Today I'm sharing the first of the cards from my recent technique class featuring the Moroccan Suite of products. Each of the ladies received a share of the products in the suite - designer series papers, ribbon and twine as well as the Moroccan Nights stamp set and the aim was to create a trio of cards that showcased each of the elements.

My first card was a CASE (Copy and Share Everything) of one of the samples on page 66 of the annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Lantern Trio - The trio of lanterns on the die cut circle are each from the Moroccan Nights stamp set. The intricate detail on each of the stamps means that they don't need any special treatment - they can just be stamped in a single colour and are really effective, individually or when clustered as they are here. I stamped the outer two lanterns first, then the middle one last - this ensures even spacing and that you fit them all onto your diecut circle.

Moroccan Mosaic - The Moroccan Designer Series Paper has a wonderful collection of traditional Moroccan patterns, both in terms of colour and mosaic style - they are very reminiscent of the patterns I saw when I visited Marrakesh a few years ago. They work well both as background papers and as a feature in themselves. This card uses a full size piece with a neutral pattern for the card base and a panel in a bright blue diamond design on the centre of the card.

Washi Tape Wonder - One of the things I love about this card is the way it uses washi tape to add additional dimension to the paper pattern. Blue Moroccan Designer Washi Tape has been wrapped around the top third of the blue-patterned DSP panel to add yet more pattern and interest. My customers are always asking me for suggestions as to how they can use their washi tape and this idea works well where the products are part of a co-ordinating suite.

The addition of some gold metallic foil doily, Delightful Dijon mini striped ribbon and Emerald Envy twine completes this 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Moroccan Nights Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Moroccan Designer Series Paper	Moroccan Designer Washi Tape	Delightful Dijon 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Mini Striped Ribbon	Emerald Envy Solid Baker's Twine
Moroccan A4 Cardstock	Metallic Foil Doilies	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Delightful Dijion Classic Stampin' Pad
Confetti Celebration Clear-Mount Stamp Set

I've been enjoying a nice couple of days of rest and relaxation but today am back to it from my sun lounger! I have a nice and easy Foxy Friends card for you, featuring the cute fox! Take a look:

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

Take One Fox - I stamped the fox in Calypso Coral directly onto a circle of Whisper White, then stamped his head again onto a piece of scrap paper, punched it out and popped it over the main image on dimensionals. 

Spots and Chevrons - I paired the fox with a couple of pieces of patterned paper: the chevron pattern is from the A Little Foxy DSP Stack and the polka dot banner from the Subtles stack (my paper is actually the old design as I was using up some of my stash, but there is an almost identical pattern in the current Subtles DSP stack - the dots are just slightly bigger).

Add A Happy Hello - I finished my card with a sentiment from one of my 'go to' sentiment sets, Tin of Cards, stamped in Archival Black. I love the sentiments in this set - the font seems to go with everything and they are a great size for most cards.

I also added a piece of retired Basic Grey stitched ribbon, as this was all that I had to hand when I made this card; the new Smoky Slate stitched Ribbon would work beautifully for this card though - I've included the link for this in the supplies table below.

This is the card that I made at my last Coffee and Card session at Bell of Northampton before we broke up for the summer and this little chap proved very popular. The Foxy Friends bundle just has so many creative possibilities! If you haven't bought yours yet, this month would be the perfect time to do so; if you purchase the bundle and a pack of the 'A Little Foxy' Designer Series Paper Stack together you will have spent £45 and so you will earn yourself a £4.50 money-off coupon any purchases next month too - bargain! Just click on the links below to hop on over to my online store to order yours today - and don't forget to add this month's hostess code 63RNATE3 to get a little thank you in the post from me 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Foxy Friends Photopolymer Bundle	A Little Foxy Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Smoky Slate 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Stitched Ribbon	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our fearless leader the awesome Nance to host this week and she has a colour challenge for us to play along with:

For my card this week I decided to use this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch and took my inspiration from the Blooms and Bliss suite to create my card today:

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

Blooms and Bliss Colour Combo - The trio of colours chosen by Nance for today's challenge all appear in the Blooms and Bliss Suite and in particular the designer series paper of the same name, so I was drawn here for the starting point for today's card. Having ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the whimsical floral patterned papers, I eventually settled upon this rather bold, mostly Island Indigo, patterned paper for the base of my card. This pattern is great for a background as it doesn't interfere with the detail of the focal image and the watercolour-like flecking adds a softness to this otherwise strong colour.

Blooms and Wishes - I decided to create a randomly stamped floral panel as the focal point for my card, featuring each of the challenge colours and using the co-ordinating Blooms & Wishes stamp set to create an almost watercoloured effect. I used a combination of both first and second generation stamping for each of the colours to add depth and overlapped the flowers slightly too. This is the only place where there is any Sweet Sugarplum on my card, yet it performs an important role: without it the card would be perfectly co-ordinated, but rather flat. The addition of the warm lilac tones prevents this card from being too 'cold' and clinical I think. I finished with my sentiment stamped in Island Indigo onto Mint Macaron cardstock, for an additional burst of strong colour.

A Simple Oval - I don't use ovals all that often on my cards, but since the sketch asked for one here I thought I would follow it literally and do think it makes a pleasant change from squares or circles and is the perfect shape for my florals. I left it frameless to enable the white to really stand out against the background and added nothing more than a few pearls for a subtle embellishment. 

The Blooms and Bliss suite is such a pretty set of co-ordinating products, with plenty of scope for artistic expression.

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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with Nance's colour combination this week.

I am looking forward to a day of rest and relaxation in the sun today and some quality family time. Back in the next day or so with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Blooms & Wishes Photopolymer Stamps	Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper	Pearl Basic Jewels	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

I initially was drawn to the lovely Fruit Stand designer series paper to make today's card, but when I'd finished my card decided it didn't have enough Cucumber Crush so decided to take a different approach. I will share my Fruit Stand card another day, but for now this is the card I came up with:

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

Swirly Bird Scribble Flowers - I've been longing to use my Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribbles Framelits to create a modern floral card and today's bright and fresh colour combination provided the perfect opportunity. I stamped the bases in Peekaboo Peach and used the Scribbles in Tangerine Tango for a real pop of juicy colour. The Cucumber Crush provides wonderfully bright leaves and I added a few enamel dots too here and there.

Playful Palette Border - The hatched pattern from the Playful Palette DSP stack comes in both pink and Peekabooo Peach and it provided the perfect border for my card. I added a strip of Customer Crush to the stamped panel too for definition and contrast.

Thank You Tin of Cards - The sentiments in the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set are some of my 'go to' sentiments, I love the size and style of the scripting so much. Thank you Stampin' Up! for keeping this set, even though the Tin of Cards kit has had a refresh and makeover and now has a new set that co-ordinates with it. 

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Happy hump day one and all! Today as promised I have this year's teacher thank you cards to share with you. Both of the James Juniors are moving schools at the end of this term so it feels like there are even more people to thank thank usual. Coupled with the fact that terms ends this week and we have all had packed social calendars, a seriously CAS card capable of mass production was the order of the day! Those of you that follow my blog will know that I generally like to send school thank you cards that are school/teacher themed, so they will often feature school imagery or apples - I don't know if it's just me, but I still think that the 'apple for a teacher' thing holds true!

Here is my final design: 

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

Clean and Simple - This card is literally all about the white space! I used Whisper White Extra Thick cardstock for my base and used one simple image - the apple tree - alongside my sentiment to serve as a focal point. I added Cucumber Crush thick baker's twine to one of the cards, but didn't add it to the remainder as it was too much for my ultra clean and simple look.

Swirly Scribbles Meets Tree Builder - I could have created my tree using the Tree Builder Punch in its entirety, but I love the stylised look you get when you switch out the leaves for a Swirly Scribble diecut. I actually used two pieces from the this framelit set: the round Cucumber Crush circle is the inner piece from the large swirly scribble, and the darker Garden Green is the smaller swirly scribble die cut. So don't throw away those middles of the larger scribbles diecut - they have their uses too!

Helping Me Grow - My two-tone sentiment comes from the 'Helping Me Grow' stamp set, which as much as I love the flowers in this set, I must confess I bought it for this sentiment primarily; is there anything more fitting to put on a teacher appreciation 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies	Tree Builder Punch	Helping Me Grow Photopolymer Stamp Set	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Chocolate Chip A4 Cardstock

I've had a busy day today with my 'Jar of Love' technique class this morning and a wonderful afternoon of Project Life memory keeping. I made a quick card yesterday for a couple of challenges that I wanted to share with you today:

I loved this sketch over at Paper Craft Crew and was attracted to the red and white theme over at As You See It, although I don't have a Canadian card I'm afraid! I've been keen to ink up the cute ladybird pair from the hostess set 'Love You Lots' so that was straight where I headed for today's card: 

Here's the low-down on the detail:

Thank You, Friend - This adorable ladybird pair comes in one of the new hostess sets in the annual catalogue called 'Love You Lots'. This is such a fun set with a fun frog, cute pair of hedgehogs, and an adorable elephant and mouse in addition to this spotted pair and is exclusively available to anyone who hosts a Stampin' Up! party or places a single order of £150 or more. I stamped my ladybirds in black and coloured them with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker and added my simple sentiment.

Faux Washi Tape Border - I used the striped stamp from Gorgeous Grunge that I used on my Jar of Blooms card yesterday (you can see that card here if you missed it) to create a border along the top of the central panel; I think it looks like washi tape, which would of course be a good alternative if you don't have this set. I added some white baker's twine, a red button and a tiny banner to finish this edge.

Paper With Meaning - For my background frame, I decided to use the scripted paper from the Brights designer series paper stack. I love this paper but as it's so busy I tend to use it with caution. The clean and simple central panel and the overall sentiment of my card made this paper a good choice here.

This card and a couple more just like it are headed to Rebecca's friends this week; I haven't made a monochromatic card in a while and this one is really fun.

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'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Love You Lots Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Gorgeous Grunge Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Happy Monday everyone! I hope yours was a good one; I had a very early class today, followed by school sports day for the James Juniors, the bad weather having caused it to be postponed from last week. Today was beautifully sunny though and there was some great sporting action out on the field. Back to a late blog post though as a result!

Whilst finishing up the preparations for my classes this week on Saturday I managed to sneak in an extra card too, using this week's Colour Q colours (or their closest current equivalents):

One of my classes this week features the Jar of Love stamp set, and I've been having so much fun stamping and cutting out the flowers that I decided to make another card with it - take a look:

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

Jar of Blooms - The 'Jar of Love' set has a trio of jars, each a different size, with so many content options. My jar today is a vase filled with a mix of blue and orange blooms, stamped off first for the base layer of colour to allow for contrast - and cut out easily using my Big Shot and co-ordinating Everyday Jars Framelits Dies. There are also a host of co-ordinating sentiments. I've used the retro-styled 'thanks' on my card today, heat embossed in white onto Night of Navy cardstock.

Gorgeous Grunge Border - I used the striped stamp in the Gorgeous Grunge set for my border, stamped in Pumpkin Pie for a bright pop of orange.

Soften With Vellum - I stamped my jar, water and leaf stems directly onto my Whisper White cardstock. To soften the appearance of my glass jar, I used my framelits to cut a jar out of vellum and adhered it over the top, adding some Night of Navy twine around the neck of the jar and finishing with a bow.

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'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Jar Of Love Photopolymer Bundle	Gorgeous Grunge Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Solid Baker's Twine	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad
Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool (Uk)

It's been a busy week with blogging every other day I'm afraid as there is just so much happening in the James household. Rebecca gave a sterling performance as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz on Thursday and whilst Friday evening was a relatively quiet one, I did not manage a post! Yesterday I did manage to finish my preparations for next week's classes and make a few more cards, so onwards and upwards as the saying goes! 

