Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Wow! Where did the past two weeks go?! Already we’re onto our second sketch layout challenge. This time, I designed the sketch layout. I must say….I was a little nervous about it. This is the first sketch I’ve designed for a layout and while I’ve created my own layout designs in the past as well as card sketches, I decided to keep this layout simple. I hope you like it. It is simple and easy to use and a great sketch to jump in on when you are starting out. I hope you’ll join us for this challenge. This sketch is easy to adapt to a smaller project such as an 8×8 layout or an 8.5 x 11. Why not take the plunge? Here’s the challenge link.

CHF Layout Challenge #2

Once again…another beach layout. Can you tell I love the beach?! It’s such a great place to take photos of children too. They aren’t focused on you, giving you that strange fake smile…they are busy doing their thing and enjoying life. The natural light can’t be beat as well.

Quick Tip: If you have a long lens for your camera…use it! Zooming in and taking photos from a distance will keep you out of the child’s “radar” and allow for more natural photos.

Sonshine

LOL If you look at my layout, you’ll notice…I was so excited to take this photo that I haven’t written in the journaling. Oh well! It will go on my little Making Memories Journaling page when I get some time. I mixed up lots of dots and stars for this layout. I was super tickled to find that the small stars from Kim’s Supah Star stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms fit exactly into the die cut holes of the new Making Memories paper.

The large chipboard negative star shape is a Maya Road chipboard that Lesley sent me. Thanks Lester! I did my Distress Crackle Paint thing again but this time, adhered rows of Creative Impressions jumbo ric rak to a cardstock circle and layered it underneath the shape.

I’m loving the great ideas some of the other designers have for this layout…check them out at…

Becky Olsen, Kim Hughes, Lesley Langdon, Kristine Reynolds

Have a great day!

Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-large Polka Dots Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Grid Paper Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-For the Men stamp set (sentiments) (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
- Stars from Supah Star set (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Black Palette & Burnt Umber ink by Stewart Superior
-white pigment ink by Clearsnap

Cardstock:
-Spring Willow Dark by Prism
-Baby Blue by Prism
-star patterned paper and journaling block by Making Memories
-dotted paper by My Mind’s Eye

Accessories:
-chipboard star by Maya Road
-brown dotted gaffer tape by 7 Gypsies
-jumbo ric rak by Creative Impressions
-star brad by Creative Impressions
-gingham ribbon by Creative Impressions
–epoxy button by Making Memories

Summer is sooo sweet. I’ve been finally printing off my photos from last summer and using them in layouts. It’s making me long for more beautiful days. I just love the beach…the sound of the waves and the endless lazy days with the kids.

I created this layout using my new Crop-a-dile 2 Big Bite. I loved the original Crop-a-dile so much that I just had to try out the latest version. I love how you can now use it on 12×12 scrapbooking layouts. This layout is part of a Craft Critique Review I wrote about the Big Bite. You can check it out here...

Yet another update…My dad is now home from the hospital. We’re taking turns staying over and keeping him company. I’m so grateful that he seems to be improving steadily. I’m hoping for some time to get things caught up though as I feel like I’ve been through a whirlwind!

Sweet Sweet Summer Days

I was actually wondering what to do for this design. I knew I wanted to use a 12×12 layout with my Big Bite but hadn’t come up with anything when the new May Page Maps link came in my inbox. I’ve actually never tried one of these sketches but this gorgeous layout just called my name. I love it when inspiration strikes! I knew with this stitched circle that I’d need a photo that had all the main elements to the right side. You don’t want that stitching cutting through the main focal point.

I was so excited to find this photo worked perfectly. It’s one of my absolute favorites. In person the silhouettes are so sweet. You can even see the water dropping off the little girl’s hand. The little girl is the daughter of a friend of mine and while older, she is so sweet with my little guys. This layout is called Sweet for those sweet summer days and sweet childhood friendship.

Part of the charm of this layout is the circular stitching and the eyelets that highlight it. To create my circle, I simply cut out another circle the same size as the orange one on my layout and adhered it with temporary adhesive. It was so easy to stitch around it the same distance from the edge all around and then remove. My Big Bite made it fairly easy to add in the eyelets around the design without worrying about the distance that my original Crop-a-dile could handle.

