white space so didn't add as many sparkles this time; I still couldn't resist a few iridescent rhinestones to add to my cocktail party feel though!

 

So which are you - Team Coffee of Team Cocktails? Today it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee - 70 years on the throne, wow! I think this means I'll be doing both as the day progresses; any excuse to raise a glass, ma'am!

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.

   

2022-23 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue Paper Shares Are Here

by Joanne James3. June 2022 09:00

By popular request, I have decided to run a paper share from the new 2022 Annual Catalogue this month!

You know that feeling - you want it all, but your budget just doesn't stretch that far? Well shares are the perfect answer! You get a little bit of everything, without having to purchase a full pack. A share can also act as a 'try before you buy' - you get to see papers, ribbons, buttons and accessories 'up close and personal' before deciding which ones you like the most and would like to purchase as a full pack.

Shares work really easily: you decide which shares and how many you would like to take part in. You place your order by emailing me at [email protected] and I will invoice you and arrange payment. Once the closing date for the first round of shares is reached, I collate the orders, place an order with Stampin' Up! for the product, then once I receive it, I package the papers and send them out to you. Simple!

Details of the paper share are as follows:

 

New Annual Catalogue Designer Series Paper Share - all sheets measure 6" x 6" - £35 plus £3.50 P&P

  • Abigail Rose – 12
  • Awash in Beauty – 12
  • *Butterfly Kisses – 12
  • Happy Forest Friends - 12
  • **He's The Man – 12
  • Hues of Happiness – 12
  • Lovely In Linen – 12
  • Perfectly Pencilled – 12
  • Pretty Prints – 12
  • Sun Prints – 12
  • *Tea Boutique - 12
  • Texture Chic - 12

* The original size of these papers is 6"x6"

** Includes diecut sheets

In all you'll receive 144  6"x 6" sheets of Designer Series Paper! You can check out the details of the papers in the online catalogue here or on this great walkthrough video that Stampin' up! CEO Sara Douglas did recently below:

For everyone that participates in this paper share, I will also include a sample of the new Design A Daydream host reward papers for FREE!

All postage & packaging quoted is for UK only - if you would like a cost for shipping to Europe, then please email me for a separate quotation.

If you live local to me and would like to save on postage and packaging costs, please email me with your requirements and I will happily place your order, to be ready for doorstep collection on delivery. If you have any questions, just email me at [email protected] or give me a call!

Design A Daydream Bicycles TTT164

by Joanne James2. June 2022 16:00

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's my turn to host this week and this is the fun board that Team X and I are playing along with: 

          

I went on the diagonal from top left down with Spots or Stripes (I chose stripes), Circle and Free and decided to take Carol's fun inspo photo over at Just Us Girls along with the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday to showcase more fabulous new designer series paper - take a look:

 

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

I took my inspiration from the pastel bicycles in the JUGS inspo photo and chose two contrasting patterns of paper from the 'Design A Daydream' designer series paper pack, one featuring bold stripes and the other featuring pastel-coloured bicycles to feature on my card today. Design A Daydream is an exclusive 48-sheet pack of designer series paper that can be yours when you earn hostess rewards as a result of either hosting a party or placing a qualifying order and has lots of other great patterns too. I added a simple hello sentiment from the 'Sentimental Swirls' stamp set to the top banner and finished with a focal point of a Petal Pink single diecut bicycle from the Windmill Field Dies with a (retired) flower embellishment to decorate its basket:

 

What do you think? If you are dreaming of bicycles too and would like to get your hands on some of this paper, give me a call to chat about arranging a party - I would love to hear from you and book something in the diary.

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 evening; I'll be back tomorrow for the second day of our Bank Holiday Jubilee weekend here in the UK with my card for our 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.

Retro Flowers And Friendship Thank You Card For CCS 472 Double

by Joanne James31. May 2022 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. There are 5 Tuesdays in May so we are ending the month with the double: one of our previous sketches and a retired colour combination. For Shannon's final challenge as hostess she chose the following:  

    

For my card today I grabbed a punch bundle that is perfect for a quick and simple thank you card that will really make the most of these retro colours - take a look:

 

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

I used my Basic Borders Dies for a simple angled layered border with a simple dotted detail, and used my Flowers of Friendship stamp set to heat emboss a sentiment on my Island Indigo card base and stamp a trio of flowers in Island Indigo onto the other two colours and punched them out with the flowers and Leaves punch and finished them with some retired Island Indigo enamel dot centres:  

 

Super simple and could be easily recreated in colours that are currently available.

