Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Photography Day' which is on 19th August. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. We have a number of keen photographers in our house, but I chose to go in a totally different direction today. I used black, white, rhinestones and landscape/cityscape from the inspo list and this is what I came up with:

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

I used some retired Peaceful Place starry night sky paper and my retired Bethlehem Edgelits to create a monochrome Christmas card that is something of a CASE of a previous card I made using this set (you can see that card here), adding my cityscape diecuts with dimensionals for a little extra lift. I heat embossed my 'O Holy Night' sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Illuminated Christmas' in white on black, and highlighted the embossed stars on the designer paper with a single rhinestone - the star of Bethlehem, perhaps?

I am linking today's card up with the team over at Time Out who are asking us to create monochrome cards for their current challenge; there is something so elegant about a single colour scheme, for sure.

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 did place a pre-order for Christmas goodies from the new mini catalogue yesterday, so will have some lovely new things to share with you in the coming weeks, but it has been fun to give some love to favourite sets of old this week and of course it's always good to use up retired designer series paper!

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

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

This is my second post of the day as today I'm guesting over at CAS on Friday further to my recent win (here's the link to my winning card if you missed it!) The theme of the new challenge is 'Holiday'. I initially thought about sunny beaches and the sea, but then realised that whilst us Brits tend to use the word 'holiday' as an alternative to 'vacation', in other countries, particularly the USA, the word 'holiday' is often used in connection with the festive season so yes, you've guessed it - I have another Christmas card for you! Take a look:

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

Do you recognise this ballet dancing reindeer? She is actually one of the characters on the Zoo Crew designer paper! I've shared cards made with other animals fussy cut from this paper before; I just added a hint of colour to her antlers and a pop of festive red and a sparkly rhinestones to the flower on her skirt, added a couple of pieces of retired festive paper from my scrap box behind and finished with a stamped Christmas sentiment from the current 'Ringed With Nature' stamp set:

And that's all there is to it! There are a few sets in the annual catalogue that are Christmas-themed or are not designed as such but can be used to make cards for the holiday season. So if you want to get started early on your Christmas crafting, go ahead and take a look. You could also treat yourself to a Christmas card kit as they are discounted with up to 30% this month or even sign up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator - you would then benefit from the perk of being able to order items from the mini catalogue right away, a whole month ahead of customers - yay!

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. 

Be sure to check out the projects made by the CAS On Friday designers - I know they will have some fabulous inspiration to share.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

RINGED WITH NATURE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	ZOO CREW 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)
OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

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 Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the final column with ink blending/blues and greens/gems and had a go at creating a masked and blended background to highlight the foliage stamps in the Gorgeously Made bundle - take a look:

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

I've been working a lot with the Gorgeously Made bundle lately as I've been working through ideas to include in this month's Gorgeously Made Create With Joanne and Jan Tutorial Bundle and this is one the ideas that I was experimenting with that didn't make it into the tutorial itself. I was inspired by the sketch over at Sunday Stamps and whilst ordinarily I would have gone with a large diecut sentiment, I decided to turn the sketch on its head and go for something vertical that used one of the small sentiments in the set, but in a way that highlighted it in an unusual way. When using a bundle for the first time, I like to consider less obvious ways to use it and this card includes one of those. Instead of adding the sentiment to my card by stamping it onto white cardstock, diecutting and adding with dimensionals, I created four label pieces from diecut masking paper and positioned these down the middle of my white panel. I then blended my trio of blue and green inks and stamped my foliage on top of my blended background, going off the edge and over the masked areas - I recommend you use your Stamparatus for this so that you get a good strong black image. When complete, I removed the masking paper labels to leave four white apertures that I could then stamp my sentiment into:

I added a sprinkling of coloured gems that picked up the colours of my blended background, but if you don't have coloured gems that match you chosen background colours, you can custom colour clear rhinestones with Stampin' Blends in corresponding colours. So what do you think of today's card? This is a good way of minimising layers and a neat way to use label dies in a creative way and this style of card would work in other colourways too.

Remember if you would like more ideas of ways to use the Gorgeously Made bundle, if you purchase the bundle from either myself if you're in the UK and Europe (or Jan if you're based in New Zealand) during either August or September, you will receive a copy of our tutorial bundle with instructions for four projects and access to our exclusive customer Facebook Group - for more details read about it in yesterday's post 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 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 day; I'll be back tomorrow with another two projects; in addition to my fortnightly Festive Friday post, I am also the Guest Designer over at CAS On Friday. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GORGEOUSLY MADE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (47.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	BOHO BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)

News of the August Stampin' Up! Kits Sale yesterday so I saved this post until today! It's August and time for a new Create with Joanne and Jan tutorial bundle!

My friend and former Stampin' Up! Artisan Designer Jan Clothier, aka Thinking Stamping, and I are working together to reward our customers with some extra special perks. Every two months, Jan and I will be putting together a set of four tutorials featuring a bundle or suite. Simply purchase the suite or bundle from us and we’ll email you the tutorials in PDF format for you to make. If you already have the suite or bundle, simply purchase something else of equivalent value and we’ll email the tutorial package to you.

The four tutorials (two from each of us) will really show you different ways to make the most of your purchase because you’ll get the benefit of both our ways of thinking and both our styles. There will be a range of project levels, from casual to avid and you won’t find these projects in any of our other social media platforms. We’ve designed them just for our customers. In addition to the tutorials, you’ll also be offered access to an exclusive private Facebook Group where you’ll be able to share your projects, and ask us questions. You’ll also find little extras there from us like extra projects, tips or even the occasional video or Facebook Live. You just never know!

So there you have it. Two great reasons to shop with us: a package of four exclusive designs AND access to a private Facebook Group so you can pick our brains and share your work with us.

You can shop with me if you live in the UK and Europe. 

You can shop with Jan if you live in New Zealand.

For August-September, we are featuring the Gorgeously Made bundle from the 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue. The Masterfully Made Suite Collection features the Gorgeously Made stamp set and die bundle and includes beautiful designer series papers featuring mixed media designs with handpainted and hand-torn designs. If you would like to receive this tutorial, you can place your online order with me by clicking on the direct product links for the bundle and any other products in the suite below:

GORGEOUSLY MADE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (47.50)

MASTERFULLY MADE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS TRIO (7.50)

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

For my card today I chose to make a clean and simple thank you card using the Gorgeously Made bundle:

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

The stamps in the Gorgeously Made stamp set are perfect for loose, collage-style stamping so I took three different ones including my sentiment and inked each in one of the challenge colours, then overlaid my stamped foliage with a pointed diecut one in Cajun Craze:

I used Very Vanilla for my card base as it seemed to compliment this trio of warm, naturalistic colours. And that's all there is to it - a quick and easy thank you 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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GORGEOUSLY MADE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (47.50)

CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

WILD WHEAT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for us to work with:

I had chosen a collection of products that would enable me to meet a number of the boxes on Jaydee's grid; by the time I'd finished my card I actually covered the whole of the grid with the exception of 'masculine'! Atlantic Hearts have a great slimline sketch this week so I combined it with this week's Color Throwdown colours and decided to make a special birthday card - take a look:

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

I have been spending time experimenting with the various combinations of pieces in the Paper Florist Dies recently so I decided I would put my time to good use and create a cascade of using the 'Best Family Ever' stamp set.  flowers in my favourite new Bubble Bath and Lemon Lolly colours, with bright green leaves, clustered around a central sentiment label, onto which I heat embossed a customised sentiment:

This stamp set is perfect to create all kinds of special sentiments; the set doesn't actually include the word 'NANNA', so I created it by combining letters from other names in the set. I also added some stencilling to the card base using a retired decorative mask and some Azure Afternoon ink, blending out from the centre and fading into the white of the base. Stencilling is a great way to add extra detail to the background, without distracting from the detail of the flowers themselves. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inkspirational where they are asking us to use stencils this week too. A couple of loops of Bubble Bath ribbon and a trio of pink pearls complete my card. This card is for the James Juniors to send to their Nanna for her birthday; it's still a few months away, but hey it can't hurt to be organised!

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:

Enjoy your day; I'm off to Nottingham for more hockey today, so cross your fingers for a fine day! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEST FAMILY EVER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	PAPER FLORIST DIES (35.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON COMBO PACK (11.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)

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

There's so much to love about summer: vacations, an abundance of home grown vegetables, trips to the beach, longer days ... but for me the best thing of all about summer is an abundance of sunshine! I don't need the heat but I definitely welcome the brightness that the extra sunshine brings; it lifts my mood and I am so much more productive too. So my clean and simple card today focuses on sunshine and I decided to CASE the designer, Susan Wong, over at Global Design Project too - take a look:

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

Copy and Selectively Edit - I used the same layout as Susan's card, the inked ombre effect and a banner tag sentiment details, but no nighttime camping scene for me! I masked a circle on my white cardbase and stamped the 'Rays of Light' stamp inside it, using Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Calypso Coral inks and building the colour from the centre of the sunshine outwards. I added a couple of diecut clouds and added my sentiment to a yellow banner tag, as my sun was very hot and orange in colour and I wanted to bring out more yellow. I tied my tag with gold twine and added a trio of (retired) gold glimmer enamel dots to complete my card:

I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS on Friday where they currently have a theme of 'summer' too. As an aside, I will be guest designer for them for their next challenge, so you will definitely want to check them out :-) It's actually been quite grey here in the UK this week, so I'm hoping that August will see the return of the summer sunshine that I crave!

