So, as promised, a creative post at last today! I've been busy this weekend preparing for next week's Christmas card classes, so I have lots to share with you this week, including a couple of videos. Today's card is another made with the circle thinlits card and I'm just in time to link up with this week's Merry Monday Challenge over at Always Playing With Paper, where this week's challenge is to make a Christmas card featuring Santa:

My very first thinlit card was using the 'Best of Christmas' santa, but today I thought I would go for something a little different and so am using the cute santa from the 'Colour Me Christmas' stamp set. Here's my card:

I used a bright red and white colour scheme and coloured my santa with my Stampin' Write markers to give a bold finish. I then cut out my stamped image using the scalloped circle framelit from the thinlit set, which I layered on an offset red scalloped circle for interest. I also used the mini-chevron framelit to create a border edge to my card and finished with a button and some ribbon, and added some Dazzling Diamonds to the trim on santa's hat and coat with the aid of my two-way glue pen just to give a little added sparkle. Well, it is a Christmas card after all!

I hope you like my card; do pop over to the Merry Monday page and see what the designers and other participants have come up with on this theme. Back tomorrow with a card and video for you, as well as a quick post with the digital deal of the day. I also have my first Christmas card class of the week tomorrow, which I'm very much looking forward to and a trip to the cash & carry in readiness for our school bonfire and fireworks display next weekend: a packed day in store, but with the children back at school tomorrow following their half-term break that will be one less thing to think about! Until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

A late post from me today and it was supposed to be all about Halloween, but as I'm behind this week and the current Paper Players challenge ends tomorrow, I need to have a switch around so that I can link up today's card. This week's challenge over at The Paper Players is a sketch by the lovely Ann Marie - here it is:

I love sketch challenges as you know and I've actually used this layout for several card designs this week (still in the making and not blogged yet, in case you're thinking you haven't seen them!) The card that I'm going to link up though is the one that is most 'true to sketch' and is actually the birthday card I designed for my Mum - here it is:

Now it's not my Mum's birthday until Saturday, so I'm taking a chance here, but as she rarely looks at my blog I think I'm safe! I took the inspiration for my colour scheme from some of the papers in the Afternoon Picnic DSP stack and it was an opportunity to use a colour that I rarely do: Wisteria Wonder. I actually had some out on my desk as I've been using it for another project recently, but must confess it's a colour I don't find myself drawn to. I love the idea of lilac, but I find too much Wisteria Wonder rather overpowering. Here I've tried to temper that by using a Very Vanilla background and making good use of Pear Pizzazz, the other main colour in the patterned paper. I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour the flower from the 'Oh Hello' stamp set, which so looks like the flowers that you see in this paper stack and I used an embossed strip across the centre of my card because whilst I think it would have looked nice with a strip of chevron ribbon, I wanted it to be post-friendly and I like the way the embossed dots again echo the pattern of the paper.

So that's my card. I may well share some of today's Halloween makes with you tomorrow (call it early planning for next year!) Whilst I don't tend to go in for Halloween cards and as my regular readers will know, I haven't featured a single Halloween project, one of the things that is really big in the James household is pumpkin carving. Each year we try to grow our own pumpkins in the garden and this year we managed to grow four, two of which were the biggest ever! Our record breaking pumpkin was 1.38m in circumference and weighed 17.9kg - only 2kg lighter than my 6 year old son!!! The children and I spent the happiest of days today carving all four of our pumpkins, so I thought I should share some pictures with you:

 This is Rebecca's pumpkin, that she carved herself:

This is Ben's pumpkin, that he too managed himself for the first time this year:

And lastly here are both Ben and Rebecca, with our two 'monster' pumpkins, the largest of which was big enough for a double Monsters University-inspired carving:

Not a piece of cardstock in sight, but very creative, nonetheless! I'll be back tomorrow with another project, meanwhile why not pop over to The Paper Players and see what the designers and other participants have done with the above sketch? Until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today's blog post is a late one as I've been out this evening and had a reasonably hectic day and didn't get a chance to do it beforehand. I used sketch #64 over at Paper Craft Crew Challenges as the basis for this card and I'm just in time to sneak in a link up, so thought I'd better get typing! I had a commission card request for a female birthday card that featured netball. Whilst I knew the basketball stamp in 'Great Sport' would make the perfect netball, I was wondering how I was going to pull it all together. I decided to use the PPCC sketch this week as the basis for my design layout. Here's the sketch inspiration:

So, sunglasses at the ready - here is my interpretation:

The card is very orange, but having played around with various other colour combinations this really did seem to work best (and luckily, the recipient loves the colour orange!) Any of the colours I would ordinarily have paired with Tangerine Tango made the card look too masculine and really didn't work. I did use some Real Red as an accent colour and a little Basic Grey. Wondering how I created the netball hoop and net? I simply used my large oval punch to cut some thin strips of cardstock and adhered them to each other in a weave pattern.

