Little Elephants Friendship Card PP428

by Joanne James10. February 2019 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the lovely Laurie's turn to host this week and she has a sweet colour challenge for you to work with:

 

I love the colour combination of pink and grey and it's one I've used before on this card; in order to get both shades of grey in and see some contrast I decided that some sweet little elephants were the order of the day:

 

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

Little Elephants - This pair of little elephants were perfect for overlaying back to back to show both greys. I stamped them both directly onto my Whisper White stitched rectangle, and then stamped them again in the alternate greys and punched out their ears with the Elephant Builder Punch for a little contrast. I stamped the trumpeting heart in Melon Mambo and picked up this colour again with a panel of dotty Melon Mambo paper from the Brights DSP pack. 

It's In The Details - There are a few little details that step this card up a little: the punched ears, a couple of pearl eyes, coloured black with my Basic Black Stampin' Blends marker and finally the Smoky Slate gingham ribbon bow; unfortunately this ribbon is now retired, but I couldn't resist using it for the perfect finishing touch to the front of my card.

Don't Forget The Envelope - The finishing touches don't end there though: I also stamped an elephant and hearts onto the front of my envelope and the second part of my sentiment inside my card, along with the little bird that also comes in the Little Elephant stamp set:

 

I love adding a finishing touch to the envelope - I like to think it gets the recipient excited for what is to come inside from the moment the mail drops onto the doormat.

This card is headed for a friend of mine who moved from the UK to live in the USA last year. We still correspond the old-fashioned way by snail mail and look forward to receiving each others' letters - I think this will make her smile!

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; we are having a quiet day here in the James household and keeping our tissues close at hand - I think today might be a movie afternoon, with a view to regaining some of our energy to enable us to face the week ahead! 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.

Forever Lovely Double Diecut Anniversary Card PP427

by Joanne James3. February 2019 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a timely theme challenge for you to work with:

     Paper Craft Crew Tic Tac Toe Challenge 324! Play along with the latest challenge by visiting www.papercraftcrew.com #stampinup #papercraftcrew #papercrafts #stamping #sunnygirlscraps #crafting #crafts #craft #creative #creativity #create #tictactoechallenge   

It's February and in the James Household love is definitely in the air: Valentine's Day is around the corner and this is also the month when Mr James and I celebrate our wedding anniversary and this year it's a milestone one too, so it seemed appropriate to choose this as my theme this week. I decided to make a pretty anniversary card and matching gift box  - take a look:

 

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

All My Love - I went all hearts and flowers for my card today with the Forever Lovely stamp set and Lovely Flowers Edgelits Dies. I have been itching to get this beautiful set out and use it so I couldn't resist creating not one but two border edges spraying out either side of my heart centrepiece. I was a little nervous as to how easy the stamped florals and greenery were going to be to line up with my diecut borders, but needn't have worried - the Stamparatus made light work of it and I was very pleased with the result. My layout was inspired by the sketch over at Just Add Ink this week - and my card also works for TicTacToe over at The Paper Craft Crew (I went diagonally: something new-Valentines-floral).

Meant To Be - I combined Forever Lovely with another of the Valentine's themed sets in the seasonal catalogue, 'Meant To Be', a set of decorative hearts that co-ordinate with some beautiful stitched dies. I heat-embossed my sentiment in gold onto a vellum-bordered Soft Sea Foam heart - I know it's not pink, but having tried both the pink heart seemed a little too much; the soft sea green, with a few pink flowers and delicate pink ribbon, worked much better. Plus that's the beauty of creating your own cards right? You can make things any colour you want them to be! And I finished my sentiment inside my card with this one:

 

Perfect words for the one you love!

Self-Closing Lovely Flowers Edgelits Treat Box - I decided to make a small treat box to co-ordinate with my card, that would also show off that lovely diecut edge. My box is self-closing and measures 4" x 1" x 1 1/2" and is just large enough to hold 6 heart truffles:

 

Here's one last photo of both my projects together:

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. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you create for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week.

Enjoy your day; we have guests for dinner but otherwise will be enjoying a cosy day indoors, with our hockey match today being cancelled due to a frozen pitch. I for one am pleased to not be standing out on the touchline in these freezing temperatures we have been experiencing here in the UK this week! 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.

