Belle Papier {pretty paper}

It’s a Stick Up

Julia Stainton — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:00:53 +0000

It’s the time of year that just keeps getting busier and busier! Can you believe just seven weeks left till Christmas?! Sorry if I’m scaring someone. I’ve started a little of my holiday shopping already and hope to be mostly done by the end of this month. This year I really want to slow things down a little. I’m also making a commitment to actually MAILING my Christmas cards this year. Novel concept I know. sigh. That being the case I want them ready to go by the end of this month. That means a few more quick cards for me. Having just finished this super easy and quick Christmas card using Basic Grey chip stickers, I thought it would make a good challenge. So stick’em up and pull out your stickers. Let’s have some fun! Check out the challenge here…

Home for the Holidays

Supply List: Eskimo Kisses 6×6 paper pad & Eskimo Kisses Chip Stickers by Basic Grey, twine, sewing machine, Simply Smooth white cardstock by CHF, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger, rhinestone sticker by Kaisercraft

Happy creating!

Excuse Me While I Charge My Batteries

Julia Stainton — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:12:21 +0000

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!

Sweet Baby

Julia Stainton — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:51:55 +0000

Just a quick little post today. I’m running off to do some errands and take in the van as it is having some technical hiccups. I’m praying it’s not the fuel pump again. Hubby will be not so happy if it is. Big bucks to replace it and this would be the second time. Apparently the Astrovan is hard on them and I seem to be even harder on them. We’ve been told that keeping the tank at least half full keeps them from running into trouble. Of course, I’m guilty of letting the gas run down below that more often than not. Sigh.

My headache is finally gone (of course it may come back again when I get my bill )after trips to the dr. and massage therapist. I’ve been trying to take things a little easier and also have a lot of housework to catch up on so that’s why I’ve been a little scarce. I have this sweet little baby card to share with you though. Hope you like.

New Delivery

Supply List:

Simply Smooth White cardstock by Cornish Heritage Farms, 4×4 mini papers by Jenni Bowlin, transparency by Hambly Screen Prints, fabric embellishment by Crafty Secrets, sewing machine, flower by Imaginesce

See you soon!
Julia

Masked Fun

Julia Stainton — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:27:56 +0000

It’s just one day till Halloween and I wanted to have a little masking fun. I didn’t dress up and I didn’t even create a Halloween project but I DID create my own custom magnetic reusable mask and make another Christmas card. I’ve written a tutorial for the CLASSroom today and I hope it will make you take a look at your dies and punches and think of new ways to use them. You can find the tutorial here…

Joyeux Noel Masked Christmas Card

Happy Friday!
Julia

Wisteria Love

Julia Stainton — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:48:26 +0000

Thursday again and time for another challenge. Once again I wanted a challenge that would challenge me to use something I haven’t used in a while. This time it’s a color. When I first started card making 6 years ago…I was in love with purple, Lovely Lilac to be precise. That faded fast and I’ve had a bit of an aversion to the color since. As purple is still hot in the fashion industry we’ve seeing a lot of it in paper crafting as well, I thought it would be a good way to make myself give it a whirl again. I’d love to have you play along…check out the challenge here.

The gorgeous Basic Grey Wisteria paper was a great way to create with purple. The beautiful prints and different tones of purple made it easy for me to get a good dose of purple.

Ever After

Keeping it short and sweet today…here’s a few of the design details…

Strips of patterned paper pieced and stitched together to form the background
main image is a combo of paper piecing and coloring with Copic markers
sentiment is stamped and punched and then adhered with dimensional foam tape

Supply List:
Stamps: Botanical Bliss set from All Things Considered line by CHF
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento Ink
Paper: simply smooth white cardstock by CHF, Wisteria 6×6 paper pad by Basic Grey, kraft cardstock by Prism
Other: sewing machine, May Arts ribbon, flower by Prima, pearl sticker by Basic Grey

Have a great day!
Julia

Mwah

Julia Stainton — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:08:42 +0000

Mwah, thanks. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for your kind words of support. And thanks for your patience as I’m still trying to get rid of this headache! I’m off to the dr. again today and was at the massage therapist yesterday so surely I’ll be feeling better soon. I think I’m being told quite firmly that I need to slow down a little.

So here’s a fun card I made a little while ago with my favorite Lemonade paper by Basic Grey. I just adore the colors!

Quick Tip: Add black thread to make the bright colors pop and highlight the stitching.