I love adding small touches of stamping throughout my layout. I especially love the quote from the Motivational Centers set by Cornish Heritage Farms. Make each day your masterpiece.

Hope its a wonderful one!
Julia

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Moments to Remember sentiment & What I love from the Ledger Me stamp set (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Summer sentiment from the Great Canadian Stamp Set stamp set (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Make each day sentiment from Motivational Centers set (Mona Lisa Moments line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
=Black Stazon by Tsukineko
-Espresso Adirondack ink by Ranger

Cardstock: Prism

Patterned Paper:
-plaid by My Mind’s Eye
-dotted pale blue by Making Memories
-shiny polka dots by Making Memories

Accessories:
-jumbo ric rak by Creative Impressions
-flowers by Prima
-eyelets by Making Memories
-gaffer tape by 7 Gypsies
-vinyl stickers by American Crafts

Tools:
-sewing machine
-Dymo label maker
-Crop-a-dile 2 Big Bite by We R Memory Keepers

Oh wow! I’m just having so much scrappin fun lately! I created this design last week using Lesley’s National Scrapbooking Day Sketch Challenge for inspiration. I’ve been going through all my beach photos from last year. I’m excited to be getting them off the computer and onto a layout. This photo is of my son and a family friend playing on the beach. What could be better than some good clean summer fun?

Great Canadian Summer

I’ve been wanting to play around with my Great Canadian Stamp Set from The Rummage Bin Line by Cornish Heritage Farms. Instead of a traditional red and white color combo, I wanted to try out some fresh “beachy” sunshine colors. The more I get back into scrapbooking, the more fun I’m having incorporating stamps in my layouts.

If you’d like to give this sketch layout a whirl…make sure you take the time to upload it to the CHF Scrapbooking Layouts Gallery. There will be a draw at the end of the week for some winners from the entries.

Gotta run! I’ll be back later to edit in the details. Have a great day!
Julia

A super quick 4 minute post this morning! It’s been quite the whirl-wind around here. My Dad fell the other day and wouldn’t go to the hospital. Long story short, he broke three ribs and punctured a lung. He’s now in the Critical Care Trauma Unit with a chest tube. I can’t imagine having almost 2 liters of blood in your chest! I’m off now to go visit again!

In the meantime…I had created a couple layouts for National Scrapbooking Day and I have one of them to share with you now. I’ll be back when I can to edit in the details. I used some fun Making Memories’ paper and some stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms. CHF is having a celebration for NAtional Scrapbooking Day today. I wish I was joining in the fun! You can check out the details HERE.

On the Bus

Have fun and have a great day!

Julia

I’m so excited about this new challenge! I’ve been wanting to do more scrapbooking and this is just the push I need. Layouts are half the battle for me so this new challenge is the perfect solution. Every other Wednesday at CHF, we’re having a new layout challenge. Our first layout is designed by Lesley Langdon and I’m just loving it. I never would have thought of it myself! So I’m challenging you to play along! Just create your own layout inspired by Lesley’s and post it. Now when I say inspired…that means you have all kinds of freedom. Change it to suit your photos. I made mine a little larger and flipped the layout so that my photos would be on the right side. I thought for my photos, it just worked better that way. Make sure you link your layouts HERE so that we don’t miss any! We can’t wait to see!

In case you don’t already know…I wanted to tell you that this Saturday May 3rd is National Scrapbooking Day. We couldn’t let the day go by without having a little fun so we’ve planned some activities at Cornish Heritage Farms from noon till 3 EST. Chat with Becky Olsen and Kim Hughes, ask your scrapbooking questions, participate in some scrapping challenges, learn with a scrap tutorial and of course, we’d like to share some goodies with you…stop in for a chance to win some cool goodies. Not a scrapper? Stop by for the fun anyway and give it a whirl. We have some great ideas for getting started using supplies you already own as well as ideas for making it easy! It’s all happening in our Scrap Chat forum. Hope to see you there!
Beautiful Moments to Remember

I’ve been dying to use some of the new Basic Grey Sultry paper that I picked up at my local Scrapbook store the other day. This layout challenge worked perfectly for it and it was so simple to pull my color scheme right from that paisley paper. To create this design, I just kept working on it little by little to build up the elements. I think my favorite detail is the title. I stamped my Beautiful Moments to Remember sentiments with black Stazon onto a CHF Clear Card Sheet panel. I brushed on some white acrylic paint around the edges and under the words on the reverse side to make them stand out against the dark backdrop. Another fun idea I just had to try out was scrap-lifted from Becky Olsen. I just loved how she stitched here journaling lines on one of her layouts. As you know…I LOVE to stitch! My journaling was written with a white Signo gel pen. Not perfect, but I’m getting over that fear of writing on my layouts.

