May 29 2009
Fabulous Friday
Yay! It’s Friday and the sun is FINALLY out! It’s been such a wet and soggy week. We’re looking forward to getting David back tonight from Montreal. Can you believe I didn’t even get ONE phone call. After all I’ve done for him. Hmmmm…I guess that’s teenagers.
Sorry this post is later than usual this morning. A few little blog server glitches had it down until just recently. Stay with me though to the end of the post as I have a little something to share today.
Beautiful Things
This design was so much fun to make. I love vintage and texture and for this design, I created my own embossed chipboard. Did you know that you could run your chipboard through the Cuttlebug in the embossing folders. It’s a great look and it even works well with that yummy thick Maya Road chipboard. For this design, I painted the bird and wing after embossing and then rubbed on some lighter paint to pick up the texture. There’s not much stamping here but I did emboss a sentiment from my Ornamental Beauty set…
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. ~Hellen Keller
Paper: Natural Smooth by Cornish Heritage Farms, patterned paper from Botanicals collection by Graphic 45
Ink: Versamark by Tsukineko, Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger
Stamps: Ornamental Beauty (the Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Other: ribbon by May Arts, chipboard by Maya Road, Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger, Cuttlebug embossing folders, flower by Prima, sewing machine, black embossing powder
And now for the giveaway! Do you like the stars? I have a Reach 4 the Stars stamp set and the matching Astronomy Scrapblock for one lucky winner. I’ rushing out the door here for an appointment so I edit in a photo later but if you want to check out the stamps...click on this link. To enter for a chance to win, simply post a comment on this thread telling me what fascinates you about nature. Do you love the sea? The stars? Flowers? Deadline is Sunday May 31st at 9 pm EST. I’ll announce the winner on Monday morning.
Good luck and have a beautiful day!
Julia
61 Responses to “Fabulous Friday”
Ooohh nature… LOVE IT! Minus the bugs, well I like some of them- as long as they don’t sting or bite me! Love to take pics of all nature, but especially the flowers in my garden. Sorry if I am rambling, but I just finished a night shift and I am on my way to bed!
Thanks for the chance to win an awsome looking set!
Diane
I love nature and the outdoors in the spring/summer. I love all the colors in flowers, leaves, lakes, etc. Spring is one of my favorite times!
wow–absolutely gorgeous card. I loveyour blog–so inspiring. As for nature–it’s the power of it and the inevitability of it that really impresses me.
I love nature - all of it. Love the changing of the seasons even though I think winter is a little too long. I love the beauty and the awesomeness of it all. It is a beautiful world we live in and it amazes me.
Awesome card! Love the dry embossed bird.. the background paper… it fascinate me how trees and flowers bloom in the spring and summer and how they ’sleep’ in the winter time. Thank you for the yummy giveaway!
julia, this is gorgeous!! jen (she’s my best friend) said she got these stamps from you yesterday. i’m SO borrowing them, maybe even before SHE gets to play with them!! haha. have a great weekend with your boy back! sus
I love the ‘wide open plains’ - I grew up in Nebraska and there is nothing like just taking off on horseback over the rolling hills, and I love to watch thunderstorms with such a big sky - its the origional IMAX. I do also love the mountains and the desert country (especially red rocks/canyon country of the 4 corners area…)
Love your chipboard bird - will defianatly have to try that!!!
I love sunrises and sunsets. There is something so peaceful and beautiful about them.
Robbie
Oh my this is so pretty. I just love it!
Unique card! Yes, we are sky watchers. We always led the girl scout troop lesson on the stars and the moon, taught them to use a star chart, and yes, when family camping, my husband takes whoever wants to get out of the tent at 3 am to go see the stars in the deep of night! At home, we would set the clocks to get up and see the meteor showers or even a scheduled fly by of the space shuttle. And yes, while in Florida we saw a middle of the night (really early morning!) liftoff of the Space Shuttle - so cool. It’s a great stamp set and thanks for the chance to win!
My computer is acting up again and doing things on it on and it posted without me finishing up my comments.
