Today I'm sharing my entry for this week's Paper Craft Crew sketch challenge. Here is this week's challenge sketch:

I decided to use the nativity stamp from the Stapin' Up! 'Best of Christmas' stamp set. I haven't used this stamp before and think it's rather cute, however a few of my customers have avoided using this stamp as they see it as a children's stamp so I wanted to create a card using this stamp that had a more grown-up feel to it. This is what I came up with:

I used a Night of Navy card base, then stamped the image in gold metallic ink on Whisper White and matted it on squares of both navy and brushed gold. I highlighted the stars and heart with some gold glitter just to add a little extra sparkle, but otherwise left the image as stamped. Here's a close up of the stamped image so you can see the shimmer:

The layer beneath the image that runs across the card was made from a strip of navy cardstock embossed with the Print Poetry Embossing Folder with I then swiped the gold metallic ink pad across the surface to add some shine and pick up the detail of the embossed script. This was border was also matted with brushed gold cardstock and finally the sentiment was stamped in gold to finish.  I used the narrow label from the Circle Card Thinlits set for the label piece and finished with three Night of Navy candy dots to tone in with the rest of my card.

Whilst this stamp will always look a child's drawing, I think this card shows that with the right colour combination and layout the boundaries can be stretched a little. Why don't you pop over to the Paper Craft Crew's challenge page and have a look at the design team inspiration there and see what the other challenge entrants have come up with.

Back tomorrow with a project and another video tutorial using the Envelope Punch Board; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Another lovely day today, despite the miserable grey weather. I spent the morning at the swimming pool watching Rebecca train, followed by piano practice for both James Juniors, then lunch, more swaps for convention, a trip to the garden centre and then an hour or so in the garden planting some late winter baskets and pots and refilling our bird feeders - we are even more keen to look after our feathered friends this winter, as we have a new blue tit who seems to have made his home in our bird box and uses it every night to sleep in.

So, on to today's card! Yesterday was my nephew's birthday. He is now 11 years old (where did that time go?!) and another football-mad boy. Having just recently acquired a hexagon punch, I was keen to have a go at making a football as I've seen lots of cards like this on Pinterest. I was so pleased with the result I decided to make it into a shaped card using the largest of the circle framelits:

I simply punched the black and white hexagons and stuck them in a pattern onto Gumball Green card, then cut this out with a circle framelit and mounted it on the largest circle framelit, having cut this one by folding the card and cutting out just above the edge of the circle to create a hinge. A simply sentiment from the hostess set 'Express Yourself', some linen thread and done. Another simple yet effective card, with a definite masculine feel.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Yay - it's the weekend! I've been busy doing homework and more convention swaps today, along with other lovely items for my convention friends, all of which I will share with you another time ... because today I'm going to show you the easiest ever way to make Christmas Crackers using the new Stampin' Up! Envelope Punch Board! Not just pictures, but a video too. The new envelope punch board from Stampin' Up! has been hugely popular as lots of my customers will testify and it really is a versatile piece of kit. As I mentioned in a previous post, the board can be used not only to make envelopes, but also boxes in a variety of shapes and sizes and other 3D items such as crackers.

As we are fast approaching the start of the festive season, what better than to make some lovely Christmas crackers to decorate your Christmas tree, as table favours for the festive table or even to house a couple of chocolates as a little gift for someone special? Here are the ones I make in my video, along with a picture of some other ones that I've made:

I've seen lots of videos and tutorials on how to make them in a variety of sizes and styles, but if you want to make lots I think by far the easiest way is to use the current Designer Series Paper Stacks in the seasonal catalogue as your starting point: each sheet measures 4.5"x6.5" so it makes the score measurements really easy: 1", 2", 3" and 4" on the short side, and 1", 1.5", 2", 4.5", 5" and 5"5 on the long side. Simply score, punch stick and done - you can make a cracker in just a couple of minutes. Add a minute or two more to add some decoration and you could be mass producing these in no time. If you don't use the paper stacks, any designer paper cut to the basic measurement will do; I would avoid using solid colour standard cardstock as this is much thicker and whilst your envelope punch board will punch through a double thickness of cardstock, it is quite hard work and you risk damaging your punch and board as it isn't really designed with this in mind.

