Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Yes…you are on the right blog! Grin. Major facelift here. I just wish I looked so good! If you’re reading this on google reader or other feed, please come visit. I have a beautiful new blog template. Sara Williams rocks! She worked so hard to get it ready in time for World Card Making Day…October 3rd. Unfortunately some server issues made us wait until now but I’m just thrilled that it is working! No more grey!

Sara from Tweaks and Designs has just done an incredible job. She worked so hard to make the template “me”. The colors, the images, the feel is just so perfect. I love beautiful things and this new blog template is inspiring me to get creative. I need a bit of that right now!

The other thing that may have you wondering if you’re on the right blog is the photos. No paper crafts today. Over the past few weeks I’ve felt a need to do some fall nesting and just recharge my creative batteries by doing so home-related projects.  Here’s a little peek at some of the things I’ve been working on…

Another thing I’ve been working on is a new blog. I know. I think I’m a little crazy to be starting that as well but I really wanted to be able to go a different creative direction now and then and didn’t want to bore you here if it’s not your thing. It’s called finding beauty @ home and it’s a whole melting pot of things. Creative home projects, recipes, ramblings on being a stay at home mom, a few inspirational thoughts and whatever else I may think of! LOL If that’s something you’re interested in, stop by and say hello. And if not… Don’t worry! I’ll still be paper crafting and posting here. I just need to find the right balance in my life.

Quick Tip: If you need to charge your creative batteries, switch creative gears for a project or two. You’ll be glad you did!

Thanks for your support!

We have a new addition here at the Stainton household. We thought five kids were enough so don’t worry…not another one of those. We have a new puppy.  We lost our 13yo German Shepherd in June and we wanted another so Friday night we got a new puppy. So much for my stress-free weekend! Seriously…I think a new puppy is more work than a new baby. At least human babies stay where you put them and will wear a diaper! It’s been a long time since we had those 13 puppies born Christmas Day. Fourteen years to be precise and at that time we had their mom to help look after them. I knew it was going to be busy but by Saturday morning I was thinking, what HAVE I done?! Actually he’s really starting to settle in already and is such a smart little guy. He really is little as he’s not quite 7 weeks old. After MUCH debate, we named him Maximus. The kids are loving him and it’s been great for getting them outdoors more.

Here he is with my 6yo. That should give you a little idea of the size. I’ll get some better pics to share soon. He’s just been a busy little guy and hard to catch a photo of!

***** It’s time for summer CHA again and I’m once again staying home. That’s a good thing with the new puppy! It’s been fun seeing the new sneak peeks so far and what I’m really looking forward to is keeping an eye on what’s going on with Craft Critique. Many of the reporters are off to check it out and they always provide great coverage. Keep your eye on Craft Critique as there will be updates there throughout the day once the fun begins!

Life is Beautiful

Here’s a quick card I put together. I’m loving this dotted Bazzil cardstock…so pretty and I still love those Jenni Bowlin 4×4 mini papers. I bought some more that arrived while I was on vacation and I can’t wait to get into them!

Stamps: Ornamental Beauty (The Rummage Bin line) by CHF

Ink: Black Memento by Tsukineko

Paper: cardstock by Bazzill Basics, 4×4 paper by Jenni Bowlin, Simply Smooth white cardstock by Cornish Heritage Farms

Other: voila trim by Prima, ribbon, circle punch, Copic markers

Have a beautiful day!

I’m back from a fabulous week away. It’s so great to spend time with my family and just take a break from everything. We hit the beach for the week and while the weather was cooler than usual for July…it was still great. For the most part we just relaxed, swam and did a little boating when the lake wasn’t too rough.

Vintage Birthday

Today’s card I made just before I left on vacation. It features my new scrapblock, Newspaper Ads.  Super simple stamping here. I’ve just combined my scrapblock stamped to make custom vintage paper with some Jenni Bowlin mini papers.

Supply List:
Stamps: Birthday Centers (MLM line) by CHF
Newspaper Ads Scrapblock by CHF
Ink: Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko
Paper: Simply Smooth white cardstock by CHF, pink cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by Jenni Bowlin
Other: ribbon by May Arts, flower by Prima, sewing machine, pinking shears

* * * * *

I love sharing my rubber and other goodies so I have a Scrapblock giveaway for you today. I have two Scrapblocks to share with one lucky winner…the new Newspaper Ads Scrapblock and the Ornamental Borders Scrapblock. They’re 6″ square blocks of red rubber and you can use them on their own or with an acrylic block. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post between now and 10 pm EST Wednesday July 22nd. Winner will be randomly drawn with an on-line generator and I’ll post who that is Thursday morning. Good luck!

