Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Being half Irish…I just couldn’t resist designing a little card for St Paddy’s Day using some of my Lizzie Anne Designs stamps. This design uses a few sets paired up with some Basic Grey patterned paper. I’m totally drawing a blank this morning on which line it is. I know it is from one of their 6×6 paper pads but since I actually created this design a few weeks ago… I’ll try and figure it out and edit it in. I love how the circles are interconnected in the pattern. It reminds me of Celtic art. This renovation sure is taking its toll! As of last night, my kitchen is now stripped of sink, dishwasher, insulation (brrrr….), cupboards, drywall…in short, everything! My littlest guy wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. You’d think after six months of constant construction he’d be used to it but I guess not. Poor little guy. Last night he said…”Daddy, why you bweaking mine house?”

St. Paddy’s Day Party

Edited to add…thanks Regina for letting me know the paper is Kisa from the Perhaps collections!

For this design, I used a simple layout paired up with some darling stamp sets…. It’s a Party, Celebrations & Celebration Sayings from Lizzie Anne Designs. The images were stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock in Old Olive ink. Once again, I’m loving my Circle Template…just can’t seem to put that thing down! Some Making Memories brads accent the curve and a little scrap of May Arts ribbon is tied and adhered to highlight the Party celebration. All edges were sponged with some Close to Cocoa ink to add a warm distressed look.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

One of the simplest ways to add interest to a card design is by adding a window. Why I always seem to forget this, I’m not quite sure! I’m going to challenge myself to include more window designs. Today I’m challenging you too to open a window and have a little fun. Today’s Ways to Use it Challenge is to find ways to use windows. Whether you simply use a stamp image of a window, or create a window with flaps, shape cutters or punches…I can’t wait to see all the fabulous ideas! This week the challenge is a rerun. We originally did this challenge way back for WT85. I’m not quite sure where the time goes. I’ve been challenging you every Thursday (well, almost!) for the past three years and today is no exception. HAve a little fun and open a window. Challenge instructions can be found HERE.

Edited to add...just in case anyone is trying to get a hold of me…my e-mail server is done…again! Sorry! If you’ve e-mailed…I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! 

Hey Chickie!

To create this design, I started with simple 5.25 x 10.5 piece of patterned paper. More Crate paper…I found a stash of it and I’m in the mood to use some more! The paper is from the Twirl Collection. I folded the paper in half to create my card…keeping the striped side to the inside. Now you know…I just can’t resist stamping on patterned paper so I pulled out my Pretty Pattern Backgrounder stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms and stamped the front of my design. One of my favorite things about Crate paper is its white core and textured surface. It is so much fun to sand and so I lightly sanded some of the surface area as well as the edges.

To create my window, I pulled out my new EK Success Curvy Cutter Circle Template and cut out the window. I then cut out larger circular rings with the cutter from some coordinating paper to frame my window. I wanted to pair up this window with a darling little chick image from CHF. This Three Chicks stamp is from the new Easter release by Aslea and is so darling and easy to color with my Copic Markers. After cutting it out with my circle template, I adhered it to a piece of transparency that was attached behind the window on the inside. I love how this makes the image “float”. The stripes on the inside peek through and I can also tuck in a little circle behind image with my sentiment…”Hey Chickie!”

To finish the outside of my design, I added some Prima Hydrangea flowers. The aged copper brads are by Creative Impressions as is the darling brown dotted ribbon that is tied through my button. To balance the other side of my design, I pulled out my Dew Drops again and adhered them with Ranger Liquid Accents along my other circle.

Wishing you a fabulous day! Hope you enjoy the window challenge. I’ll also leave you with one of my favorite quotes…

When God shuts a door, He opens a window.

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Hey Chickie!(Asela Collection) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Three Chicks (Asela Collection) by Cornish Heritage Farms

-Pretty Pattern Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Black Adirondack Ink by Ranger
-Antique Linen Distress Ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
-white by Staples
-patterned paper - Twirl Line by Crate Paper

Accessories:
-flowers by Prima Marketing

-brads & dotted ribbon by Creative Impressions

-Dew Drops by The Robin’s Nest

-acetate transparency

Tools:

Markers by Copic
Curvy Cutter Circle Template

sewing machine

I’m having so much fun with these darling little chickie stamps that are being released today from Cornish Heritage Farms. Asela has outdone herself with these sweet little images…chicks and sentiments and bunnies too! This image is one of my favorites. It looks like this little chick has a super big treat to carry along. My little guys are having a blast too with these images. They are coloring and cutting up a storm along side of me. It’s getting pretty messy here but creativity isn’t always nice and tidy is it?! I guess its just some good clean fun and they are happy to be spending some time with their mom.

This design was also designed with today’s SCS sketch challenge layout. The proportions aren’t quite exact but for the most part…it works. If you’d like to play along, you can check out the sketch HERE.

Eggs and Chicks Easter Card

To create this design, I pulled the color combo from one of my favorite patterned papers from the Confetti collection by My Mind’s Eye. After stamping my image, I colored it with my Copic markers for a fun spring look. The image was then matted with some Crate Paper left on my desk and I sanded the edges to define them a little.

For the bottom panel of the layout, I stamped the tiny lined paper image (from the Kim Hughes’ Foursquare set) onto the reverse side of the My Mind’s paper. The Happy Easter sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of white cardstock and stapled to the design. I finally got around to playing with my new Robin’s Nest Dew Drops. I can tell I’ll be using them again soon. I received this bottle of them with my latest Paper Crafts magazines and goodies but I also have a couple others I’m going to have to pull out that I purchased from Ellen. So fun and easy to use!

Quick Tip: The reverse sides of double-sided patterned paper is perfect for matting and stamping on and coordinates perfectly.

Wishing you an eggstra-special day…. I know, that was sooo lame…. but seriously, have a good one.
Supply List:

Stamps:
-An Egg for You Chick(Asela Line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-lined paper from Foursquare (Kim Hughes Collection) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Happy Easter (Asela Line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Antique Distress Ink by Ranger
-Black Palette Ink by Stewart Superior

Cardstock:

white cardstock - Staples
-patterned paper - Confetti line from My Mind’s Eye, Birdie Line from Crate Paper

Accessories:
-Dew Drops - The Robin’s Nest

-ribbon - Making Memories

-markers - Copic

Tools:

-stapler

-sewing machine

Since November, each month the Splitcoaststampers Dirty girls…past and present… get together for a challenge. It’s so much fun to reconnect and to design something just for fun. Last month just seemed to get away from me and I wasn’t able to take part so I was determined to work something in this time. This month the challenge had three parts…

Challenge Focus: Stamps Designed by Fellow Dirty Girls. -OR- alternate option - use any fellow Dirty Girl’s gallery creation as an inspiration to semi-CASE something of your own (be sure to link it in your post).

Required Element: Spring Color Combo - whatever feels like Spring to you!

Restricted Element: NO CuttleBug/Big Shot/Wizard or similar diecut/embossing machines.

Keyword: DCS208 (for Dirty Challenge Shout February 08 )

You may know, my good friend Lisa Strahl designs a line of stamps for Cornish Heritage Farms called Mona Lisa Moments. Lisa and I were also on the Dirty Dozen Design team together for a 3 month overlap at the end of 2006 to Feb 2007 and I’m excited to use a few of her stamps here. Two backgrounder designs, and one of my very favorite sets… Classic Essential Expressions.

Forever Friends

For this design I decided to pair up two of my favorite backgrounders Lined Paper and French Script with some patterned paper stamping and a pocket card design. It’s been a long time since I did a pocket card and I thought it would be fun. Going through my paper stash, I found this Birdie Crate Paper line. I just love Crate Paper, the colors and texture are gorgeous and perfect for stamping on. This Birdie line just screams Spring to me and so I had my color combo. Speaking of Spring… I CANNOT wait for it to arrive. It has been a long strange winter!

The pocket for this design is just a 5.25″ square card with the top corner folded down on an angle. To create the pocket, I just stitched up the side seams and created a little card insert to fit inside. It may be a little faint but over the front polka dot paper, I stamped the French Script Backgrounder a couple times and then used my Lined Paper Backgrounder for the inner panel. I also added a few other stamps from CHF to the design. Along the folded flap, the ornamental image from Time to Stamp from the new Rummage Bin line. Inside, the flowers stamped onto the lined paper are from the Silhouette Blooms 1 stamp set. The rules didn’t say you couldn’t add extra stamps so I went for it.

To add in another stamp set by Lisa…I used her new Classic Essential Expressions to add in a couple sentiments. At the top of the pocket insert, I stamped Forever Friends and added a fun little rhinestone accent in the center of the o. I always love adding a little bling. Along the edge of the front folded flap I stamped Thinking of You three times to make a little border and emphasize the edge. Also to add interest to the front flap, I punched holes along the fold with my Crop-a-dile and then stitched my ribbon through to hold it down. I love how perfectly this ribbon works with the paper.

The funny thing is…once I finished this design, I realized…I didn’t use even one scrap of cardstock on this design. Just patterned paper. Now how often does that happen?!

Have a great day and don’t forget to stop by Splitcoaststampers and check out all the other designs for this challenge. I’ve gotten a peek at a few of them already and they are fabulous!

Stamps: Lined Paper Backgrounder, French Script Backgrounder, Classic Essential Expressions, Time to Stamp, Silhouette Blooms 1 - Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Black and Burnt Umber Palette Ink - Stewart Superior, Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger

Paper: Birdie Collection - Crate Paper

Other: hole punch, ribbon - May Arts, button - Autumn Leaves, flower - Prima Marketing, rhinestone - Me and My Big Ideas, sewing machine

I just love my new circle cutter. I’ve been wanting to post this review & tutorial since I first bought it but time has been in short supply. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with it…from the first perfect cut with it…I’ve been so enthralled. The EK Success Curvy Cutter Circle Template is so slick and easy to use and I’m so impressed with its abilities. I’ve always loved circles and they are so hot and trendy right now in design. Usually I’d tend to stay away from circles as I just wasn’t happy using the shape cutter I had. It would leave spots where I had to trim. I do love the Nestabilites circles but I found I was limited in size of what would run through my die cut machine. With my new Curvy Cutter Circle Template, I’m just loving adding circles of all sizes as they are so quick and easy to incorporate. I just had to have this circle cutter template after falling in love with all the cool ways Nancy uses circles on her blog, Scrap This. Take time to check it out…her layouts are so fun and fabulous!

What I like about the Curvy Cutter

• easy to use
• easy to position
• very quick to set up
• huge size variety of circles from 2.25″ to 7.5 inches …you can also cut outside the circles for greater flexibility and a full 12″ cut
• 1/8″ increments mean you can cut and mat with great flexibility
• two circle positioning templates make it easy to position your photo or paper in just the right place
• ergonomic handle swivels easily for cutting in a single motion
• no torn or ragged edges….a crisp perfect circle
• gripper feet keep the template easily in place
• works well on cardstock, photos, vellum etc.
• double sided blade means you can cut in both directions
• expandable….you can use the Curvy Cutter part with other templates such as the Oval Template and the rounded squares
• you can use the glass cutting mat for other applications such as free hand cutting etc.

Things to note:

• this cutter does not work well with small scraps of paper
• The cutter is sold in two pieces…the circle template and the Curvy Cutter blade mechanism itself…you will need both
• this cutter works best with a glass cutting mat. Self healing mats are not recommended
• When cutting multiple circles…start at the smallest size and work out.
• This cutter is not inexpensive but I find it is well worth the money. Well made and flexible I know it will give me great cuts for years to come.

How to Use:

To cut thin circles…

1. Lay cardstock on glass mat.

2. Position circle template on top. Remove guide and place cutter in desired track.

3. Swivel blade around track.

4. Push blade in until it clicks at the next increment. Cut circle.

5. Repeat.

To position on photo and cut out…

1. Place photo on glass cutting mat.

2. Position circle template with positioning insert where desired on photo.

3. Adjust blade to correct size. Remove insert and place blade in track.

4. Press down on template to hold steady and swivel blade with other hand.

Quick Tip: When cutting rings of circles…I often cut out a full sheet of circles at once. This allows me to have some precut circles on hand and play around with which size best suits my design.

Where to find it…

• I purchased my cutter from my local scrapbook store.
• You can also find it at Michael’s and other craft stores
• On-line stores

Things to do with it…

• make a circle card
• make thin 1/8″ circles
• cut circle spotlights
• make circle windows
• cut out off-set circles
• line up the side of your card to create a semi-circle edge

Samples…(just click on image to go to design and instructions in original post)

If you have questions about this product…please feel free to ask. I’ll do my best to answer by editing in the answers into this post. All {C’est Bon} entries feature products that I love to use and are my personal honest opinion. If you’d like to check out other {C’est Bon} entries that I’ve written…just click on {C’est Bon} in the Category section of my sidebar.

Edited to Add….

From Rachel….

I’ve had the circle cutter for about a year and never use it because the directions were very confusion. Your tutorial helped a lot! I do have a question for you. What kind of adhesive to do for the thin 1/8 circles?

I’m so glad it helped you out Rachel! I’ve found that using a Mono type adhesive leaves a gummy mess all over so I usually use one of two liquid glues… the Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive or the Sakura glue pen. Both of these adhesives are easy to apply in a thin line and hold well. Hope this helps!

 

• Many of you have also mentioned to me that the Curvy Cutter was originally packaged with the cutter and oval templates together. They are now marketed separately and I purchased the Curvy Cutter, the Circle Templates and the glass cutting board as separate items. I can’t say for sure what the original packaging said about the cutting surface but the Circle Template instructions now read that a glass cutting surface is definitely recommended for a clean cut. Hope this helps!

I decided to share this Easter card design with you today. I know I usually have a {C’est Bon} entry for you today but some server problems mixed up with a busy weekend have me deciding to switch up my posts. Make sure you stop by tomorrow for the {C’est Bon} review and tutorial. For those of you who have recently started reading this blog… my {C’est Bon} entries are products that I just love to use. I usually provide a tutorial or list of reasons I love it and sometimes, a project to go along with it. {C’est Bon} means It’s Good in French. I know…my grasp of the language is quite poor, especially my grammar but I do have a little fun using it from time to time.

Joyful Easter

I had a lot of fun putting this card design together. I just love this darling little Running Rabbit stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms. I saw it on-line and had never seen anyone use it and so…just had to order it. So sweet! I used it no too long ago on a little baby design and it also works perfectly for Easter. This design uses a top fold card that is layered with patterned paper. The bottom front edge is scalloped with my EK Success corner rounder and then stamped. The bunny was so simple to color with some ink and my waterbrush.

To add interest and depth to my design, I painted my Maya Road chipboard flourish with white paint and then sponged it with pink before stamping with the Spanish Script Backgrounder. A little scrap of velvet May Arts ribbon is tied to the chipboard before adhering to the design.

The sentiment…a really great flexible one from the new Classic Essential Expressions set is stamped at the top of the design just above some stitched Making Memories ribbon.

Stamps:
-Running Rabbit stamp by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Spanish Script Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Classic Essential Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Burnt Umber Palette Ink by STewart Superior
-Antique Linen Distress Ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
-Natural Smooth cardstock by Prism Papers
- Two Scoops 6×6 paper pack by Basic Grey

Accessories:
-chipboard by Maya Road
-white paint by Making Memories
-mossVelvet ribbon - Flair Designs
dotted ribbon - Michael’s
-small corner rounder - EK Success

Tools:
Sewing machine

Wow I’m thankful that it is Saturday. Not much relaxing going on here but it is a NEW long weekend here in Canada. Monday is FAMILY DAY. Sounds a little dorky but hey! I’m up for another holiday no matter what its called! And yay…more time to get working on the renovation. And yes…it IS really good to spend time with your famile. We needed a holiday BTW…with none from New Year’s until Easter…we are due one! Actually…we’re hoping to take a little time off on Monday for some toboganning. With all this snow, might as well enjoy it…anyways…I hope!

Thanks, Thanks So Much

Enough rambling…you and I both have things to do! This design is a simple one using a sketch from one of the Paper Crafts magazine recipes. I love how the blocks are all collaged up the left side. A very simple card, this design just uses rub-ons and patterned paper for a quick fun thank you. This design was also part of a review on My Mind’s Eye paper that I wrote for Craft Critique.

Wishing you a super fun weekend! Spend some time with your family and Thanks, thanks so much for stopping by.

Supply List:

Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye, Ink: Chocolate Chip by Stampin Up Other: eyelet by Making Memories, rhinestone sticker, flower by Prima Marketing, rub-ons by Deja Views

And yet another challenge card, that is. Wow. It’s hard to keep up with so many great challenges happening. Today’s challenge for the CHF designers was a Limited Supply one. The challenge…use one or two backgrounders, one sentiment and one image stamp. Any embellishments. Due to a rather hectic day with two little boys who got up on the wrong side of the bed…don’t they know it’s Valentine’s Day?!!! ….my hopes of getting another design made were slipping away. And then it struck me…I had a card I made on the weekend and hadn’t uploaded that perfectly fit the bill. Now what are the odds of that?

Be sure to check out the other designs created for this challenge… Dawn, Kristine, Anne & Mary

And feel free to play along yourself. Just link you post in the comments section of this entry. I’d love to stop by and see.

A Western Hello

This card uses the two backgrounders mixed up with some distressing and some hand stitched linen thread for a masculine style design.

Supply List:

Stamps: For the Men (The Rummage Bin line), Woodgrain Backgrounder, Cattle Brands Backgrounder - Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Espresso Adirondack ink, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink - Ranger

Cardstock: Black, Tawny Medium, Tawny Light - Prism Papers

Other: brads - Creative Impressions, Linen Thread

lol well……. this may not be the height of fashion but it made a fun title. I designed this purse for the Cornish Heritage Farms CHA display. CHA Winter finished yesterday and this year the theme was fashion. While designing and brainstorming for it, there were so many fun ideas came to mind. I thought it would make a really great Ways to Use it Challenge. So there you are. Today’s WT challenge is to use fashion in your design ideas. If you need a jumping off place of ideas… alter a purse or shoes, use fashion themed stamp images, be inspired by an article of clothing, make a baby dress card, create some altered jewelry. I’m sure there is a myriad of other ideas out there too! This challenge is a really wide open one so that everyone can play along. Have fun with it and get stylin’ The Height of Fashion challenge

Silhouette Blooms Altered Purse

I had so much fun creating this design. This purse was an inexpensive wooden purse box picked up at Michael’s. I started off by rubbing Brushed Corduroy Distress ink into the sides of the wood to stain it darker and add a richer look. It actually looks a little darker than this in person…the light reflecting off it makes it look a little lighter. The ink dried really quickly and I was soon off to my next step. I covered the front and back with Prism Intense Pink cardstock that had been stamped with the Large Polka Dots backgrounder in white craft ink. The Prism Prismatics line of cardstock is really neat as it has one smooth side and the other is textured. I love this textured side and stamped on it to add to the design.

To create my stamped panel, I used Raspberry Adirondack ink to stamp the large branch flowers from Silhouette Blooms 1. Over top I stamped other images from the same set in Black. To fill in the back of the design, the Spanish Script Backgrounder was stamped in Sunset Orange. After cutting the panel to size and matting with some cardstock, I stitched a line of brown straight stitch on my machine before adhering to the purse front. A few simple embellishments finished it off… a crochet flower from Imaginesce, a Fashion Pin from Fancy Pants and some luscious trim from Making Memories.

Have a great day! Hope you can join in the challenge!

This is totally not my usual style but I’m not sure why…I just had an urge to have a little funky scrappy styling fun. Some of the CHF designers and myself decided to have a little fun this week and do some daily challenges. Today’s is a sketch challenge by Tami Mayberry. I love sketches and Tami designs the fabulous ones for the CPS blog each week. There is sure to be a variety of styles for this challenge so make sure you check out the other designs. Dawn, Mary, Kristine & Anne all participated today. If you’d like to play along…feel free. Just leave a link to your design on one of our blogs and we’ll come check it out. I know this is a sketch I’m going to have fun playing with again!

Funky Rock Star

This design is inspired by the fun patterned paper by Scenic Paper Route and Kim Hughes’ fabulous fun style. I paired up the Pretty Birds stamp set with Supah Star and the Lined Paper backgrounder using some simple stamping. I just love the acid color combo. A few staples and brads and a little Making Memories ribbon add to the fun. DD didn’t quite get why the owl was perched on the guitar. But I think he looks cute there and why not? It just adds to the funk factor.

Quick Tip: When using heavy patterned paper…you can make the card right from the paper itself. I almost made a top hinged card until I thought about those birds. They would have been upside down on the back. Using a side hinged fold was the best way to cut this paper and still have the birds heads up on the back.

Check back in tomorrow morning for another Ways to Use it challenge. It is sure to be just your style.

Supply List:

Stamps: Supah Star & Pretty Birds (Kim Hughes collection) & Lined paper Backgrounder all from Cornish Heritage Farms

Cardstock: Spring Willow Medium, Frosted Teal, Razzleberry Medium - Prism Papers

Patterned Paper: Scenice Route Paper co.

Other: circle punch - EK Success, stapler, flower - Prima Marketing, ribbon & Brads - Making Memories, clear journaling block - Maya Road