Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Monday, Monday…I’ve gotten to LOVE Mondays! Even if the kids are out of school for summer. I love creating designs for the Challenge Chicks Monday challenge and this week I’m really excited about it…a going green recycling challenge.

One of my favorite things, besides chocolate of course (that was LAST Monday), is my morning French Vanilla. It comes in these fabulous little tins from Maxwell House if you are in Canada. I think the name may be General Foods in the US but I may be wrong. These tins are perfect for recycling into lovely little gift tins with some paper and a strong adhesive.

Dreams Tin

This little tin was designed for my daughter to give a gift in. A gift card, necklace, chocolates… they all fit really well inside. The patterned paper is from the Jolies Chocolats line by SEI. I just adore this pre-glittered paper. It just screams girl. Around the edges of the lid I adhered some Creative Impressions velvet ribbon. My pretty Primas are embellished with pink rhinestones.

The tag is the only part of this design with stamping on it. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes simple is best on a project. Don’t try and add more if it really doesn’t need it. My sentiment is from the Motivational Centers set by Cornish Heritage Farms.

I hope you’ll join us and play along in this weeks challenge! You can check out the details here. Also check out what some of our other designers have created… Kim, Lisa Silver, Kristine, Dawn, Lesley & Val. I know you’ll love their projects!

Have a wonderful start to your week!
Julia

You may have noticed that I’ve been using Prism Prismatic cardstock for my designing lately. Prism Papers sent me a gorgeous huge block of their cardstock last December and I’ve been hooked ever since. An incredibly large palette of beautiful colors, I love how Prism has their color line organized. Each color has three variations to it. Take for instance, the Spring Willow colors….there are three variations of it. Spring Willow Light, Spring Willow Medium and Spring Willow Dark. I love how easy it is to match up and coordinate. The concept this cardstock line is developed around is that you should be able to put together color combos by combining any of the colors. They are all designed to work well together. Here’s a photo of how the RAzzleberry Light, Medium and Dark work together.

Prism Prismatics cardstock is a high quality cardstock in a wonderful weight. Strong enough to hold up for card-making but light enough to fold easily and not bulk up the design too much. One of the unique features of this cardstock is its texture. One side of the cardstock is smooth and beautiful for stamping on, the other side is a beautiful texture. You can still stamp on this lightly textured side if you want a textured look to your image.

The Prism Prismatics line features 113 gorgeous colors…I’m loving the selection! It makes it so easy to match up with patterned paper when you have a large number to choose from. Each color is designed to work with the other colors in the line. Prism carries their cardstock in two sizes for ease of use, depending on your needs….8.5 x 11 and 12 x 12″. I love their great swatchbook for choosing my color combo and for keeping me organized. Prism cardstock is great for embossing, stamping on, using to mat and layer. It also tears well, scores well and is easy to adhere.

Simply Smooth White and Natural Smooth cardstocks by Prism are my favorite go -to’s for stamping on. I love using my Adirondack ink pads but found some white cardstocks didn’t absorb them well enough to dry quickly. I never have this problem with these smooth cardstock. The surface is just so smooth and perfect…I love working with it. Lisa Strahl worked with Prism extensively to find the perfect white cardstock…you’ll love it!

Another Prism cardstock I really like it their Cardstock Vellum. Thick and stiff for making vellum cards and a great weight for embossing or heat embossing in a beautiful clean white.

Where to buy:

• Cornish Heritage Farms - Prism has paired up with Cornish Heritage Farms to package their cardstock in a fabulous new way. You can now purchase 8.5 x 11 multipacks. Each package contains 15 sheets, 5 of each variation of the color. I love how convenient this is!
• Scrapbooker’s Haven sells Prism cardstock in single sheets of the 12×12 size…perfect for scrapbook layouts

Not too long ago I had myself a nice cardstock shopping spree. Now most of it is still packaged until my craft room (still on hold, thanks for asking ) is completed. How’s this for a nice variety?! Prism cardstock is a great, reasonable price and I love how I can order it on-line, whenever I wish and not wait for demonstrator to put in an order. Obviously not the best storage solution but its what I’ve got until my cardstock storage shelves are built.

Some of my Favorite Prism colors…my must-haves

• Kraft
• Simply Smooth White
• Natural Smooth
• Suede Brown Dark
• Blush Red Dark
• Iced Teal
• Spring Willow Light
• Intense Pink
• Baby Blue Light
• Black

You can check out the entire line of colors here.

Here’s a card using some of those favorite go-to colors.

Forever Friends

I put this card together Friday night…just wanted a quick little design to have some fun! These papers and felt were already on my desk and I thought this hodgepodge of different products just might work together. My kraft layer is stamped with my Vintage Ledger Scrapblock™ and the felt heart with the Spanish Script Backgrounder.

Take care and have a wonderful Sunday!
Julia

In my mind… Saturday’s should always be easy. A day to enjoy yourself and your family. Simple card designs are also some of my favorites and I try and share one with you each Saturday. Today’s card is super simple but it’s one of my favorite cards I’ve created this month. Perhaps it’s because it went together so quickly, perhaps because it uses some of my favorite products…I’m not quite sure.

This weekend is the Canadian long weekend. We’re hoping to spend some family time together. Enough working! Enough renovating (seems endless, I know!) The beach is calling my name.

Summer Hello

This design simply uses one of my favorite 6×6 Basic Grey paper packs…Sultry. I love the scaled down patterns and it was so easy to choose five papers, cut them into 4 x 1 strips and adhere as a background. My Maya Road Sheers to the rescue as a great place to anchor my sentiment and some favorite embellies. I didn’t even have to glue them…staplers work wonders! This design is part of a Craft Critique review I wrote on the Maya Road Office Sheers. If you missed and want to check it out….here it is. I just finished writing another review as well. Will link it when it goes live next week.

Have a super fabulous and safe weekend!

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps: Hello from Silhouette Blooms 1 (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Black Palette ink by Stewart Superior

Cardstock: Black Prismatic by Prism

Patterned Paper: Sultry 6×6 paper pad by Basic Grey

Other: Office Sheers by Maya Road, flower by Prima, stapler, clear butterfly - Heidi Swapp

OK…so. This isn’t the greatest photo. I’ll admit that right off the bat. I wanted to photograph this card against my black background but it is nowhere to be found. I was playing around with my Krylon Leafing Pens…a lot of the time these wonderful pens are used on an elegant, traditional style design. With the popularity of silver these days, especially on funky t-shirts I decided to try and create a fun design using a silver, amethyst, black and pink combo. I used my Silver Krylon Leafing pen to “line” the edges of my chipboard piece. Yes…this chipboard IS huge. It is the negative shape of a flower and measures 6″ square. I was so excited to be able to use my Scrapblocks™ to stamp on this large surface

Silver Tweetie

Well I took a break after writing the first part of this post and have now found the black background. Now sure which is the better photo so I’ll include it as well! The Krylon Leafing Pens are on sale and are the Cornish Heritage Farms Product Spotlight for the next two weeks. You can read about them here.  Also…stayed tuned for some great news coming up for July! I can’t wait!

Have a fabulous weekend!
Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Pin Dot Scrapblock™ by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Perfect Plaid Scrapblock™ by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Pretty Birds set (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Black Palette ink by Stewart Superior
-White Pigment Ink by Clearsnap

Paper:
Black Prism Cardstock

Other:
-silver leafing pen by Krylon

-rhinestones by MAMBI
-flower by Prima
-ribbon by Creative Impressions
-Jumbo chipboard by Fancy pants
-Black chipboard by Cosmo Cricket
-buttons by Autumn Leaves

Another layout. I created this one a couple weeks ago. I’m not going to say much about it. It’s a tribute layout about my mom. I think the layout says it all.

Miss You

Journaling written on stamped Vintage Ledger Scrapblock™ by Cornish Heritage Farms/ I promise…tomorrow’s post will be much lighter.

Have a great day,

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps: Vintage Ledger Scrapblock™, Photo Op & Ledger Me (Rummage Bin Line) By Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Ranger

Paper: Patterned paper by Webster’s Pages

Other: felt bird & chipboard flourish by Maya Road, buttons by Autumn Leaves, ribbon and pin by Making Memories, flower by Prima, Vinyl thickers by American Crafts, Brushed Corduroy DIstress Crackle Paint

Mmmmmmmmmmm….I love this time of year. Strawberries and the promise of a beautiful summer ahead. It seems that we spend so much time longing for summer here in Canada that the days pass by so quickly.

It’s been a crazy busy week here. Deadlines. Projects. A visit from Grandma and a baby cousin among others. The first week of all the kids home from school. I’m sorry I don’t have a project to share with you today but I do have a recipe. I made this simple but yummy dessert yesterday for my company and thought I’d share it with you.

If you’re looking for the Ways to Use it Challenge today…Lindsey has graciously stepped in to host it for me and you can find it here. Looks like a super fun challenge! I’m wishing I had thought of it!!! I hope you have a little more time than I for some stamping fun!

Strawberry layer dessert

Large package of mini jelly rolls

2 Quarts Strawberries

1 6 serving package of vanilla pudding mix, cooked variety not instant

1 package Strawberry gelatin

1 large tub whipped Topping

Slice jelly rolls approximately 3/4 inch thick. Line bottom of 9×13 pan with rolls. Wash, hull and slice strawberries and layer evenly over jelly rolls. Cook vanilla pudding mixed with gelatin and 3.5 cups water on medium heat, stirring until thickened. Cool slightly. Pour over strawberries and chill. Once set, cover with whipped topping. Enjoy!

Sorry no photo to go along with it. I had eight kids in the house yesterday… I think you’ll get the idea! Hmmmm…maybe I should make it again. Just for the photo of couse!

Have a great Thursday! I’ll be back with a project tomorrow!
Julia

He’s not heavy…he’s my brother…

I’ve been wanting to scrap these photos of two of my boys for a while now. Take on the first day of school last year while waiting for the bus, these pics show a glimpse of their relationship. I love how much patience the older has with the younger…well, most of the time! My youngest was quite unhappy to see him leave on the bus. I think perhaps being the youngest of a large family is a pretty good place to be.

{Hold On

This layout was designed using Lesley’s sketch design for this weeks CHF layout challenge. I hope you’ll play along…it’s a great sketch for anyone and if you’re just starting out, it’s super easy to follow. Here’s the challenge link.

Also…check out what Lesley and Kristine have done with this sketch!

The sketch

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Brother from For the Men stamp set (The Rummage Bin Line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Embrace from Big Inspiration set (Mona Lisa Moments line) by CHF
- Writing Paper Scrapblock™ by CHF

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

Paper:
-Cardstock by Prism
-Patterned Paper by My LIttle Yellow Bicycle

Other:
felt bird by Maya Road
foam leaf by American Crafts
felt letters by American Crafts
ribbon by Making Memories

I love water. There’s something so soothing about it. For seven years we lived near one of the Great Lakes and I really do miss the sound of the water. Each summer, we do spend as much time as possible at the lake though. Nothing quite like the waves to rock you to sleep.

While this design doesn’t have a lake, it does have a beautiful stream. The new Thomas Kinkade Streams of Living Water stamp is released today from Cornish Heritage Farms. I used an older Thomas Kinkade sentiment with this design, Always on my Mind…I love how you can use different ones with different images.

Always on my Mind {click to enlarge}

The card reads….You are always on my mind….and in my heart and prayers. Inside sentiment is computer generated. I thought this would make a nice card for someone going through difficult times. I’m sure you know someone. We all do. It’s nice to be able to uplift someone by taking the time to create a card and let them know we care.

This design is colored with my Copic markers. This design in particular is very easy to color as it is more of a distance view. Check out the other samples our design team has created for some gorgeous ideas!

Lisa has done another CHF video for you. Here it is on stamping Thomas Kinkade images…

Check back tomorrow for another layout challenge. Thanks for stopping by…
Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Streams of Living Water (Thomas Kinkade line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Black Adirondack ink by Ranger

Paper:
-Simply Smooth White by Prism
-patterned paper by My Mind’s Eye

Other:
-flower by Prima
-photo turn by Creative Impressions
-markers by Copic www.ellenhutson.com
- button by My Mind’s Eye
-sewing machine

Mmmmmmmmmmmm…..chocolate! I love chocolate! It definitely is my downfall! Kim suggested a favorite food inspired challenge for today’s challenge and I knew right away that my design would be brown, brown, brown. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would turn out! While I love using brown in my designs, it’s not often that I would make an all-brown design. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge as I love collecting brown embellies but I had a LOT of fun creating it! It’s hard to believe that for years…I hated the color brown. I think perhaps it had something to do with having an overload of it being a child of the 70s?!

Inspire

There is actually more stamping on this design than you see at first glance. I loved making my own “patterned” paper by stamping two Scrapblocks™ on this design…Vintage Ledger and Pindot. I’m just going crazy over this Big Inspiration word set released this month. I just want to stamp it on everything! Tucked into the Making Memories glitter chipboard frame, I stamped a flower from Kim’s Silhouette Blooms 2 set and added some Stickles to the flower centers.

Other fun brown details to find…. Prima flowers and Prima tape, KI Memories die-cut paper and some Creative Impressions ribbon and brad.

Quick Tip: When creating a monochromatic design…use lots of different textures to provide interest in the design.

Kristine, Lesley, Sherrie, Val & Dawn have worked up some fun designs for this challenge as well. Be sure to check them out! Want to play along? What’s your favorite food? We’d love to see what it is and how it inspires you! Check out the details here.

Here’s one of my favorite chocolate recipes. You can also find some of my other favorite recipes if you click on the recipe category here on my blog.

Chocolate Cheesecake

1.5 cups Crushed Oreo Crumbs

2 tbsp. Butter melted

3 pkg Cream Cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

8 squares of semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

3 eggs

Heat oven to 325°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter, press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add chocolate; mix well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until well blended. Pour over crust. Bake 45 to 50 minutes until almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake. Cool before removing sides of pan. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

I wanted to share this new Thomas Kinkade design with you today…thought it would make a nice Sunday entry. I just love this peaceful image and beautiful scripture sentiment. While thinking about how to start this project, I decided to go with a soft blue color scheme to work with the peaceful look and the water part of the sentiment. After stamping a few images, I was trying to decide my layout for this design…how would I fit that sentiment on the design? I was so excited to come up with this idea. I think it’s brilliant but of course…I may be a bit biased. This Streams of Living Water stamp will be released on Tuesday at Cornish Heritage Farms.

Still Waters Design

To create this simple, faded out look, I first inked up my full image with Versamagic Chalk Ink. I then took a folded piece of tissue and lightly blotted an area, just slightly larger than my sentiment. The image was then stamped onto Simply Smooth cardstock by Prism. The blotted area still slightly showed the image and it was the perfect spot to stamp my sentiment.

The rest of the design came together quickly. Some some matting and stitching and then an embellishment I’ve been meaning to try for months. I bought a package of stick pins at Michael’s ages ago and finally pulled them out. So easy to add some beads…yes, from a long ago purchase and stored in my stash…and then adhere them with Ranger Glossy Accents. A great embellishments for this design. I think you’ll be seeing lots more of these in the future. I feel like going into mass-production!

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Julia

Supply list:

Stamps: Streams of Living Water (Thomas Kinkade line) By Cornish Heritage Farms, Victorian Floral Backgrounder by CHF

Ink: Versamagic by Tsukinkeo, Black Palette Ink by Stewart Superior

Paper: Simply Smooth White and Mystic Medium by Prism

Other: stick pin, beads, sewing machine, ribbon, button by Autumn Leaves