Tea Together Mother's Day Card for PP426

by Joanne James27. January 2019 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the talented Jaydee to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

       

Today's card is something of a departure from my usual 'clean' style and is choc-full of detail, so I hope you like it! I've gone pastel with this week's Global Design Project colours and whilst not for Valentine's my card is definitely all about love so is perfect for the Stamp Ink Paper challenge too - take a look:

 

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

Time For Tea - The moment I laid eyes on the 'Tea Together' stamp set in the Spring-Summer catalogue, I knew it would have to find it's way into my shopping basket: as a self-confessed 'teapot' who often drinks between 6 and 8 cups of tea a day, it was bound to appeal, but the clincher was that it was paired with some wonderful Mother's Day sentiments too and the only person I know who drinks more tea each day than me is my Mum, so it seemed a perfect choice. Add to this the fact that the co-ordinating Tea Together Framelits Dies that cut out each of the elements, including the flowers, are available free during Sale-A-Bration with a £90 purchase and that was it - decision made! I decided to continue with my watercolouring phase and for today's teacup and flowers, as it suited the subtle, pastel colours and coloured, cut and layered until I was happy with the result.

Flourishes and Lace - I added additional detail to my background with a combination of an embossed panel - check out that fabulous lace effect detail - and some Petal Pink flourishes, carefully snipped from the new Beautifully Detailed Laser-Cut Paper, which is helpfully already coloured Petal Pink on one side (and white on the other side). Along with a few punched flowers and pearls, I'm really going for the vintage look and feel today. 

A Mother's Love - I've been liberal with my interpretation of Jaydee's sketch, but you can still see the basic circular shape represented by my tea cup full of flowers and my horizontal overlaid sentiment, accentuated by stamping only part of the sentiment on the teacup and substituting the masked word 'love' with a stacked diecut, courtesy of the Well Written Framelits. Whilst I would definitely agree with the sentiment on the front of this card, the sentiment from the 'Tea Together' set really is one of the most wonderful we have had in a stamp set for a long time:

 

The perfect finishing touch for my Mother's Day 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!

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 finishing up on our homework today along with the dreaded tax returns (each year I tell myself I will make time to process them well in advance of the deadline, yet it never happens!) Hopefully I will finish in time to sneak into my craft room for a quick make or two. Either way, 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.

Hometown Greetings Snowy Day Diecut CAS Card

by Joanne James21. January 2019 08:00

Another Monday, another week! As promised, I'm back today with another card that meets the criteria for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players - this one uses the current challenge colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

    

Today's card has a similar layout to yesterday's with a clean and simple style - and no stamping at all on the front of my card! So here it is: 

 

Again I used my Hometown Greetings Edgelits Dies, with a simple uncluttered design and minimal layers and embellishments. I used the challenge colours in blocks: the Crumb Cake for my card base, a panel of Balmy Blue for the sky and a pop of Real Red for the snowman's scarf which I cut by hand and adhered to his body with a little Tombo glue. For the snow on today's card, I used my retired Blizzard Thinlits die and used lots of the tiny circular diecut elements that nestle in between the larger snowflakes and stuck each of them on individually to create my falling snow. A rather painstaking exercise, but not too tricky with my handy Pick Up Tool and worth it for the overall effect.

Whilst there's no stamping on the front of my card, I did stamp a greeting on the inside, along with another pop of red (the heart is from the new Meant To Be stamp set):

 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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 day; I am hoping mine is going to be a productive office day - if I get all of my admin tasks completed, i may even manage a little stamping time! 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.

Hometown Greetings Snowy Day CAS Card PP425

by Joanne James20. January 2019 09:00

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 fun clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

    

Remember: this is clean and simple week. What do we mean by 'clean and simple' ? Create a card that has:

  • Minimal layers and embellishments
  • Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
  • Is simple and uncluttered

I had a clear idea of what I wanted to create for Claire's challenge this week and the colours at Color Throwdown complemented it perfectly (see the challenge badge above) - take a look:

 

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

Hometown Greetings - This week's theme was a perfect excuse to start on this year's Christmas cards, so I pulled out my Hometown Greetings Edgelits Dies to create a focal point for my snowy day scene and simply cut them out of extra thick whisper white card stock. I added a little blue scarf to my snowman but otherwise left them untouched and popped them up on dimensionals above my sponged sky.