Jump in and play along with us. Here’s some of the other takes on this challenge…

-Lesley Langdon
-Kim Hughes
-Kristine Reynolds
-Becky Olsen
-Dawn Lusk
-Alli Miles
-Lisa Silver

Thanks for stopping in! Have a beautiful day!

Julia

Supply List:
Stamps:
-Beautiful sentiment and flourish from the Beautiful stamp set (THe Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Film Strip stamp and scallops from the Photo Op stamp set (THe Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Live Life Wisely sentiment from the Time to Stamp stamp set (THe Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-foliage from Nature Silhouettes (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Spanish Script Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Burnt Umber & Canvas Palette Ink by Stewart Superior
-Black Stazon by Tsukineko
-Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
Pink and Suede Brown Dark by Prism Papers

Patterned Paper:
Sultry Line by Basic Grey

Accessories:
-CHF Clear Card Sheets by Cornish Heritage Farms
-dotted Gaffer Tape by 7 Gypsies
-flourish chipboard by Maya Road
-flowers by Prima Marketing
-buttons by My Mind’s Eye
-Shabby Shutters Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger
-clip by Making Memories
-ribbon by Creative Impressions
-white acrylic paint

Tools:
-corner rounder
-sewing machine

I’m back to scrapping a little lately. I’m having so much fun with the larger canvas size. When I received this new Shady Daisy Backgrounder in the mail last week, I just had to try it out slightly behind a photo. With the CHF Backgrounder Blitz kicking off this Friday night, I’ve been having some fun thinking up lots of ways to use them. I created this layout for a friend’s daughter who was so sweet to make me a beautiful card for my birthday. I happened to have this photo of her from the beach last summer and thought it would be fun to work with. This layout actually does not translate well on the screen. I went for a soft shabby look and it just looks washed out. The photo I used various filters on it for a soft unfocused dreamy look.

Beautiful U

After yesterday’s long post, I’m keeping this one short! I’ve been exhausted with a Spring cold and spent most of the day yesterday with a blanket around me. A couple things about this layout…I used the Lined Paper Backgrounder to add interest behind my photo and also as a journaling box where it shows beneath the photo. On my Maya Road chipboard…I brushed on some Distress Crackle Paint to finish the surface and add texture. A little stitching around the Shady Daisy image gives the illusion of a layer and the stitching around the other soft layers helps add some structure to the layout.

Quick Tip: Don’t be afraid to ink the edges of your photos. It can help them stand out without adding the bulk of another layer.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

-Supply List:
Stamps:
-Shady Daisy backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Lined Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Flower, sentiment and flourishe from Beautiful stamp set (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms.

Ink:
- Cloud Blue, Pool Adirondack inks by Ranger
-Burnt Umber Palette Ink by Stewart Superior
-Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
-Natural Smooth, Baby Blue Light cardstock by Prism
-Patterned paper by My Mind’s Eye

Accessories:
-Old Paper Distress Paint by Ranger
-flowers by Prima Marketing
-button by Autumn Leaves
-ric rac ribbon by Creative Impressions
-flower strips by Doodlebug Designs
-Brads by Creative Impressions
-chipboard U and flower by Maya Road

Tools:
sewing machine
staple

Do you have a favorite time? I’m mostly a morning person and am most productive in the morning. One of my favorite times of the day, especially in summer is the evening. Things are cooler, the light softer and I especially cherish the evenings spent walking on the beach. I can’t wait for those lovely times to come again. For the layout below, I put together a design using moments captured from a walk last summer with my family.

