Belle Papier {pretty paper}

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

As most of you probably know…I love patterned paper. Actually…confession time…I have a serious addiction to buying it. On of my favorite paper companies is My Mind’s Eye. I love Tres Jolie, Confetti, Signature Life, the new Out and About. I just can’t resist it. This is paper review week at Craft Critique and yes….I chose My Mind’s Eye patterned papers to review. You can check it out at My Mind’s Eye…I’m loving their vision

Beautiful and Unique

This is one of the designs I created for my Craft Critique review. I love this Tres Jolie line paper and wanted to highlight some of their fabulous cardstock borders strips, as well as titles, quotes and die cuts. They make it so easy to create a beautiful layout. I decided to have a little fun with this layout by adding some stamping. The My Mind’s Eye paper is fabulous for stamping on. It absorbs the ink well with no bleeding or beading. I used some of the gorgeous new The Rummage Bin sets from Cornish Heritage Farms. To stamp right on the photograph, I used white stazon ink. To stamp the “frame” on the photo…I just inked up part of the title box stamp from The Art of Framing set and first stamped one corner, turned and stamped the other. I know the photo looks black and white but it was edited to sepia in Photoshop Elements 5.0. The flower is photo tinted using Ranger Cut n Dry nibs with Mountain Rose and Watermelon Adirondack inks. To get a close-up of this design…just click on the photo. I’ve been so inspired lately by a couple incredibly talented scrapbookers… Lesley Langdon and Nancy Houten. I had so much fun with this layout, I just know I’m going to be getting back to my scrapping roots.

{Wishing you a beautiful day!}

Supply List:
Stamps:
-ornate semi circle, clock and quote from Time to Stamp stamp set(The Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Beautiful word stamp from Beautiful stamp set (The Rummage Bin) Cornish Heritage Farms
- Princess & Frame on photo from Art of Framing stamp set (The Rumamge Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
-Antique Linen Distress Ink by Ranger
-Watermelon Adirondack Ink by Ranger
-White Stazon by Tsukineko
Burnt Umber Hybrid Ink by Stewart Superior
Cardstock:
-Birchtone Medium cardstock by Prism Papers
-cardstock sentiment, patterned paper and cardstock sticker strips by My Mind’s Eye
Tools:
-sewing machine
-Circle cutter by EK Success
-small corner rounder - EK Success
Accessories:
-buttons from My Mind’s Eye
-jumbo brads by Karen Foster Designs
-linen thread
brown velvet ribbon - May Arts

As promised….I finally got my {C’est Bon} article finished!!!

This week for my {C’est Bon} entry I thought I’d share something I’ve been having a little fun with lately! I’ve been having such a great time playing around with digital scrapbooking. Now, I’m definitely NOT an expert and these pages are just beginner but maybe it is something you may want to give a try!

I was first introduced to Shabby Princess on Beth’s Freckled Fun Blog. How cool I thought and of course, I just had to give it a try! It was a little frustrating I must admit while I learned a few basics, but oh so fun. The great thing about Shabby Princess is their free digital downloads! They are PERFECT for a beginner wanting to give it a try…no supply investment…just download and have some fun! If you do get addicted…LOTS more VERY cool digital kits available at their Shabby Shoppe.

Things I like about Shabby Princess…

• free digital downloads
• love the shabby style
• fun
• need help? Tutorials on site
• digital elements all work well from one kit to the next…combine them!
• you never run out of paper or embellies!
• Digital kits store on your computer…no more mess
• want more? Lots of new kits released for purchase
• there are even great digital goodies to designed for blog use!
• you don’t need to run out to the store!
• print out some of the paper or elements with a photo and use it for hybrid design
• template available for designing photo cards
• great newletter…make sure you sign up for it!
• gallery on-site for inspiration
• chat room

A few of my samples… go easy on me It takes a bit of practice!

(Click on pics to enlarge to see detail)

Joshua at the beach - uses Express Yourself Free Kit by Ronna Penner

Flowers are Beautiful - uses Shabby Mommy Free Digital Kit

Joy - uses Sun Porch Free Digital Kit by Amy Teets

Sooooooo…… does this mean I’ll be forsaking papercrafting?! Definitely not! But there is always room for new ideas, new projects, new designs…and this digi stuff is super fun! I just know you’ll be seeing more of it popping up in the future as the mood strikes!

Please note: I am not in any way affiliated with Shabby Princess. Just a happy newbie digi scrapper.