Butterflies and Flowers Clean And Simple One Layer Birthday Card PP596

by Joanne James19. June 2022 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 clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

    

I love one layer cards! had another go with a different colour combo from the palette over at Sunday Stamps (such a great colour palette!) and decided that today I would focus on creating the illusion of layers on my single layer creation using some clever diecut embossing, masking and stencilling - take a look:

 

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

How Many Layers? - I love one layer cards as they are great for clean and simple designs. They can be as simple as a single image and a sentiment; for today's card though, I decided to create the illusion of layers. The first thing I did was use one of my Scalloped Contour Dies to partially emboss the outline of a label. I then stencilled a butterfly on the non-embossed section, then masked it off, along with a second mask to mask off the embossed area before using an alternative stencil to emboss a pattern around the remainder of the card. At this stage the card should look something like this:

When the masks are removed, the finished card front appears to have three separate layers: the butterfly uppermost, followed by the die-embossed label outline and finally the background floral-patterned layer. The photo below shows these in more detail: 

 

 Finally I added a sentiment to my faux-label to complete my card. I also stamped a sentiment on the inside, with some soft stencilling around the edges - I photographed the inside of the front of my card too so that you can see the partial die-embossed label outline more clearly:

 

By keeping my central label clear, I've tried to preserve some 'white space' on my one layer card. Along with the absence of embellishments of any kind and the one layer that is the crux of this challenge, I have managed to keep thing clean and simple too. I love these Butterflies & Flowers Layering Decorative Masks stencils and will be so sad when they retire at the end of the month. 

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

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; mine will be a quiet one, having been out and about for the past couple of days. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

He's The Man Flippin Awesome Masculine Card

by Joanne James15. June 2022 09:00

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the sketch layout over at Inspire.Create that was also inspired by the masculine theme and brown palette of browns over at The Card Concept:

   

This is a really simple clean and simple/layered card (well, there's not that much 'white space'!) that came together in no time thanks to the He's The Man designer series paper - take a look:

 

This is one of those rare, absolutely no stamping whatsoever cards that uses just three products! I simply added a strip of patterned paper to my base, layered another piece of DSP (this time cut with a Stitched Rectangle Die for a little added detail, but you could skip this step if you don't have one to hand) then used one of the diecuts from the paper pack as my focal point - flames, BBQ tools and sentiment all in one! 

 

This card will be one of the Father's Day cards for hubby from one of the James Juniors this coming weekend - he loves to BBQ so will definitely appreciate the punny sentiment! I did stamp a suitable greeting on the inside, but otherwise the He's The Man designer Series paper definitely did all of the heavy lifting on this one! If you'd like to see another masculine card using these papers, be sure to come back tomorrow as I have another Father's Day card to share for my TicTacToe 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day. We are celebrating in the James household today and the eldest of the Juniors turns 17 - although to be fair we started our celebrations earlier in the week, as tonight will be taken up with our first face-to-face parents evening since Covid for the other James Junior - we are hoping to squeeze in birthday dinner beforehand though. I'll be back tomorrow with another couple of projects. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

You Are Amazing Patriotic Card Of Sorts PP595

by Joanne James12. June 2022 08:00

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

 

 I started out today's card not wanting to use anything other than Claire's trio of chosen colours, but also not wanting to create a patriotic Fourth of July card, since living in the UK we don't celebrate American Independence Day so I don't have much cause to send this kind of card. I did end up going a little rogue - take a look at my card below and you'll see what I mean:

 

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

All About The Background - I had seen a great Instagram post recently by the talented Melody Hyde where she used the Sailboat Builder punch to create a fun background (you can see that card here) so decided I would have a go at creating something similar. I punched a whole bunch of red, white and blue sails, then decided to create a pattern using the red and blue ones. How fun is that?!