I hadn’t thought about running my chipboard through the cuttlebug folders!!! That was a new idea to me and I love it.
As for nature, I am not a big outdoors girl. I don’t know why, but my favorite thing in nature is the northern lights…… I am from Alaska and watching the Northern Lights is such an awesome experience. Only once I have seen them “dance”, changing colors and “singing and clapping”. It is absolutely beautiful.
Great card. I never thought about running chipboard through an embossing folder. You are so smart! I love nature. After a very long winter, right now I am loving Spring with all the beautiful flowers, green trees, birds and butterflies.
First let me say how much I love this card…that bird is wonderful!
My husband loves the stars and planets…I find that I am more fascinated with plants and seeds. I guess because I am the gardener (and he’s the dreamer! tee hee) that works out well.
Thanks so much for a chance to win -
I love the sky. During the day it’s just pretty and blue. But at night, there are a bazillion stars that are there during the day you just can’t see them. To me that is just amazing!
I love your card Julia! It’s so gorgeous! As for what I’m fascinated with in nature it’s a toss-up between the sky and the sea. Both have so much more in them than we know and the potential for discovery is enormous.
Thank you so much for the giveaway!
Christine in Ottawa
As always, beautiful card Julia! I am just star-struck (pun!) of all you do and what CHF offers…just when I think I’m content…there is more to add to my wish list! I live in the country, in a land where there is very little rain….I have so many favorites…but what impresses me about nature is the smells and sounds. (not the icky smells!) I love the smell of fresh newly mowed grass….fragrance of flowers, and when we travel to the ocean…the sea smells too….I especially love sounds too…when I hear the early birds chirping out my window, I know that Spring is here! If it smells and sounds good…I know that it will be pleasing to the eyes as well!
Trudi
I love the beach, and one of the things that truly fascinates me about the beach is that the water knows where to stop. There is a beautiful song called “My Redeemer Lives” by Nicole C. Mullen. One of the verses in the song is “Who told the ocean you can only come this far?” I always think of that song when I’m standing on the beach watching huge waves crash to shore, yet the water only comes so far up onto the beach.
Thanks for sharing the goodies!
Gorgeous card. Love the embossed bird. I love so many things about nature. I love watching the birds. Love flowers and butterflies. I love the changing seasons. Love watching the clouds and checking out the stars at night. And I’m really entranced by a good thunderstorm.
Yes! I love your Stars stamp set, and this card - it’s amazing! I didn’t know about chipboard being able to be embossed…too cool! Thanks for the chance to win!
There is so much that amazes me about nature, but I have to say the one thing that totally fascinates me is watching the waves at the Ocean or watching the wind as it blows through the trees. Such awesome wonders of nature. Your card is so beautiful…
I just think nature is fascinating, how everything works together. God did a fabulous job putting it all together so many intertwining layers! I do love to look at the stars, it is just so calming. I guess it helps to put my troubles in perspective. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I’d have to say flowers are my favourite natural thing. I love to photograph them!
What fascinates me about nature….? Well, I live in a farmhouse that overlooks a river (no, really, I do!!) and the beauty I see everyday astounds me. Particularly all the wildlife…groundhogs, bunnies, deer…okay, I could really do WITHOUT the skunks though!!
What a gorgeous card! Add me to the list of folks that didn’t know about the embossing……
And nature - wow! stars, the moon and sun, the beautiful colours of a sunrise and sunset (I didn’t think purple and orange would go together, but God obviously knows better than I do!), waves crashing to the shore, leaves bursting out on branches in the spring, and the colour of those leaves, bird songs and lightning (I’m still waiting for a good thunderstorm that I can watch from my upstairs porch!)
Beautiful card, Julia - LOVE the texture and colors. Pretty much everything fascinates me about nature
Close to home, I love bird-watching. On a grander scale, I marvel over the oceans, and the lifeforms that are so completely different than ourselves. And of course, I love the stars - I’ve gotten out my dusty telescope to try to get the kids involved (of course, I’ve got to re-learn how to use it!) Thanks so much for the chance to win such a fabulous set!
Hey whats not to love. Colour, scents, beauty, life..
Julia, your cards are always so amazing and inspiring and it is certainly true with this one. It’s just gorgeous! God has blessed you with so much creativity.
It is hard to choose what there is about nature that I love the most. I was just thanking God this morning for all He has created and how everything is dependent on everything else and each thing serves a purpose. No one else could have planned it so perfectly! I love the flowers,watching them sprout, grow, the buds form, and then open. So many colors! So alive! But I love all the beauty there is to see, sunsets, rain, the smell after the rain, waterfalls, redwood forests, leaves turning color, the ocean, clouds, stars, everything!
I love nature, all of it…the changing season especially. Deb
I love flowers - the colors, shapes, textures, scents - everything about them!
I love the way nature changes with the seasons. Especially Spring and Autumn. In Spring the the new born leaves and flowers are sprouting. In Autumn the colours of rusts, reds, yellows and oranges fill the hillsides with splendour. Nature is such a great inspiration.
I love nature too; love being outside and find that every type of weather brings it’s own joy; guess living in New England, you need to think that way! Right now, it’s hard to complain about it being rainy when our lawn and shrubs are so amazingly green when everything was so gray just a few weeks ago!
Thanks for the chance to play along and have a great weekend!
Kathy Camasso
What a beautiful card! I love all of the textures!
Mother Nature truly awes me. I have the entire DVD set of Planet Earth…. I love the ocean… Its so peaceful and calming. I try and get to the Oregon Coast every couple of years. I’m going in Sept this year! I also love the stars. I used to sleep outside in the summer and stay up late and watch the stars when I was a kid. Almost every night in the summer. We lived out in the country and it got pitch black. My Handyman and I still stay up late on weekends and stargaze. We watch for falling stars, satellites, etc… I always wonder what is far away in other galaxies!
A gorgeous card Julia!!
I love nature although it doesn’t usually agree with what with allergies and all. I think my favourite thing is the cool crisp air on a fall evening!!
I am totally facinated by the ocean and in particular whales!! Their huge size yet graceful moves leave me awe-struck. Can’t even imagine what seeing them in the real world (and not TV) would be like! Love your Reach for the Stars set. I have never seen anyone else do astronomy stamps before! Bravo for being unique and original! Thanks for the chance to win!
Everything about nature is amazing! The patterns, color and design of it all is almost too much to comprehend!
Oh my goodness - what’s not to love about nature? I love the colour combinations and patterns - especially those found on the inside where they wouldn’t normally be seen. I love the smells and the sounds of nature too - they are so easy on the ear.
Thanks for the giveaway!
After a long, cold winter, I look forward to seeing signs of spring. Colorful tulips, birds flying around, the smell of the freshly cut lawn. These are a few of my favorite things…
Julia, this is such an amazing stamp set, I would be so thrilled to win!!! To me, the incredible vastness and variety of which nature is composed is the best part of it, and your new stamp set tangibly alludes to such.
The Perseids…..I love to be camping in Killarney in August. We go down to the beach late at night, lay on a picnic table and scan the night sky for falling and shooting stars. You can see the reflection in the lake. It’s magical
Love your card. I didn’t think of running chip board through the CB. Neat idea.
What a great idea, running the chipboard through the
cuttlebug folder. Thanks, Julia for the chance to win. Hugs, Nellie.
Ohhhh so pretty, now I will have to try out my cuttlebug on chipboard, like the color combo too!
What a beautiful card! What fascinates me about nature is how beautiful it is and how it’s everchanging and yet still stays the same.
I dont have one favorite, All of nature fascinates me,To see all the wonders God has made, he never ceases to amaze me!! Thanks for the chance to win!
Fantastic card! I love all the textures and colors. There are so many things about nature I love, sights, smells, sounds etc. I am marveling in all the gorgeous flowers we have with all their scents, colors, and textures. But, then a bird flies by or a butterfly. This year I really noticed the gorgeous songs the robin’s have! Then, there are the trees with the leaves that change color, rustle in the wind etc. Sorry to keep rambling on…. Thanks for a chance to win!
