Just Judy Designs

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Heart of Christmas - Gingerbread & Peppermint

July 19, 2021

Hi there

Welcome to Heart of Christmas for 2021. Each week (until mid-December), the talented ladies from the Art with Heart team will bring you inspiration for your holiday craft projects. I know it may seem early to be talking about holiday projects, but once we hit the middle of the year, the months fly by soooo fast!

For my card today, I'm using some new products from the upcoming 2021 July-December Mini Catalogue that will commence for customers on 3 August 2021. One of the perks of being a Demonstrator is being able to get your hands on them early.

I have used a few products from the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite for my card. You can probably guess that the Kraft colour is the gingerbread with the red and white of peppermint candies. On my Basic White card base I have added a layer of Kraft which will be available in a pack of 6" x 6" sheets.

The next layer is Real Red and I have used the striped design from the Adorning Designs Decorative Masks to add sparkly stripes with Shimmery White Embossing Paste. I hope you can see some of the sparkle in the photo above; it is so pretty in the light.

For the focus panel I have dry embossed it with the pine branch design from the Wintry 3D Embossing Folders before die cutting with a Stitched Rectangle and popping it up on Dimensionals. On the left side I have a die cut ornament from the Gingerbread Dies with the background in Kraft and the detailed one in Basic White. I cut another in Real Red to see which I preferred and then popped some of the red pieces back into the white one. On the right is the lovely scripty greeting, which I have fussy cut from a bauble in the Delicate Baubles Dies set. I finished with a white Baker's Twine bow on the bauble and a couple of Kraft whirls with a rhinestone in the centre.

For the inside I have a Real Red mat for the writing panel and added a strip of Kraft down the left to provide a background for my peppermint candies.

Project Details
Stamps	None
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Kraft, Real Red
Ink	None
Accessories	Baker's Twine Essentials Pack, Basic Rhinestones
Tools	Gingerbread Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Delicate Baubles Dies, Wintry 3D Embossing Folders, die cutting machine, Dimensionals, Shimmery White Embossing Paste

Now it's time to hop along to see what my lovely friend Tina has created for you this week.

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up, please click on the link for our host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, and she will have the list of all who are participating.

Thanks for visiting today!

Posted at 07:55 PM in Christmas, Heart of Christmas | Permalink | Comments (11)

CASE-ing the Catty - Holiday Section

July 18, 2021

Hi there

Welcome back to another week of CASE-ing the Catty! Today is our 7th Anniversary - how time flies when you're having fun!

If you've come from visiting Monique, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today! You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post.

This week we are taking inspiration from the Holiday Section of the 2021-22 Annual Catalogue.

This week I'm taking my inspiration from the card above. I love cards with strips, as they are a great way to showcase beautiful coordinating patterned papers and a great way to use up the many strips that are left over from other projects.

I've stayed close to the design, but instead of adding the strips directly to the card base, I cut a piece of Basic White and then added my strips to it. I used the Tidings of Christmas 6" x 6" Designer Paper, which has a great range of dark and light small prints which is perfect for this style of card. Of course, I had to add some bling, so I have used a couple of narrow strips of the new Be Dazzling 6" x 6" Specialty Paper from the upcoming Sale-a-bration promotion starting on 3 August.

You can see the lovely Be Dazzling Specialty Paper in the photo above. It is actually tiny gold hexagons, that will remind you of Glomesh, if you're of the age to remember that, lol. I recommend you use a sharp blade on your trimmer and cut with the paper shiny side down, to get a good result. I added a couple of rows of White Baker's Twine under the greeting and then popped up the panel on the Soft Succulent card base. I stamped the stocking in Basic Gray and then coloured it with Cherry Cobbler and Soft Succulent Stampin' Blends. I thought it looked a bit wishy-washy so I put it back in the Stamparatus and stamped over the top with Evening Evergreen and love how it looks. I added a couple of cute die cut holly leaves in Shaded Spruce and berries in Real Red using the Christmas Trimmings Dies and a trio of stars cut from the Be Dazzling Specialty Paper.

For the inside, I have kept it simple, with a strip of the stacked designs on the right hand side.

Now I have something a little extra for you, seeing it is a special occasion, with a sneak peak of another new Sale-a-bration product! I have made another card using the same layout with the lovely new Peaceful Prints Designer Series Paper. I've chosen to just use the prints with the Real Red, Cherry Cobbler and Sahara Sand colours, with a couple of strips of the Be Dazzling Specialty Paper.

This time I added the strips directly to the card base, which is a quicker option if you're making a lot of this design. I fussy cut the deer from another sheet of the Peaceful Prints paper after rough cutting and adhering it to a piece of Basic White first. I finished with a trio of Gold Glitter Enamel Dots.

Isn't it amazing how different the cards look with a bold versus muted colour combo.

Project Details
Stamps	Tidings & Trimmings
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Soft Succulent, Shaded Spruce, Real Red, Be Dazzling Specialty Paper, Tidings of Christmas DSP, Peaceful Prints DSP
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Baker's Twine Essentials Pack, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots
Tools	Christmas Trimmings Dies, die cutting machine, Dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler & Soft Succulent Stampin' Blends

We would love to see your CASE of a stepped up layout this week. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog.

You can head over to Rebecca to see the fab holiday project and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Thanks for visiting today!

Posted at 06:55 PM in CASE-ing The Catty, Christmas | Permalink | Comments (6)

CASE-ing the Catty - Stepped Up Layout

July 11, 2021

Hi there

Welcome back to another week of CASE-ing the Catty!

If you've come from visiting Rachel, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today! You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post.

This week our challenge is to CASE a layout and step it up!

This week I'm taking my inspiration from the card in the photo above that uses the Timeless Tropical stamp set.

This image makes it easier to see the key elements in the layout. It is very simple, but that makes it super versatile and you can use a lot of different elements to create the embellishment identified by the circles.

Using patterned paper is one surefire way to step up a card and today I've used the stunning Magnenta Madness design from the Expressions in Ink Specialty Designer Series Paper for the background on my card. It has gold foil highlighting the design which is styled on the patterns you get using alcohol ink. Only this way, all the hard work is done for you and no mess! For the horizontal strip, I've used the gold foil and white striped design and edged it with a narrow border of the new Gold & Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper.

I've used the smaller flower from the Artistically Inked stamp set for my embellishment, which I've stamped in Magenta Madness and then cropped with the coordingating Artistic Dies. I love the detail and depth in the shading from the DistInktive™ style stamps. If your ink pad is juicy, use a teaspoon to temporarily push the ink down, so you can enjoy all that lovely depth. I've stamped the leaves in Shaded Spruce ink and cut some of the smaller elements from the large detailed die in the Artistic Dies set, that I cropped from Basic White. The 'hello' greeting was heat embossed in white on Magenta Madness card stock and then cropped with a die from the Stitched Rectangles Dies. I added a trio of white Elegant Faceted Gems.

For the inside, I used a mat of Magenta Madness for the writing panel and a strip of the gold and white striped design on the right. On the writing panel I have partially stamped the inky-look image on the edge in the Magnenta Madness and then added another flower and white detailed elements in the corner.

This photo shows the gold foil detail in the patterned paper designs.

Project Details
Stamps	Artistically Inked
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Magenta Madness, Gold & Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper
Ink	Versamark, Magenta Madness, Shaded Spruce
Accessories	Elegant Faceted Gems
Tools	Stitched Rectangles Dies, Artistic Dies, die cutting machine, Dimensionals, White EP, Heat gun

You can head over to Sandra to see her super cute project and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Thanks for visiting today!

Posted at 06:55 PM in CASE-ing The Catty, Feminine | Permalink | Comments (3)

Heart of Christmas - Tidings of Christmas

July 05, 2021

Hi there

Welcome to the first week of Heart of Christmas for 2021. Each week (until mid-December), the talented ladies from the Art with Heart team will bring you inspiration for your holiday craft projects. I know it may seem early to be talking about holiday projects, but once we hit the middle of the year, the months fly by soooo fast!

For my card today, I'm using products from the new Tidings of Christmas Suite from the 2021-22 Annual Catalogue. It includes a fabulous stamp and die bundle that I know I will get lots of use from as well as the Tidings of Christmas 6" x 6" Designer Paper.

The stamp set has lots of really lovely greetings in a combination of fonts that can be used for the outside and inside of your card. The dies crop the images from the stamp set, plus has extra foliage and detailed star dies. I think this is great value for $70AUD for the bundle.

The Tidings of Christmas 6" x 6" Designer Paper is a nice mix of small prints with stripes, solid prints and open prints in Cherry Cobbler, Sahara Sand, Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen and Misty Moonlight.

I decided to go a little left field by using a Coastal Cabana card base with the dark foliage print from Tidings of Christmas, to add a pop of brightness. A narrow border of gold foil from the new Gold & Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper was added to the long sides of the DSP panel as well as a slightly shorter and wider border of the Cherry Cobbler stripe design.

For the focus I have used the star dies from the Christmas Trimmings Dies set with the solid background cut from Cherry Cobbler and the detailed die from the gold metallic paper. I cut 2 extra of the detailed die in Crumb Cake, adhered them together and then adhered the gold metallic star on top to create more dimension. The small solid star in the centre uses a die from the Stitched Stars Dies and you can see the shape coordinates perfectly. The smaller detailed stars are cut from Coastal Cabana card stock with 2 layers adhered together and a medium gem from the Gilded Gems in the centre.

For the inside I have brought through the same style as the front of the card with a narrow border of the gold metallic along the edges of the writing panel and the shorter and wider Cherry Cobbler stripe. I've stamped one of the stockings in Coastal Cabana and added a stitched and scalloped top created from a piece of Basic White cut with a die from the Stitched so Sweetly Dies set. I die cut the stmaped stocking first and then adhered the white scalloped piece and cut around it. I finished with the sweet bow stamped in Cherry Cobbler and coloured with Real Red Stampin' Blends.

Project Details
Stamps	Tidings & Trimmings
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Gold & Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper, Tidings of Christmas DSP
Ink	Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories	Gilded Gems
Tools	Christmas Trimmings Dies, Stitched Stars Dies, Stitched So SweetlyDies, die cutting machine, Banners Pick a Punch, Dimensionals, Real Red Stampin' Blends

Now it's time to hop along to see what Ros has created for you this week.

Thanks for visiting today!

Posted at 07:55 PM in Christmas, Heart of Christmas | Permalink | Comments (12)

CASE-ing the Catty - Die Bundles

July 04, 2021

Hi there

Welcome back to another week of CASE-ing the Catty!

If you've come from visiting Kathryn, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today! You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post.

This week the Crew are taking inspiration from the Die Bundles on pages 156-161 of the Annual Catalogue.

This week I'm taking my inspiration from the project above using the Color & Contour Bundle. I've use the fabulous nested dies, but decided it was a good opportunity to ink up the stamps as well.

If you're not familiar with the bundle, the photo above shows the range of scalloped rectangle dies in the set, plus the lovely pierced scalloped border (visible in the sample project) and 2 outline dies for the single flower and flower stem images from the stamp set. Plus, there are 5 greetings in nice scripty fonts.

I started by stamping and die cutting multiple flowers in Polished Pink, Gorgeous Grape & Highland Heather and Mango Melody. I stamped a few other colours as well and then decided on these three for my card. For the Polished Pink and Mango Melody flowers I used a teaspoon to push the ink down into the pad before stamping the fill image over the top of the outline. Of course, you can also stamp off, but I find this method easier and more reliable in terms of ink coverage. I decided on a Gray Granite backgound for my flowers and used the gorgeous Stitched Greenery Die to create the lovely stitched leaves. I was going to add some foliage but you get the leafy feel with this background die, while keeping your card clean and simple.

For my greeting, I used the second smallest scalloped rectangle from the Scalloped Contours Dies, which cuts a line along the edges and pierces each corner. Sometimes the cut line can open slightly on the long sides, but I find using Thick Basic White holds together better and if you want to be really sure, put a line of narrow double-sided tape on the reverse. I stamped a greeting from the Best Year stamp set in Gorgeous Grape ink on the label. Rather than ribbon, I used White Baker's Twine around the Gray Granite background and finished it with a bow. Then it was a matter of positioning the flowers and popping up the label on Dimensionals. I finished with a trio of Gold Glitter Enamel Dots.

For the inside, I used a mat of Gray Granite for the writing panel, which I shortened to add the trio of stamped flowers on the side for a bright pop of colour.

Project Details
Stamps	Color & Contour, Best Year
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Gray Granite
Ink	Polished Pink, Mango Melody, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather
Accessories	Baker's Twine Essentials Pack, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots
Tools	Scalloped Contours Dies, Stitched Greenery Die, die cutting machine, Dimensionals

We would love to see your CASE of a card from the Die Bundles this week. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog.

You can head over to my lovely friend Tina to see her fab creation and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Thanks for visiting today!

Posted at 06:55 PM in CASE-ing The Catty, Feminine, Nature/Floral | Permalink | Comments (1)

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A bit about me...

Hi, I'm Judy May and I live in Toowoomba, Queensland with my husband. I love Stampin' Up!® paper, stamps and ink and using them to make beautiful projects. Let me be your creative coach and inspire you to bring the joy of creativity to your life!