This layout was created for a Craft Critique review that I wrote about Creating Keepsakes Magazine. Creating Keepsakes is one of my favorite scrapbooking magazines. Although I don’t do many layouts these days…I’m hoping to get back into it more. Scrapbooking is how I got into stamping and card design and I love creating beautiful layouts. Even if you don’t scrapbook, Creating Keepsakes is a fabulous resource of designs, colors, products and techniques for any papercrafter. To create this layout, I used three different sources of inspiration from April’s issue…a layout design from the sketches pages, stapler inspirations from a Tools and Techniques article and from Alli Edward’s scrapbooking advice article…I used some hand-written journaling. Now I’m not so sure that anyone will be able to read it but hey… I tried and my descendents WILL have a copy of my handwriting.

While not used on this layout…my stamps seem to have found the postal black hole… I just wanted to let you know about a new release from The Rummage Bin line. Lesley has been hard at work and has two beautiful new offerings this month. Photo Op is a gorgeous fun scrapbooking set that can also be used in cards as well and a new backgrounder stamp called Shady Daisy. You need to check out the samples with these sets…some great fresh ideas! Scroll down to the end of the post to check out these new sets!

The Beautiful Time

I designed this page around a Sophisticated Swirls backgrounder stamp and some stamps from the beautiful Rummage Bin line by Cornish Heritage Farms….Beautiful, Time to Stamp, The Ticket Counter and Story Book. It is a bit hard to see in the photo but I painted the chipboard flourish with Old Paper Crackle Distress Paint to add texture. The Jumbo rick rack and brads are from Creative Impressions. Just in case you actually want to read the journaling but can;t…

Sunset. The glorious end to a blissful day.
Soft warm light, sand between my toes,
and the waves singing their lullaby. There’s
no place I’d rather be than with my family
at the beautiful time.

Wishing you a beautiful day…

Supply List:
Stamps:
-clock and time sentiment from Time to Stamp(The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-flourishes and Beautiful sentiment form Beautiful stamps set(The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-The sentiment from Story Book stamp set(The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Sophisticated Swirls backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms
-ticket from The Ticket Counter (the Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Burnt Umber Palette ink by Stewart Superior
-Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy & Antique Linen Distress Ink by Ranger

Cardstock:
-Prism Papers

Patterned Paper:
-Basic Grey

Accessories:
-paperclip from Creative Impressions
-brads from Creative Impressions
-rick rack from Creative Impressions
-Old Paper Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger
-flowers by Prima Marketing
-journaling Office Sheers by Maya Road
-flourish chipboard by Maya Road

Tools:

-stapler

Shady Daisy 

Photo Op 

I just love summer! A couple weeks ago I just got into a scrappin’ mood. Pulled out some of my summer pics and had some fun. These photos are from Labour Day…the last day we were able to hit the beach. Usually Labour Day weekend can be rather cool and this past one was no exception. No matter how cold though…my little ones braved the water…at least to their knees and hubby had to have one last sail. It still makes me smile just thinking about it. And of course…the countdown has now begun….less than four more months and we’ll be there again. Today we’re buried under another snowstorm that was preceded by freezing rain. Kids are home and I’m trying hard to work around them and get some things done! I just can’t wait for better weather!

The Good Stuff

Not much stamping in this clean simple design but I did managed to squeeze in a little. I was playing around with my Maya Road flourishes again. This time they are stamped with White Stazon ink and my Spanish Script Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms. This design is off to my local scrapbook store for a visit so I thought I’d leave that journaling box blank until it came home again.

What do you do when you have the winter blahs? I’d love to hear about it! Have an awesome day!

Supply List:

Cardstock: Prism Papers

Patterned paper: My Mind’s Eye

Stamps: Spanish Script Backgrounder - Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: White Stazon - Tsukineko

Other: sewing machine, Neutral Microchips Arrows, Arrows and Stars Bright Microfelt & Clear Sheer Flourishes- Maya Road, circle punch, Rounds Paper Fasteners - Creative Impressions

I love summer and buried in snow right now…I thought it would be fun to scrapbook some of those beautiful summer days. I used a photo I took on the beach last year of our friends’ daughters. It was late afternoon…my favorite time…and its always perfect for taking those silhouette photos. I just love the energy of this photo. I’m not the best photographer that is for sure, but to me…this brings back memories and the joy of being a child.