I love you project! I definately gotta try chipboard in my cuttlebug
I also adore your reach for the stars stamp set. I love spending time outside on those hot summer days and watching the world go by. Trees have always been an obsession of mine
I love the colors that you see in nature - the colors of the sky, particularly before a huge storm, that dark purpley blue and the matching wheat color of the wheat fields .. also the colors in fall of the leaves changing. Even when I was little I really liked collecting those leaves and we’d go a fill bags and bags of them, especially the RED ones!
What a beautiful card! Thanks for sharing and the giveaway!
I love visiting gardens and parks on trips. Love flowers best!
Beautiful card. Love the colors and all the texture.
I just love the big blue sky and clouds. Love to stare at the clouds to see what they are and at night I love to just stare at the stars. It always amazes me how far they really are. I love the colors in fall and spring when everything comes to life again. Thanks for a chance at this fun giveaway.
a beautiful set of images……..pls enter me.
Kathy L………..
I love your simple designs and especially the quick tips. Thanks!
Your card is beautiful. Thanks for the tip on embossing chipboard, that is a neat idea, will have to try it. I love all the inspiration on your blog. Thanks for sharing so much with us. This stamp set looks very interesting. I love nature and the fact that we have an awesome God that created all these beautiful and amazing things for us to enjoy.
How cool is this set…..congrats again on illustrating….your card is beautiful and love all the sneak peeks made with this set…too fun! Thanks for a chance to win!
Absolutely beautiful as usual. I would love to receive the stamp set. Thank you for everything you have created.
Love the bird on your card-pretty.
I am not a back to nature girl as in camping, hiking, etc., but I surely love to dig in the dirt and this time of year (along with fall) is my favorite time of year. The weather isn’t too hot yet, the birds are singing really early in the morning and the flowers are beginning to put on a show!
Thanks for the chance to win.
I would love to win your new star stamp set. I love all kinds of nature, the wild redbud trees blooming in the woods, aspens quaking in the mountains. geese honking as they fly by, chicks coming out of their shells, butterflies landing on bushes, watching beautiful waterfalls, birds chirping, flowers putting on their big show each spring and summer, red and orange leaves each fall, seeing long eyelashes on new born calves, and admiring large snowflakes. Isn’t God great?
What fascinates me about nature is the immense variety! It boggles my mind to think that God spoke into being all the kinds of flowers, bugs, mosses, animals, etc and each one is so incredibly perfect! It just amazes me!
I love what you’ve been doing with these sets, and I can’t wait for the Bee stamp to “bee” available! I do not much like bees, except to watch them and stamp them….don’t like them in my house, which is sometimes where they like to go. I do love birds, that’s my real passion—I could look at my birds all day long! I wish I had realized earlier in my life how wonderful the outdoors and nature both are…..I always had my nose in a book! Thanks for the lovely blog candy!
LeAnne
As a daughter of a sailor, I always blessed God for the stars that helped him find his way back home again to us. I also wonder about each shell found on a beach being slightly different just like the peoples who share the earth.
Love, love, love the smells of nature. Roses, earth right after rain, pine needles, etc. Thanks for a fun give away!
Hooray, internet explorer has finally decided to let me see your blog again. Just in time too for your blog candy. I was getting really bummed because I like your ideas so much. What a cool idea to run chipboard through the embosser. Just never thought to do that. As for your question, I love a bright sunny day with that blue skies of Colorado. The snow capped mountains in the distance really pop. The plains have there own kind of beauty but we like camping in the mountains more. Have a great day.
My favorite thing in nature? This is a tough question…Hmm, I am currently enjoying watching the sunset from my westerly facing back porch. The turkey vultures that roost in one of our big ole trees put on an awesome display each evening as they swoope and glide in long, lazy circles towards their night time resting place. The vultures are quite unattractive up-close, but when they are in motion, they can take my breath away.