Belle Papier {pretty paper}

I just wanted to give you an update on my mom (Kathleen) for all those who are interested. Many of you know that she has been fighting Melanoma (the most agressive type of skin cancer)  through 2 major surgeries as well as interferon and radiation treatments. She is still having chemo treatments…3 days every three weeks. Next Tuesday she will start her next round. After that they may give her 6 weeks off. She is quite exhausted from it all. We appreciate your continued prayers.

I also have a prayer request for my Mother-in-Law, Arlene. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer a couple weeks ago and is having surgery on Friday and then treatment to follow. If you could remember to pray for her, we would most appreciate it as well.

 Thanks so much for your support! We strongly believe in the power of prayer.

So sorry for the delay! I had to run and pick up a sick little boy (4yo) at school! Poor little guy has a fever and a sore stomach and is now tucked nicely into bed.

 Wow! I just can’t believe them amount of posts for this blog prize! 207! Thanks so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments, questions and suggestions. I really appreciate it! I wish I could give out more blog prizes! I’ll just have to do it again soon.

I used an online random number generator from www.random.org to pick the winner of this blog prize. Number 102 was picked. Juliana you are the lucky winner of my Belle Bonbons!:)

Juliana wrote:

Julia, I cannot think of anything more I want to see on your blog. I have really enjoyed all of your creations and I find them so inspiring!

 Thanks so much! I hope I continue to live up to your expectations. :) Please e-mail me with your address and I’ll pop it in the mail right away! My e-mail link can be found just under my pic in the sidebar.

Wishing you all a fabulous day!

The Papercrafts Idol top ten was announced Friday! Congratulations goes out to my very talented friend Jacksonbelle. You go girl! The latest creations by all the great designers have now been posted on the Papercrafts Gallery Idol web page. Fabulous Birthday cards with matching envelopes that you won’t want to miss! Check it out and make sure you vote while you are there. It is one vote per person and you have until Thursday noon MST to cast yours. The top 5 winners will be announced Friday!

You may also want to check out Papertrey Ink today. They have just released their new Little Lady set. So darling!

Also just opened today…the new Splitcoast Fan Club Gallery! If you have a membership…you need to go check it out! It doesn’t seem all that long ago we were brainstorming upcoming gallery themes. This was one of my faves…A Few of my Favorite Things! I am now DD Alumni and so excited to finally get a peek at what these very talented stampers have come up with for this theme! Big-time congrats to Yvette & Atmonic Butterfly…the new “dirty girls!” You are both a fabulous addition to the team!

I’m busy here today trying to finish up write-ups and anxiously awaiting my new Lizzie Anne Designs stamps. I can’t wait to play with some of the new releases that will be available at the end of the month! Make sure you check back here this afternoon to see if you are the winner of my Belle Bonbons! Thanks for all the comments! I’ve really enjoyed reading them!

It’s been a long time since I’ve done any scrapbooking layouts! I decided it was time to give it another whirl, especially as I’ve been writing a Craft Critique article about the Basic Grey paper line. Since they are mainly a scrapbooking company, I thought I’d better put my rusty skillz to work. If you are interested in checking out the article, check out Craft Critique. Also, to make it easier to find projects featured on Craft Critique, just click on the Craft Critique category in my sidebar or at the top of this post and all the entries will be selected.

Family

No stamping today…I wanted this design to focus on the beautiful Basic Grey paper, rub-ons and accessories. I was surprised too…not even a drop of ink! Not too often that happens! I had so much fun designing this page…it is so much fun to step out of the box and try something new or put a new spin on something you used to do. Now that I’ve finished…I do remember why I design cards and small projects now. The larger the design, the more time-consuming it is to complete. Someday…when I have more time…I know I’ll be back scrapbooking again!

I started off this design with the idea to use a transparency sheet as a layer to break up the design but still let you see the gorgeous Basic Grey paper. I stitched the transparency down free-style to anchor it and give a border to the main part of the design. To anchor it if you will. I love stitching freestyle! My husband hates it! He thinks it looks like I was drunk while sewing it. For those of you who know me, you’ll know that since I don’t drink…it definitely wasn’t the case. For the  main focal point, I matted the photo with some Blush paper and sanded its edges before adhering to the layout.

On the transparency, I added some of Basic Grey’s beautiful rub-ons to create the title and some visual insterest. Love those paisleys! I also added a little rub-on right on the photo and wrapped a ribbon around one corner for a photo corner type idea.

Next came my chipboard elements. The f is from the Undressed Chipboard Monograms package and the brackets and heart are from the Undressed Chipboard Elements package. The latter comes in a great package of four flat sheets that come with adhesive already on the back. I covered the F with a piece of a Basic Grey Blush sheet and the heart and brackets are covered with some of my 6×6 pad of Stella Ruby. I love the subtle texture and color change on this “plain” patterened paper. I adhered my paper with Alene’s Thick and Tacky glue and then sanded and filed the edges with my Basic Grey Precision File Set.

To finish it all off, I added flowers sprinkled over the design. I was so excited to find that my Prima Essentials Lucid Collection flowers coordinated perfectly with the colors in the layout! Note to self…almost out of Lucid flowers…must buy more! Love them! As I looked at this layout this morning, to give you an idea of where to find these products, I had to laugh. I’d say that 98% of the product on this page came from Jacksonbelle’s ebay store. She must love getting an e-mail from me! The beautiful black and cream striped ribbon is from Sweet and Sassy Crafts.

Supply List:

Patterned Paper: 12×12 paper base - Desire from Scarlet’s Letter, Photo Mat ” Milk Chocolate from Blush”, F - ” 12×12 Girlfriend  from Blush”,  Heart and Brackets - 6×6 paper pack Stella Ruby-Basic Grey

Other: Wholy Cow Paisley Black Rub-ons & Black Alphabet Rub-ons - Basic Grey, Undressed Chipboard Monograms & Undressed Chipboard Elements - Basic Grey, ribbon - May Arts, sewing machine, transparency - Staples Busines Depot, Prima Essentials Lucid Collection - Prima Marketing, copper brads - Making Memories, Precision File Set - Basic Grey, glue dots - Stampin Up

Have you ever tried to get a nice finish on those little bitty chipboard corners?! Yikes! Sandpaper is fabulous for outside edges and large shapes, but what do you do when you are trying to cover monograms? Especially letters like B! They can be more than a little tedious! Enter Basic Grey. The new Basic Grey Precision File set is a papercrafter’s best friend. Why did no one come up with this before now?!

Basic Grey Precision File Set

When I first saw the Basic Grey Precision  File kit on their latest CHA Winter line release…I had my order in right away. These tool kits were so popular, Basic Grey literally couldn’t keep up with the sales! As with every thing Basic Grey produces…it is a must have item!

There are so many great things about these files. Before, I was using sand paper for all the chipboard and other altering projects I worked on. Now sandpaper is great and cheap and I still use it at times, but it has a habit of falling apart on you. You have to fold it to work into small areas and it can be a little hard on the hands to work with. I was also always losing it. You KNOW I am not the Queen of Organization! LOL

What I love about the Basic Grey Precision Files

• Great plastic soft-grip handles make them easy to hold and easy on the hands
• They come in lots of fabulous shapes so you are bound to find one to fit the exact area you need
• They come in a nice round case that is compact, easy to store but keeps everything in one place so it is hard for me to lose!
• They are pink! It’s not too likely that I will lose them to the many masculine members of my family
• These babies are strong and durable
• I can easily distress or alter anything that I can think of
• The price! Very affordable! Approx $6.99 US

Where can you use these files? On anything you wish to distress or alter! Try them on paper, chipboard, painted surfaces, even metal. Just have fun with them! Basic Grey also makes fabulous chipboard that comes in the most convenient packages. I think I own it all as the quality is fabulous and I love the designs. If  you are interested in the taking a look at the Basic Grey newsletter that features these files check it out here.

I purchased my Precision Files from Jacksonbelle. I believe she has a new shipment in this week if you are having trouble finding them. Please note…I am not affiliated in any way with Basic Grey or Jacksonbelle. I just love the product! I also included where I bought them to save any questions on where you can buy them.