Summer Joy

This design is a 12×12 layout. It’s a bit of a learning curve for me…going back to where I started…scrapbooking. I’m totally out of practice and I can tell you…this layout looks better in person. But I’m sharing it anyway. Because it’s all about creativity and learning and most of all, having fun. I’m hoping to do more layouts in the upcoming months. It’s always good to stretch yourself and try new things. And…I kind of like the idea of having a scrapbook of memories again. The years are flying by so quickly!

For this design…I blew the photo up to about 9″ wide. I mixed up some stamping and some foam letters for the title…just had some fun. Summer (stamped in white Stazon just before the joy stickers) is from the Great Canadian Stamp Set and Live Laugh Love is from The Art of Framing. Both these sets are from the new Rummage Bin line from Cornish Heritage Farms.

One of the embellishments I was trying to incorporate into this design were some Maya Road clear flourish embellishments that my local scrapbook store owner shared with me. I was looking for different ways to use this product. I created a flourish with three of the translucent pieces and dry brushed white acrylic paint on the reverse side. I allowed it to dry and then adhered it to my design with glue dots. I really love the look in person…it reminds me of waves a little and I think it is a fun addition to this design.

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Supply List:

Stamps: The Art of Framing, The Great Canadian Stamp Set - Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: White Stazon - Tsukineko, Burnt Umber Palette ink - Stewart Superior

Cardstock: white - Prism

Patterned Paper: aqua from Birdie Collection - Crate Paper, Floral and Plaid from Confetti line - My Mind’s Eye

Other: buttons - My Mind’s Eye, ribbon - Creative Impressions, clear shapes - Maya Road, paint and teal ribbon - Making Memories, flower - Prima Marketing, designer brad - We R Memory Keepers, foam stickers - American Crafts, Circle Template - EK Success

One challenge I really wanted to take up this year is Lori Craig’s Bible Verse challenge. The challenge was to create a project that would span the year and memorize the Bible verse each month. I’m kind of late to the challenge…it actually started last month but somehow in the business of the new year…I had totally not even heard about the challenge. Jami was so sweet to PM me and ask if I would like to join in. :)I’m jumping in now and I’ll either do two in one month to catch up or just make my challenge project go one month longer. I’m so excited about doing this. I always have good intentions but somehow the days slip away. I think part of getting things done is making a plan and sticking to it. This challenge is now on my calendar, the 8th of each month, and at the end of the year, I’ll have a beautiful book of my favorite verses. Better yet…I’ll have them hidden in my heart, {embracing} God’s Word. If you’d like to join in with the challenge…you can just start now too if you’d like. You can check it out here.

Psalm 139:7-10     (click on pic for closeup)

This whole chapter is one of my favorites. I know it very well to start with as I couldn’t begin to guess how many times I’ve read it. It has brought me so much comfort to know that I am held in the hand of the Almighty. Part of this chapter also talks about God knowing all about me and how he formed me in my mother’s womb. During pregnancies and illness and just through the trials of life, this chapter has been a blessing to me.

As for the design of this project…I decided I’d create a little book of all the verses, something to keep and treasure. I recently purchased this darling little 6×6 Maya Road chipboard album. The pages are so sturdy. A wonderful size and so easy to embellish. The binder clip binding works really well and I’ll be covering the outside in the coming months so stay tuned. I noticed the other day that I had a lot of Basic Grey Stella Ruby paper left and as I love the warm shades and floral look…thought it would be perfect for this project. To keep this project cohesive, I’ll be storing away the rest of my paper in a ziploc bag with other goodies that I might want to incorporate.

Quick Tip: When planning pages on a chipboard album…you’ll want to take into consideration that you’ll be decorating the back as well. If you add things like brads, add them on a layer and insert before adhering the paper to the chipboard.

{Wishing you a day of joy and peace.}

Supply List:

Cardstock: Natural Smooth - Prism

Patterned Paper: 6×6 paper pad Stella Ruby - Basic Grey

Stamps: Beautiful (flourishes) from The Rummage Bin line- Cornish Heritage Farms, Carte Postale (bird) - Stampin Up

Ink: Brushed Corduroy & Tea Dye Distress Inks, Shell Pink Adirondack ink - Ranger

Other: moss velvet ribbon - Flair Designs, ruffled ribbon - Making Memories, flower - Prima Marketing, Loopy Brad - Karen Foster Designs, Designer Brad - We R Memory Keepers