And the moral of the story? Orange is for all cards, not just Halloween ones! Pop over to the Paper Craft Crew Challenge page and see how the designers and other participants have interpreted this week's sketch.

Back tomorrow with news of more great offers from Stampin' Up; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Today I have something a little different for me and for you: a card created using My Digital Studio. I have been using it more and more lately, not as a substitute for my more traditional cards, but as a useful addition to my crafting repertoire. I decided that I would create the thank you cards that went out with the last batch of my customer orders using MDS to show just how easy it is to create a simple card. Here is my finished card:

I decided upon a simple design and used only elements that come with the standard MDS offering. I chose Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Midnight Muse and Whisper White as my colours and chose a snowflake-type shape as I really am all about Christmas at the moment! I used a light drop shadow on my Thank You sentiment, just to give it some dimension and lift and I even added rhinestones; you could of course add the real thing post-print, but I wanted to show my customers what they could achieve with just some Whisper White cardstock, MDS and their imagination.

I'm quite pleased with the result, not least because it took no time at all to create and once done I could print sheets of them at a time - so much quicker than hand stamping and great if you need to produce a lot of cards and are short on time. Some of my customers have been having great results with MDS with several of them printing their own DSP to make traditional cards and also some lovely hybrid examples. I keep forgetting to take my camera whenever we have card class so end up without pictures that I can share with you. I've left a reminder in my calendar for next week's classes though, so hopefully I'll get better! If you haven't already downloaded a copy of My Digital Studio, I can thoroughly recommend it; just click on the picture icon below and start creating.

Well, we survived the stormy weather here in the UK today, although many have not been as lucky. A friend of mine had two enormous trees uprooted in her garden and my brother-in-law had something of a challenging journey into and out of the city today due to the chaotic transport situation. We stayed indoors for much of the day, venturing out only for a spot of lunch and for Ben to shoot hoops (not a day goes by when this doesn't happen!) I for one am thankful for the lovely new front door we had fitted at the James residence last week, which is doing an excellent job of keeping the drafts out.

Back tomorrow with a very bright birthday card (sunglasses required!); until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

We have had a lovely day today; we've stayed indoors out of the howling winds and had some family over for Sunday lunch. It's been lovely to spend time with my brother- and sister-in-law, nephew and niece, as we don't do it nearly often enough with the busy lives we all lead.

As promised, I have another Thinlit card for you today, this time with a Mosaic Madness bauble design - take a look:

I created a simple 'layered' bauble using a circle punch and the mosaic punch, then layering by raising the outer circle on dimensionals and creating a ribbon hanger. Here's a close-up of my bauble:

For a greeting on this card, I used a pair of sentiments from the 'Petite Pairs' stamp set, stamping one half on a layered label on the front of the card and the other half on the reverse of the flipped circle:

Lastly, are you wondering what punches I used for my raised sentiment label on the front of my card? Here's a closer look:

No, it's not a new label punch or two, I actually used my Mosaic Punch to create them! I'm all for making your tools work harder for you and this punch is great for creating labels as well as straight forward mosaic shapes. I shot a short video to show you how to make these labels; I actually made it a while ago, but didn't make a card to go with it, so haven't shared it until now. This also explains why the stamped pieces I used in the video are not the actual ones you see on today's card. If you're feeling confused, just watch the video - it will all make sense! Here's the link:

Just to recap on the measurements in the video: I recommend the narrow label is a maximum of 1.5cm in width, and the wider label 3.0cm in width. Either label can be of any length. I hope you found the video tutorial useful.

Lastly, don't forget, you have only until 11pm tomorrow night to order any of the 25 stamp sets that are 25% off - for details on the stamps on offer, click here.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Apologies for the lack of blog posts for the last couple of days: Hubby has had a few days off so with him and the children, I've rather had my hands full! Yesterday however I had a largely child-free day as the James juniors were at Grandma's so, whilst the kiddies were away it was definitely an excuse to play and catch up on some crafting! Today I'm going to share my first Thinlits card with you, featuring the jolly Santa stamp from the 'Best of Christmas' anniversary set:

 I kept the card design quite simple as I wanted the detail on the santa stamp to take centre stage. I coloured him with markers and a blender pen, adding a little Dazzling Details to the fur on his hat for a little sparkle. Here's a close up: 

I then cut him out using the scalloped circle framelit that is one of the pieces that comes with circle thinlit set and adhered him to the card base. A little DSP on the back panel just finishes the card off.

So what do you think? These cards are so easy to make - they take just minutes to cut and roll and have lots of fun extra pieces in addition to the card body. I have another thinlit card to show you tomorrow, with a little video too, so I hope you'll pop back then and take a look. Already prepared as we have family coming for dinner tomorrow, so there will be little time for crafting. Hope to see you tomorrow; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I'm having a fun week at home with the James juniors this week, but it isn't leaving much time for crafting! Once we've finished our holiday homework we should be able to do some crafting together, which will be nice; I have a few Halloween things planned which I should be able to share with you in due course.

This week's Merry Monday Challenge is #80 'Use Music or a Carol Inspired Card' and having seen the great inspiration cards, I was keen to have a go. Here's my card:

I made a simple card where I cut out a circle using my Circle Framelits to reveal the 'deck the halls' stamp on the inside of the card. I decorated simply with some punched holly tied with baker's twine. I finished the punch berries with some Crystal Effects to add a nice shine (it looks much nicer in real life!) and scored the centre of my card panel using my Simply Scored borders plate to add some texture and interest to the Baked Brown Sugar card front. A simple card, yet I have this urge to break into song: Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la! I love Christmas time.

With all of yesterday's news, I didn't get round to sharing the link to this week's new digital downloads, so here it is:

There are some fun autumn pocket cards and some recipe layouts, along with a variety of different Christmas stamps to take a look at. The free trial for MDS is still available to download, so if you haven't already why not take a look - it will open up a whole new avenue of crafting to you.

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

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

For my second post today, I am delighted to announce that the new Thinlit Card Dies are here and available in my online store NOW! If you've ever made a 'flip' card the long way, you will love these new framelit dies - they make making cards like this a breeze!

Here's one made by one of Stampin' Up!'s designers:

This is how it opens ...

The whole thing can be created in minutes by running your chosen cardstock through the Big Shot with the Thinlit layout of your choice - there is both a circle and label layout to choose from. Both sets come with a variety of additional pieces to add to your creativity, either on your flip cards or can be used separately with other cards and projects - this is what they look like:

Stampin' Up have produced a great video showing the Thinlits in action; take a look:

Aren't they great? I'm looking forward to sharing some of my creations with you in the coming days and weeks; if you can't wait and need to order either of the framelit sets now, then pop along to my online store or give me a call today - at only £29.95 they are great value and offer endless possibilities!

I'll be back tomorrow with a card to share; until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing a card that I made a few weeks ago, but couldn't share at the time. I actually made this card for my husband's birthday, but as he photographs all my cards for me I couldn't share until after the event. I used my This and That DSP as the inspiration for the colour scheme for my card (it's not just for journaling with!) and a stamp from the retired set 'Word Play' as the feature for this card:

I chose the hexagon map paper to fit with the globe in the sentiment; I stamped the sentiment twice and punched out one of the globes and coloured it with markers before putting on a dimensional. A nice shiny button tied with twine and done; these buttons are now available on Clearance Rack for only £2.19 - bargain!

Hope you like it; back tomorrow with another rather special project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

I know, you're probably thinking 'Merry Monday? It's only Friday!' I'm not wishing away my weekend, far from it. Rather today's card is another Christmas card made with the challenge over at Always Playing with Paper in mind. The challenge was to use blues, grey/silver and white and snowflakes:

I've been wanting to use a sketch layout I saw over at the Paper Pal Arts site a little while ago; here's the card I made:

I used Pool Party for the base of my card and layered with Island Indigo and Smoky Slate and some of the Winter Frost DSP for the top layer. My design is anchored with a lovely Festive Flurry layered snowflake , which is stamped Whisper White on Pool Party cardstock for the first layer, Island Indigo on Whisper White for the second layer and then Metallic Silver on Whisper White for the top layer, finished with a single Island Indigo candy dot - I love these! Here's a close up of the snowflake, with the shimmery metallic silver finish (that is very difficult to photograph!):

This photo shows the build of layers of the snowflake - this set is so good for this and the framelits make cutting out so easy:

I finished the inside by stamping this verse from the Christmas Messages set:

As of today the James Juniors are on half term for two weeks. We have lots of homework to do, but I am relieved to be having a break from some of the challenges and routine of school life and looking forward to having fun with some pre-Christmas activities of our own. I'm also looking forward to another of my special project classes this weekend; I have a group of lovely ladies coming to make Christmas banners using the Build a Banner kit. Check out my Facebook page tomorrow if you would like a 'sneak peak'; otherwise I will be sharing the completed banners next week.

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

Stampin' Up Supplies Used: