The Newborn King for The Paper Players

by Joanne James26. October 2014 07:00

Sunday means it's time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players where this week Nance has a great sketch for us to play along with:

I love a good sketch challenge so decided to use this one to make a Christmas card using The Newborn King, a set I haven't inked up in a while. Here's my card:

I stamped just the stable image on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in Night of Navy, and stamped it again on Brushed Gold cardstock and fussy cut out the stable itself and adhered this to my stamped image. I stamped my sentiment in two halves: the first half, the 'glory' in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, and the second part in Night of Navy, masking off the respective elements in turn. I toyed with whether or not I should stamp a sentiment on this section at all, given the sketch, then having decided that the sentiment here was as much a part of my image as the nativity, I then wondered whether I should dispense with the vertical sentiment element as per the sketch. In fact, I decided to use the word 'believe' from the Good Greetings set here, as it seemed to fit with my main focal panel. I edged my vanilla cardstock with a piece of gold washi tape and matted this section onto a piece of Brushed Gold, which overhangs the many section to show a border. Lastly, I stamped the star from the Newborn King stamp set in Versamark and heat embosses in gold, the filled in the outline with my gold marker for added definition and punched it out using my mosaic punch and attached it with a dimensional. I used Night of Navy for my cardbase, which I think is the perfect pairing for the gold and vanilla elements. I liked this card so much, I managed to make two (always good for my growing pile of cards!) - at this rate, I might just be ready for Christmas in time!!

Do check out the amazing cards produced by the rest of the design team for this week's challenge; as always, the standard is incredibly high and there's lots of inspiration to choose from.

Right - I'm off to hockey and then lunch with the extended James family, which will be nice for a change. 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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Cards | Stamping

Bright and Beautiful, Clean and Simple For The Paper Players

by Joanne James19. October 2014 07:00

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As you read this I'll be on my way home from Stampin' Up!'s European Convention and will undoubtedly have some pictures to share later this week, but meanwhile it's time for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players and Sandy has a clean and simple yet glitzy challenge for us this week:

We are using silver or gold on our cards this week - think Encore ink, embossing, sequins, glitter - so many possibilities! I decided to go with silver paired with white, and chose to use the lovely Bright and Beautiful stamp set and co-ordinating star framelits for my clean and simple card:

I used Whisper White as my card base and stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I did the same with the middle-sized star in the set, but cut this out using a framelit and layered it on a second star cut out of Brushed Silver cardstock using dimensionals, having glued the silver star to my card base. I added a sprinkling of Frosted Sequins to finish my clean and simple card. This would be a great card to make a lot of if you wanted to make a dent in your Christmas cards - you could switch the base card colours and even make in gold too to ring the changes and it doesn't take a large volume of supplies.

Hope you like today's card - check out this week's challenge page over at The Paper Players to see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to - there are some amazing cards to see as always. We look forward to seeing what you come up with this week!

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.

 

My First Halloween Pumpkin!

by Joanne James5. October 2014 07:00

It's Sunday and time for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players, where Jaydee has a fun Halloween theme challenge for us this week:

 

I used the layout over at Freshly Made Sketches again this week for my card (although I'm not sure my card is as 'clean' as is required; the layout was too good to pass up) as I thought it would be perfect to highlight my first Halloween pumpkin - here's my card:

I used a piece of Motley Monsters DSP on a base of Tangerine Tango for the front of my card; I love this paper and the little eyes that peek through between the trees, although I must confess this looks so much better on a sheet of 12 x 12" and it was difficult to take my scissors to it! I used the Halloween sentiment from 'Mingle All The Way', colouring the letters with a Tangerine Tango Stampin' Write marker and mounted this on a circle of Basic Black. This circle was mounted on top of a piece of chevron-embossed Crushed Curry and black chevron ribbon and the card finished with a cute little pumpkin from the Fall Fest stamp set and cut out with the matching framelit. It's tricky to see from the photo, but the pumpkin was then covered in Crystal Effects and allowed to dry, so it has a lovely dimension and shine.

That's my simple Halloween card for today; why not pop over to The Paper Players challenge blog and check out this week's inspiration from the other designers? As always, there are some great cards on show.

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.