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 and news of a great new promotion too. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Tea Boutique Teapot Trio For CCS471

by Joanne James24. May 2022 12:00

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Shannon has asked that we include a trio of any type of shape, surrounding a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

    

For my card today I decided to get fussy cutting for those three shapes on Shannon's sketch and I reached for my Tea Boutique papers and a couple of designs in particular that were inspired by the gorgeous pinky-reds and blues over at Sunday Stamps - take a look:

 

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

I love the colour combinations in the Tea Boutique papers and decided to choose one panel for a background to 'frame' my white space in the centre and from another sheet I fussy cut a trio of teapots for my three shapes. Now I know fussy cutting isn't for everyone and these are a little fiddly, especially if you cut out the handle piece, but I find cutting quite relaxing and quite enjoyed choosing my pot designs and then cutting them out:

 

I allowed the handles of my teapots to overhang the white panel, with the thin white border around them helping them to stand out from the background. I added a little stamped tag for my sentiment, tied with some of the new Starry Sky in-color baker's twine. This is a little fussy for a CAS card and in hindsight I maybe should have stamped my sentiment straight onto the white panel, but it's done now so too late  - and I like 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So no need to hoard that new designer series paper - this is my call to 'get snipping'!

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.

Sweet Songbirds Double Slider Card AYSI275

by Joanne James20. May 2022 12:00

Happy Friday everyone - the weekend is in sight! Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge:

 

I made a very special card to share with you today! You know when you get an idea and you just can't rest until you make it a reality? Yes, that was today's card! My card to welcome a new baby features the new Sweet Songbirds bundle - take a look:

 

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

Sweet Songbirds - Everyone loves a good punch bundle and the Sweet Songbirds bundle, comprising the stamp set of the same name and the Songbird Builder Punch, is definitrly a great addition to your crafting collection. Perfect to welcome someone to a new home or to welcome a new baby, for thank yous, news notes or any kind of celebration (even Christmas - these birds would make great robins!), the Sweet Songbirds bundle has it all. The punch will either punch the stamped image of the large bird in the set, or allow you to simply punch a bird from cardstock. This is particularly useful to easily create mirrored birds, as I've done on my card today. 

Double Slider Reveal - What might not be immediately obvious at first glance, is that today's card is a double slider card. When you pull the tab at the side of the card, the mama and papa birds slide out to reveal their baby bird in the nest:

 

I might be biased, but I think this is such a cute idea! 

Here's a short video clip showing you how that works:

I'm mindful that today's post doesn't show the detail of the 'how' I created my double slider; I watched a number of actually very frustrating YouTube videos, and ultimately ended up re-engineering the mechanism until it is so super easy! It really needs a video to explain it though and I didn't then have time to film one this week, but I will pick this up and share in another post with you next week since I feel like I owe it to the crafting community to demystify this type of card!! I finished my sentiment and re-stamped my baby songbird on the inside of my card to finish.

 

A Recipe For Success - Whilst I was all about bring my creative ideas to fruition this week, it's recipe week over at As You See It and so worth me recapping on how I incorporated the elements of the recipe in my card:

  • Diecut or punch - Songbird Builder Punch and Basic Borders Dies (I used the cloud shaped as a stencil to add clouds to my background with a blending brush and some Balmy Blue ink)
  • Embossing folder - Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder (This covers my slider mechanism)
  • Something beginning with 'B' - Birds and baby
  • Pastel colours - Balmy Blue, So Saffron and Polished Pink
  • Something shiny - A sparkly in-colour vellum flower and single rhinestone jewel to decorate mama bird (almost missed this one!)

That's everything - phew! What a sweet little pair:

 

This was such a fun card to make!

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.

Home Life New Home Congratulations Card TTT162

by Joanne James19. May 2022 18:00

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

 

I have needed a few 'new home' cards lately so I went down the middle column with flowers/free/embellishments to create a new home congratulations card with a difference - take a look:

 

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

A Golden Oldie - When I made my new home card for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week (you can see that card here if you missed it), I realised how few current stamps I have that work for a new home card. This had given me cause to rummage through the retired shelf and I came across the retired 'Home Life' stamp set with the co-ordinating Welcome Home Dies (also retired) so decided to use them for today's card. 

Fresh FloralsThis is a 3 step layered photopolymer stamp and the layers can be used separately or together, as I've done here, to create a house packed with florals. I paired my retired stamps with Blushing Bride and two of the 2021-23 In colours, Polished Pink and Pale Papaya, for a fresh new look. I accented the centres of some of the larger pink flowers with some of last year's in-color jewels for a touch of sparkle too.

Shape It - The house die in the Welcome Home Dies set fits the front of a standard card perfectly, but I thought it would be fun to follow the contours of the die to create a card that was actually shaped like a house. It was really straightforward to do and just required a little extra measuring and slicing with my trimmer to achieve the desired result:

The card hinges on the left and opens conventionally and I simple added a shaped insert to the inside too. Do you ever create shaped cards? Leave me a comment below and let me know - I'd love you to share your favourite tips 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. 

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.

Challenges: I'm also entering today's card over at Just Us Girls where it's trend week and they are looking for shaped cards and at The Card Concept where my clean and layered card was inspired by the flowers in the vase and the soft pink and peach tones of their colour palette this week. I'm also linking up over at Retro Rubber Challenge where the challenge is 'flowers' - my 'Home Life' stamp is definitely retro, dating back to 2017.

      RRCB 182

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow with another project, this time for our new challenge over at As You See It - and it's recipe week. 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.