I’ve also included a little sample of chipboard where I used my Basic Grey Precision File Set. I think you’ll be seeing a lot more chipboard from me in the future! This is a little closeup of the project I’m finishing up to share with you tomorrow.

Wishing you a very happy Mother’s Day!

I can’t believe it…time is flying by so quickly! It is already my three month anniversary of starting blogging and I have been having so much fun with it. It has been a lot of work, of course, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and have only misseed posting one day so far. I think I’ve made up for it though, there have been many days where I’ve posted more than once! I’ve also just passed the 60,000 hits mark. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit! I love hearing from you all!

To celebrate, I’d like to share some more of my favorite goodies with you! I’ll be drawing a number with the help of an on-line random number generator on Tuesday May 15th at 12 noon EST. The winner will be posted on this blog shortly thereafter! All you need to do to enter is comment on THIS blog entry. You could let me know what you’d like to see in my blog, ask me a question or just plain say hi! I’ll try to work through the list as best I can in the upcoming months.

Belle Bonbons consist of 16 6×6″ sheets of Melissa Frances patterned paper (4 different styles), 10 coasters(because some of you couldn’t play along on my coaster challenge), one set of Karen Foster Snap Stamps (Casual Mini set) and 1 yard each of my favorite May Arts velvet ribbon in Celery and Pink. The above supplies came from Jacksonbelle Embellishments, Ellen Hutson & Starlitstudio. Because of where I live, I buy a lot of my supplies on-line. These ladies are all great for shipping to Canada!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and Mother’s Day!

Another little take two challenge this morning! This time it is four of us again! Four variations on the same theme, by four different designers. I can’t wait to see what my friends have cooked up this time! I just adore this new Aged Florals line from Fancy Pants and we’ve paired it up with a sentiment set this time…Happy Everything by Stampin Up. I think it’s quite appropriate…just looking at this paper makes me happy! I know you are going to want to check out the other designs, just as much as I. You can find them at Jacksonbelle’s Embellished, Trudee’s Follow Your Bliss and Shel9999’s brand-spankin new Papercuts!

Beaded Florals click on photo to see better view of microbeads

Beaded Paper Technique …For this card, I was trying to decide what to do. A lot of the time I start with a stamped image when designing a card. We weren’t working with images this time, just sentiments…so what to do? I noticed my favorite paper in the line pretty enough to use as the focal point so I decided to feature it! I cut out the paper to a 2.75″ square and covered it with an adhesive sheet cut to the same size. I then covered the whole thing with microbeads so add a little shine. I’ve always loved doing this with an image, so why not with the designer paper?

Quick Tip: All microbeads are not created equal! I first tried this with some leftover glass microbeads from Michaels. While lovely, these beads are larger and heavier than the Art Accentz Provocraft Microbeads. They did not want to apply smoothly or adhere well. I ended up scrapping them and starting again with a new package of Provocraft microbeads. These are also the same beads available from Stampin Up.

After matting the main “image” with Rose Red and Whisper White, I moved on to the layout. The card base is a 5″ square Rose Red cardstock base. I layered on my next favorite paper in the line, the beautiful stripe. A little white scalloped strip was left on my desk from another design project I had been working on earlier in the day. It was a perfecty fit and added a little lightness to the card design. I also found a large piece of celery ribbon from Michael’s in my drawer. I tend to shy away from larger ribbon because it can tend to be bulky. It worked well on this design as a layer and I adhered it to the front of the card, tucking the ends in behind the patterned paper.

Now the funny thing about this card, is that I lost my adhesive. It did turn up later but I had to make do with glue dots and stitching to  hold it all together as I knew it had to be done last night. Now glue dots are expensive and you just can’t put them along every edge, so I pulled out my trusty sewing machine. I love the added texture and interest stitching adds to the design as well as keeping it together well!

I still needed a sentiment on the design. The challenge was to use the Happy Everything set by Stampin Up. The Happy was stamped with white craft ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I decided to go with the Everything stamp to finish off the sentiment as I wasn’t quite sure where this was going quite yet and Everything tends to work every time! Of course, I couldn’t leave my favorite flowers off the design! I added two Primas from the Baby Girl and Lucid Essential Collections that I bought from Jacksonbelle. BTW…the gorgeous Fancy Pants paper comes from there as well! For the center of the flower…I just couldn’t resist these gorgeous brads from K&Company! I’ve been drooling over them every time I went in and finally succumbed to temptation.:)

Supply List:

Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Aged Florals Line - Fancy Pants Designs

Stamps: Happy Everything - Stampin Up

Ink: Chocolate chip, Black Stazon, White Craft - Stampin Up

Other: White Embossing Powder, Prima Essentials Baby Girl Collection & Prima Essentials Lucid Collection, sewing machine, brad - K & Company, small corner rounder - EK Success, Thumbtack Brad - Karen Foster designs

Thursday again! Each week I say it and each week I wonder at how fast it has rolled around again! Today’s Ways to Use it Challenge is to incorporate coasters into a papercraft project. It can be a card, a box, any other idea that you can think of! If you’d like to join us, you are more than welcome to play along HERE. Everyone is welcome. The daily SCS challenges are a great way to get you creating and try out new things or ideas.

Also, today is the last day to vote on the Papercraft Idol cards! Voting ends at 12 noon MST today (Thursday May 10). If you haven’t checked it out, they are down to 15 entries of the most gorgeous Mother’s Day cards. If you haven’t already made a Mother’s Day card…you’ll want to check them out for inspiration! Papercrafts Idol Link

Regal Merci

Believe it or not, I actually started this card wayyyy back in February for my last month’s Dirty Dozen Design Team gallery. I just ran out of time, I was a little overwhelmed sick kids and my mom starting treatments and I thought, oh well, I’ll finish it later. LOL It IS later…only three months later! But I’m happy to say, it is done! It worked out perfectly too…it only took less than ten minutes to finish up with this card. It has been a crazy week so I was super glad to have something to work up quickly for today’s challenge.

This card is designed around the main coaster panel. I had some brand new coasters from Starlitstudio when I began this card and was wondering if I could emboss them in my Cuttlebug. I had ran them through with the small dies and they worked great. I carefully inserted the coaster in my embossing folder and slowly ran it through the Cuttlebug. I loved the results! To dye my coaster the color I desired, I sponged it with Elegant Eggplant ink, leaving it lighter in the grooves of the embossing. To add extra definition, I pulled out my Cosmic Copper Brilliance ink pad and swiped the ink pad directly over the edges and lightly across some of the embossed areas for highlights.

Quick Tip: Be careful running your coasters through the Cuttlebug. I use the medium weight ones and I love the thickness. They can be hard to get through so go slowly and carefully. Line the embossing folder or dies up parallel with the machine. You may wish to use the slimmer coasters as I have broken one of the plates running it through too quickly with the medium weight coasters. Fortunately, this does not damage the Cuttlebug and the plates are easily replacable.

The main card is a large one! Five and a half inches square so that I would have a little stamping space around the coaster. Just under the coaster is an eggplant layer rolled with the coordinating wheel to Carte Postale. I rounded the corners on the design and then sponged the edges. It is matted with Cranberry Crisp cardstock…I’m going to miss that color when they retire it! I originally went with this color combo because of the beautiful flowers. One large flower by Karen Foster Design (cranberry) and the other by Prima. The Prima flower is from Odessey #1 Prima collection and I bought mine from Jacksonbelle.  They both happened to be on my desk and a light bulb came on how beautiful they would look together!

I layered the flowers and adhered them to the front of the card with my SU glue dots. Love those things for hard to glue embellishments…they pack a lot of staying power in that one little dot! I also have these gorgeous K&Company charms. They are round embossed brass discs that are perfect for framing a punched circle or other little embellishment. I picked a huge package of them up at Michael’s in their $1 bin a year ago…I’m pretty sure that means they are retired.:( To fill the center of the charm, I stamped the blossom image from the stamp set in Cranberry Crisp and then punched it and sponged the edges before adhering.