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.
• 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.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Sunday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

RAYS OF LIGHT CLING STAMP SET (17.00)	JUST MY TYPE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

The eagle-eyed amongst you might recognise this layout - I actually based it on the Berry Burst card that features the Cheerful Daisies bundle on the front page of the Stampin' up! catalogue. I love layers, so this card layout was right up my street. No Cheerful Daisies today though - instead I'm featuring the Gorgeously Made bundle. Take a look:

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

I used a Night of Navy base, with a tone-on-tone embossed layer featuring the hatch design that is one of the online exclusive embossing folders. Then I added a bright, floral piece of Masterfully Made designer series paper, that I had cut top and bottom using the edge dies in the Gorgeously Made bundle - how beautiful is this paper?! I added a vellum circle to allow the paper to show through, before diecutting two pieces of foliage that highlight two of the colours in the designer paper and adding a sentiment from the bundle using the label die:

I added a (retired) flower embellishment and a couple of sparkly enamel dots to complete my card. I just love the bright colours on this card; I kind of wish I had cut the label shorter and left off the flower embellishment, but hey ho - next time!

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:

Enjoy your day; I returned from a two-week vacation yesterday so I am feeling rested, relaxed - and ready to hit the hockey pitch today! I am driving the eldest of the James Juniors to Nottingham today for an umpiring training day, so am hoping at least that it will be dry, if not as warm and sunny as I've been used to! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GORGEOUSLY MADE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (47.50)	MASTERFULLY MADE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	BASICS 3D EMBOSSING FOLDERS (28.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	TINSEL GEMS THREE-PACK (7.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'International Beer Day' which is on August 4th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. I don't have any current product that fits with this theme, so I delved into my box of retired dies as I knew I had a combination that work perfectly. I used gold, acetate, cheers sentiment and bubbles and this is what I came up with:

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

I went with a simple congratulations card that would be perfect for lots of celebrations and using my retired Sip and Celebrate Dies to diecut a couple of champagne glasses from a panel of basic white thick cardstock. I backed them with acetate, then fussy cut two pieces of distressed gold paper to look like champagne and diecut some bubbles out of them before glueing to my acetate glasses. I then added this panel to my white cardbase, before adding my diecut Cheers! sentiment cut form gold foil over the top:

Simple yet elegant, I think you'll agree - I think I'll add this to my engagement card pile!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (4.75)

WINDOW SHEETS (4.75)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and our leader, the lovely Felicita, is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the first column with Friendship/Any Colour/Any Shape Die and actually made two cards today, the fist one of which is for our challenge - take a look:

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

Floating Frame - I haven't made a floating frame card in ages and I thought the new Cheerful Daisies bundle, with lots of differently shaped and sized pieces, would be perfect to showcase this technique. I decide to make two square cards (more on that in a moment) and stamped lots of daisies and leaves in my chosen colours, before diecutting and laying out on my craft mat to a cover a space slightly larger than my 6" card front. When I was happy that the whole area was covered with no large gaps, I adhered a sheet of Press 'n' Seal over them and ran through my diecutting machine with the largest of the square Stylish Shapes Dies, to cut out my central square. I set this to one side, then flipped over my frame and added dimensionals to each of the pieces, before flipping back over, centering and adhering to my cardfront. Once all elements were stuck down, I removed the Press 'n' Seal and trimmed any pieces that were overhanging the edge. I then added my heat-embossed sentiment and a single enamel dot to the square inside the frame I created to finish:

Isn't that something?! I love the effect of this technique. 

Sentiment Style - I still had my central square so I made a second card, this time using Bubble Bath cardstock as my card base. Here's that finished card: 

I followed the same process, adding dimensionals to the reverse and centering the square panel before removing the Press 'n' Seal. This time, I decided to make a feature of another of the sentiments in the Cheerful Daisies set and repeat it four times along each edge of my square panel - I really like this effect. If you look closely at the close up below, you can also see the stitched detail of the square die around the edges of the diecut pieces too:

So what do you think? Do you like this style of card - is it something you've tried, either with this set or others? If you do a search on my blog you will find several other examples where I've used this technique. Do let me know what sets you've used - I'd love to know in the comments below!

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. 

Another reminder too that for more great ideas on how to make the most of the Cheerful Daisies bundle, if you purchase it from me before the end of the month (or place an order of equivalent value) you will receive a copy of the tutorial I've created with my friend Jan Clothier and access to our private Facebook group.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHEERFUL DAISIES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	MOODY MAUVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	COPPER CLAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
WILD WHEAT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MOODY MAUVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)
2023–2025 IN COLOR™ DOTS (7.50)