Belle Papier {pretty paper}

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

I’ve been practicing my photography a little and trying out a new lens. Hubby is happy if I just buy what I want for my birthday and so those new ink storage units and a new lens for my camera made the list this time. It’s a Canon 50mm f1.8 and I’m thrilled with it. It allows 8 times more light through the aperture than my other lens so it makes it perfect for taking photos indoor. I love how the larger the aperture, the depth of field decreases. This gives me a beautifully blurred out look if I want it. My sweetie did surprise me with this huge hydrangea plant so I was happy to put both my new goodies to good use. I can’t wait until the better weather and I can practice taking photos outside. Seriously…I’m so glad I took Candice Stringham’s Oh Shoot course. I really needed that push to get off of automatic and onto manual.

Now onto the hippity hop part of the post. I am SO ready for spring! It’s been snowing most of the week and Easter is this weekend. Some of the CHF girls and I thought it would be fun to have a Spring/Easter blog hop to get in the mood. Take the time to check out these links for some great Easter and Spring inspiration…

Sherrie Siemens

Becky Olsen

Lisa Silver

Kristine Reynolds

Joanne Allison

CHF Creative Blog

Vintage Tulip Girl

This actually isn’t the project I had in my mind for this blog hop. A sweet reader had asked me to create something with the Saturday Evening Post bunny again before Easter. I went to pull it out but to my dismay…the bunny has hopped away somewhere! I can’t wait until I have better stamp storage! I’m sure I’ll find the sweet bunny soon but instead…I was inspired by this sweet Tulip Girl, also from the Saturday Evening Post line. I just can’t get enough of her! All those tulips…she looks perfect for spring, right?

This design is super simple. I wanted to highlight to be the beautiful image and the coloring. I just adore colored pencils on kraft.

Quick Tip: Distressing the edges of a layer gives a great vintage look and is a very cost -effective embellishment.

Have a beautiful Spring day!

Supply List:

Stamps: Tulip Girl (Saturday Evening Post line) & Pin Dot Scrapblock by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento Ink by Tsukineko, White Pigment Ink by Clearsnap

Paper: Kraft & Simply Smooth White cardstock by Prism

Other: colored pencils by Prismacolor

I simply adore baby cards. That just may be because of how much I adore babies. I guess that’s a good thing for a mother of five. We have quite a few  babies waiting to be born to some friends at church. I’m super excited and am hoping that they’ll allow me a little baby “fix” now and then.

b is for baby

This is a fun card I created with some pink flannel fabric. You may remember it from this project. I just had to put it to use on a baby card. I just love the soft texture.

Quick Tip: Customize clear accents such as this Heidi Swapp Ghost Swap letter by stamping on them.  I used white Stazon Ink and it’s a great look.

Supply List:

Stamps:
Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock by Cornish Heritage Farms
Baby Love (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: White Stazon by Tsukineko, Black memento ink by Tsukineko
Paper: Simply Smooth White cardstock by Prism
Other: clear letter by Heidi Swapp, grungeboard heard by Ranger, velvet brad by Making Memories, crocheted flower by Imaginesce, fabric, sewing machine, Worn Lipstick Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger, stapler

I also thought I’d share a few photos that I took last weekend. The swans were back, stopping for a week or so on their flight north. It was unbelievable…there were thousands of them! Next item on my wish list…a longer lens! It never ends, does it?!

And here’s the rascals last week with their treasures…

Have a simply wonderful day!

I was having so much fun at the Copic class that I actually didn’t do all that much coloring! LOL I did learn some great tips though and manage to color one complete image that I made into a card when I got home. Truly…I don’t work that well creatively in a large group. I’m best in my own little space where I can find things… or hopefully find things and have not so much going on. This is actually Friday’s post but I felt like posting it early…so I did! Why not?

Tulip Thoughts

This design comes from this week’s CPS sketch #108. It’s been a while since I last played along and had fun with it. I took some liberties with it and turned some of the design onto an angle. Hope you like the fun variation. Sorry I have NO idea on the Copic colors. I just played with what was on the table.

Stamps:
Tulip Girl (Saturday Evening Post line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Script Essential Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko
Paper: Simply Smooth White, Iced Teal cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by MME
Other: Copic markers, punch, photo turn and brad by Making Memories, sewing machine, ric rak

I was super excited to finally get to meet Kimmie Reid. Now why did I have to go so far to meet her when she lives so close!? With Kim is Andrea and it was so fun to meet them both.Things are NEVER dull with Kim and Andrea!

I’ve designed with Sherrie Siemens and Lesley Langdon on the CHF team for quite a while now. They are super talented and so much fun in person. This was my first time meeting Sherrie. She’s the new Canadian Copic Certification class teacher and is perfect for the job.

Here’s Tara G and Kerry J hard at work with the Copic Airbrush system. It was so fun sitting with them all day, making new friends.

Of course I had to get a picture of Marianne Walker…the Copic Wonder Girl. She just kind of whips up drawings at the lunch table, just for fun. Wow! Here she is doin’ her thang….

So there’s a little peek into my super fab Tuesday  Copic Class.

Take care,

It’s almost spring! Just a few more days on the calendar but here in the Great White North??? Well, I have to be honest. Just because we’re in Canada doesn’t mean that we’re at the tundra. Actually, where we live is south of quite a few parts of the northern US states.Be that as it may, we took a little drive up to Lake Huron last Saturday and there is still ice on the lake as far as you can see. We took a fun trip to the sugar bush on the way there and that was so super fun. I was thinking that morning that I REALLY need to spend the day cleaning. I mean really NEED. Hubby said…no. We’re taking the two little boys and taking the day off. Is there any doubt why I love this man?! The sugar bush had horse drawn wagon rides, a tour of the facility and woods and some lovely animals in the barn. My favorite part was the oh so yummy pancake, sausage, baked beans and maple cupcake brunch. Oh yes…those maple sugar candies too. Seriously…I need to start that diet.