Today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Sandy to host this week and she has a festive themed challenge for us to play along with:

Christmas in July - now that is what I call organised! For my card this week I decided to use my Foxy Friends bundle again - this time to create a cute reindeer for my Christmas card. I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Color Throwdown colour palette for my creation:

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

A Little Foxy Festive Reindeer - As I mentioned last week, the 'Foxy Friends' stamp set makes all kinds of cute baby critters and woodland animals - including a festive reindeer. Aren't those little antlers just adorable?

Lots of Labels - I decided to frame my stamped reindeer with a double mat in Real Red and Chocolate Chip using the Lots of Labels framelits. These framelits are great for layering and create a little more interest than a standard rectangle.

Red-Nosed Rudolf - I have used a number of retired products on my card today: the red button, the circle framelits to cut the background circle and the paper that I used for it (it's so vintage I don't even remember its name!) but since the background paper has a lovely glittery red polka dot pattern, I decided I did need to use one of my new favourite embellishments to finish my card in style: a Real Red Enamel Shape circle - the perfect finishing touch for my reindeer's nose!

I just love the versatility of this stamp set; that coupled with my first Christmas card of the year I think makes this a worthy 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 '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:

I look forward to seeing your Christmas creations in the gallery this week.

It is another big day in the James household today: Ben was selected for the Northamptonshire county allstars under-10s basketball team and he has his first match against Oxfordshire this afternoon. It's a big deal as he is one of only 12 children selected across the whole of the county - and we are all going to cheer him on for his match. Wish him luck!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Foxy Friends Photopolymer Stamp Set	Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies	Banner Triple Punch	Brights Enamel Shapes	Chocolate Chip A4 Cardstock
Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	So Saffron A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

For my card today I decided to go with a classically elegant wedding/anniversary card using the new Floral Phrases stamp set that is part of the Floral Boutique suite:

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

Hand Painted Florals - The stamps in the Floral Phrases set, just like the co-ordinating Floral Boutique designer papers, have the appearance of hand painted images when stamped, with gradations in colour for artistic effect. They also include a beautiful script and some heartfelt sentiments - I included the one in my card in the thumbnail above.

Not Quite Mirrored - I stamped the floral image then rotated it through 180 degrees and stamped it again to give me my focal point. The images are not a mirror image of each other, yet combining the two images in this way does create a seamless focal point, with the join covered by my sentiment banner. 

A Classic Colour Combination - Navy and white is a classic colour combination that features throughout the Floral Boutique suite. I wound some Night of Navy solid baker's twine around my card behind my banner and added a strip of gold sequins to add a little extra sparkle to my otherwise monochromatic card.

Today's card is a nice easy one to re-create and perfect for a summer wedding - why not have a go yourself?

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

We have a big day today: it's finally time for The Wizard of Oz and Rebecca's performance of the Dorothy. She has four performances today, so I'm wishing her well - I'll report back in full tomorrow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good morning lovely readers! I have a nice early post today, as I have a busy day ahead and managed amongst all my cooking and cleaning yesterday to make my card for today too. I decided to go with the sketch over at Pals Paper Arts today - such inspiring design team samples too:

I decided to showcase another of the patterns in my favourite designer series paper pack, Affectionately Yours. Today's post comes with a warning: you might need sunglasses to view today's card, it is rather bright!!

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

Just Beecause - I love a good play on words, so the 'Pun Intended' exclusive hostess set is perfect for me. Today I used the bee from this set and stamped him twice each time, once onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and once onto vellum. I fussy cut both pieces and attached the vellum wings to the yellow bodies, for a realistic feel. I then paired him with one of the two bee-related sentiments in this set - how fun!

Layering Squares - Each of my bees is grounded by a triple layered square, all cut using the new Layering Squares framelits. This helps them stand out from my busy background paper, whilst also following the sketch and uses my base colours, taken from the Affectionately Yours paper:

Add A Wink - I brushed my bees wings with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. Difficult to see in the photo (the thumbnail at the top of the post is the best opportunity) but I can assure you adds such a pretty sparkle in real 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day; I'm off to prize giving awards ceremony at school this afternoon. Rebecca is making her final speech as outgoing Head Girl so I'm taking some tissues as I'm sure there will be a tear or two! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper	Pun Intended Photopolymer Stamp Set	Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush