Belle Papier {pretty paper}

I’ve been spending the past week, trying to sort through my stash of goodies once again. I think it must multiply overnight! While sorting the other day, I thought it would be fun to put together a quick Mother’s Day giveaway and share some fun things with you. Now this may be one of the quickest turn-arounds you’ll ever see here because I want to get this out in the mail. I know it’s slow and Mother’s Day is creeping up more quickly than I had thought.

For a chance to win, you must be a mom, have a mom you’ll either share with or make a card for with the goodies  or even share with a friend who is a mom. I want to take the time to celebrate those special people in our lives. I miss my mom so much but I am blessed to have a wonderful family and an aunt who is like a mom to me. Simply leave a comment on this post between now and 10 am EST tomorrow. I’ll be drawing one name right away so that I can get it in the mail before the weekend. We don’t have mail here in Canada on Saturdays and I’m hoping the winner will get it in time.

• Paper Crafts magazine May/Jun 2009
• Melissa Frances stickers
• We R Memory Keepers Designer Eyelets
• K & Company Rub-ons
• DCVW Fashion Rub-ons
• Pebbles Inc magnetic clips
• Mother Sentiments rub-ons by Royal & Langnickel
• Basic Grey Sugared 6×6 paper pad

Good luck! Have a great day!

Last week the Ways to Use it Challenge was to use all white cardstock. I had so much fun with this challenge and also with the concept of finding new ways to use those basic supplies that we all have on hand.I thought it would be fun to keep the challenge on basic supplies for a few weeks. After all…they are the ones we turn to time and time again and finding new ways to use them or just looking at them in a different light can be a good thing.

Today’s challenge is to find Ways to Use Black. Unlike last week’s challenge, you don’t have to use all black but do make sure you use it. I love pairing up black with white for a monochromatic look. Pairing black cardstock up with vibrant colors really makes them pop. Stamping directly onto black cardstock is another great look and I’m sure you have more great ideas as well. Check out the challenge here. Hope you can play along!

Ornate Thank You

This card uses very basic supplies..white & black cardstock, a couple stamps, one ink pad and some simple and inexpensive embellishments. I love playing up on pattern with black and white. It always gives such a clean and graphic look and is always timeless. The background of this design is stamped with the Ornamental Borders Scrapblock. To create a “frame” for my embellishment tag by Making Memories, I stamped the corner flourish stamp twice. I designed this stamp so that you could use it on four or two corners of a larger image or photo or make the mini frame with it.

 Happy stamping!

Supply List:

Stamps: Ornamental Borders Scrapblock by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ornamental Beauty (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Black Memento ink by Tsukineko
Paper: black & Simply Smooth white cardstock by Prism
Other: tag by Making Memories, brad, flower by Prima, rhinestone sticker, sewing machine

Two more projects to share with you today!I actually made these projects about a week apart but I just kept getting pulled back to using the same paper. It’s by Graphic 45 and gorgeous. I think that perhaps why I couldn’t put it down when creating with this stamp set it in my mind, kitchen & food= my Blue Willow dinnerware. You’re going to love the latest Shady Tree Studio release from CHF….the Cafe. It’s packed with so many images and just makes me want to sit down with a cup.

Also…I have some fun news here! Remember how I mentioned that the Card Postitioning Systems team was sponsored by CHF this week and are using my new Ornamental Beauty stamp set and Ornamental Borders Scrapblock? Well…it gets better because you can have another chance to win them both if you play along this week. Becky has all the details on the CHF Creative Blog so be sure to check it out and play along!

Tea Tin

I’ve had this great stainless steel tea tin so long that I forget exactly where it came from!  Sorry! I did alter it quickly and easily with the patterned paper and simply added a ribbon and tag to embellish. The tag is the journaling frame stamp from Ornamental Beauty just turned on its end.
Supply List:

Stamps: The Cafe (Shady Tree Studio line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ornamental Beauty (the Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Black memento by Tsukineko, Stream Adirondack ink by Ranger
Paper: Simply Smooth white by Prism, Black by Bazzill, patterned paper by Graphic 45
Other: ribbon by Making Memories, copic markers, circle punch, pin by Creative Impressions, foam dimensional tape, tea tin

Share a Slice

Mmmmm….  pie. I love pie. As long as it’s home-made, I’d take it over cake any day. We always were served pie every weekend when we went to the farm to visit my grandparents and aunt & uncle as children. I think it was the highlight of our week. This design uses the same blue paper paired up with the cherry print from it’s back-side. You can see that I couldn’t resist stamping Fine Gingham again for a bright kitchen look.

Stamps:
The Cafe (Shady Tree Studio line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Fine Gingham Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Black Memento by Tsukineko, Cranberry Adirondack ink & Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by ranger
Paper: Natural Smooth by Prism, patterned paper by Graphic 45
Other: ribbon by May Arts, sewing machine, Copic Markers

Enjoy your day!

A few weeks ago I came home with a new Silhouette. I wish it had something to do with my appearance but sadly..no. Let’s not go there. I’m talking about a QuicKutz Silhouette. It’s a digital craft cutter. Very cool product. It was something I was never going to buy. Never say never people. It always comes back to haunt you. Anyhow…I’m now the proud owner of this cool machine and have been having fun testing it out. I had a couple projects to share with you today and if you want to read the entire saga/review…I have a Craft Critique Review today on it.

For this first design, I was cutting out this gorgeous damask shape on patterned paper. The cutting is gorgeous but I discovered I liked the reverse image even better than the pieces I cut out. I layered on top of a card base to allow the color to show through.

Quick Tip: Using the negative shapes left behind opens up a huge number of possibilites. Windows, layers, and masks all come to mind. Cool!

Damask Friend

Supply List: stamps: Friendship Centers by Cornish Heritage Farms, Ink: Black Memento by Tsukineko, cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by Prima, ribbon by Making memories, pin by Fancy Pants Designs, rhinestone, sewing machine

Octagonal Thank You Box

OK…. I’ve just turned into a box-cutting fiend. Is this Octagonal box not the coolest? The machine even lightly punches the score lines making it super easy to fold. It’s such a fabulous idea for party favors or little gifts.

Supply List: stamps: Ornamental Beauty by Cornish Heritage Farms, Ink: Black Memento by Tsukineko, Lake Mist by Ranger, Paper: natural smooth cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by Graphic 45, rhinestone sticker, pin by Creative Impressions, punch by EK Success, ribbon by May Arts

Anyone else have a digital craft cutter? What do you like best about yours?

 See you tomorrow!

I love the beginning of the week. Sundays I spend at church and with family and Mondays I enjoy getting started on a week of possibilities. I love roughly planning out my to do list and hopefully get inspired to do a lot of creating after a busy weekend. Last week was a bit chaotic so I’m hoping  this one will be a little better. I’m also hoping to create at least one altered project this week. I love them but it’s been a while. We’ll see!

One thing I like to do at the start of the week is to print off the latest CPS sketch in case I can find some time to play along. Yesterday I was so excited to see the latest sketch. I had totally forgotten that it was sponsored by CHF this week and all the designers are using my Ornamental Beauty set. What a thrill to see these talented ladies and their ideas for using it.I can’t wait to see the rest of their designs throughout the week! Life is Beautiful certainly seems to the most popular image so far! Here’s the link if you want to play along.

Today’s design features a new Shady Tree Studio release set for tomorrow. Isn’t this Bluebird beautiful? I went with a nature’s sketchbook style and paired it up with some gorgeous Webster’s Pages paper, stitching and some other elements. The bird is stamped on some patterned paper and colored with Prismacolors in a rough sketchy style.

Natural Beauty

Quick Tip: I hate covering up beautiful paper with too many layers. This vellum was perfect for stamping on to highlight the sentiment and broke up the design while still allowing the paper to show through.

Wishing you an extra special week!

Stamps:
Sketched Bluebird (Shady Tree Studio) by Cornish Heritage Fars
Ornamental Beauty (The Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: black & Rich Cocoa Memento Ink by Tsukineko
Paper: Kraft, Natural Smooth, vellum cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by Webster’s Pages 7 MME
Other: sewing machine, ribbon by SEI, twine, flowers by Prima, colored pencils by Prismacolor