Blended Sky - I wanted to create a blended sky background for my little scene and couldn't decide between watercolouring and an ink-blended background. I opted for the latter, having been inspired by this amazing background that Linda Van Wely-Zwolle. I am in awe of the fabulous backgrounds she creates on her cards (there are lots of other examples on her blog too) so I thought I would have a go at creating a similarly intense colour. I used a sponge brayer and a combination of the retired Tempting Turquoise and current in-colour Blueberry Bushel to create my ombre sky and used a base of Shimmery White cardstock - it's difficult to see in the photos, but it gives these panels a lovely all-over shimmer. 

Textured Shimmer Snow - To finish my sky, I had to add the snow to create my snowy day. I used a dry aquapainter to flick frost white shimmer paint across my sky panel to create a random pattern of shimmery textured snow. I love the way the liquid created a mix of fine spray and larger globules - I know the snow doesn't look like flakes, but I think this is what snow looks like from a distance when it's falling. Here's a close up so that you can see the detail:

I liked my first card so much I made a second one using a second piece of snowy background that I created at the same time and one of the other dies in the set:

 

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

 

And here's the second one:

 

I also made another card using the same layout but approached it in a completely different way - but you'll have to pop by tomorrow to see that one! 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 am looking forward to a day of homework supervision then some cosy family time indoors, having spent yesterday outside watching sport with both of the James Juniors - not so much fun in the current sub-zero temperatures we are experiencing here in the UK!  I'll be back tomorrow with another snowy day-themed card that looks quite different to today's cards. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Needle and Thread Florals for PP424

by Joanne James13. January 2019 09:00

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 fresh colour challenge for you to work with that is perfect for Spring:

    

I decided some fresh spring florals were in order and using this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch as inspiration, I decided to have a play with my new Needle and Thread bundle - take a look:

 

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

Pins and Needles - The new Needlepoint Nook Suite is perfect for creating the look of handcrafted embroidery with much less effort and has stamps, papers, accessories and framelits that fit the theme. My favourite aspect of this suite is definitely the Needlepoint Elements Framelits Dies - I used the largest of the needlepoint patterns for the background element of my design and added the needlepoint border to a vellum piece that co-ordinates with the Pretty Label Punch. Such a pretty touch! 

Hand-Stitched Stamping - The floral elements in the Needle & Thread set are distinctive stamps that have the almost photographic appearance of embroidered flowers, as they appear on the Needlepoint nook designer series paper that can also be found in this suite. I used my yellow and grapefuit grove to create a bright spray of flowers and added in a few additional diecut pieces too. I used a simple heat embossed sentiment in white onto Night of Navy - my chosen fourth colour - on the front of my card and used one of my favourite sentiments from this set on the inside:

 

I also added some of the new gingham gala sequins and a few loops of the lovely Grapefruit Grove Organdy Ribbon to finish the front of my card; this is one of the items you can receive free with a Sale-A-Bration order of £45 or more - and who doesn't love a free gift?!

A Well Written Tag Too - I often cut multiples of flowers or other elements when I'm making this kind of card as I decide on my finished design and this year I'm on a mission in my crafting to use up all the bits and pieces I get left over from a project as I craft, rather than putting them in my bits and bobs box to linger for months on end or eventually end up in the bin when I have a mad craft room tidy up! Today I made a tag with my leftovers, and added the word 'friend' from the Well Written Framelits set:

 

 This will make a great co-ordinating tag for a gift to go along with my card - and everything used up too! Here's one last photo of both items together:

 

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 am hoping for a quiet day with maybe a little crafting too! 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.

Happy Tails Card and Treat Box for PP423

by Joanne James6. January 2019 09:00

Woohoo! Today it's Sunday and it's time for the first challenge of the year over at The Paper Players! We have all enjoyed the Christmas break and are back with a fresh new blog header and some snazzy challenge badges courtesy of Nance and two amazing guest designers: Su Mohr and Wanda Cullen. If you missed my introductory post over at The Paper Players earlier this week you can read all about these lovely ladies here. We are thrilled that they are going to be sharing their creative talents with us and you in 2019 - a big Paper Players welcome to both of you! 

For our first challenge of 2019 it's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

     

I had so many choices for today's card; in fact, I ended up making not one, not two - but four different cards for this week's theme, and then couldn't decide which one to use! I blogged one of them featuring a sweet little bumble bee yesterday - if you missed it, you can see that card here - and decided today to go with something old and something new with a card and matching treat box that is a tribute to all four-legged friends. First up, here's my card:

 

Now I must confess I almost didn't blog this card today, as my fellow teamie LeAnne also used the sketch layout from Global Design Project for her layout this week and used the new 'Nine Lives' stamp set that is the feline equivalent of the 'Happy Tails' set I chose to use and so there is a distinctly similar look and feel to our cards this week as a result. I figured though that whether you are a cat or dog lover, between us we have you covered so I decided to go ahead! You can check out LeAnne's card on the Paper Players blog post and read more about the detail of her card over on her blog WeeInklings which is well worth a follow. 

In the meantime, here's the low-down on today's card:

Happy Tails - The 'Happy Tails' bundle is one of my favourite bundles in the new Spring-Summer catalogue. The stamp set has a realistic dog with a collection of fun sentiments and decorative bits and pieces - a kennel, heart, collar and bone and a great selection of sentiments for all kinds of cards for the dog-lovers amongst us. The #GDP170 sketch was perfect to highlight lots of these co-ordinating words and images - and I chose to use this sentiment on the inside of my card too, with a few more pawprints for good measure:

 

Dalmation Dog - I created a dalmation with my black-on-white spots and added a red background so that he would really stand out. As if the stamp set wasn't great enough, it has a co-ordinating Dog Builder Punch too so that you can punch your puppy dog straight out with ease - no fussy cutting required!

A Kennel Treat Box - The minute I saw the dog builder punch I just knew I would need to create a little dog kennel for him using my retired Home Sweet Home thinlits - the box is the perfect size! I actually made this first and then took the embossed striped panels of my kennel and bright Poppy Parade red roof and incorporated the same texture and colour into my co-ordinating card. The roof of my box opens to hold a few chocolates or maybe even some doggy treats - I added a tag using another sentiment from the Happy Tails set, along with a punched heart, also courtesy of the Dog Builder Punch:

 

I hope you like my pair of projects today - they were fun 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 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'm hoping to get a little more time in my craft room and have some quality family time since our sporting commitments don't ramp up fully until next week. Either way, enjoy your Sunday 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.

Peaceful Poinsettia Christmas Card Two Ways PP422

by Joanne James9. December 2018 09:00

 

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and for our final challenge this year I have a festive colour challenge for you to work with:

 

Red, green and a colour of your choice - to retain the festive theme! I have not one but two Christmas cards to share with you this week both of which feature a traditional flower for this time of year. My cards are identical, I simply used Shaded Spruce for the base of one and Real Red for the base of the other. Take a look at the first one on the base of Shaded Spruce:

 

And here's the second one, on a Real Red base:

 

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

Peaceful Poinsettia - I'm not sure whether my colour scheme inspired my choice of poinsettia for today's card, or the other way around - maybe a bit of both! Either way I thought that the two were a perfect match, so used an inverted pair of the festive boughs from the Peaceful Poinsettia stamp set to frame this sentiment from the same set which seemed fitting for our final Paper Players challenge of the year. 

Detailed Poinsettia Embossing - I used the Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits Dies to cut out my floral boughs but also used the corner pieces and smaller detailed dies to create an embossed panel for the base of my card by using the Big Shot embossing mat to emboss using the thinlits rather than diecut with them. I love the effect this gives and the subtle detail it adds.

Added Floral Sparkle - For added sparkle to my poinsettias, I chose silver as my additional colour of choice and used the same technique that I used on this card here where you stamp onto a piece of acetate window sheet using Stazon ink and flip it over and colour the reverse with Stampin' Blends. This is then backed with silver glimmer paper for a sparkly coloured effect. This is such a fun technique and really very pretty in real life.

I'm not sure which of these cards I prefer - that's why I shared both; I'd love to know which one is your favourite. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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. 

Whilst I've included the link to the bundle below, the Peaceful Poinsettia  stamp set is currently available at 20% off and the dies at a whopping 30% off as part of the year-end closeouts, so if they are on your wish list, now is the time to snap them up at a bargain price before they retire for good. You can access the complete Year-End Closeouts list here

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!

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week. This is our last challenge before we take a two-week break to celebrate the Christmas period with our families, so we hope you'll find the time to join us! We will be taking a two week break before returning with a fresh new set of challenges for 2019 starting on Sunday 6th January 2019. Thanks to everyone who plays along each week, to this year's guest designers Jan, Elizabeth and Annie, and everyone of you who visits our blogs and leaves us encouraging comments each week - it's great to know that you enjoy our creations! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I am hoping to decorate the house for the holidays today and put the Christmas tree up. I made a wreath for the front door yesterday however at the moment due to family and sports commitments that is the extent of the decorations, so it's about time we rectified that! 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.

A Z-Fold Blizzard of Snowflakes for PP421

by Joanne James2. December 2018 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players - yay! It's the turn of the queen of florals, the lovely Jaydee,  to host this week and she has a festive theme challenge for you to work with:

 

Jaydee has been kind to us with a broad theme this week - pretty much anything festive goes! I decided that I would take my inspiration from the snow in our badge picture this week and share a card that I made at a recent technique class using the Beautiful Blizzard bundle - take a look:

 

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

An Embossed Blizzard - On this card I used the Blizzard Thinlits Die to create an embossed (as opposed to a diecut) panel to add interest to the fold behind my sentiment panel. I then sponged this liberally with Frost White Shimmer Paint for a subtle snowy sparkle. I love that the Big Shot Embossing Mats make this really easy and make our dies go further, opening up a whole new range of creative possibilities.

A Fancy Fold - This card uses a fancy fold that is quite simple to recreate - a z-fold - it's a great way to allow for overhanging diecuts without having to increase the overall size of the card and shows just a hint of the decoration inside too. Here's a picture of my card opened out so that you can see the inside fully:

 

A Drop of Frost - The stamping on my card is a random combination of the stamps in this set, with a few of the snowflakes left over from this card added for dimension. I finished one of these with a frosted droplet - these make perfect centres for a wintery snowflake.

I'm a little pressed for time with all that is going on in the James household during the holiday season, so no the visual summary of the key products used on today's project today although the table at the bottom of this post will of course take you directly to my online store if you would like to purchase any of the items featured on today's card. 

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 shall be recovering from my first Christmas party yesterday and tacking a mountain of ironing today but 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.

Beautiful Blizzard Panel Card

by Joanne James1. December 2018 16:00

Today I'm sharing the first of three cards that I designed for a recent technique class using the Beautiful Blizzard bundle - take a look:

 

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

A Snowflake Blizzard - On this card I used the Blizzard Thinlits Die to cut a full panel of snowflakes. I used a piece of Whisper White cardstock that I first covered with an adhesive sheet on the reverse, then sponged the whole of the front liberally with Frost White Shimmer Paint for a subtle snowy sparkle. The use of a multi-purpose adhesive sheet is key for making this an easy project, as it means that the snowflakes and the surround can be used by simply peeling them off the backing paper. No fiddling around trying to add liquid adhesives to the narrow snowflake stems! This card features the 'negative' of the diecut; I'll be sharing the other two cards that use the rest of the snowflakes tomorrow and later in the week.

A Stitched Label - The label that features the sentiment on the front of my card is from the Stitched Labels Framelits; so pretty and perfect for the first part of my sentiment, along with a few stamped snowflakes too. 

A Sweet Sentiment - I love the sentiment on this card, which carries over from the front of the card to complete on the inside:

Without the 'season's greetings', this sentiment would be lovely for someone celebrating a winter birthday too. 

I'm a little pressed for time with all that is going on in the James household during the holiday season, so no the visual summary of the key products used on today's project today although the table at the bottom of this post will of course take you directly to my online store if you would like to purchase any of the items featured on today's card. 

Enjoy your evening - I am out at my first Christmas party this evening but I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's Paper Players challenge which will also feature snowflakes! 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.