 

Autumn Leaves and Happy Hauntings For The Paper Players

by Joanne James28. September 2014 07:00

It's Sunday which means one thing - it's time for our weekly challenge over at The Paper Players! This week Sandy has a great sketch for us:

Sketches are my absolute favourite challenges - so many possibilities, and this sketch is no exception! So much so, I actually made two cards using this sketch already which I thought I would share with you today. If you've come from The Paper Players blog, this is the card that you will have seen there:

My first take on the sketch was this fall-inspired card, where I layered a combination of 1" punched circles and little leaves cut out using the Big Shot and the Fall Fest framelits, in Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Tangelo Twist on a base of Baked Brown Sugar, and finished with a simple knotted bow of Hello Honey satin ribbon and a sentiment from the 'Good Greetings' hostess set. I haven't used this colour combination before but thought it would make a nice fall colour scheme; I prefer these colours in cardstock rather than stamped on Whisper White, as I find the inks too intense somehow. I am linking this card up with the challenge over at SUO Challenges this week as they are looking for cards using autumnal colours, so this totally fits the bill.

I liked this sketch so much, I couldn't stop at one card though; the card below is the very first thing that came to me when I looked at the sketch and it was so simple I just had to make it and share it with you:

I stamped the 3 pairs of eyes from 'Freaky Friends' twice each in Versamark onto Basic Black cardstock and heat embossed in Crushed Curry, then did the same with the sentiment and heat embossed that in white. I then matted this panel onto a panel of Crushed Curry and a Basic Black card base. Simple, but so effective in real life - the eyes have a real shine as if they are looking out of the card at you!

I had to stop there for today, but I know I will use this sketch again - it is a keeper! Do pop by The Paper Players site and check out the blogs of the rest of the design team - there are some awesome cards this week, as always!

Right, we have a morning of sport in the James household today - Rebecca and I are going to explore a new hockey club and the boys are off to check out a rugby club, before reconvening for lunch and hopefully a restful afternoon.

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.

 

 

Cheerful Christmas Tic Tac Toe for The Paper Players

by Joanne James31. August 2014 08:00

No blog post yesterday I'm afraid, as I was busy with family activities and just couldn't find the time. Today though it's Sunday and time for my Design Team card for The Paper Players, where this week Nance has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for us:

I had such fun trying to decide which boxes of the grid to use - in the end I went for the diagonal of 'patterned paper, embossing, buttons' and made my first Christmas card using the 'Cheerful Christmas' stamp set - I took the inspiration for my layout from this week's sketch over at Fab Friday

This stamp set appealed to me the moment I saw it - I love the Scandanavian-inspired patterns that look so great in traditional Christmas reds and greens, along with white and kraft. For this card, I matted my Real Red base with Garden Green, then adhered a piece of Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper to the top of the card; this DSP carries on the Nordic theme and lots of the papers in this set co-ordinate with these stamps - I love it! I stamped the main flower stamp in the set in Versamark on Real Red and heat embossed in white, then adhered this to my card using dimensionals. Lastly, I added a flag of Calypso Coral and stamped my sentiment, from the new hostess set 'Good Greetings' in Garden Green, onto a flag of Whisper White and tucked it beneath my flower square. Lastly, I finished by wrapping around some white baker's twine and adhering one of the red and white Nordic Designer Buttons to finish.

I even took the time to decorate the inside of my card and the envelope - I thought I'd make the most of it now, as by the time I get to the last minute rush these little acts of prettiness will be all but out the window! Pop over to the rest of the team to see what they did with this week's challenge - there's a huge variety in there this week and as always some great designs.

In the James household, swimming lessons resume today before the new term starts and then I will be doing the final preparations for my first monthly card class featuring Christmas cards tomorrow - yippee! Hope you enjoy your Sunday, however you are spending it.

Lastly, in case you needed a reminder - today is the last day of the Big Shot offer - see here for details.

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.

 

Minecraft Creeper Pop-Up Birthday Card

by Joanne James17. August 2014 08:00

Today I'm sharing my Design team card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. This week LeAnne is hosting and she has a clean and simple challenge to create a child's birthday card this week:

Those of you who follow LeAnne's blog, Wee Inklings, regularly will know that today young Miss Cassidy is celebrating her fourth birthday - hooray! having seen the other Design Team members cards this week, I can vouch for the fact that mine looks quite different to everyone else's! My cards today are not made with four year old girls in mind (nowhere near enough pink for that!) however as the mother of two young children, I make lots of children's cards. Whilst they are sometimes stamped, I am often asked to make something that reflects the current favourite game/toy/theme of the moment. Those of you who follow my blog will know I am partial to Lego and have created some great Lego punch art in the past (see my most recent one here), although this can be time-consuming and not all that clean and simple. Today though I am sharing two of my tried and tested punch art cards for young boys.

