Belle Papier {pretty paper}

I’m really excited about this new publication from PaperCrafts Magazine. PC101 is one of my favorite monthly columns in their magazine. Tomorrow PaperCrafts is releasing a special issue called PC101 and it is filled with great techniques and ideas in the same format as the PC101 monthly column. I am especially excited about this publication as it was the first time I’d been assigned a project for PaperCrafts and I actually have eight projects as part of this issue. If you like great ideas for products and great papercrafting techniques…this issue is for you. If you’d like a copy of this issue…you should be able to find it at your local craft store or order a copy on-line at PaperCrafts Magazine.

In Those Times

Out of the projects I designed for this special issue…I wanted to share this one here with you. The feature of this assignment was to use “found” items as part of your project. I was to find an object and create an encouragement card. My very sweet aunt lent me this gold watch that was hers and I worked it together with this sentiment that I just love. In those times I can’t seem to find God, I rest in the assurance He knows how to find me.

On that note…have a fabulous day!

Edited to add…this sentiment is a stamp that is available from Stampin Up. For the rest of the supply list…please see the publication. Thanks for your interest!

Thursday again! Almost time for another weekend and it IS time for another Ways to Use it Challenge! This is a rerun week and I had to check my list twice…even three times for this challenge. This was one of our very first Ways to Use it Challenges ..embossing powder…and I thought for sure I had done is again. But no and so we are going to have another one today. Any kind of embossing powder is great for this challenge. I’m also challenging you…instead of just embossing a sentiment (probably the most common use) make sure you do something a little different. Cracked glass, resist techniques, embossing something out of the usual…are all great ideas but you are also welcome to think up your own! Just one requirement from me…

Make sure you have fun! Check it out at WT

Silver Bonjour

This design uses one of my favorite patterned papers by Stampin Up. This paper is actually a Basic Gray (charcoal) and Very Vanilla color combo. I think the photo makes it look a little washed out…it is so rich looking in person. I was creating this card specifically for today’s embossing challenge but really…I’m not a huge fan of lots of embossing. I used to be when I first started stamping. It was always like magic watching that powder melt. Perhaps I did too much or perhaps its just not my style now, but over the past while…I mostly use it in small touches. This is the concept I went with for this card…less is more and the embossing is just a highlight.

This stamp set I used is the Carte Postale set by Stampin Up that I’ve loved since I first saw it last year in a mini catalogue. It is such a flexible set and I love the elegance of it. Because of the intricate design of the papers, I kept the stamping itself very simple. A sentiment, scroll and embossed bird all on one little panel. After adding some stitching around the design…I still needed something. An embellishment and there just was not enough embossing on it to use as a sample for the WT challenge. And then an idea popped into my head that I had thought of before but never gotten around to. Would it work if I embossed on the Jumbo Karen Foster Designs brads?! I love these brads and have done lots with them but never embossing. The little flower stamp from the set seemed to fit perfectly and after stamping it onto the brad with Versamark…it was simple to emboss.

Quick Tip: Use a pair of crafting tweezers to hold the brad so that you don’t burn your fingers with the heat gun. I use a Making Memories pair that I bought as part of a scrapbooking tool set but they are also available separately.

Wishing you a very happy Thursday and some embossing fun!

Supply List:

cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Gray - Stampin Up, patterned paper: Charbon - Stampin Up, stamps: Carte Postale - SU, ink: Versamark - Tsukineko, Basic Gray - SU, Other: silver brads - Making Memories, Jumbo Brad - Karen Foster Designs, Silver Embossing Powder - SU

It is so busy this time of year. So much going on…so many preparations to make…so many gifts to buy. I just had to take the time today to share my favorite Christmas card that I have designed. I actually designed this last year working with a Thankful Theme. You may have seen it before but as it is special to me, I wanted to share it here on my blog. Why is this design special to me? Well, I’m really pleased with how the design and elements on this card all came together, but mostly…it means something to me as it reminds me of the real meaning of Christmas. Remembering God’s Gift to us…his son. This card is designed around a verse…

Thanks….Be to God for his indescribable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

The thanks is stamped on the front and the rest of the verse, computer-generate on the inside.

Thanks Be to God

This card also reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas songs… Mary Did you Know by Mark Lowry…

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered
Will soon deliver youMary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy
You’ve kissed the face of God

Mary, did you know?
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
And the dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Did you know
That your baby boy will one day rules the nations?
Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding
Is the Great I Am

Supply List:

Wishing you and yours a blessed Christmas!

Last year I while I was shoppping I came across the We R Memory Keepers Designer Snaps and Eyelets and their Extra-Large eyelets. As I had just purchased a Crop-a-dile, I just couldn’t wait to bring them home and try them out. I was soon addicted to these unique embellishments. I’m always on the lookout for something a little different and these eyelets and snaps fit the bill. I loved them so much, I even purchased extras for Christmas gifts for some of my stamping frineds.