To tie it all together…pardon the pun….I slid some burgundy dotted organdy from Michael’s under the coaster layer and tied it at the side. Not much room on this card for a sentiment but I worked “Merci ” in by punching out a tag from another coaster with my Cuttlebug die. To get a nice clean finish…I adhere the patterned paper to the coaster before punching it out.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Cranberry Crisp  - Stampin Up

Patterned paper: Phoebe 6×6 paper pad - Basic Grey

Stamps: Carte Postale & wheel - Stampin Up

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Cranberry Crisp, Black - Stampin Up, Cosmic Copper Brilliance

Other: Coaster, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Script Embossing Folder & Cuttlebug tag die - Provocraft, Metal charm (retired) - K&Company, Dotted ribbon - Michael’s, circle punch - EK Success, Corner Rounder Stampin Up, Prima Odessey #1 Big Blooms - Prima Marketing

I managed to squeeze in a few minutes this afternoon to make a sketch challenge card. It may be a little busy but…oh well! If you’d like to play along with this week’s SCS sketch challenge visit here.

Flourish Joy

This card uses my new Fancy Pants Bella Brush Acrylic Stamps. I can’t believe I’ve had them for weeks and am just getting them out now! They are gorgeous! I think I need to try them againt to do them justice but I had fun just inking them up! I paired them with my Basic Grey 6×6 paper pad, added some distressing, some sponging and some stitching to come up with this card. Basic Grey paper, Fancy Pants stamps, ribbon & Prima flower from Jacksonbelle.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Regal Rose - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey 6×6 paper pad

Stamps: Bella Brush - Fancy Pants

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst, Chocolate Chip, Marigold Morning, Certainly Celery

Other: Sewing machine, ribbon, Prima Essential Lucid Collection Flower - Prima Marketing, Velvet Brads - Making Memories, edge distresser - Heidi Swapp

I finally got a few minutes to make a quick card with my new Lizzie Anne Designs stamps. This darling little tote is part of their Girl Power set. I think it would look really sweet as a gift bag as well. I have an idea in my head for that so I’ll have to d0 it soon.

Let’s Do Lunch

For this card, I wanted to keep it clean and fresh….the beautiful paper has so much going on and I didn’t want to take away from that. For the main image, I used the paper piecing technique. Very fun and simple, especially on this little design. I first stamped the image onto my white cardstock square. Then I stamped the image with black ink again onto the Basic Grey orange print paper and also the aqua. My new So Swirly set from Lizzie Anne was also begging to be used and I thought it worked well with the paper prints I was using. I stamped the swirls on the image to ground it a little. I didn’t have to worry about masking as I knew I’d be covering the image with paper. I colored in the handle with my Pumpkin Pie SU marker and then cut out the bag from the orange print paper and adhered it over the original image. I then cut out the tiny flower from the aqua paper and adhered it. To finish off the image…I used a little Making Memories brad in a mauve color (pulled from the orange print) as the flower center.

Quick tip: To get nice clean and close trimming when paper piecing or any other cutting technique, I use a set of tiny Fiskars scissors. You can find them in many craft stores (I bought mine from Michael’s) as well as some Office Supply stores as well.

The front of the card still needed to be designed. I decided to keep the layout simple and adhered strips of the fun Romani Basic Grey paper across my white card base. I love this paper that I bought from Jacksonbelle. It is the scaled down 6×6 paper pad and is so fun and easy to work with and store. To add interest to the panels, I tried out different sewing stitches on the seams. I love the look of how they are the same but different variations each time.

For the sentiment, I wanted to repeat the swirls again so I stamped more flourishes where I wanted the sentiment to go and then again at the bottom of the design. The florish I used has little dots on it so I decided to cover them up and insert little mauve brads as part of the design.

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Supply List:

Cardstock: Whisper White - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: 6×6 paper pad Romani - Basic Grey

Stamps: So Swirly, Girl Power - Lizzie Anne Designs

Ink: Black, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie Marker - Stampin Up

Other: sewing machine, brads - Making Memories