First I am sharing another of Ben's birthday cards from last week; this time, the one I made for him from his big sister. Now as is true for most young boys of his age, Minecraft is a game that provides hours of endless entertainment for him. I've made a few creeper cards that I haven't shared previously (creepers are the monsters that come out at night and take your life, so I'm told) - they really are so easy to make! - but I thought I'd share this one, as after a browse on Pinterest I saw this card and decided I wanted to make a creeper card with a difference. Here's the outside of my card:

 

A simple creeper face made from 1" punched squares, along with 2 pieces of 1" x 1 1/2", one cut in half lengthways, on a background of now retired Gumball Green (I think this is the best creeper colour, but you could substitute with Garden Green if you don't have any), then when you open the card, he really comes to life:

 

A simple pop-up - how fun is that?! This must be a record in terms of supplies, given that you can make one of these cards with some basic cardstock and not much else; it's also another 'no stamping' card - that's two in a week! Now I have to admit, as cards go it's not really my cup of tea, but then I'm not the target audience. The verdict? Rebecca thought it was awesome and Ben loved it, so if it ticks the box of the now seven year old, it's good enough for me!

I also wanted to share another clean and simple birthday card that I have made so many of, I can't quite believed I've never blogged before! All children seem to love shaped cards, and this cute Angry Bird is so easy to create using a few punches and a base made using the Circle Thinlits and the Big Shot:

 

A custom envelope from some co-ordinating Brights DSP made using the Envelope Punch Board and you are good to go. Two cards that are really clean and simple, quick and easy. Do pop over to The Paper Players to see what the other designers have come up with - I promise they will be quite different to mine!

It's Sunday and I'm off to town today to collect some frames for a private home décor class I'm teaching tomorrow along with a visit to the shoe shop for new trainers and school shoes for the children in readiness for the new school year. Still two more weeks to go, yet I'm sure it will fly by.

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.

 

 

 

 

Paper Players Guest Designer Announcement - And A Happy Day Card!

by Joanne James25. June 2014 13:00

Today I was all set to share the card I made for this week’s challenge over at The Paper Players, where Nance has this great sketch for us to work with:

 

But before I get to my card, there is an exciting news announcement over on the Paper Players blog today involving yours truly: I have been asked to feature as one of their guest designers, starting July 6th - how great is that?!

I am excited and truly honoured that this wonderful bunch of papercrafters have asked me to join them for a three month period through to September. You can check out the details and the other guest designers that will be featuring at the same time by clicking on the link here and you will of course be able to see my weekly submissions right here on my blog in weeks to come.

Anyway - back to today's card! I love a good sketch challenge and Nance's sketch can be used in so many ways. Given that we are transitioning between catalogues, my choices for my card today were driven by the (relatively!) fewer stamps that I currently have in my collection and also a desire to use another piece of Designer Series Paper that hasn’t yet made the cut – here’s my card:

I decided to use the ‘Oh Happy Day’ stamp from the Starburst Sayings stamp set and wanted to use the bold black and white zebra-like pattern from the Kaleidescope DSP set; this layout allows for the use of a bold patterned paper without it overwhelming the rest of the card. Black and white alone was a little stark for me though – but I had the perfect antidote with a burst of Melon Mambo, a great hot pink to liven things up a bit! I used the black and white DSP for my central panel, matting this on a piece of Basic Black and then a strip of Melon Mambo, before adhering to my Basic Black card base. I stamped my sentiment focal point in Versamark on Basic Black and then heat embossed in Melon Mambo, which adds great texture and sheen, and cut out using the co-ordinating framelit. I then popped the starburst onto a Melon Mambo circle cut with my Circle Framelits using dimensionals to give added depth. I also decided this card was worthy of some serious ‘bling’ and adhered small rhinestones to each of the circles on the word ‘happy’ – this made this card so sparkly! To finish, I added two small banners cut with framelits as per the sketch, finished with a Melon Mambo button and a few extra rhinestones for good measure.

I think this card has a real ‘rock chick’ feel to it and would be great for an uber-cool teenager; I have a very discerning teenage niece that this card will be perfect for and as her birthday isn’t until October, I guess that makes me look super organised too – win, win! Or I could just send it to myself since today is indeed a happy day, given the announcement that I am going to be a Paper Players Guest Designer - yay! Decisions, decisions....

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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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.