Belle Papier {pretty paper}

A simple stamped card design for you today. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve pulled out my glossy cardstock so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I was actually looking for my brayer but…sigh…it’s been so long since I used it…I just could not find it! I settled on a technique I knew I could find the supplies for…the very simple baby wipe technique. Ranger Glossy Cardstock is the current CHF Product Spotlight and you can find lots of ideas for it here.

Never Give Up

In the past I’ve done this technique with reinkers but my Adirondack reinkers are currently on order so I tried pulling ink directly from my ink pad with the wipe. To create this quick background, simply wipe the ink across the glossy cardstock. I used my Nature’s Silhouettes stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms to create the silhouette images. I wanted to create a rich dark look with a beautiful sky…sort of the thought that beauty and better days are right on the horizon.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Nature’s Silhouettes (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Motivational Centers (Mona Lisa moments line ) By Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Burnt Umber Palette Hybrid INk by Stewart Superior
-Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger
-Mountain Rose, Raspberry & Cranberry Adirondack inks by Ranger

Cardstock:
-Ranger Glossy Cardstock
-Natural Smooth Cardstock by Prism

Patterned Paper:
-dotted paper by Melissa Frances
-Pink patterned paper by Prima Marketing

Acessories:
-ribbon by Prima
-flower by Prima
-brad by Creative Impressions
-baby wipes

While I never was blessed with a sister…I have some very dear friends who are like sisters to me. I also married into a large family so I have lots of wonderful Sister-in-laws. This design features a a stamp called Sisters from a new line of stamps that Cornish Heritage Farms releases next Friday. You may recognize the art of the very talented Sandra Kuck and we are excited to be releasing a stamp each month featuring her beautiful art. Here’s a peek at our first release that is set for next Friday!

Also….we have a winner for the PC101 magazine from my giveaway! Thanks so much to all who took the time to comment. While I didn’t actually count, I DID read all the entries and it seems that ribbon is an all-time favorite! This got me thinking and scrolling back through my work…I really don’t use much of it…hmmmmm… not sure what that means. Also big favorites are Nestabilities and for techniques…watercoloring, Prismacolor Pencils and Copic Markers seem to be hot!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

127

Timestamp: 2008-05-30 10:51:39 UTC

Number 127 is Sue Smith who loves background stamps for cardmaking and scrapbooking.

Thanks so much Sue for your lovely comments! Please e-mail me with your address and I’ll get this into the mail!

Vintage Sisters

For this design, I was inspired by the beautiful heirloom sewing on the sisters’ dresses. I love heirloom sewing and used to smock and stitch heirloom pieces. Now I don’t have time and my daughter is way too old to wear them but perhaps down the road I’ll go back to it. If you’ve ever wanted to try this kind of sewing…Martha Pullen puts out an incredible magazine called Sew Beautiful that I used to subscribe to. It’s so full of eye candy and beautiful designs.

I’ve had this idea to try on a card design for months but you know how it is…somethings tend to get pushed aside in the busyness of life. When I got this stamp in the mail, I couldn’t wait any longer as it was the perfect time for it. This is actually so simple to do…I simply stitched across my Natural Smooth cardstock with different stitch settings on my sewing machine. The trip is to keep the rhythm steady and gently guide your cardstock across while you stitch.

Quick Tip: When choosing stitches for your project, make sure you don’t use a close zig zag or a design with the stitches very close together like a zig zag scallop. The close holes can cause your paper to break…fabric is much more forgiving for things like that.

My image was stamped with Espresso Adirondack Ink and colored with Copic Markers. I decided to keep the embellishment super simple so that it didn’t compete with the stitching…a few My Mind’s Eye buttons adhered to the top left corner.

Have a super fabulous day!
Julia

Yikes! Catching up from the two weeks of flu that raged through my house is a lot of work! I’m madly working away on a lot of projects…some of them design, some challenges and some upcoming events. I have a few of them to share with you today as well as today’s Ways to Use it Challenge so I hope you’ll keep reading.

• First of all…a quick reminder. Scroll down two posts to my It’s Time entry. If you haven’t taken the time to enter, make sure you do before 10pm EST tonight. That’s the cut-off. Winner to be announced tomorrow morning! If you haven’t seen this issue yet, PC 101…I have to tell you…it’s my absolute favorite. Well, perhaps tied with the Room by Room special issue but this one is jam-packed with fabulous ideas!

• Secondly… Today’s Ways to Use it Challenge it to Get Packing! Vacation anyone? You can spin this challenge two ways…use any packing/shipping supplies such as shipping tags, tissue paper, bubblewrap (makes a fun stamp), packing tape OR go with the vacation theme and use vacation and travel themed stamps or product. HAve fun! Play along with the challenge HERE. I am REALLY wishing I had time to play along but it just didn’t happen. Maybe later in the week!

• Thirdly…. Some fun news. The Cornish Heritage Farms Backgrounder Blitz was such a blast that we’ve decided to keep on Blitzin’! I’ve been busy planning a Kim Hughes Blitz and it kicks off next Wednesday night (June 4th) in the CHF Forums. We’ve put together lots of fun games, challenges and of course, prizes. I just adore Kim Hughes stamps and know so many of you do as well. Mark your calendars and come join the fun! Check out the details for the Kim Hughes Blitz … we’ve already posted the challenges so you can get right on it. No need to miss out with busy schedules!

• Lastly….but certainly not least… Have you heard the buzz about the new CHF Scrapblocks™?! This fabulous new line from Lisa Strahl is just an incredible new product. A 6×6 huge slab of red rubber goodness! So many applications for scrapping, altered projects, large square cards…I know they are going to be a design tool I’ll turn to time and time again! Check out Lisa’s blog as she adds daily updates on great new ways to use them! Release day…Tuesday!

Sorry no design from me today. I’m hoping to find some design time soon!

Have a super wonderful day!
Julia

I can’t believe how fast the time flies by! Two weeks have gone by and its once again time for another layout sketch challenge. This design was created by Lesley Langdon and I just love its fun, unique elements. If you have a lot of little photos…this is perfect for it. Fun for school photos, large wallet size photos, or just plain crop a group of fun shots from an impromptu photo-shoot like I did. To play along with this layout challenge…simply use this sketch for inspiration. Upload your project to your blog and/or the CHF gallery and link HERE. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Want some samples….check out Becky’s and Kristine’s designs!

You’re a Hoot (click on pic to enlarge)

My youngest is always such a hoot…never a dull moment around here! I couldn’t resist pairing up these fun shots of him with the Kim Hughes U R A Hoot stamp set for this layout.

Here’s the journaling…

I found you in the living room after church. All dressed up in your argyle vest and wearing my hat. You looked so cute I couldn’t resist snapping some pics. Cause honey….

You’re a Hoot!

Design Notes:

• lots of arrows create movement
• I carried the circle theme of the layout into my paper choices…dots and a circular based ornamental pattern
• the Grid Pattern Backgrounder makes a great grid to journal on
• Don’t worry about using less than perfect photos…a blurry toddler adds to the sense of movement and captures that element of his personality
• I love adding a little texture…I just adore these American Crafts brown felt letters for part of the title
• I love adding staples…hubby hates them! LOL What do you think?

Have a fabulous day!

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-You’re a Hoot from Pretty Birds (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
- Owl and Branch from U R A Hoot (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-grid paper backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Burnt Umber Palette ink by Stewart Superior
-Brush Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
-Spring Willow Light by Prism
-Simply Smooth White by Prism

Patterned Paper:
- black paper from Making Memories
-dotted blue paper from My Mind’s Eye

Accessories:
-markers by Copic
-chipboard arrow by Basic Grey
-small chipboard arrows by Maya Road
-brown felt letters by American Crafts
-epoxy buttons by Making Memories
-ribbon by Creative Impressions
-die cut strip by Doodlebug Designs

Tools:
-Curvy Cutter circle template by EK Success
-stapler

It’s time for a little fun! One of my favorite publications I’ve seen lately is the Paper Crafts magazine PC 101 special edition. Have you seen it yet? So many great ideas and techniques…I just keep going back to check it out. I have a few copies of this magazine and recently came by another one. I thought it would be fun to share one with one of my blog friends. This magazine is a big issue and sells for $14.99 US/$23.99 CDN.

I’ll be randomly choosing a winner from the comments left here. Since this magazine is all about products and techniques…I’d love to know what your favorite product and techniques are to use. For me…it’s a hard one! I love so many things! I have a lot of new fave products but aside from my rubber…I guess I’ll go with my long-time Prima flower fixation and stitching on my designs. How about you? Comment here by 10 pm EST Thursday night for a chance to win. I’ll be announcing the winner on Friday morning.

Thanks for stopping by! Good luck and have an awesome day!

Julia

No catchy title from me today. I’m just calling it as it is. Today’s Monday Challenge is an altered project challenge! I just love altered projects! This one is simple as I’m simply short on time. Still playing catch-up but hopefully a few more days and I’ll be more on top of things! If you’d like to play along with this altered project challenge…we’d love to see your design! Make sure you check out the details here.

So………. I just have to tell you about an exciting new line release from CHF. It’s new and original…nothing at all like it on the market. Did you know that CHF was the original company to produce Background stamps? Well…we’re really excited to be releasing the brand new Scrapblocks line next Tuesday. Due to Canadian shipping…mine aren’t in the house yet but….make sure you check out Lisa Strahl’s blog. These are her baby and you’re going to LOVE them!

On this Day Jumbo Clothespeg

I designed this project to keep in my kitchen. There’s always a lot of organizing to keep me on track each day. Five kids…busy life…you get the picture. I decided a jumbo clip would work perfectly to keep on my windowsill by my sink. Little notes are easy to clip in the top…errands to run, things to buy, a menu plan, people I need to call, chores for kids….lots of ideas here. hmmmm….maybe I need to make about five! LOL

This project was super easy to do…I simply covered the Jumbo Clothespeg with Basic Grey Boxer 6×6 pad paper and then stamped on it a little. You know I can’t resist that I also added a couple inchies that I stamped images on using clocks from the Time to Stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms. Each Inchie is covered with Crackle Effects …I was in a bit of a rush and didn’t wait for it to properly dry before taking the photo! You’ll have to use your imagination. I tied on a little tag that says On this Day… from the Ledger Me stamp set.

Quick Tip: When using Inchies…don’t forget to try using them with large stamps as well as small. I love the effect of just stamping a small portion of the clocks or other images to highlight them.

I’ve had a few sneak peeks of some of the other altered projects for this challenge. You’re going to love them! Make sure you check them out…

• Becky Olsen
• Dawn Lusk
• Julia Stainton
• Julie Campbell
• Kim Hughes
• Kristine Reynolds
• Lesley Langdon
• Lisa Silver
• Lisa Strahl
• Lori Craig
• Michele Boyer
• Sherry Siemens

Have a great day! I’m off to stalk my mail-person and then get on with that to do list!

Julia

I designed this card a few weeks ago for a Craft Critique review on the Crop-a-dile Big Bite 2. While there is very little stamping on this design, I had so much fun pairing us this beautiful KI Memories Die cut paper with some simple cool Baby Blue Light cardstock and making it pop a little by adding in orange and hot pink eyelets and snaps. Super easy and I love the unique look. Also using my Big Bite, I held on my stamped Clear Card Sheet scrap with a beautiful designer snap by We R Memory Keepers. The stamp set is the Birthday Centers set from Cornish Heritage Farms. You can purchase these designer snaps and eyelets as well as the Prima flower at Jacksonbelle Embellishments where they are having a 15% sale, now through Tuesday. Simply use the code JBE15 when you checkout.

While this design doesn’t go with the challenge, I did want to tell you about a new color challenge at CHF. Each Saturday Kristine or Julie will be posting a new one. Today starts the first one so if you are looking for a Memorial Day color combo…check it out here.

Eyelet {celebrate}

Keeping with my Simply Saturday theme…I’m keeping this post short.

 Hope you have a fabulous weekend,

Julia 

Supply List:

Stamps: Birthday Centers (mona Lisa Moments line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Black Stazon & White Stazon by Tsukineko

Cardstock: Baby Blue Light by Prism, Clear Card Sheets by Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper: Brown die cut by KI Memories

Accessories:

-Prima Flower

-Designer Eyelets - We R Memory Keepers

-small eyelets and snaps - Making Memories

Who knew I’d like Inchies so much?! I just can’t seem to stop using them. My favorite idea so far though has been to stamp twelve of them with one large Thomas Kinkade image. When I got my new Hometown Pride image…I just had to try it out. Seriously…I love this image even if I’m Canadian. Hmmmm…do you think Thomas Kinkade could paint one with a Canadian Flag? Sigh….I think the odds are pretty slim.

For this design, I used half a CHF Clear Card Sheet for my card base…a little hard to see in the photo but yes…that is on a clear card. I can’t stop using those either so I thought I’d give it a whirl combining the two. For this project I’ve written a step by step photo tutorial. You can check it out here.

Hometown Pride Clear Card Design

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fabulous and safe weekend!

Julia

It’s this time of year as Father’s day isn’t too far away that we always find renewed interest in masculine designs. Actually, the men in our lives are pretty important and often their designs get neglected. We just seem to gravitate more towards flowers and all sorts of girlie things. Today’s WT challenge is to find ways to create Masculine designs in your cards or projects. My good friend Lindsey has once again jumped in to help me out with today’s challenge. You can check it out here.

I’m mostly back on my feet again and madly trying to catch up around the house and with some deadlines. I did stop to create this card design for today’s challenge. How could I not when today is my dad’s birthday?! Happy birthday dad! I’m so glad you are on the mend! Hope you can find enough breath to blow out all those candles.

F is for Father 

For this design…I pulled out my Rummage Bin For the Men stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms. I’ve been wanting to use this beautiful flourished F again. Also being short on time, I decided to use mostly patterned paper and use this week’s CPS sketch, CPS#65 for my design. When you’re in a hurry…a sketch to give you direction is always a great way to get started.

I’m just loving these new paper from Basic Grey. These are from the Archaic 6×6 paper pad. I just love combining prints and Basic Grey always puts together such a fabulous mix. How DO they do it each time?! To add some depth and interest to my design, I added some sponging on the edges of my card and papers and stitched around my layers.  It was super fun to add in touches of embellishments…the embossed sentiment, the paper & brad decorated inchie, some Creative Impressions dotted ribbon stitched at the top.

Hope you enjoy the challenge ! Have a fabulous day! 

Supply List:

Stamps:

- horse and sentiments from For the Men stamp set (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

- flourish from Beautiful stamp set  (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:

-Versamark by Tsukineko

-Brushed Corduory Distress Ink by Ranger

Cardstock:

-Kraft by Prism Papers

-patterned paper - 6×6 Archaic Paper Pad by Basic Gray

Accessories:

-brad by Creative Impressions

- dotted ribbon and hemp twine by Creative Impressions

-black embossing powder by Stampendous

-clip by Making Memories

-sewing machine

Sigh………………………….

Well we’re still being held hostage by an awful stomach flu. I’m wondering when on earth this will end. I myself was more ill yesterday than I can remember being in a long time. Luckily??? I had three sick teenagers home as well who weren’t as sick as I to help out. I was just starting to feel better and then had to spend half the night up with my 2yo. So, I’m keeping this post super-short as I have limited energy and much to do.

I still haven’t seen the latest Stamp It issue from Paper Crafts Magazine but hear it is creating quite a buzz. Stampers always love to see lots of great stamping ideas. I’m hoping my copies will arrive soon as I think I deserve some time to sit down and enjoy! If you’ve been looking for a copy of this magazine, you can order direct from Paper Crafts if that helps you out.

Four of my designs are in this issue. I’m excited to see my first CHF design in print and I’ll share that design with you today as I’m allowed to share one from each issue on my blog. I’m also pretty excited about that cherry card design on the cover. It was one of those last minute submissions that I was just having some fun with.

First Father’s Day

Wishing you a fabulous day!

Julia