Joyous Noel Merry Christmas Card

by Joanne James7. September 2020 17:40

Yay - a second post! Just popping by with a quick post to share the second card I made with Narelle's great sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches:

 

Whilst I tried to channel my 'inner Narelle' with my first card (she truly is the queen of beautiful florals), this card was an attempt to add to my Christmas card stash and use up some of my leftover retired products: 

 

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

I had some of these retired Joyous Noel papers leftover from one of my weekend craft retreats the year before last, along with the copper glimmer paper and the Festive Farmhouse wooden sentiments and thought the layout was perfect. I'm actually going to colour a few more of the wooden sentiments and make up a few more of these in other colourways with other papers in the pack. Super simple and packed with sparkle; such a great sketch from Narelle this week!

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

All Things Fabulous Birthday Card

by Joanne James7. September 2020 12:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made using this week's Color Throwdown colours with the great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

   

I saw those vertical panels and decided that I'd get creative with some dies and use a new-to-me stamp set for the first time - take a look:

 

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

All Things Fabulous - I was attracted to the 'All Things Fabulous' stamp set because of the dimension you get simply by stamping as it is a three-step stamp set, with each of the flowers being made up of three layers. It did take a little practice to produce my first set of blooms (I found it easiest to start with the most detailed piece in the darkest colour, and work outwards rather than the other way around) but I was really pleased with the result - so pretty! I can see me having lots more fun with this set.

A Die Trick - The co-ordinating Fabulous Florals Dies cut out each of the flowers, buds and leaf stamps, but also include an intricate diecut border piece that I thought would make a pretty detail for the vertical element of the sketch. How to achieve two pieces of differing lengths, that still looked like a complete piece (there is a pattern to the diecut)? The solution: cut the diecut across the centre and overlap the central piece, so that the shorter vertical has three points on each side instead of four (quite difficult to explain - hopefully if you look closely at the photo you can see what I mean!) The joint was covered my my sentiment banner, so not even visible.

All About The Bundle - This card really is all about the bundle and the trio of colours I've used on my card; I considered using some designer paper or even a coloured base, but decided that the best way to truly allow the bundle and those colours to shine was to keep things simple and go with white diecuts on a white base, to really allow the stamped images and that lovely sentiment to shine.

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. Today it's all happening here in the James household - one of the James Juniors is back to school and one of us is also celebrating a birthday today (happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!!). So we are back to the school run, but the youngest Junior and I did venture out for breakfast today and I have a Colin the Caterpillar cake to look forward to this evening, so it's all good! I loved this week's FMS sketch and I made another super simple card with it using up some retired product, so if I get the chance I'll share it with you in a quick post later; if not 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.

Way To Goat Grandpa PP507

by Joanne James6. September 2020 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 amazing Jaydee to host this week and she has a theme challenge for you to work with:

    

I have lots of birthdays this month and one of those is my Dad's. I made his card from me earlier this week (you can see that card here if you missed it) but I needed to make another one for the James Juniors to send to Grandpa, so Jaydee's theme is perfect timing! I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch for my layout and set to work - take a look:

 

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

Way To Goat - I decided to make a fun and colourful card using the 'Way To Goat' stamp set, so paired my serious-looking stamped goat with some retired party-themed papers (I especially like the partially eaten doughnut, given the sentiment!) for some birthday wishes.

Another Way To Personalise - There are lots of layers on this card and I wanted the main sentiment to be the humorous one highlighted in the circle about the cake-eating goat. I wanted to be able to reference Grandpa too though (the stamp is from the retired set 'For My Family'), so decided to use some tone-on-tone stamping onto one of my layers. You can't see the whole word anywhere, but it's stamped enough times that you get the gist.

Crossing A Line? - I have been having lots of debates with the ladies attending my weekly Zoom sessions about this stamp set and how old you have to be for this stamp set to be funny - or equally, for it to be seen to be crossing a line. It's not the sentiment that I used on the front of my card that's up for the debate - rather the one that I used on the inside:

Personally, I think this set is hilarious - and I may or may not have been teasing my mother-in-law (who also has her birthday this month and is the same age as my Dad!) that I am going to use it to make a card for her birthday too, much to her dismay! My Dad has absolutely no interest in stamping so he won't have seen this set, so the children and I are looking forward to seeing his reaction when he opens his card! What do you think - funny or too close to the mark? 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!

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; we will be enjoying our final day of the long summer holiday for one of the James Juniors, who returns to school on Monday (Junior Number 2 isn't back until Wednesday) and doing things such as polishing shoes and packing school bags, for the first time complete with face masks. 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.

There's No Place Like Gnome Faux Embossing Christmas Card

by Joanne James5. September 2020 20:30

Today I have a quick post to share a card I made that was inspired by the following challenges:

   

I was totally inspired by the CASE The Designer Challenge over at Global Design Project this week and actually CASEd Kayla's card twice (I'll hopefully share the second one with you tomorrow); for this card I used the Colour Dare's red, white and blue colour palette and combined another of those cute Gnomes from the 'Gnome For The Holidays' set with one of the little houses from the Home Together Dies to create my faux embossed background - take a look:

 

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

I thought these houses would make a cute background to compliment the 'no place like gnome' sentiment, especially with the little heart cut outs. I paired these with a label from the Hippo and Friends Dies and a variety of red, white and blue ribbons and twine to decorate my card. The little hearts from the centres didn't go to waste - I used some of them to add to the inside of my card for a little extra border decoration:

 

Creating a faux embossed background using diecuts is a fun alternative way to use your dies. I'm also linking today's card up with the team over at SUO Challenges where they are all about dies and punches this week.

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 another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

Holly Jolly Gnome For The Holidays TTT80

by Joanne James3. September 2020 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 Shannon is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

    

I went on the diagonal down from the top left square with stripes, colouring and gnome for a cute Christmas card - take a look:

 

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

Gnome For The Holidays - I stamped and coloured one of the cute gnomes from the 'Gnome For The Holidays' stamp set as the centrepiece for my card today. Gnomes are so on trend at the moment, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this set - they are so adorable and make for a cute card for the festive season! 

Heartwarming Stripes - My gnome has a stripy hat and stripy socks and I also added a strip of Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper to my card and used this as the basis for my colour scheme.

Don't Forget The Inside - I did a little extra colouring on the inside of my card too, with this cute little gnome home for some extra decoration:

I'm linking today's card over at Time Out Challenges, where the theme is 'season', with the optional twist of colouring.

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. 

Enjoy your evening; 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.

Garden Shed Birthday Greetings For Dad

by Joanne James1. September 2020 17:30

This is my second post today; click here to catch up on the important news of the day! For my creative post I'm sharing a card for a couple of challenges:

   

September is the month of birthdays in the James family (mine included!) so I have lots of cards to make. My Dad's birthday isn't until later this month, but I thought I'd get a headstart since the team at Just Add Ink are encouraging us to make 'Cards for Guys' this week and the sketch at Fusion gave me the perfect layout (I am using the sketch there this week and taking a fairly liberal interpretation at that, although I was somewhat inspired by the soft greens of the photo too) - take a look:

 

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

Garden Shed - For as long as I can remember my Dad has been a keen gardener - of vegetables, rather than flowers though! He has a greenhouse and a kitchen garden at home and a large allotment with a shed where he spends much of his time each day now that he has retired and more recently given up golfing too. He can while away hours pottering away, whilst taking shelter in his shed if it rains or sitting out front watching the world go by as he drinks his morning coffee with his fellow allotmenteers. As such the Garden Shed stamp set is perfect for his birthday card; whilst his doesn't have a straw hat adorning the outside and the exterior is more brown in colour than the one I coloured with my Stampin' Blends, the inside is full of paintings and pottery made by his grandchildren and is certainly filled with green-fingered creativity. 

Family Party - I used a slimline card format for my card today, as I knew I would need a larger, customised sentiment and wanted to give my shed plenty of space to shine without being obscured. If you need a special sentiment for a relative, the Family Party stamp set is perfect - I used four different stamps to make my greeting and it fits just right on my card.  

On The Inside - No more embellishments on the outside of my card (it is for a guy, after all!) but I did add a little extra colouring along with a custom greeting to the inside of my card:

 

I'm sure he will love it; I just need to make a Grandpa card too now and then that order is complete!

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 evening 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.

 

CASEing The Catalogue With Snowflake Splendor PP506

by Joanne James30. August 2020 09:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the fifth week of the month and the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week with a fun TicTaToe challenge board for you to work with:

    

My cards today feature lots of products from the Snowflake Splendor Suite in the Autumn-Winter mini catalogue. Take a look:

 

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

TicTacToe - I love a tic tac toe board - they offer such a wealth of creative possibility and always result in an interesting gallery. I went along the diagonal bottom left to top right - diecut, embossing and patterned paper - for my card today, but realised afterwards it also works for the middle horizontal row of ribbon, embossing and gems - check out the sparkly blue faceted gem I used to centre my diecut layered snowflake:

 

CASEing The Catalogue - Does the layout I chose for today's card look familiar? The team over at SUO Challenges are challenging us to CASE (Copy And Share Everything or Copy And Selectively Edit, you choose) either of the cards featuring the 'Whale Done' Suite on page 94 of the catalogue:

I often use my Stampin' Up! catalogue for inspiration in terms of colours or layouts and this was a fun challenge to show how you can take inspiration from the catalogue to create something fresh and new. I actually made both of the cards I'm sharing today live in a Zoom demonstration with the ladies in my Online Classes Facebook Group during last week's session, as I wanted to explain my process and encourage them not to discount pages that featured products that might not be of interest to them, but instead look to see what other inspiration they could take. My card uses the same layout as the one on page 94 and includes all of the same elements: patterned paper, a central banner with contrasting stamping, a feature diecut image, diecut vellum pieces behind the banner and an embossed sentiment backed with ribbon - yet my card looks quite different to the one on page 94 as it uses a completely different product suite.

Snowflake Splendor Times Two - Having made this card, I then went on to CASE the second card on this page, that highlights an inked embossing folder technique:

 

I used the Winter Snow embossing folder and instead of a stamped panel, used a couple of pieces of contrasting designer series paper for the feature panel, embellished with some rhinestones and Whale of a Time sequins, along with a sentiment created from stamping two of the greetings from the 'Peace And Joy' stamp set next to each other to create a single one; this one is slightly different in layout to the catalogue sample, yet the similarities in layout still make it recognisable. 

Here's both of my CASEd cards together: 

 

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. Do you ever use layouts from the catalogue as a starting point for your card making? Do let me know in the comments below - I'd love to hear what inspires you to create! Equally, if you would like to watch the video of me making both of these cards, do get in touch for more details on how to join my Online Classes group - I would love to have you join me.

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; my day today will be a busy one, for a Sunday. Rebecca is back to hockey for the first time in 6 months for pre-season training so is very excited about that and I have hours of content to catch up on from Stampin' Up!'s Leader Summit this past few days, much of which I didn't do live because we were otherwise engaged as a family celebrating young Master James' finishing of prep school. Thank heavens for online recordings and catch-up - where would we be without it?! I also have a mound of raspberries to make into jams, jellies and more - the weather here these last few days has been positively autumnal so I have some very soft and squishy fruit that has been rather battered by the high winds! 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.

 

Snowflake Wishes Shaker Card for AYSI 233

by Joanne James28. August 2020 12:00

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a 'fill in the blank' challenge:

    

There are lots of colour combinations that I love, but must confess that one of my current favourites is Balmy Blue and Highland Heather. I have always been a fan of purple, but the beautiful papers featuring this combo in the Snowflake Splendor Suite have me creating a lot with this colour combo at the moment. For today's card I decided to share one of the cards that I created on one of my live Zoom demonstration sessions with my lovely customers last week that showed them how to step up their shaker cards with embossing folders - take a look:

 

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

Snowflake Splendor - I've mentioned previously how much I love this suite; having started creating with it for my class last month, I am quite hooked and have been using it for lots of projects lately, some of which I've shared here already. I love the papers, that give the patterns a hand-painted feel, with wonderful watercoloured patterns too.  

A Fresh Winter Colour Combo - I love the way the colours combine in the Snowflake Splendor papers and I think the addition of Highland Heather amongst the blues really rings the changes and freshens up this wintery colour scheme. For my shaker, I paired a watercolour design frame with a background printed with white snowflakes, and added a fussy cut snowflake stamped in my colour duo (in the interests of full disclosure, I did also add a little Pacific Point to this particular snowflake), along with some diecut snowflakes in Balmy Blue glimmer paper for added sparkle:

 

A Winter Snow Shaker - Before mounting my shaker window, I ran my window sheet through the Winter Snow Embossing folder. This was a tip I saw recently shared by one of Stampin' Up!'s artisan designers, Stesha Bloodhart, using the Seabed 3D embossing folder, and couldn't wait to try it with the snowflakes. If you look carefully at the photo below you can see the snowflake impressions:

 

I think this is such a great way to step up a shaker card as it adds lovely texture and detail.

If you'd like to see a little video clip of my shaker in action, in all its snowflake shaker glory, you can see that on my Facebook page here.

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. 

 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

  • Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging   project that fits the challenge.
  • Fill in the blanks with the words that are right for you and then create your project with those words in mind. Tell us, in your blog or on your site, what words you used.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
  • If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day. Mine is going to be a rather special one, as young Master James finally gets to attend his Year 8 Prize Giving Ceremony today. For him and the other year 8 pupils, this year has not been full of the post-Common Entrance Examination rewards that might have been in different times, but today we will have a special year 8 only socially-distanced Speech Day, with Prize Giving and picnic lunch, followed by family cricket (weather permitting) and then the children will be having a disco and hog roast in the evening, in lieu of their Leaver's Ball. They are all very much looking forward to it and it will be a wonderful way to end this special period of his educational journey before moving to his new school and the next chapter.

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.

Have A Hoot Punny Owl I Want For Christmas Card

by Joanne James25. August 2020 08:00

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's Inspired By challenge where it's all about the punny sentiment:

       

I love a good punny sentiment and a quick perusal of current stamp sets and I knew exactly where I was headed. I used the sketch layout this week too - take a look:

 

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

Have A Hoot - Yes, this adorable pair of loved-up owls and that festive punny sentiment 'owl I want for Christmas is you!' were a perfect fit for the challenge! I coloured my little scene with Blends and diecut my feathered friends and popped them up on dimensionals for a little lift, within their framed circle. I also added a little simple stamped detail inside my card:

Plaid Tidings - The colour scheme for my card was inspired by one of the many lovely patterns in the Plaid Tidings set, with a combination of Crumb Cake, Shaded Spruce, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White. I used each of the colours in my layers, finishing with the Cherry Cobbler top panel for a festive touch. 

It's All In The Details - I added a sprig of mistletoe, complete with pearl berries and tied with some retired baker's twine, to the top of my window, perfectly positioned above my owls, and I also added some small rhinestones to the snowflakes for a little festive sparkle:

 

I'm also sharing today's card over at Christmas Kickstart where the challenge is 'Christmas Birds' - in truth, I'm not sure whether an owl constitutes a Christmas bird but these two are definitely set for Christmas so hopefully the ladies over there will appreciate 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. 

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.

Trimming the Town Horizontal Card Three Ways

by Joanne James24. August 2020 08:00

Another Monday, another week! Lots happening this week so I need to be even more organised that usual! Today I'm sharing a card (or 3!) using this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew:

Remember when I cut up that 12" x 12" sheet of scene DSP from the Trimming The Town pack I cut up to make 4 slimline cards here? I showed you the other 3 smaller pieces of DSP I had leftover and this week's sketch was perfect for me to use these to complete my set of cards. Here is each of my cards in turn:

 

Card 2:

 

Card 3 - I flipped the sketch on the vertical for this one as the sentiment worked better on the left side of my framed scene:

 

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

Each of my cards uses a Misty Moonlight card base, with a panel of snowflake paper followed by a piece of the scene, which is framed in a Poppy Parade border cut with the scallop-edged Layered Squares dies. The sentiments have also been cut from the Trimming The Town DSP and popped up on dimensionals, along with a fussy cut tree and also a small ribbon bow on one of my cards:

 

I did a little stamping on the inside of my card, but the outside was all about snipping with my scissors and some diecut frames - nice and straightforward and I've used my whole sheet of DSP.

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 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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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.