Nuts And Bolts Interactive Light-Up Valentine's Card PP577

by Joanne James6. February 2022 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 Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

          

Love and friendship is our theme this week and my card today is all heart (perfect for the hearts challenge over at Double D). I used the sketch layout over at Paper Craft Crew and decided to put into practice an idea I've been wanting to try with another Valentine's card using the awesome 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - take a look:

 

At first glance, my card is quite simple: some stamped tone-on-tone hearts on my pink layer, a square of heart-patterned Sweet Talk designer paper and a robot, coloured with my Smoky Slate and Real Red Stampin' Blends.

The best part about today's card though? It lights up! I used a simple circuit and a red LED to give my heart a fun Valentine's glow:

 

When you press the sentiment, it light up the heart - check it out on the video clip below:

This type of card is so easy to create - and the interactive element makes for a super-cute card, right?! I also used an offcut strip of paper and one of the other robots in the set to decorate the inside of my 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. 

I'm also linking today's card up for a second entry over at SUO Challenges where they are all about Valentine's Day for their current challenge.

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.

Abstract Beauty Yay For Love Valentine FF102

by Joanne James4. February 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 Valentine's Day which is on February 14th. 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 used pink, romantic sentiment, hearts, watercolour and aperture and this is what I came up with:

 

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

I decided to create a Valentine's card using a combination of both paper and pre-cut pieces from the Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack, based around the gold and white frame and watercoloured heart, layering them onto my cardfront until I was happy with the balance of elements. I added some black adhesive-backed hexagons and gold twine bow and finished my card with a fun sentiment from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' set, stamped in Magenta Madness to match my cardbase and fussy cut:

I added another sentiment from the same set and an offcut strip of paper to decorate the inside of my card to finish: 

I really like that this card with its modern, rather eclectic, feel - a change from the more traditional red and pink, hearts and flowers - although I still have some of those to share with you too! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us for Valentines-themed projects 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 '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 - you are here!

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.

Forever And Always Valentines Card CCS455

by Joanne James1. February 2022 13:00

This is my second post of today - to read all about the pre-release of skin-tone Blends and the exclusive 'All Together' bundle, please see my earlier post here.

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. YoonYoung is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

       

These colours are perfect for Valentine's so I dug out a bunch of my favourite retired Valentine's bits and pieces and along with the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch and some inspiration from my talented blog friend Kim Singdahlsen, I set to work! This is what I came up with:

 

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

I absolutely loved this card that Kim made for last week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge - isn't that stencilled background amazing?! I didn't have anything similar in my stash, but decided that the TSOT sketch was perfect for a trio of (retired Sweet & Sassy Framelits) diecut hearts in this week's challenge colours, so I made my own stencil from a retired Detailed Hearts Die and blended all three colours into the central background circle to bring the diecuts together. I added a diecut and stamped sentiment from another retired stamp and die set, 'Forever & Always' and the Always Dies to complete my card:

 

These will always be some of my most favourite Valentine's items - so timeless and therefore super useful! 

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

 

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

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

For The Record Valentine TTT146

by Joanne James27. January 2022 18:00

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

       

I went with the first column of pink/Valentine or heart/white for my card today and took the layout from Fusion (I made it horizontal to fit everything in0!) and red, pink and black from the 'cool winter love' colour palette over at Sunday Stamps and used some new papers and a new stamp set too - take a look:

 

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

For The Record - The 'For The Record' stamp set on page 74 of the mini catalogue is most definitely the star of today's card! With sentiments for a range of occasions, this set is sure to be a hit with vinyl collectors and music lovers alike and has a fun retro vibe! Both my record and sentiment come from this set.

Sweet Talk - I decided to go all-out with the sweet talking on today's card, not only with the fun sentiment but also this heart-filled background designer series paper that is from the Sweet Talk pack. 

Shimmer and Shine - The detail on this record is great and totally lends itself to being heat embossed, to show the ridges and grooves. I stamped and heat-embossed the heart at the centre of the record again in black on Real Red cardstock then fussy cut it out, then filled it with Shimmery Crystal Effects for added sparkle and shine:

 

This card is bold, bright and full of fun - perfect for the favourite song in your life!

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

 

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

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. Also, if you like this layout, spoiler alert - I used the same Fusion sketch as the starting point for tomorrow's card too for our new challenge over at As You See It - although that card couldn't be more different! Come back tomorrow to see my second take on this great layout.

Enjoy your evening; until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

Spirited Snowmen Love Never Melts

by Joanne James26. January 2022 20:56

Today I'm sharing a quick card that I made for a few current challenges:

         

I saw the badge over at Just Us Girls and that inspiration photo immediately reminded me of the retired stamp set 'Spirited Snowmen' so I dug it out and paired it with the Color Dare challenge colours for a sweet love-filled card:

 

Stamped, coloured and mounted using my Layered Squares dies, with some added clear Wink of Stella to make that heart shine:

 

No supplies list today as the stamp set is retired (I also used up some Tempting Turquoise card too!). I'm also linking up with TGIF Challenges and Global Design Project #GDP327 where both are asking for love-themed cards - it's clearly the season!!

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Nuts and Bolts Playful Alphabet Love Machine Valentines Card CCS451

by Joanne James4. January 2022 13:00

It's Tuesday and time for our first challenge of the year over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I have the pleasure of hosting you all this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

  

I chose some fresh pastels with a pop of bright poppy red for my palette this week. These colours can be used in lots of ways; for my card I decided to create with one of my favourite cute sets from the new Stampin' Up! January-June 2022 mini catalogue that launches today and went for a fun Valentine's card - take a look:

 

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

Playful Alphabet Pun - I created a fun, punny sentiment for the front of my card using my Playful Alphabet Dies, adding a popped-up stitched heart to the centre of my 'O' for a burst of colour and fun focal point. You may well be wondering where my Highland Heather is making a feature, since it doesn't feature on the front of today's card; that corner of my co-ordinating envelope gives you a clue... 

You Make My Heart Go Beep - ... yes it's on the inside! I chose the sentiment on the front of my card to co-ordinate with this cute little robot, complete with heart, from the new 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - a collection of fun little robots that you will definitely be seeing more of! I stamped him in the corner of my card and added a complimentary sentiment:

 

Isn't he just the sweetest?!

Tuesday Tip - Would you like to know how I got those letter dies so perfectly aligned on the front of my card? I have a great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

By becoming a member of my Facebook group you can be sure you will receive all of the news that I post to social media and more and you will be much more likely to see everything that I post when I post it, rather than it being lost in your social news feed. I look forward to seeing you there!

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

 

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

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Love Hearts Wreath Builder Pastel Valentine PP527

by Joanne James7. February 2021 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 fun theme challenge for you to work with:

       

I'm not generally into pale colours but I was really drawn to the pastels over at the Color Throwdown challenge this week, and was also inspired by their photo of those old-time Love Hearts sweets to make another Valentine card and create some love hearts of my own - take a look:

 

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

Today's card has no stamping at all! I decided to use a slimline card layout and create a layered square in each of the CTD challenge colours, using one each of a scallop-edged square, stitched square and a diecut heart from the Wreath Builder Die set. Each square is so simple, yet the detail of each of the diecut pieces is what makes this card so pretty:

A quartet of pastels that look good enough to eat! In additon to playing over at Color Throwdown, I'm also linking up over at Just Us Girls where their word this week is 'Valentine'. 

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've been decorating so am hoping to get a little more done today. Whilst the James Juniors are still hoping for snow, it's looking less and less likely. The arrival of the 'Beast From The East Mark Two' is threatening to push daytime temperatures below zero, so unless there's the opportunity to build a snowman, I'll be staying safely indoors! I'll be back tomorrow with another project using these colours. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

 

Interactive Valentine's Fun with Kangaroo and Company FMS469

by Joanne James25. January 2021 11:00

Today I'm sharing a card using Kim's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sletches this week:

I absolutely love Kim's sketch today; the minute I saw it I cam up with a ton of ideas for it (love it when that happens!) so don't be surprised when you see this layout on my blog again in the coming weeks! Today I'm breaking out more new things to make a card with a fun interactive element - take a look:

 

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

Hearts and Stitching - I thought the horizontal lines on today's card would be perfect to highlight the little row of diecut hearts and stitching that is another of the dies in one of my current favourites, the Floral Hearts Dies. I made my card base Poppy Parade red and my heart diecuts white, so that the hearts would then peek through in red. I love the simple detailing this die adds to a card; as an added bonus, you get all the little diecut hearts for confetti or as a shaker filler too - bonus!

Kangaroo & Company - The star of today's card though is the fun adult kangaroo from the Kangaroo & Company stamp set. This set contains a Mum, and a baby and young joey, along with lots of fun accessories and things to carry in her pouch, along with a wide range of greetings for birthday, baby or 'just because' cards. 

Interactive Fun - The cutest part of this bundle though is that the die that cuts out the large kangaroo also cuts a slit into the mama's pouch, ready for a greeting to be hidden inside. Since my card today was for Valentine's Day, I stamped the main greeting on the front of my card in black and masked off the word 'Hi!', then completed my greeting with a message attached to my bunch of hearts and hidden inside the pouch:

 

Tell me that is not just the cutest?! I made this card for young Master James, who whilst he now maskerades as a too-cool-for-school teenager, I know will just love the fun of this cute hidden message card, especially from his Mum!

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. 

Today's card is also my second entry for the love-themed challenge over at SUO Challenges - some lovely cards on display over there this week!

Enjoy your day. It is a beautiful, clear, bright and sunny day here in the UK today - there is still plenty of snow on the ground following yesterday's snowfall and it took all the James Juniors' willpower to log on and start school on time today, when another day of playing outside building yet another snowman seemed much more appealing, especially since one of them has to do online assessments this week in lieu of formal GCSE mock exams. Never mind - I am reliably informed there will be more snow next weekend, so I'm sure there will be more opportunities for snow fun. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card 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.

Red and White Heart Hello For TTT96

by Joanne James14. January 2021 17:00

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

 

Lots of love-related elements on this week's board, but you are by no means restricted to creating a Valentines/wedding/anniversary card - this is your opportunity to get creative! I couldn't resist another card using my Floral Heart Dies and the sentiment that made me buy the accompanying stamp set - take a look:

 

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

You Had Me At Hello - Any of my regular readers will know that the sentiment that features on the central heart that features on today's card is a line from one of my most favourite movies of all time - Jerry Maguire. If you'd like to read the back story to this, check out this previous post where I explained all. The Floral Hearts Dies were definitely on my wish list, but it was this stamp that sold me on the bundle. What can I say - I am an old romantic at heart!

Hearts and Flowers - Having stamped my sentiment in Real Red so that the wording would appear in white (I definitely recommend using your Stamparatus for this to give good, solid ink coverage), I decided to border it with the main die from the Floral Hearts Dies in white. This card is unashamedly made with Valentines in mind, with its red and white colour combination and showy red satin ribbon and bow detail, but sometimes it just has to be done!

And More Hearts - The background designer paper is now retired, but there is a similar design in the Snail Mail pack or you could even stamp a similar design with the tiny heart stamps in the Always in my Heart stamp set. I also added a trio of bright red resin hearts to my card to finish; these are actually from the Snail Mail Suite, but work perfectly for a Valentine's card and blend easily with other sets 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. 

I might keep this card for the DH, as he would certainly appreciate the sentiment, if not the fancy heart and showy bow. We don't generally send each other Valentine's cards since we got married, as our wedding anniversary is the following week, but it sometimes serves as a useful reminder to him to get a card for the following week - it is fair to say Mr James is not known for either remembering or celebrating memorable dates without a little help, much preferring spontaneous romantic gestures. Unexpected flowers are always lovely though, so I'm not complaining!

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'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.

XOXO Heart Shaker Card FMS420

by Joanne James3. February 2020 15:00

I had a little extra time at the weekend and managed to  squeeze in (or out!) a couple of extra cards that I've had buzzing around my head! The first one uses this week's sketch by Jen T over at Freshly Made Sketches which I adapted by using a heart shape instead of a circle to make a fun shaker card that is also inspired in colours and theme by this week's photo inspiration over at Inspired By and fits with the current Valentine's challenge at TGIF too:

      

My fellow Paper Player teamies the lovely LeAnne and Claire both design on the Inspired By team with Laurel Seabrook and whilst I follow these lovely ladies and the Inspired by blog, it's the first time I've managed to play along - yay! Here is my clean and graphic modern Valentine's: 

 

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

I made the shaker window aperture using the largest of the Stitched Be Mine Dies with some retired black and white heart-patterned paper to contrast with my bright Melon Mambo background. The shaker elements are a combination of hearts from another of the dies in the same die set, along with white, black and gold sequins and a few retired Melon Mambo heart-shaped sequins. I finished my card with an 'XOXO' diecut from the retired Circle Thinlit Card Die set in sparkly gold glimmer paper.

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 Jen's sketch and will definitely use this again as a circle - a super versatile layout!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back shortly with one of the cards from today's class. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

New Online Exclusives

There are new products available exclusively in the online store from 5 November - check them out here.

Latest Kits!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Perpetual Beauty Calendar Kit and Cherry Blossoms Treat Boxes Kit are the latest kits in the online store - get yours here!

Shop Online

Access my online shop 24 x 7, 365 days of the year:

Current December hostess code:

9NKXDTTR

Shop Online

Mini Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

'Tis The Season - the new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue is here! For more details and to download your copy click here

Scrapbooking

Stampin' Up! has introduced a new range of 12x12" scrapbooking product and kit - the full range is now available to purchase online. To download a copy of the new digital Scrapbooking Catalogue click here.

2024-25 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the image to download your copy of the 2024-25 annual catalogue. For a full list of current SU! supplies, go to my online store. If you would like any help or advice, please drop me a line at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or give me a call on 07773 421446 - I'd be happy to help.

Join My Team

It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! New team members can get £130 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! Stampin' Up! has something for everyone: join my growing team and benefit from my support to enjoy Stampin' Up! however you choose.

If you're interested, call me for a chat to understand how I can help you realise your goals. Alternatively, if you have already decided to sign up and you just can't wait, please click here for the link to the online form where you can sign up and order your starter kit right away! 

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!

Follow Me

Monthly Newsletter

Box Builder

Click the button above to use Box Buster to create your custom box design using the Envelope Punch Board!

Kits Collection Now Available!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The new Kits Collection from Stampin' Up! is now available!

Click here to see the current kits available and order yours online today.

I Design For

 

 

 

Stampin' Up Stuff

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.

DSP Special Release

Check out 3 popular designer series paper designs in fresh new colourways! Available exclusively in the online store from 3 December - check them out here

Last Chance Products

Last Chance Products will now be updated every other month - check them out here.