Designer Eyelets and Snaps

The We R Memory Keepers Designer and Extra Large Eyelets work perfectly with their Crop-a-dile. Easy to use and set, these embellishments are perfect for that special card. They hold their own well on an intricate design but I also love using them on simple designs as they add a simple elegance. What makes these eyelets and snaps so special? The Designer Eyelets and Snaps come in packages of 6 unique pieces. Some eyelets, some snaps…these are a great ensemble of beautiful embellishments. Each package has a mixture of pressed metal eyelets and snaps with additions of color, designs, an epoxy finish or a set rhinestone. I’ve become so enthralled with them that I just had to purchase one of each of their 9 sets and also bought extras to give to a few of my friends last year for Christmas.

Extra Large or Jumbo Eyelets

The Extra Large eyelets have also become high on my favorites list. I love the large look and how these eyelets come in many different color combinations and finishes. While small eyelets need a grouping to be noticed in a design, one or two of these giant sized eyelets stand perfectly well on their own. My favorite set is the Toasty Tin. Recently, Stampin Up has started carrying this product and is marketed in large packages of 60 in two separate finishes, pewter and antique brass. I love this option as I particularily love using the pewter Jumbo eyelets.

All of these eyelets are fabulous for stringing ribbon through because of the size of their center opening. My favorite ways of using these eyelets and snaps is for tying ribbon, attaching tags and as a flower center. The size of these Eyelets and Snaps are also fabulous for setting in coasters and chipboard where smaller eyelets may fall out because of the depth.

How to Use:

The Designer Eyelets and Snap are very easy to use with the Crop-a-dile. Suggested settings are printed on the back of the package. If you have a Crop-a-dile but rarely use it or if you are thinking of purchasing one, I wrote an entry a few months ago that you may want to take a peek at…. Crop-a-dile {C’est Bon}. If you have any questions, comments etc. about these products, feel free to leave them on this post. I’ll be happy to answer them by editing into this post.

Genuine Friend

This design is based on last weeks CPS sketch. I’ve been wanting to try it out all week and finally got a chance. I decided to go for a distressed, shabby look and have a little fun with the warm colors. The Genuine Designer Snap worked perfectly with the layout and the style of this Stampin Up Designer paper. A little distressing and a little stitching made a simple design so much fun.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Outlaw - Stampin Up

Stamps: FAbulous Flowers, Wanted, Carte Postale

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Black - Stampin Up

Other: screw brad - Creative Impressions, Designer Snap & Crop-a-dile - We R Memory Keepers, sewing machine, stapler,

Best Friends

This design has a little different style. I thought I’d create a fun fresh card with colors from the gorgeous My Mind’s Eye patterned paper. After stamping my images adhering my layers, it was easy to punch through it all with my Crop-a-dile and add my pewter Jumbo eyelets. A little piece of May Arts ribbon tied through them makes a fun quick embellishment. Also on this design, I used some of my favorite Making Memories textured tape to add those little white on black dots along the bottom and also created a little tab at the top.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Pink Passion, Whisper White, Black, Barely Banana - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye

Stamps: Garden Whimsy - Stampin Up

Ink: Pink Passion, Old Olive, Black - Stampin Up

Other: Jumbo Eyelets - Stampin Up, ribbon - May Arts, Black and White Textured Tape - Making Memories

A few extra samples…

My friend Anna Wight e-mailed me a few weeks ago asked if I’d like to a do a little challenge with her. I didn’t have to think about it long, well ya…. how super fun! Anna totally rocks with her fabulous designs and I’m sure you know, Anna has a whole line of stamps she has designed for Whipper Snapper. Anna is also known as Sweet Miss Daisy on Splitcoaststampers and I had the pleasure of being on the Dirty Dozen design team for quite a few months with her. We actually had so much fun with this, Anna and I are going to do it again…hopefully on a regular schedule. And so for our first challenge together we decided on a color challenge. I always love a color challenge and this time is no exception. Anna suggested Sage Shadow, Really Rust and a neutral…well, I snuck in two I guess…chocolate chip and Very Vanilla so I hope she’ll forgive me. Make sure you check out Anna’s design on her blog… Sweet and Sassy Notes.

A Precious Gift

When Anna suggested the color challenge, I went up to my stamping desk to pull out the colors and to give it some thought. Sitting there in the open, was my Cosmo Cricket patterned paper and wow…the color combo worked perfectly. I couldn’t wait to get started on my design. Actually…this is the second version of it. Sigh….I had it all made and just had to adhere the image panel over the rest of the card design. I needed some Very Vanilla cardstock from my demo but this morning…when I went to put it all together…Yikes! Someone had been playing in my stuff and while I could find the image, the rest of the design was nowhere to be found. And so…I quickly whipped together a simpler version of my background design and here we are! LOL

This design is quite simple in layout and so I’ll just tell you about the main image panel…I love this Stampin Up Fabulous Flowers set…I’d use it all the time if I had more time! I decided to go with a light floral look to mimic the ivory flowers in background paper. Using my white kraft ink I stamped the flower four times and then brushed my white ink directly onto the edges. After it was well dried, I used my Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp to add a little textured look and then stamped my sentiment at the bottom left corner.