Hope you don’t mind all these photos today! I’ve been having so much fun with my camera. Learning how to use it! These photos were all taken on Av and Tv modes. In other words…semi- manual. I’m really excited to have gone totally manual since then. Candice Stringham is really teaching a great class. I can’t wait until Monday to see what she has for us next!

Now…as far as the second part of my title, I’m hoping you can help me out. I’m finally starting to plan out exactly what I need for my new little studio. LOL That seems like too grand a word for my little room. It’s only about 7 x 8 feet and I’ll be lucky if I can turn around once I get everything in. That means I have to plan it VERY carefully. I’ve figured out my stamp, paper and embellishment storage but have hit a wall with the ink. I have about 100+ full size ink pads and that doesn’t include  the little dew drop chalk inks and memento inks. Yikes! They have to be pretty accessible as I use them all the time. Right now I have four Dzn-Tech units. Do you remember them? I love them but that still only gives me 48 slots. Do you have any good storage solutions for ink pads? I’d love to hear from you with links if you do!

Have a beautiful day!

My husband came running in the house Monday night telling me to grab my camera. Now this is not an ordinary occurrence…he usually shuns the thing but after a day of rain, there was the most stunning rainbow I have seen in years.Across the road and fields of Fall wheat this rainbow was just radiant and spanned in a complete arch from side to side. There was no way to capture it with my camera as my lens is not wide-angled. Here’s one of the few pics I managed to take right before my camera battery died.

Now image my surprise this morning to wake up to everything well-blanketed with snow! Hmmmm…are those costumes for Friday night going to fit on top of snowsuits?! I totally can’t believe it because I had the boys standing out waiting for the bus for a long time. The delayed the bus by two hours. What a day!

Now as for the layout part of the post…it’s layout challenge day again.

We’d love to have you join us for this layout sketch challenge! Jennifer Roach has also created a sample for this layout…check it out here!

The Story of Us

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A little peek into my world…..

Some digital designs for you today that I’ve created over the past couple weeks…the first two, I was just playing around trying to put my newly learned skills to practice. If you’re having trouble reading the journaling, you can click on the photos to enlarge.

Quick Tip:  Don’t be afraid to try something new! Take a class, ask a friend, search the web. Never stop growing.

the little things

a layout about my friends’ daughters on the beach…

I found some digital photos from three years ago and just had to create a layout. Isn’t he precious?!

Sweet Cherish

Saturday 30 min Start to Finish assignment: October 5th

Class 3 layout: Sweet Days

Just a little peek into my world. Enjoy each moment of yours!

Every now and then a map is a good thing! They give you a little direction and a place to start. Page Maps is a great web-site with new maps each month full of great ideas. And not only do they have new page maps each month, they have card maps as well. What a great resource to inspire and get your creativity into high gear. The following page is one I created using September’s Page Maps for inspiration. I love these maps so much, I wrote a Craft Critique review on them. Want to check it out?

Bouquet

This layout was inspired by my two darling youngest boys. They sure know how to make a girl feel special.

While some may see a handful of weeds, I see a beautiful bouquet. I truly am a lucky girl to have such handsome boys bringing me flowers. I treasure these moments.

May you find joy in the little things today!

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Art of Framing (Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Everyday Petities (mona lisa moments line) by CHF

Ink:
-Black Palette ink by Stewart Superior

Paper:
-cardstock by Bazzill
-patterned paper by Prima

Other:
-flower by Prima
-letters by American Crafts
-ribbon by Creative Impressions
-buttons by Autumn Leaves
-pin by Fancy Pants Designs

Round and Round we go again! What a perfect title for a layout using some of the photos I took last Friday. We had a fabulous day with family at Canada’s Wonderland, a theme park in Toronto. I couldn’t wait to get home and print out some photos. This layout is designed by Lesley to be an 8×8 layout but can also easily be used for 12×12. If you’re starting off…an 8×8 layout size is a great place to start. The pages go together faster and you can still make them as simple or as elaborate as you like. We’d love to have you play along with today’s sketch layout challenge. You can check out the challenge deets here.

Round and Round

I decided to stick to the original layout quite closely for this page. An 8×8 layout is smaller than I’m used to using but was a fun size to work with. The photos on this layout are actually quite small…. 1.5″ x 2″ with the larger one being 2″x3″. While I cropped and printed my images to size using Photoshop Elements, this would be a great layout to crop in on those photos that are taken far away. For my journaling…I kept it simple. Just the date and the place.

Quick Tip: If you want to add more details but don’t want them on the page…write the names etc. on the back. Future generations may not know who is who and may want to.

To create my title, I simply stamped a sentiment from the Round and Round We Go Again stamp set. Along the bottom of my design, I stamped some funky circles from the same set and highlighted their centers with buttons. I wanted to create a fun page with a little distressing and attitude that my kids would like.

Quick Tip: Crop one photo a little larger than the rest to make it stand out and be your focal image.

Here’s a couple more photos from our trip to Canada’s Wonderland…

My niece and Joshua with Dora…is he excited or what?! I did get one photo of some of the kids on a roller coaster in the second car from the front. As I spent most of the day in “kiddie-land”, I didn’t manage to photograph them on the newest roller coaster, the Behemoth. It’s now the largest coaster in Canada.

Supply List:

Stamps: Round and Round We Go (The Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Burnt Umber & Noir Palette Inks by Stewart Superior, Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Ranger

Paper: Static line by Crate Paper, Kraft Cardstock by Prism

Other: felt arrows by Maya Road, buttons by Autumn Leaves, sewing machine, stapler, lace by Prima

Thanks for stopping by!
Julia