Supply List:

Stamps: Thanks (Tag You’re It from Kim Hughes line) by CHF

Ink: Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko, white pigment ink by Clearsnap

Paper: Lemonade 6×6 paper pad by Basic Grey, kraft cardstock by Bazzill Basics

Other; felt flower, lemonade chip stickers by Basic Grey, safety pin by Creative Impressions, sandpaper, sewing machine, glitter chipboard letters by American Crafts

Have a beautiful day!
Julia

Royal Birthday Rules!

Julia Stainton — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:00:18 +0000

Hmmm…I just read the title and it’s a bit ambiguous! I’m not giving you some rules for a royal birthday but am saying that A Royal Birthday rules. It’s all about the context right? Anyhoo…. I am SOOOOOO adoring this new stamp set, A Royal Birthday. It just has such a fun style and attitude to it and all the ornate pieces are positively delicious. I know it may be a strange word to use for a stamp set but in my mind, it best describes it. I had a pile of fun playing with some wonderful lace to create this card for today’s CLASSroom post. All the deets are here…

You Rule

And yes…I still have that headache! Day 11 here but I did get to the Dr. last night and got some meds. It seems that my migraine turned into a monster tension headache so I’m hoping for some progress soon. Thanks for your concern!

And lastly…make sure you stop by Becky Olsen’s blog and give her some love. She has some mighty fine rubbah to share!

Have a great weekend!
Julia

I’m alive…

Julia Stainton — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:03:02 +0000

Yes I am still alive. I don’t usually miss so many days posting but we’re still dealing with strep and that never-ending headache here. I think we’re making progress but it’s slow! I have a cozy little card to share with you today and also, a challenge. I’m hoping you’ll find time to play along at SCS and get patching up a project. Check out the challenge here…

Love Will Keep Us Warm

To really cozy up this card, I thought it would be fun to use felt squares to create a patchwork background. Felt does move a bit as you stitch it but don’t worry if it’s a little skewed…it just adds to the charm. My color palette was dictated by the colors of the felt I had on hand. Actually…it’s not something I would have thought of but I kind of like it!

Quick Tip: Make a super easy scarf embellishment with a strip of felt by snipping the ends.

Stamps: Heart Warmers (Kim Hughes line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Black Stazon by Tsukineko
Paper: Kraft, Suede Brown Dark cardstock by Prism, patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket
Other: felt from Michael’s, Cosmo Cricket chipboard, pin by Fancy Pants Designs, Pink Sherbet Paint Dabber by Ranger, sewing machine, Clear Card Sheet by Cornish Heritage Farms

Have a warm fuzzy day!

Julia

Thinking about Christmas

Julia Stainton — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:46:44 +0000

While I’m in the mood for getting ahead this year, I thought I’d share a couple other Christmas projects I’ve created. Decorating for the holidays is always fun and paper crafting some handmade decorations is a great way to make them special.

This first decoration is a stamped image that I’ve placed in a two inch square Ranger Memory Frame. A sentiment is then stamped right on the Memory Glass with Black Stazon Ink.

Believe Santa Ornament

This image is Santa’s Lap from CHF and is colored with Copic Markers. I’m going to put this glass frame on a present as the gift tag and then the recipient can hang it on their tree.

TK Christmas Ornament

Michael’s carries some great paper mache ornaments and one of them in this star shape. For a fun quick ornament, I covered one with some Thomas Kinkade Christmas paper and then sponged the edges. After adhering a little blue velvet ribbon around the edges, a few quick embellishments finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by!
Julia

A Printing Frenzy

Julia Stainton — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:04:03 +0000

My printer is getting quite the work out these days! I’ve been busy creating and busy designing and busy testing. And yay! After four days, my migraine is pretty much gone. One of the fun things I’ve been using to print on is Avery Fabric Printable Sheets. I picked up a package at Staples, my local office supply store and was super impressed. Here’s one of the projects I created…

Joyful Caroler Printable Fabric Card

It may be difficult to see but the Joyous Caroler is printed on cotton fabric. It’s a great look and opens up the creative possibilities! I’ve written a little more about these Printable Fabric Sheets on today’s post at ETC. Check it out here if you’re interested…

Supply List: Joyous Caroler Printable by every thing creative, cardstock by Bazzill Basics, patterned paper by Webster’s Pages, rhinestones by Zva Creative, button by Autumn Leaves, ribbon by Making Memories, sewing machine, glitter chipboard alpha by American Crafts, 03384 Avery Printable Fabric

I also have a new file this week at ETC. I’m excited to have designed my first printable template… the Blossom Top Box. It’s super easy to use as you can print the file as many times as you wish. No need for tracing, just print on the reverse side of your paper, then score and cut out. If you’re interested...you can find it here…

Have a fabulous weekend!

Julia