Artfully Composed Suite All The Hugs Birthday Card

by Joanne James13. June 2022 09:45

Happy Monday everyone! I had a little extra crafty time yesterday so decided to make a quick card using the current Freshly Made Sketches layout by Jen T, which I love:

Those stems were a great opportunity to make another card using the skeleton leaves in the Tropical Layers Dies combined with the Artfully Layered stamp set and a sliver of Artfully Composed designer series paper  - take a look:

 

I added a little hatched diecut detail to my mat layer and used the colours from the paper for my leaves and sentiment, finishing with a sprinkling of retired enamel dots for a little extra pop of colour: 

 

I am so sad this bundle is retiring at the end of this month - the Tropical Layers Dies are just fabulous and the sentiments in the co-ordinating stamp set so useful. If this bundle is still on your wishlist, grab it now before it's too late - it's currently on sale, links to the online store are below!

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

 

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

Enjoy your day - mine is all stamping an admin today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Artfully Layered Clean And Simple Leaf Card

by Joanne James16. May 2022 10:30

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing another card using Amy's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

       

I went for a slightly more conventional take on the sketch than I did with yesterday's card. I was also inspired by that cheese plant leaf in the blue vase that is bottom left on the Hand Stamped Sentiments Inspiration photo badge - take a look:

 

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

I already had a blank banner cut on my desk from making yesterday's card, and the piece of Artfully Composed designer series paper and the inside dark green pieces of my leaf were leftovers from other projects, so I cut another leaf in Bermuda Bay and paper-pieced the insides and border edge together, stamped the banner and added to my layered cardbase - simple!

 

This is a great sketch for using up bits and pieces and is definitely a keeper - thank you Amy! I'm also linking today's card up over at CASology where the cue word this month is 'botanical'.

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 - I am off to open my Stampin' Up! parcel that has just been delivered by my UPS driver - full of new catalogue goodies, how exciting!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for the new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Artfully Layered Abstract Watercolours PP588

by Joanne James24. April 2022 07:00

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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

       

I designed a sketch with three elements - they can be any shape - and a vertical sentiment tucked alongside. My sketch was inspired by a card I made previously using squares of designer paper, however for today's card I went in a completely different direction - take a look:

 

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

Artfully Layered - Today's card features the 'Artfully Layered' bundle - I just love these leaves! Today's card really is about the Tropical Leaves Dies and my card makes a dramatic feature of one of the leaves, diecut in black. There is just a little stamping, with the sentiment on the front and a little extra to decorate the inside:

 

Inspired Abstract Watercolouring - I decided to brave it and use my aquapainter to watercolour three rounded squares for my three elements and use these as a backdrop to my leaf. I used the trio of bright colours over at Color Throwdown as I thought they would pair well with the black and painted each shape carefully, deciding not to overlap them and building colour gradually. I'm not the best when it comes to watercolouring but was totally inspired by my CAS Colours & Sketches teammate, Cecile Ribon, who creates the most amazing CAS cards using simple watercoloured shapes and outline stamped images and/or delicate diecuts - if you're not familiar with it I would urge you to take a look at her blog here, she is so artistic! Having added my watercoloured shapes, I added some black ink splatters using my Black Blends marker before adhering my diecut. I used anothe Cecile trademark of a stitch of twine at the base of my leaf, along with a trio of enamel dots, to complete my card:

What do you think? I'm really quite please with the end output so I'm going to link up over at Inkspirational too, where they are also challenging us to watercolour this week. 

An Alternative Colourway - I liked my card so much, I decided I would have another go using the inspiration photo over at Just Add Ink too. I considered going in a different direction, given the distinctly autumnal feel of their photo, but I just couldn't bring myself to dig out my autumn leaves as we are just heading into summer on this side of the world! So I changed out my sentiment and chose a different diecut leaf and used the same layout for a second version. Here is the Just Add Ink inspo photo:

And here's my second card that was inspired by those warm, autumnal colours:

 

So what do you think of today's cards? Do you have a favourite? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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 are having a quiet day at home today before the James Juniors are back to school 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.

Artfully Layered CAS Slimline Birthday Card CCS462

by Joanne James22. March 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 Jeanne has asked that we create a slimline card with the following layout: 

     

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. I chose to use this week's colours over at Just Us Girls for my card - I love the soft green and pink combination, with the added warmth of vanilla. You might have thought this would draw me to florals, but no - today's card is all about the leaves - take a look:

 

I decided to have my first outing with the beautiful 'Artfully Layered' stamp set and create a cluster of leaves on the corner of my slimline card. The leaves are quite large, so I went with a standard sized slimline (9.5cm x 21cm). I stamped two leaves in Soft Succulent directly onto my card base, one of these going off the edge and for this one I created a stencil and added some some soft Blushing Bride pink ink over the top. To finish I added a layered diecut leaf and a simple birthday sentiment from the same set, along with a trio of three pink enamel dots.

I love the variation in detail of all three leaves:

I also used a few of the other stamps in the set to add a little extra detail to the inside of my card:

And of course the new Slimline Envelopes in the mini catalogue also come in Soft Succulent,  so I had the perfect ready-made envelope all set to go too - bonus!

The Artfully Layered bundle is a new acquisition for me, having been persuaded by all of the wonderful cards I've seen with it, especially those created by my wonderful friend Jan Clothier - you can check out here blog here if you would like to see some of the amazing creations she has made 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. 

Enjoy your day; It's only Tuesday and I am playing catch up already this week, having had my class day yesterday which is always busy. Add in an unscheduled hockey match today and the usual to-do list, piano lessons and the rest it is turning into a busy one! The sun is shining though and spirits are high, so I must get on. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

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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.