In my video, I also show a boxed set of crackers that I made using the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack - here is the photo again:

This box set would make a lovely gift for someone - if you would like to make a box for your crackers, the dimensions you will need are as follows:

Box Base: Sheet of cardstock (I used Bermuda Bay) 8 1/4" x 8 1/2". Score at 1 1/8" and 7 1/8" across the short side, then rotate through 90 degrees and score at 1 1/8" and 7 3/8" on the long side.

Box lid: Acetate window sheet size 8 1/4" x 8 1/2". Create a shim for your score board using an offcut of window sheet, then with your shim in place, score the lid to the same dimensions as the base above (1 1/8" and 7 1/8" across the short side, 1 1/8" and 7 3/8" on the long side). This will ensure your box lid fits snugly.

I then decorated my box with some embossed die cut snowflakes using the Festive Flurry Stamp Set and Framelits, Bermuda Bay ribbon and a Frosted Finishes embellishment.

So without further ado, grab your paper stack and watch my video tutorial and start making your Christmas crackers today!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

No blog post yesterday as I spent the day preparing swaps for convention next week and went out last night for a pre-Christmas get-together with some of the ladies from my monthly card classes. We had a great time - they really are such fun! Today I'm sharing with you the card and notebook that I made to welcome Kim, the most recent member of my team. I decided to use the Modern Medley designer series paper as the basis for my set, which is something of a departure for me as I don't usually work in just black and white (or in this case, vanilla). So here's my set:

I used a couple of the stamps in the Chalk Talk set as the focal point and kept the design simple with just some ribbon and button accents. here's a close up of the book cover:

And here's the co-ordinating card, with seam binding ribbon and bow, rather than naturals ribbon:

I really like this set, even with the absence of colour - nice for a change! More importantly, Kim liked it too, which is really the main thing. Welcome gifts are just one of the many benefits of joining my team; if you are reading this and would like to know more about how to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and all the benefits that becoming a member of my team has to offer, then email me at joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or contact me on 07773 421446 for an informal chat today.

Back tomorrow with a great project and easy to follow video tutorial; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A quick post from me today, to share a card I made earlier in the week. The sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches last week really appealed to me, however whilst I had a few rather obvious ideas as to how I could use it (an ornament, a snowflake) I wanted something really unusual. So here is the sketch:

So here's what I did with the sketch:

I figured it really looked like it could be part of a santa suit, but for a santa who's eaten one too many mince pies, as his belt doesn't quite do up around his middle! The sparkly glimmer paper buckle adds some lovely 'bling' and a simple white embossed 'Merry Christmas' sentiment for the finishing touch.

I was too late to link this card up to the challenge, but I'm really happy with my final output.

Come back tomorrow for another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

An earlier post than usual from me today, as I am out at school this evening to discuss 'wins and learns' from the weekend's bonfire and fireworks evening, which was a huge success. As promised, today's creative post is a very festive Christmas card created using the current Paper Craft Crew Challenge sketch as my inspiration. Here is the challenge sketch:

I haven't made a banner card for a while, so thought I would take the opportunity to create a festive one. Here's my card:

I chose Real Red, Whisper White and Gumball Green for my festive creation and whilst I followed the layered style of the sketch, I chose to change the shape of my card and create a long, slim card (for which I created a bespoke envelope with my new envelope punch board!). I also incorporated my sentiment into my banner, rather than across the bottom of my card - I haven't used the Occasions Alphabet before, but it seemed perfect for a flagged banner here. My Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelit set enabled this card to come together easily.

Hop on over to the PCC Challenge page here to see what the Design team and other participants did with the sketch - there are some great creative inspirations to enjoy.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today is Digital Download Tuesday so I'm doing a quick digital-focused post with a link to both this week's and last week's weekly digital downloads (I forgot to post last week's links with all of the Digital Scrapbooking Days offers going on):

If you look at this week's downloads, you will see a new and exciting development for those of us new to MDS - online project classes! Three have been added to the store today, with a new class to be added on every last Tuesday of the month. These classes will vary in price depending on what is included in the accompanying brushsets and they are great as a means to learn both beginner and more advanced techniques. Here's a quick look at the brushsets for the first three classes to be released - click on the images for more information:

Theses video classes are not meant as a replacement for the many technique-based videos available free of charge at MyDigitalStudio.net, rather they will supplement these. Instead of focusing on one technique only they will cover a number of different aspects through the creation of a variety of projects. To access these classes, you simply purchase via my online store then download your file and log into MDS as usual.

