Picture Post - Various

Hi, just a quick picture post today showing a mixture of cards.

Stamp Set:  French Foliage

Stamp set:  Creative Elements

Paper:  First Edition 

Stamp set:  Simply Soft (Hostess)

Paper:  First Edition

Thanks for visiting, Julia.









Monthy Colour Collection Kit - Mocha Morning

I have had a good response since launching my Monthly Colour Collection Kit for December - Mocha Mornng.

Just a reminder that the closing date for current kit is 6th December so if you are thinking of odering please contact me asap at juliajor@googlemail.com. Details of the kit can be seen in my previous post.

I would like to clarify that if you buy one kit you are not committed to purchase a kit every month. However, I am already working on the January kit with some bright cheerful colours to welcome in the new year and hope to announce details of this by the end of December.

My thanks to those of you who have already ordered the December kit, and as planned I will start despatching these on the 14th December.

Launching my Monthly Colour Collection Kit

I am very pleased to let you know that I am launching a Monthly Colour Collection Kit. This is an ideal way to give colours and papers a try before you buy.

Each month I will design a new kit which will include colour themed cardstock, papers, embellishments and ribbons etc. With the kit I will supply an inspiration sheet showing four card ideas, but there will be plenty of items in the kit to make at least ten cards. The inspiration sheet will also give details of the Stampin' Up stamp sets, inks and punches I used to create the sample cards which can all be ordered through me, but you could easily use your own stamps and punches to achieve similar results.

The December Colour Collection Kit Mocha Morning is available to order now at a cost of £16 inc postage and packaging, and features the beautiful Mocha Morning Designer Papers which include designs with black flocking and metallic ink finishes.

This kit contains 2  x A4 cardstock in 6 colours, 10 x pieces of 15cm square Mocha Morning papers, 3 x half-metre lengths of ribbon, 1 x half-metre length of crochet trim, 10 x contrasting glimmer brads, 10 x contrasting mini brads, together with the  inspiration sheet. The picture above shows the kit contents plus one of my sample cards.

If you would like to place an order for the December Mocha Morning Kit please email me at juliajor@googlemail.com and I will reply to you with details of where to send your payment. Cheques should be received by the closing date for this kit of 6th December 2011. I will start despatching kits on 14th December 2011. Please note I can only send the kits to a UK address.

Details of additional Stampin' Up items used in my samples.

Stamp Sets: W = wood mount and C = clear mount (please note some sets only available in wood mount)

Lovely as a Tree (W) £25.95, Perfect Punches (W) 22.95 (C) 17.95, Four Frames (W) 19.95 (C) 15.95, Oval All (W) 16.95, Everything Eleanor (W) 33.95 (C)26.95

Inks:

Basic Black 4.95, Soft Suede 4.95

Punches:

Eyelet Border 14.25, Decorative Label 15.50, Scallop Oval 15.50, Large Oval 14.25, Extra-Large Oval 15.50

You can view these items via a link to the current Idea Book and Catalogue on the left hand panel of my blog.

Thank you or your time.

Julia





Season of Joy Christmas Card

The card I am sharing with you today is a variation on the same theme used in my previous post.

This card features the Season of Joy stamp set.

I have stamped the images onto paper from the Designer Series Paper Stack in Pool Party. Firstly I stamped the flourish in Pool Party ink across the paper, then added the Christmas flowers in Real Red and finally the snowflakes in Island Indigo.

I punched a small hole in the side of the card and tied a piece of Real Red Satin Ribbon in a double knot to form a 'cheats' bow, and finished with a few rhinestones.

I was really pleased with this card and the Season of Joy stamp set is a favourite of mine. I think I will be making a few more of these in various colours so if you know me you might even receive one of these for Christmas!

Back soon with details of my new Monthly Colour Collection Kits, so watch this space.

Julia

Delicate Doilies Christmas Card

I had a lovely afternoon on Saturday at a workshop for Cath and her friends in the beautiful village of Stockbridge, Hampshire.

I was asked to put more card ideas on my blog, so as promised here is a quick and easy card taken from an idea by Amanda Fowler at Inspiring Inkin here. I have used the Delicate Doilies stamp set to create my card whereas Amanda has used the Serene Snowflakes set.



The doilies have been stamped in a 'flurry' across the card and by using the lightest colour Pool Party first, then Lucky Limeade and finally the darkest colour Island Indigo there is no need to use a masking technique. It is not obvious from my scanned image but I stamped a second image of the focal dark blue doily onto a spare piece of card and punched out the centre, then fixed this on top of the first image using pads to add dimension.

Cardstock colours: Pool Party, Island Indigo and Whisper White.

Back soon, Julia 



Delicate Doilies - 3D Snowflake Card

Just a quick post today, and showing another card from my recent All Day Christmas class.

I was really pleased with this card and as the name suggests these 'doilies' are beautifully delicate and very detailed. I have used them here to represent snowlfakes and made a 3D snowflake by stamping 5 images and cutting them out with the scallop circle punch. Fold all the layers in half and stick together leaving the back layer flat to stick on to your card. This snowflake will also fold flat to fit into an envelope.

Colours of card stock and ink: Baja Breeze, Marina Mist.

Back soon,

Julia

Welcome to the new Idea Book & Catalogue 2011-2012

Hello and welcome to the new Idea Book & Catalogue with lots of lovely new stamps, a fabulous range of five new In Colours, some fantastic new papers, ribbons and embellishments, not to mention some wonderful new punches (the Petite Pennants Builder punch is my favourite so far). If you would like your own copy of the new catalogue or would like to place an order please contact me, details above.

Sorry I have been AWOL lately. I have been preparing for an All Day Christmas Event which was held on Saturday in Tidworth. It was a wonderful day with lots of lovely ladies and a good time was had by all. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended, and thanks to Amy my daughter who supplied us with refreshments throughout the day. We made lots of Christmas Cards, yes Christmas on possibly the hotest day of the year so far! My sister-in-law Lynne came along and took a class making a beautiful Christmas Canvas, and I am sure she will be showing it on her blog soon - click here.

Showing a few of the cards we made on Saturday, this set of four cards feature the Top Note Die shape and are all a similar design, but by using different stamps, shapes and colours they can look quite different. Stamp set used on all of these cards is Season of Joy.

Here is the detail on the first card where I added white dots to the flourish. I know some of the sentiments on my cards are not from current sets but with so many cards to make on the same day I had to use some from my own stash.

And two more cards in a red and green colourway.

Thanks for droppng by and over the next few weeks I hope to show some more samples from my All Day Christmas Event.

Have a good week.

Julia







Retired List

Hi Everyone, the Stampin' Up retired list is now available. Some of the products have been discounted and will sell out fast but just a reminder that all of the retiring items will be on a first come first served basis. The list is available here.  

If you would like me to order any products for you my contact details are above.

Please also see details of my forthcoming All Day Christmas Card-Making event to the right of this post. This is going to be a fun day with a chance to try out some of the products from the new Stampin' Up 2011-2012 Catalogue which launches on the same day. I will be giving a free Catalogue to anyone attending my event. Places are limited so please contact me as soon as possible if you would like to secure a place.

Happy crafting, Julia

Altered Tag - Sunny Garden DSP

Just a quick post today to share with you an altered clothing tag.

Have you noticed that a lot of the clothing ranges in shops now have lovely tags, some even come with buttons sewn on to them already. However this one did not have buttons but I added a Springtime Vintage 'Big' Designer button and some buttons made with the Embosslits Sweet Buttons Die.

I tore some Sunny Garden DSP and sponged the torn edges before fixing to the tag. The flower at the top right was already on the tag so I took my lead for colour from this when choosing the paper and used Poppy Parade ink to stamp the images.

Stamp sets used: 

French Foliage (for text background)

Strength & Hope (swirl image)

Broadsheet Alphabet (my initial 'J')

Punches used:

Circle 1 1/4" and 1 3/8"

The ribbon, eyelet and twine were already on the tag.

Thanks for dropping by.



Mini cards - Take Flight

Hi, showing you some mini cards today made with a mixture of stamp sets.

I used strong bold colours with black stamping on white card for a striking effect. I am really pleased with them.

The 'starburst' of colour across the card is actually the large flower centre from Greenhouse Garden and the bird is from Notably Ornate.

The sentiments are from Just Believe, Afterthoughts and So Many Thanks.

Cardstock colours used: Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mango, Daffodil Delight with Basic Black and Whisper White.

Ink colours: Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mango, Daffodil Delight and Basic Black.

Add some rhinestones and they are finished.

Back soon, Julia

Happy Birthday Sweet 16

Hi, just a quick post today to show a card-in-a-box I made recently for a work colleague to give to his daughter who lives in America.

And the little 'handbag' shape card on the inside .....

I think one of the things that makes this card so cute is the size, being only 7.5cm square. He was very pleased with the card and said it made his day.

Cardstock:  Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
Ink:  Melon Mambo
Stamps: Butterfly Prints, Season of Joy (Swirls)

Back soon, Julia



Nature Walk with Botanical Gazette Papers

Hi, it has been a lovely sunny start to the week here, and I now have a very tidy front garden thanks to my sister and brother-in-law who worked very hard today in the sun. My little two year old grand-daughter Daisy helped to pick up the trimmings transporting them to the garden rubbish sack in her little truck, and I am sure they couldn't have done it without her help!

Now on to cards, and today I am showing a card I made for my husband's Birthday later in the week. I like to use  papers on my cards and the fact that Stampin' Up make papers to match many of their stamp sets, and to co-ordinate with their card colours, makes it easy to design a card.

Stamps:  Nature Walk, Afterthoughts (Hostess Level 1)

Cardstock:  Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla

Inks:  Old Olive, Early Espresso

Paper:  Designer Series Botanical Gazette

Ribbon:  Taffeta 3/8ths" Early Espresso

Punches:  1 3/8ths" Circle

Not too sure what my husband will think of ribbon on his card, but it just needs to be there.

Thank you for visiting,

Julia



Nature Walk - Butterfly Bees

I am still going strong with the Nature Walk set of stamps. This time using two bee images inside an aperture cut with the Butterfly Punch.

Punch a 7.5cm square of  Basic Gray card stock and emboss using the Square Lattice folder.

To line up the bees to fit inside the butterfly, I just placed the punched and embossed piece of card on a slightly larger piece of Very Vanilla and made a light pencil mark at the dip in each of the butterfly wings. I stamped the bees with Basic Gray ink, using my pencil marks as a guide and angling the bees towards the centre. The bodies of the bees have been coloured with a Daffodil Delight marker. 

To add depth, although it is not clear from my picture, when layering up the card I used dimensionals to fix the butterfly layer on top of the bees and used the Snail tape runner to fix this to a square of Daffodil Delight card. The Jewellery Punch and Tiny Tags stamp set have been used to make the little tag and this has been tied around the layers with some silver Elastic Cord, before mounting onto a Basic Black 10cm square card. Finally I added some Rhinestone Jewels to form the body of the butterfly.

Back soon,

Julia



Nature Walk - Pleated Front Card

Hi and thanks for visiting.

For today's card I have pleated some Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper for the front and fixed this to a piece of 14.5cm x 10.5cm Not Quite Navy card for the back. This lovely paper design of bees has a honeycomb design on the reverse. I added a border of Not Quite Navy card shaped with the Scalloped Edge Punch to the pleated paper to add stability. The sentiment is from Occasional Greetings.

On the inside I stamped an insert using the bee from the Nature Walk set of stamps in Not Quite Navy. The wild flower image on the right is from the same set of stamps has been stamped in More Mustard.

The card closes flat to go into an envelope.

Something different here I think you will agree, and I have to thank a fellow Stampin' Up Demonstrator who brought a Christmas card made in a similar way to the recent Artstamps Show at Newbury.

Julia



Nature Walk & Butterfly Prints

Today's card uses the Nature Walk stamp set teamed with a sentiment from the Butterfly Prints set. Just three colours used in this one of Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive.

The wild flower border at the base of the card has first been stamped in Soft Suede using the second generation technique (by stamping one impression onto scrap paper before stamping onto your card). Then another layer of wild flowers has been stamped over the top using Old Olive for the leaves and Rich Razzleberry for the flower heads.

The butterfly and bees have been stamped using Soft Suede ink and the wings of the butterfly and bodies of the bees have been coloured by using a water brush to move the colour of the ink. I stamped a second butterfly and cut out one wing which has been fixed over the first image with foam pads to add dimension.

I then stippled a deep border leaving a clear area around the butterfly. I finished the card with a few jewels between the flurry of bees (not sure if they really work on a card of this style - but just felt the need to use some).

And for the inside .....

Thank you for visiting.

Julia







Nature Walk Collage Card

Back again with another card using the Nature Walk set of stamps. Today's card has been made using the same colour scheme as yesterday of Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point and Old Olive. I have used a sponge dauber to ink the edges of the card and also 'stippled' ink in the blank areas of the card to bring everything together.

To add dimension I have fixed the front birdcage with foam pads, and added a metallic brad to each cage.

Back soon,

Julia





Nature Walk

Back at last - today I am sharing with you two cards made with the Nature Walk set of stamps. This was a set that I had overlooked, but I am so glad I decided to buy it. 

And on the inside .....

My colour scheme for both cards is Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point and Old Olive which I will admit is an unusual combination, but I think they actually work quite well together.

And again the inside ......

I hope you like these cards, will be back tomorrow with another card for you.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Julia 





Very Vintage 3 - Tiny Tags

Hi everyone and welcome back. Here is my final card using the Very Vintage stamping wheel, and this time combined with the Tiny Tags stamp set.

The background strip has again been stamped with the Very Vintage wheel in black ink onto Whisper White card.

I then stamped three images from the Tiny Tags set onto Whisper White card with Versamark ink, embossed these with clear powder, and used my Sponge Dauber to add colour around the images. The circles were then cut out with a punch and layered onto a slightly larger circle of Rose Red card.

I tied some silver Elastic Cord around the top of the card, and finished this with a couple of small tags made with the Jewellery punch and a cut out heart again from the Tiny Tags stamp set.

If anyone has any questions or would like to order any of the products used please contact me by phone or email - details on my blog.

Back soon, Julia x



Very Vintage 2 - Fun Flowers

Hello again, here is a small square card using the same colour scheme as my last post of Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Rose Red and Basic Black.

In this card I have stamped a strip using the Very Vintage stamping wheel in black ink onto Whisper White card, and cut out a square to make the background for my flower.

The flower has been cut using the Sizzix Fun Flowers die and then embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. It is not obvious from the picture but I have made the flower from two layers of Rose Red card and used dimensionals between the petals to add depth. The small flower for the centre is from the Boho Blossoms punch and this has been finished with a Rhinestone brad.

For the sentiment I used the Jewellery Tag punch and the Tiny Tags stamp set, and tied the tags to the flower using some of the Elastic Cord in silver.

Until next time, Julia x

Very Vintage 1 - Stamping Wheel

This evening I visited my 91 year old Dad in hospital, he is very poorly - all my love Dad and get well soon. Crafting is a wonderful way of helping you cope at times like this as you can loose yourself in a craft project for hours.

I have a class for 8 lovely ladies tomorrow and (for once) that is all prepped, so I have been having a little play and here is what I have made.

Please note that the title of this post refers to the name of the stamping wheel I have used and not my lovely Dad.

On this card the borders have been stamped using the Very Vintage Standard Wheel with black ink onto Whisper White card.

The elaborate sentiment uses stamps from the Style Beautiful set, cut out with the Extra Large Oval punch and mounted onto a Scallop Circle punched from Rose Red card. This has all been mounted with dimensionals onto a fancy square made from Basic Gray card with the Scallop Trim Corner punch.

Tip for using the Scallop Trim Corner punch:

Cut out a square 5cm x 5cm and holding the punch upside-down punch all four corners - your will have a lovely little fancy square to use for sentiments etc.

My next post will be a second card using the Very Vintage stamping wheel - I just couldn't stop rolling and made several cards with the same colour scheme.

Thank you for stopping by, Julia x

Nursery Suite Cards & Projects

Hello and apologies for neglecting my blog lately, but I have been busy with workshops and family events. Hope you had a good Easter and have enjoyed some of the beautiful sunshine covering most of the country.

Today I am showing you some cards and projects made with the Nursery Suite Speciality Designer Series Paper pack together with the Accents pack. For the images I have used the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set, this is probably a set that can be overlooked but if you like to do a little bit of water colouring these designs work very well.

These cards and projects show that the papers work well for any event not just 'baby' related.

Thank you for visiting my blog today, I will be back soon with some more card ideas and I do appreciate your comments.

Julia 



Springtime Vintage Tag

Wow, the Mini Catalogue is now in full swing and we can enjoy lots of fabulous new products, plus the 'star of the show' the Big Shot. Please click on the image to the left the view the Mini Catalogue, which runs alongside the current Idea Book and Catalogue until the end of September 2011.

For the tag I am sharing with you today I have used the following new products from the Mini Catalogue :

Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper pack

Seam Binding Ribbon in Pear Pizzazz

Four Frames stamp set

Decorative Label punch

Big Designer Buttons

Glass Glitter in Baja Breeze

The inner layer of the tag has been made by adhering torn pieces of Spingtime Vintage paper to a tag shape cut from Baja Breeze card, and this has then been embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder to give a 'quilted' look. 

My colour theme for the cardstock is Pear Pizzazz and Baja Breeze, and I have used Pacific Point ink for stamping and edging the sentiment.

So many of the new products on one little tag!

Julia

Focus on the Background - Samples from a recent Card Class

Here are two cards from a recent class using the fabulous large background stamps.

Just for You

In this sample I have used the Medallion background stamp inked all over with Perfect Plum and then daubed with Night of Navy on alternate flourishes. This has been stamped onto Very Vanilla card and layered Rich Razzleberry. The centre of the Medallion has been stamped again, punched out and added to the main image with demensionals and a brad from the Hodgepodge Hardware set which is currently on offer in the March Frenzy for £20.76 instead of the usual £25.95.

The base card is Perfect Plum with stripe paper from the Subtles Paper Patterns Stack.

Birthday

The second sample uses the En Francais large background stamp which is a beautiful swirly script. The stamp has been inked with Wild Wasabi and stamped onto Wild Wasabi card. The piece has then been layered onto Very Vanilla and Rose Red cardstock.

The focal image is from the Ornate Flowers stamp set and has been heat embossed using Versamark and Rose Red inks, together with clear embossing powder. The greeting stamp is from the Curly Cute set of sentiments and I have masked off part of the image to leave 'birthday' which will fit into the Modern Label punch perfectly.

The base card is Wild Wasabi and again the text paper is from the Subtles Paper Patterns Stack. The decorative Rose Red border has been edged using the Eyelet Border punch.  

For those of you wondering, the base cards have been made from a piece of A5 card but instead of folding completely in half to form an A6 card I have just folded one-third of the card to the front. By folding cards in this way you can create two larger looking cards from one sheet of A4 and they fit into a 15.25cm square envelope.

Hope you like these samples, back soon - Julia

Hello,

We have had a lovely sunny weekend here in Andover and I hope you have in your part of the country.

Thought I would share with you this sampler I made recently. I really enjoyed making it and was very pleased with the result.

My colour scheme is River Rock and Rich Razzleberry. Unfortunately the close up shot (below) has altered the colours but it gives you clearer view of the background stamping. 

I used numerous stamp sets - too many to list, and punches for the bird, butterfly and flowers. 

For the 'cracked' background paper I simply spritzed a square of River Rock card stock with water and scrunched it into a ball. I then flattened the piece out again and left it to dry for a few minutes before swiping over with a Rich Razzleberry ink pad. The large flower has been made in the same way using three punched scalloped circles held together with a silver brad from the Hodgepodge Hardware set.

Back soon, Julia

Fast & Fabulous - Hostess Set Level 2

Here is a card made using the Fast & Fabulous Hostess Set. This set is available as a hostess gift if you host a workshop and sales reach £300 or above.

As the name suggests these flowers are fabulous, and fast to colour in using a water colouring technique. I have used the Very Vanilla card stock which I know will not take a lot of water, but I prefer to just lightly dab colour on to this kind of image.

Colour combinations for this card are Pear Pizzazz and Perfect Plum card stock, with Pear Pizzazz, Perfect Plum and Rich Razzleberry for stamping and water colouring. Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon has been tied around the side of the card through a small punched hole and the focal flower image positioned over the top with dimensionals.

Today is my Dad's 91st Birthday! Happy Birthday Dad. 

Back soon, Julia