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