Lastly, follow the link from my Facebook page (it would be great if you 'liked' my page first if you haven't already!) or go directly to the My Digital Studio Facebook page here and enter the competition to win the November bonus class absolutely free!

Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy digital stampin'!

Evening folks! I'm back following a couple of blog-free days. It's been a busy weekend, starting Friday evening with Billy Joel in concert (hands down one of the best gigs I've ever attended!) and followed by the annual bonfire and fireworks display on Saturday night (also good, so I'm told, but as I was busy working serving hot dogs I didn't get to see much of it myself). Yesterday was more of a day of catching up, rather than a day of rest, and today we're back to it!

Today's card has a story behind it; I haven't done one of these for a while, but this is one I want to share. So firstly, here is the card:

Classically simple; I made the card to say thank you to the salesman who sold us our new car - any guesses as to which brand? So here is the story! We were looking to trade in our Land Rover, having owned two and deciding that even a change in ownership of Hartwell, our local dealer, hadn't improved the shocking after sales service provided there so buying a third one was definitely not an option. Buying a car should be a pleasurable experience, right? I have to say, after trudging round our local showrooms one Saturday recently, I was seriously beginning to wonder. I was genuinely amazed at the number of car salesmen, and women, who either ignore the potential customers walking into their store or were frankly just not interested in assisting with specific requests for brochures or more information. We visited Volkswagen, Mercedes and Ford dealerships amongst others and we were utterly underwhelmed in each. There were two garages who offered exceptional assistance and service: one was Nissan. Whilst they didn't have a car that met our main car requirements, they were very helpful, so much so that when our second car reaches its anniversary we are now seriously considering trading it in for the new Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle - and I never thought I'd hear myself say that!

The second one was Audi. We almost didn't visit, given the reception received elsewhere that day, as we had no real designs on owing an Audi and we rather fed up with the whole thing. yet the minute we walked through the door and were greeted by Seb, all that changed. We were introduced to Douglas, one of the sales managers and from there on in the experience was just how I imagined it should be. He worked with us to identify the vehicle most suited to our requirements and arranged a variety of test drives. We eventually purchased a car feeling as if we had done something special and very much that we had been helped to buy the right car for us rather than being sold a car - a subtle, but important, difference. I'm told that sales at the Audi Northampton dealership are outperforming those of rival dealers in the area; based on the service we experienced, it's not difficult to see why. As a thank you to Douglas, I designed the above card, completely with interlocking Audi rings on a brushed silver and Pacific Point blue background, to echo the colours of our new purchase.

We are quick to share the stories of poor service and sales experiences (go back to the start of this post for some of mine!) yet we do not always go to the same lengths to share the good news stories. Well, this card is as a result of one of mine, so if you're reading this and in the market for a new car, now or in the future, what can I say - you could do a lot worse than visit Northampton Audi - in case you couldn't already tell, I'm their newest fan!

Back tomorrow with a Christmas card for this week's Paper Craft Crew sketch challenge; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

I hope you've all been enjoying Digital Scrapbooking Days this past week Daydream scrapbook kit:

Once again, check out today's post at MyDigitalStudio.net to see what the MDS designers have created using this kit. Lastly, if you missed any of this week's daily deals, you are in luck: for today only, each of the offers of the last 8 days is available again today! Just click on the images below to go to my online store to download your copies.

As promised, today's creative post features another of this month's class cards and also uses the Snow Day stamp set that I featured earlier in the week, but this time there's not a snowman in sight! Take a look at the card to see what I mean:

I cased the idea for this card from one made by Monica Gale (you can see her original card here), although mine looks quite different to hers I think with a much richer colour palette. The 'warm wishes' sentiment becomes a garland here, with the accessory pieces from this stamp set hanging from it; the only other thing that's needed is a fireplace!

I also did a reverse-coloured version of this card, with a seam binding ribbon bow:

Which one do you prefer? I'm favouring the clean lines of the first one, but like the second one too. Either way, it's always nice to be able to use one stamp set in a variety of different ways and I think this stamp set is more versatile than you might think at first glance. I have a few other ideas up my sleeve too, so check back for future posts on other ways you can use this fun set.

I have a jam-packed couple of days ahead, starting with the excitement tomorrow of a night out to hear Billy Joel in concert. I've always wanted to hear him sing live, so I'm very much looking forward to it. Before I go though, I will be back with the last of the Digital Scrapbooking Days 50% off offers and another creative post; until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: