New 2025 Annual Catalogue, Online Exclusives, Two New Kits And A Great Join Offer!

by Joanne James6. May 2025 12:00

Buckle up - there's lots happening today! The wait is over - the new 2025-26 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! You will find a permanent link to the new catalogue on the right hand side of my blog but for today you need look no further than the picture below which will take you straight to the new catalogue: 

 

The new catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. I've sent paper copies to everyone who has shopped with me in the last 6 months; a digital copy of the new catalogue can be accessed via the image above and it will be permanently linked via my blog on the right hand side if you don’t have a paper copy and wish to browse. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here - and remember to opt in to take advantage of the new Stampin' Up! Rewards Programme! 

There is also a great joining promotion that goes live today to coincide with the launch of the new catalogue:

 

It’s always exciting to be able to invite people to join our community of crafters and creators. And right now it’s even more exciting because when you sign up between 6 and 31 May to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, you can choose £170 worth of products of your choice for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! - that's an extra £40 more than the standard joining offer!

I would love to chat with you about the benefits of joining my team and being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator; as always, you can always find the link to join my team on the right hand side of my blog page; alternatively it's right here if you fancy jumping right in!

What would you put into your starter kit? There are all those lovely new annual catalogue products for you to choose from, but that's not all: today sees the launch of another wave of Online Exclusive products too! 

 

There are 2 new suites: the Celebratory Sips Suite and the Floral Impressions Suite, along with lots of other bundles and products too - you can check them out here.

Finally, there are two new kits that have been added to the Kit Collection. The first is the Share A Smile Kit:

This kit makes 8 different uplifting cards (no stamping required) and costs just £14.00. The second is the Beautiful Blues Kit:

 

This kit makes 9 cards in three different designs and are perfect for sharing messages of friendship, support and sympathy and costs £22 to purchase. You can see more details and order both of these kits in the online store here where you can also access the full range of additional kits available to purchase.

That's a lot of information for one post; if I were you I would put the kettle on, put your feet up and get comfy and settle down with your new catalogue for a browse and start creating that all-important wish list!

Back tomorrow with a creative post featuring some of those lovely new products; until then, happy shopping!

2x Rewards Promotion and Last Chance To Order From The 2024 Annual Catalogue and 2025 Mini

by Joanne James1. May 2025 08:00

 

It's the beginning of May and there's lots happening this month so we are starting the month with some announcements! Firstly: we are excited to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day! Starting tomorrow (11pm tonight UK time), for 2 days only (2–3 May) we’re offering DOUBLE Stampin' Rewards on all purchases! What better way to celebrate one of our favourite crafting holidays? And the best part? This offer applies to ALL products, not just scrapbooking items! 

What are Stampin' Rewards and how do you earn them? In summary:

  • For every order over £20, you will earn 10% of your entire order in Stampin' Rewards.
  • Stampin' Rewards are added to your reward balance and can be spent on a future order (rewards are valid for 12 months). You can treat yourself with your next order, or save up your rewards for something special - you choose
  • Log in to your Stampin’ Up! account (at www.stampinup.uk or set one up if you’re new).
  • Opt in to the rewards programme.
  • Shop and enjoy watching your rewards grow!
    There is also a great video walking you through the steps HERE
  • If you don't want to place your own orders, I can generate an order for you and email a link for you to add the payment information. The goods will be delivered direct to you and you will need an account and to have opted in to receive the Stampin’ Rewards.
  • You can still ask me to place your order on your behalf and I can have the goods sent to me or you but you will not earn Stampin’ Rewards on these purchases.
  • You can select me as your demonstrator so that each time you log in, it will default to shopping with me.  To do this, log in and click ON YOUR NAME on the top right of your account and a drop down menu will appear.  Click on DEMONSTRATOR and search for Joanne James, click in the circle next to my name and I will be selected as your preferred demonstrator.

If you've any further questions about rewards, do give me a call or drop me a line.

Rewards aside, we are officially counting down now - there are only 6 days to go until the new 2025-26 Annual Stampin' Up! catalogue launches!

 

I have sent out copies to everyone on my catalogue mailing list who has purchased from me in the last 6 months - if you're not on this list but would like to receive a catalogue, then do give me a call on 07773 421446 or drop me an email and I will pop one in the post to you today.

This also means the following: 

You have only a few more days that you can order from the 2024-25 Stampin' Up! catalogue - this includes any of the 'Bundle and Save 10%' bundles. Even though some of the products they contain are being carried over to the new annual catalogue, they will not be available as a discounted bundle. 

You only have a few more days to order from the 2025 January-April Mini Stampin' Up! Catalogue too - a number of the products are being carried over to the new annual catalogue, however we will be saying goodbye to many items and again they will not be available as a discounted bundle. There are still a number of stamp sets and accessories available at a discount on the Last Chance pages - this is the perfect opportunity to grab a bargain!  

That's all from me - back tomorrow with this week's creative post for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy last-chance shopping!

Free Shipping For 3 Days From 11pm Tonight

by Joanne James22. April 2025 14:00

A second post for today with some hot-off-the-press news! From 23-25 April, there will be free shipping on all orders of £60 or more! Details as follows:

  • All order types qualify for this promotion.
  • Free shipping is for three days only. Orders must be opened and closed during 23-25 April.*
  • Free shipping automatically applies to your basket after the qualifying amount has been met, which is 75 € | £60 (before shipping and handling).
  • Coupon codes and product credits are non-commissionable and will lower your order’s retail amount. Orders must meet the qualifying amount to be eligible for free shipping.
  • The additional cost for expedited shipping is not covered by this promotion.

*Due to the time difference, this promotion will start on 22 April at 11:00 p.m., for Ireland and the United Kingdom.

 

Click here to go straight to the online store - happy shopping!

Last Chance Products Updated and Three New Kits

by Joanne James1. April 2025 10:00

I'm here with a quick post to let you know that the Last Chance Products section of the online store has updated today. There are hundreds of new and discounted products from the mini and annual catalogues and online exclusives. You can check them all out HERE; go take a look, there are some great bargains to be had.

There are also three new kits available in the online store today:

The Paper Bouquet Kit: 

 The Essential Occasions Kit:

The Loveliest Wishes Kit:

You can find out more information on any of these kits by visiting the Kits Collection section of the online store.

Happy shopping! 

 

Pretty Petals Thoughtful Moments CAS Thank You Card CCS555

by Joanne James4. March 2025 12:00

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

     

What a great set of fresh and zingy colours! For my card today I'm also playing along with the 'anything CAS' challenge over at AAA Cards with the optional twist of spring/spring colours with a simple thank you card packed with spring floral details - take a look:

 

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

Thoughtful Moments - I decided to use the Thoughtful Moments Hybrid Embossing Folder and Dies for the sentiment on my card today as I haven't used them for ages! I inked my embossing folder with Berry Burst ink to get the word outline before embossing and diecutting, then used my Berry Burst Blends to create a dip-dyed ombre look, before adding to my card base. It's difficult to see in the photos, but the embossing adds a really nice detail to a clean and simple card.  

Pretty Petals - I decorated my sentiment with clusters of flowers, stamped using the Pretty Petals stamp set. I stamped the stems directly onto the card base, in a mix of the greens, then stamped the petals in Berry Burst and diecut them before adding with dimensionals for a little extra depth:

 

The Pretty Petals stamps have an almost watercoloured effect, giving them a soft, airy feel - perfect for spring. In addition to individual blooms, you can stamp and diecut larger elements too - check out the set in more detail by clicking on the link to the Online Exclusives section of the store in the product table below. What's more, both the stamps and dies are currently reduced - so you could pick up a bargain too!

Finishing Touches - A white baker's twine bow and trio of white faceted gems complete today's 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. 

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 later in the week 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.

Friendly Seagulls CAS Trio And A Final Sale-A-Bration Reminder

by Joanne James26. February 2025 20:00

 

Happy hump day everyone! Today I'm sharing a super quick card that I made using the current layout over at AAA Cards:

 

I had some seagulls cut and coloured left over from another project, so I decided that a trio of them would work perfectly for that sketch - take a look:

 

I used a sentiment from the set, altering the layout slightly to work better for the sketch:

 

Finally, I added another seagull and some chips to the inside of my card for a final touch of decoration:

 

I think the 'Friendly Seagulls' stamp set is my favourite Sale-A-Bration free item of the whole promotion - so fun! There are just two more days remaining of this year's Sale-A-Bration, so if you have your eye on this set or any other free product, you have just a couple more days to place an order and get your hands on them.

I'm also linking today's card up for a second run over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where the theme is 'W For Wings'. 

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.

Friendly Seagulls Two For One AYSI342

by Joanne James21. February 2025 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 theme challenge chosen by Jane:

 

I don't have many current sets featuring birds, but I still have lots of ideas for those fun Sale-A-Bration seagulls so they were an obvious choice for my card today - take a look:

 

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

Friendly Seagulls - Friendly Seagulls - I love these quirky birds! I stamped a whole sheet of these gulls and coloured them in, then fussy cut them so that I had a pile of them ready to decorate my projects as and when. For this card, I chose three that I could position around my sentiment and popped them up on dimensionals. 

Mini Alphabet - Many of you will recognise my sentiment as a line from the famous Disney movie 'Finding Nemo' - I love that movie! I used my Mini Alphabet Dies to create my custom sentiment, cutting the alphabet several times in black and adhering to some white cardstock, cutting around this allowing for a border, to for the base:

 

 If you're someone that has a habit of losing or misplacing letters in your alphabet die sets, the Mini Alphabet Dies might be a great solution for you! All of the letters are attached and you can diecut the whole alphabet (including duplicates of commonly used letters) in one go. Any letters you don't need you can set aside for future projects. 

Two For One - Having completed my card, I used my leftover negative alphabet diecuts to make a second card: I simply cut each letter into a rectangle using my paper snips, and again adhered to a piece of white cardstock, this time with the white cardstock forming the letters courtesy of the negative diecuts:

This is a great tip I picked up from Melody Hyde of @hammondandpenny on Instagram who uses this technique a lot - what a great way to achieve 2 cards with one set of cuts, thanks Melody! You can see the detail more closely below:

Finally, I used my retired Seaside Impressions Embossing Folder to create my seascape background as I didn't have the new Soft Waves folder when I made this card (it is now in its way ;-) ) but I've added the shop link for it below, as this would be the product of choice if you want to recreate these cards.

Here are the visual summaries 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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
  • Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
  • Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
  • Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
  • You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
  • We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.
We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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.
 

Heart Shaped Clean and Simple Love

by Joanne James17. February 2025 10:47

As promised, I've another quick post to share one of my weekend crafty endeavours that I made for a couple of challenges:

CAS on Friday have the theme of 'Valentine' and my old team mates, Team X over at TicTacToe (waves enthusiastically!) also have something of a love-themed board (I went along the diagonal with heart/dicut/love sentiment). With only a couple more weeks left of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion, I wanted to have a play with one of my free Sale-A-Bration bundles that I had yet to break the seal on take a look:

 

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

The Heart Shaped Bundle is one of only two that are available for FREE during the Sale-A-Bration promotion with a £110 purchase (as opposed to £55 purchase; the other is the Corner In Bloom stamp set). Containing stamps and dies, it's perfect for a clean and simple card to someone you love - the sentiments in this set are just lovely, in addition to the simple leaves and flowers. I stamped the heart in pink, then overlaid with a diecut heart and some flowers cut from some ombre coloured paper that I'd inked up with a variety of pink Blends markers:

 

A touch of white glimmer foliage and some sparky pink enamel dots complete my card. Isn't that sentiment just lovely? This card is heading to my husband for our wedding anniversary later this week - he likes clean and simple, so hopefully this will tick his box! If it ticks yours too, you still have a couple of weeks to pick up the Heart shaped bundle for FREE during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - time to get shopping!

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.

More Reasons To Sale-A-Brate 2025 And New Kits Too

by Joanne James5. February 2025 09:00

We are in our second and final month of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: you all know that this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion will end on 28th February and in addition to hosting and joining benefits (you can read about those here) you also earn a free product for every £55/110 spend - you can see the existing items here.

Good news: from now until the 28th February, there are more reasons to celebrate! You will also be able to choose from the catalogue items below (you must use the special code as detailed as opposed to the usual item code to get one of these items free with a £55/110 spend):

Boy are there some great additional items available! Two new stamp sets from the mini catalogue and two fantastic sets of dies: Trusty Tools and Alphabet A La Mode. 

Remember, you need to use the special Sale-A-Bration item code for each product - these are different to the standard product codes for these items, which are still available to purchase in the annual and/or mini catalogues. If you have your eye on these or any of the other Sale-A-Bration items, do bear in mind that they will only be available whilst stocks last - it is possible that they could run out before the end of the promotion, so don't leave it too late to place your order. 

We also have 2 new kits available as part of the Kits Collection in the online store too:

So much To Celebrate Kit

SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE KIT

Whether it’s for a graduation, a wedding, or welcoming a new baby, nothing says congratulations quite like a handmade card. With the all-inclusive So Much to Celebrate Kit featuring gold foil details, pre-cut flowers, and puffy stickers, you can make beautiful cards to celebrate any occasion.

DETAILS
- Makes 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs
- 2 folded card sizes
- 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" (10.5 x 14.9 cm): 6 cards
- 6" x 3" (15.2 x 7.6 cm): 3 cards
- Sentiments printed in Dutch, English, French, and German
- Colours: Balmy Blue, Old Olive, Pecan Pie, Petal Pink, Pumpkin Pie

Kit includes one of each item listed below.
- Step-by-step instructions
- 9 printed envelopes
- Puffy stickers
- Gold foil
- Adhesive
- A 9-7/8" x 6-1/2" x 2-3/4" (25.1 x 16.5 x 7 cm) printed box for storage or crafting on the go

The So Much To Celebrate kit costs £14.

Heirloom Arrangements Kit

HEIRLOOM ARRANGEMENTS KIT (ENGLISH)

Do you love the convenience of crafting with an all-inclusive kit but wish it offered a little more wiggle room for creativity? Then the Heirloom Arrangements Kit is perfect for you! With detailed vintage designs, eight card options, and loosely choreographed instructions, you can let your creativity shine and still have everything you need for your projects right at your fingertips.

DETAILS
- Makes 8 cards: 1 each of 8 designs
- Folded card size: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" (10.5 x 14.9 cm)
- Colours: Basic Black, Blueberry Bushel, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Old Olive, Pecan Pie, Pretty in Pink, Pretty Peacock
- Also available in French and German

Kit includes one of each item listed below.
- Heirloom Arrangements Photopolymer Stamp Set
- Clear stamp block
- Pecan Pie Classic Stampin’ Spot
- Basic instructions
- 8 printed envelopes
- Pre-cut elements
- Specialty vellum
- Adhesive
- A 9-7/8" x 6-1/2" x 2-3/4" (25.1 x 16.5 x 7 cm) printed box for storage or crafting on the go
 
The Heirloom Arrangements Kit costs £22.

Finally - the Clearance Rack has updated with reductions on last chance products too, so what are you waiting for? Check them out and grab a bargain!

 

I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy shopping!

Daddy Or Chips For PP723

by Joanne James2. February 2025 08:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

    

With Valentine's Day just around the corner (it's my wedding anniversary this month too!) there's lots of reasons to make a love-themed card. I actually went in a completely different direction for today's card - although it definitely still fits in with our theme this week. I had been wanting to 'scratch a creative itch' to create something using a couple of my Sale-A-Bration stamp sets; take a look at my card and then I'll explain! Here's my card:

 

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

Stretching Documenting The Day - There's a great stamp set that can be yours free with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion: it's called 'Documenting The Day' and is designed primarily with scrapbooking in mind. With several phrases that allow you to build beautiful sentiments around memorable days, the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set is perfect for providing the narrative and accents to your scrapbooking pages. Each of the phrases includes the word 'DAY' in block capitals - see below:

 

For me, this is where the additional potential of this set comes in. Those letters can be rearranged to make 'DAD' or 'DADDY' too, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities! You could simply snip the letters (shock horror!) of the stamp apart for additional flexibility, or if like me this is something you can't ever bring yourself to do, you can use your stamping platform and some selective inking and masking of the letters to achieve the same effect. Using the stamping platform also allows you to stamp the letters again if necessary to get a nice, solid image. I stamped my word DADDY in Night of Navy onto Basic White cardstock and fussy cut around it to keep the word in one piece. I used a slimline card base to accommodate and allow enough of my background to show around the stamped word. Again, you could stamp and cut the letters out individually to make this step easier (although I don't think it would look as good!)

Friendly Seagulls - The background to my card is a mix of hearts from the 'Documenting The Day' set above and cartons of chips from another Sale-A-Bration stamp set - this time 'Friendly Seagulls'. I also used this stamp set to complete the sentiment on my card, which you can see more closely on the photo below:

I also added another heart and a chip-loving seagull to the inside of my card for a little extra decoration:

 

Inspired By - So some of my international readers in particular may be wondering where the inspiration for today's card came from. The minute I had both of these stamp sets in my possession, I was reminded of a much-loved advert that was played many times on commercial TV here in the UK in my younger years. I could explain it, but instead I actually found it on YouTube and have included the link below for your viewing pleasure! If you watch it, you will completely understand how it inspired today's card:

This is a real moment of 90's nostalgia for me; I was already in my teens when this advert was being aired on the TV, but there is something about that little Welsh girl that reminds me of my (much) younger self! So the moral of today's post is  - love can be found in the simplest things - including Daddy or chips! For for me it was creating today's card! I'm also playing along at Time Out Challenges where they have a 'Pick Two' challenge - I actually used three things from their list: Food (chips), Heart (background and behind sentiment) and Love (sentiment) and at TGIF Challenges where the theme is Sale-A-Bration:

   

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane; 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. 

Have either of these stamp sets made it into your Sale-A-Bration shopping basket yet? We still have one month of this year's promotion to go, so there's still time! I have lots of other ideas using both of these sets that I've still to share with you this month, so be sure to pop back for additional inspiration.

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'm having a quiet one at home, filled with cooking and crafting and maybe a movie or two! 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.

2025-26 Annual Catalogue

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

Click on the image to download your copy of the 2025-26 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.

Shop Online

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Join My Team

It's always a great time to join Stampin’ Up! Between 6-31 May, new team members can get £170 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! That's an extra £40 of product - FREE! 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! 

Latest Kits!

Stampin Cut and Emboss

The Sending A Smile Kit and The Beautiful Blues Kit are the latest kit additions to the online store - get yours here!

New Online Exclusives

There are new products available exclusively in the online store from 6 May - check them out here.

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!

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This is my personal blog and is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up! Stampin' Up! is a registered trademark of Stampin' up! Inc. I hope you find my blog 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.