And lastly…here’s a few quick shots of our summer vacation fun…

Quick Tip: Late afternoon is my favorite time to take beach shots if possible. I love the way the sun hits the moving water and it is not so harsh on faces.

Happy stamping!

It’s all done! School is out as of yesterday and summer vacation has officially begun in our household. Graduation night was Wednesday evening and my boy had a great night and we were definitely proud parents. Yes…I finished those 200 place cards on time…yay! Now I remember why I never make a design more than once. I get my joy in designing a project…definitely not by mass producing them. To those of you who do…hat’s off to you!

Now that the event is over I can share the card I designed for the occasion.  I paired up my Reach 4 the Stars stamp set with a new CHF Backgrounder, Graphic Tapestry. This is such a great image, with lots of detail and it works well on both masculine and feminine projects. I’m loving the new American Crafts glittered chipboard letters I picked up the other day. I believe it is the Thickers Roller Rink Glitter package. They are such a fabulous size for cards and you really get a lot of letters for the price. I think I need some more!

Congrats

Supply List:

Stamps: Graphic Tapestry Backgrounder by CHF
Reach 4 the Stars (The Rummage Bin line) by CHF
Ink: Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko
Paper: Black cardstock by Bazzill, patterned paper by MME
Other: sewing machine, punches, glitter chipboard by American Crafts

And here’s my very handsome graduate. He cleaned up pretty well didn’t he? It was a special night and I actually got some great pics from a boy who usually runs from the camera. I’m feeling a scrapping bug coming on.

Last of all…I have a winner for the Sweet Bee draw! Random.org picked #3 as my winner. Congratulations Jean Beck! Please e-mail me with your address and I’ll get it off to you!

Take care!

Grab your coffee! I don’t usually write so much but…this is going to be one of those longggg posts.First of all…I’m super excited that the Scrapblocks release day has finally arrived. Here they are, almost as large as life. Scrapblocks are 6″ x 6″ square unmounted red rubber and are perfect for cards, altered projects and scrapbooking.

Vintage Text Scrapblock

Stitches Scrapblock

You can find these Scrapblocks in the CHF store: Vintage Text, Stitches Scrapblock

The Challenge:

I’m back with another Ways to Use it Challenge today. This week we’re focusing on a look that I think it big in the industry right now…text. It’s amazing how many places it is popping up. What’s it inspired by? I’m not quite sure as it is a great vintage trend as well as looking great on more graphic style designs. Perhaps all the interest in fonts and the computer generation has brought it to light. However you want to use it…it’s a great look. Use text as a background layer, stamp on it, add a definition block, use a vintage book, computer generate your own…use it however you wish and have fun with the challenge! Check out the details here.

 The Project:

I love scrapbooking and altered projects. Frequently though…I’m so short on time, I just stick with cards. The solution? Make a small mini-album. This little album is only 4″ x 4″ square but I’m just bouncing as I had so much fun making it. Ever done that? Create a project that you’re thrilled you finally got a chance to make? This is it for me.

This little album may be small but it’s packed full of love…it’s a mini album of all five of my babies. The really fun element in this project for me was all the clear elements. The covers of this project as Zutter Acrylic Covers. I stamped on them with my Vintage Text in Stazon Ink. I used the Text to tie the project together. Text is a great versatile look and it really doesn’t matter what it says…it’s all about the style.

Quick Tip: Crystal Accents and other dimensional glazes are great adhesives for Clear Card Sheet projects.

Inside my book, I alternated binding pages of stamped Clear Card Sheets cut to 4×4 size and patterned paper. On the paper pages, I adhered a 3×3 picture of each child, keeping it simple because of the mini size. The Clear Sheets are where the fun is. They are each stamped with a different Scrapblock or Backgrounder for a little variety. These pages hold the info and embellishing…an initial and birth date of the child. I love the way they give a peek at the baby underneath.

and so on….

Supply List:

Stamps: Sweet Bee (The Rummage Bin line), Vintage Text Scrapblock, Stitches Scrapblock, Sophisticated Swirl Backgrounder, Spanish Script Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Black Stazon by Tsukineko

Paper: Patterned Paper by MME, Clear Card Sheets by Cornish Heritage Farms

Other: brad by Making Memories, flowers and lace by Prima, bling by Basic Grey, dymo label maker,  chipboard by American Crafts, Zutter Bind-it-all

And finally….

The Winner:

Thanks so much everyone for your wonderful ideas for using the Scrapblocks. They are really so versatile.  I used the random.org integer generator to pick one lucky winner….number  62  .   Tracey Gordon, that’s you!  Congrats! Please e-mail me with your address and I’ll get that rubber in the mail.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for staying with me through a very long post!

Julia