My cardbase is simple…a 5.25″ square card from Sage Shadow, layered with chocolate chip cardstock and then my Cosmo Cricker paper. A little stitching and then distressing of the edges with my finger adds to the look. For my embellishments…a Prima flower set with a Making Memories pearl sticker and a brand new Fancy Pants Harvest pin that I picked up at my local scrapbook store. I just had to add one more little piece of hardware. I’d been wishing for some of the We R Memory Keepers hardware since it was released a year ago. I was so excited when Diane ordered some in especially for me… I LOVE it!

Supply List:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Sage Shadow, Real Rust

Patterned Paper: Autumn from Gretel Collection - Cosmo Cricket

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Refuge and Strength

Ink: Black, Really Rust, White Craft - Stampin Up

Other: sewing machine, clip- We R Memory Keepers, Prima Flower, Harvest Pin - Fancy Pants Designs, Pearl Sticker - Making Memories

It has been a while since we featured Stampin Up stamps in one of our Take Two challenges. We strive for a variety and so this time we’ve gone back to the start and are featuring both new Stampin Up stamps and paper for this challenge. My friends Trudee, Lindsey, and Michele have also been busy designing. Make sure you check out their designs as well. I can’t wait to see them myself! We never share before we hit publish so it is always a fun surprise.

Dare to Be Fabulous

For this design, I decided to pair up some of my favorite new supplies from this summer’s Stampin Up catalogue with this week’s CPS sketch ( #33). Quite a simple layout but I think it works well with the shabby look of my design and shows the beautiful paper off to its advantage. I turned this sketch 90° on its side to work with the sentiment I had in mind. Dare to be Fabulous…don’t you just love it?! Love that font too!

I love adding texture to my designs… I always find it so much fun. The central panel of this design was stamped with the Dahlia blossom from the Fabulous Flowers set. I used GroovyGuava and stamped two first impressions and one second. On top of this in Close to Cocoa ink, I stamped my new Sanded background stamp. I love it! Why did I resist for a couple months?! The edges of the main panel were sponged in Cocoa ink again and then the panel was layered with SAge Shadow and then some Very Vanilla. I use a little pink Heidi Swapp edge distresser on the edges of the vanilla after stamping that layer with Sanded again. I wanted to add a little more texture so I pierced the right side of my design with a paper piercer and my mat pack and then stitched a running stitch with some linen thread.

For my main card base, I used a Very Vanilla card base and layered it with Sage Shadow and some gorgeous Guava colored patterned paper from the Outlaw paper pack. After stitching around the card in freestyle with brown thread, I roughed up the edges and adhered the panel to the card front.

Lastly the embellishments… a Prima flower from the Spumoni collection was set with an antique copper large brad from Making Memories. A scrap of the Outlaw paper, brown with stars, was punched with the round tab punch and then stitched to the front image panel. And that’s it. Pretty simple layout, pretty simple stamping… but I’m quite loving it for Fall. It reminds me of fall flowers and walking through the leaves. And now I’m off to check out the other designs… make sure you do too because I know they are going to rock & have a great day!

Well, I was supposed to be designing a card for tomorrow’s entry BUT I just couldn’t resisit this quick challenge. Today’s Technique Challenge was to remake a card from your gallery, everything the same except for swapping out the set. We you already have designed the card once…it sure makes for an easy challenge! You can read all about Beth’s fun shoebox swap that inspired the challenge, as well as take part at TLC136 Think Fast.

My challenge card was inspired by one of my favorite designs. I thought it would be fun to switch it up to a floral thank you. If you’d like to take a peek at the original design…click on the thumbnail link.

Charbon Thanks a charcoal and ivory design

For this design I just followed my original panel layout using Very Vanilla and the beautiful Charbon designer paper by Stampin Up. One of the foliage stamps from the Oh So Lovely stamp set was stamped with first, second and third impressions to get depth and variety to the image. The word thanks from the Everyday Flexible Phrases set was stamped as the sentiment on the top left corner. To use the silver brad from the oroginal design, I moved it down to the bottom right corner as a little accent. Some beautiful gray May Arts ribbon is threaded through the designer eyelets.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Very Vanilla - SU

Patterned Paper: Charbon - SU

Stamps: Oh so Lovely, Everyday Flexible Phrases - SU

Ink: Basic Grey - sU

Other: ornate eyelets - unknown, Crop-a-dile - We R Memory Keepers, brad - making memories, ribbon - May Arts