Patriotism Of Sorts - Having laid out my background, it did look a little plain so I decided to experiment with some tone-on-tone stamping. I did end up using both stars and stripes, creating my patterns using a tiny star from the 'Penguin Place' stamp set (available again 1st July) and some stripes using an old retired set called 'Your Presents'. Now before the eagle-eyed amongst you point out that my stars and stripes are the wrong way around for the American flag: I know - I stamped a whole bunch of sails, with red stars, blue stars, red stripes and blue stripes and decided this was the pattern combo I liked best - and since I wasn't setting out to create a 4th July card, that was fine. When I came to write up my post though I did have second thoughts and I did wonder if I should have gone with blue stars and red stripes, for fear that my American readers might question my patriotic allegiance or flag knowledge - but I'm hoping my explanation is sufficient to prevent me from a barrage of patriotic fury! Or even a different pattern altogether!! Of course, if you wanted to use this idea to create a stars-and-stripes 4th July card, be my guest - and do share your version with me!

Anyway, back to the card - you can see the detail of my tone-on-tone stamping below; I really like the resulting effect:

 

Amazing Thanks - I finished my card with a simple 'you are amazing' die cut sentiment using the Amazing Thanks Dies - I can use this card as a card to celebrate any kind of achievement. The sentiment also works well if you do want to use a similar layout and idea for a truly patriotic card to celebrate the achievements of those who fought for the independence of the USA from the British Empire all those years ago - you just need to switch those stars and stripes!

So what do you think? I love the way the Sailboat Builder Punch is used in such an unexpected way to create a fun background. Do you have any other punches that you use in interesting ways? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to hear your ideas!

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

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; we will be having some early birthday celebrations today, as the eldest of the James Juniors turns 17 this week but since it's a super busy school week, we are spreading out the celebrations and going with a 'little and often' rather than 'one and done' approach! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

For The Record Birthday Card FF111

by Joanne James10. June 2022 09:00

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

    

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Music Day' which is on June 21st. 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. This week I totally got on board with the theme! I live in a household of music-makers and used music notes, black, white, embossing and circles and using the current layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday this is what I came up with:

 

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

For The Record - 'For The Record' is a great set for music lovers! The vinyl record makes for a great centrepiece for any card and the variety of sentiments mean that it can be used for lots of different occasions too. In addition to the record on the front of my card, I added a trio of brightly coloured records to both the inside and my envelope to decorate - here you can also see one of the sentiments in this set:

 

An Embossing Double - I have both wet and dry embossing on my card: I heat-embossed my sentiment and vinyl record for added shine to highlight the groove detail and added a dry embossed background layer of notes and sheet music using my Merry Melody Embossing folder:

 

The challenge over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog is 'E is for Embossing' this week so I'll be joining in with my card there too.

An Unexpected Find - Did you recognise the designer paper I used on my card today? It's actually taken from the new 'Butterfly Kisses' paper pack. The stripes in the design are diagonal, but I cut the sheet at an angle (you can see it in the photo at the bottom of the post) and then cut the lines at different heights - I thought it looked like the outputs on a sound mixing desk and it was a great way to add a pop of bright colour to my music-themed card. What do you think - does it work? I'd love to know your thoughts - please do leave me a comment below!

 I hope you like today's card - if you are considering adding the 'For The Record' stamp set to your collection, you only have until the end of the month to do so before it retires for good. The good news is that it is currently available as part of the Last Chance Promotion at 50% off for just £10.50 - bargain!

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 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.

This Birthday Piggy Birthday Card

by Joanne James5. June 2022 11:30

I had a little crafty time yesterday so today I'm sharing an extra card that uses this week's Global Design Project #GDP345 colour palette and the sketch layout over at Just Add Inktake a look:

 

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

I thought the GDP colours would be perfect to colour one of the 'This Birthday Piggy' images so I decided to make this moped-riding porcine the focus of my colouring today and used my Stampin' Blends in each of the challenge colours to bring him to life.

The sketch layout was great to showcase some designer series paper; I decided to go with a tone-on-tone look using some of my In-Color designer paper in Starry Sky to match my cardbase - I thought the pattern co-ordinated with the confetti coming from the birthday piggy's moped - what do you think?

 

I finished my sentiment on the inside of my card and added another partially stamped image to decorate:

 

I think this is a fun image that would appeal to young and old alike. I'll be adding it to my stash of cards for young boys - I always need some of those! I'm also entering it over at SUO Challenges for my second entry into their 'kids cards' challenge.

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 the rest of your day and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

   

Nothing's Better Than In-Color Glimmer Cocktails PP594

by Joanne James5. June 2022 08:00

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

 

I still had my Nothing's Better Than set out on my desk from Friday's cards out on my desk, so I decided to use the current Atlantic Hearts sketch layout and play along with the In-Color challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and set about recreating the colourful cocktails on our challenge board this week - take a look:

 

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

I cut a whole bunch of stitched rectangles in glimmer paper in each of the new in-colours and laid them on my card base in alternating colours, with the lighter shades at the top and the darker shades bottom. I then added my sentiment and my colourful cocktail glass. I brushed my cocktail with clear Wink of Stella - along with the glimmer paper, this makes for one sparkly card!

I finished my sentiment on the inside of my card and added another cocktail for good measure:

I also added a stamped cocktail to the front of my envelope - it's definitely happy hour for the recipient of this card!

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

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; I'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.

   

He's The Man Masculine Anniversary Card

by Joanne James1. June 2022 09:00

Today I'm sharing a quick masculine card, perfect for the challenge over at Inspire.Create that uses the current sketch over at Sketch Saturday:

   

I thought this was a great sketch layout that was perfect to showcase the new He's The Man designer series papers - take a look:

 

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

The papers in the He's The Man Suite are fabulous - a great selection of masculine designs covering everything from cars, to camping, cooking and lots more besides. Better still, the paper pack includes two whole sheets of pre-diecut pieces that can be used to embellish your cards - no stamping required! I used to different paper patterns and one of the diecuts from the pack, along with some retired Crushed Curry twine that picked up the yellow on the tent and a couple of diecut trees from the (retired) Christmas Trees Dies that reflected the shape of the trees on the DSP:

 

That's it - simple as that! I'm also entering today's card over at The Alphabet Challenge where they are on 'D is for Diecuts' this week - the diecuts in this set really are the best!

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 love these papers so much I am going to feature them in an upcoming class - you can read all about it here and do get in touch if you'd like to register.

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.

Simple Stamping With In Colours And Sentimental Swirls

by Joanne James30. May 2022 08:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments that showcases four out of the 5 new in-colours - perfect for the challenge over at Colour Inkspiration CI#122 too:

    May be an image of text that says "Sweet Sorbet intts Parakeet Party COLOUR InSPRTN #122 CHALLENGES aht Tahitian of Tide 3 least at Choose Orchid Oasis n Starry Sky"

I decided to start the week with some #simplestamping using a set that is perfect for the beginner stamper and the banner on the HSS layout was the ideal place to showcase it - take a look:

 

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

Sentimental Swirls The 'Sentimental Swirls' stamp set was inspired by our very first £1m sales achiever in the UK, Sam Hammond. It comprises a basic swirl, with additional swirls, leaves, flowers, a bird, a butterfly and some simple, sentiments perfect for the most popular types of cards - birthdays, thank yous and general hellos. The set has endless creative possibilities and as it's photopolymer, it's really easy to line up the images or the infills. I created a leafy swirl that fills my banner and stamped a bird onto one of the vines, before adding my flowers and sentiment separately. I also added a little extra decoration to the inside of my card:

 

Step It Up With Punch Co-ordination - Sentimental Swirls is great for one layer stamping, but it's also easy to step up your designs by using the Flowers and Leaves punch from the annual catalogue, which punches out one of the flowers in the set. That's what I did on my card, adding some Orchid Oasis enamel dots to the centres and curving the petals slightly with my bonefolder before adding my flowers to my card:

 

I used a panel of in-colour designer series paper in a floral design behind my banner for a touch of extra detail.

An Added Extra - I also used this set for some thank you cards to pop in with some recent customer orders and for the bag tags. The smaller flower in the set also co-ordinates with the flower of the (now retired) Strawberry Builder Punch - you can see that on the tags below:

 

So if you already have this punch in your collection, you will have even more creative possibilities available to you with this set.

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. 

Sentimental Swirls is such a great set for simple cards that can be easily stepped up by adding in a punch (or two). It's in the January-June mini catalogue and whilst I've had it since I made my pre-order, I haven't shown it on my blog until now - which is a shame, as it's a great set that didn't carry over to the new annual catalogue, so you only have until the end of June to get your hands on it. The good news though is that on Wednesday this stamp will hit the Last-Chance list so you will be able to pick it up for just £14.70 - that's a 30% discount on the catalogue price, bargain!

I love the way that the in-colours coordinate so well together too; today's card features all of them except Tahitian Tide (you can glimpse a butterfly in this colour on one of my tags if you need a quick fix!)

 

A quick reminder that the current joining promotion that features an in-color kit in addition to the £130 of product of your choice - and all for £99 - closes tomorrow. Read all about it here if you'd like a reminder - I would love to welcome you to my team. Alternatively, I still have places left in my current in-colour club - details on the same link above.

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.

Flowing Flowers Note Of Thanks PP593

by Joanne James29. May 2022 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month we have a tic tac toe challenge for you to work with:

 

I went down the centre of the grid with embossing, floral and rhinestones and decided to take the opportunity to take part in this week's CASE The Designer challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP344 - take a look:

 

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

Copy And Selectively Edit - At GDP they are asking us to CASE one of Charlet Mallet's cards (you can see it on the badge below). I used the same die for my panel, the largest one on the Scalloped Contours die pack, but I switched out my florals for the Flowing Flowers stamp set and whilst I still using purple and green, I went with a more pastel colour palette, and also incorporated some Pool Party blue in the inked splatters and in my cardbase (reflecting the colours of the current Color Dare challenge). I used a heat-embossed white-on-black sentiment from the 'Sending Smiles' stamp set, using one featuring three pieces rather than a repeating word. I finished my cardfront with a sprinkling of iridescent sparkling rhinestones:

Finishing Touches - I carried the stamping through to both the inside of my card and the envelope for a pretty, co-ordinated look: 

This floral image is so easy to stamp and can be easily inked up in different colours using sponge daubers. I spent a lot of time thinking about my card and choosing which elements to incorporate, but it's actually really easy to execute. The design would also work well in a wide range of alternative colour schemes too.

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

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; exams are over and the James Juniors are on half-term next week, so we will be spending ours relaxing and doing not very much! 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.

   

Ladybug Builder Flashback Inspiration

by Joanne James28. May 2022 19:49

Today I've a quick post to share a card that I made using Judy's angled sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was inspired by the colour palette over at Color Throwdown this week:

   

I remembered I had some old designer paper (Flashback Designer Series Paper - hence in part today's post title|!) that featured these colours and I thought this would be a great opportunity to use some up. This is what I came up with:

 

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

The circle pattern on the paper led me to choose a punched ladybird for my focal point as it echoed the round shape and I used one of my Basic Borders Dies for the angled edge and added a banner behind my ladybird cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies with a similar diecut edge pattern:

 

The sentiment is from the retired 'Little Ladybug' stamp set - I paired it with another on the inside, along with a fun ladybug stamped border to complete my card:

 

I think this makes a fun inspirational/motivational card for a child; I'm actually going to send mine to my niece who is soon to graduate university and has just been successful in gaining her first job - this sentiment seemed the perfect way to celebrate this achievement and is also spot on for the current theme over at SUO Challenges where they are making cards for kids 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your evening; we went to the cinema this afternoon to watch the new Tom Cruise 'Top Gun - Maverick' movie. This is the first time we have been to the cinema since pre-Covid and it was so worth it - this is most definitely a film to be watched on the big screen! Now I'm typing this with the dulcit tones of the Football Premiership Champions League final in the background - so rock and roll! I'll be back tomorrow with another project 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.
 

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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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