At Home With Julie Ebersole

I'm very excited to introduce you to my guest today, Julie Ebersole, or HRR (Her Royal Rubberness.) Like many of you, I've been a big fan of Julie's for quite some time now. When I was creative editor at Paper Crafts magazine, I'd get super excited to see her creations when she submitted to our calls, and I always get a little jolt of inspiration when she contributes to the challenges here in the Moxie Fab World. She is, in a word, fun--and everything she does or says or creates in this industry will attest to that. See what I mean in this inspiring installment of At Home With... Take it away, Julie!

Thanks, Cath. One of the great things about living in the Pacific Northwest is the beautiful coastline--I'm lucky in that most of my life I've lived near the sea. Many of the best memories we've created with our children involved excursions to the beaches, exploring tide pools, kite-flying, and clamming (I should say, attempting to clam, LOL! Those li'l buggers can disappear fast!).

The kidlings would often collect rocks, oddly shaped pieces of driftwood, and broken bits of shell--not necessarily "pretty", but to a child they were extraordinary treasures. Occasionally they would find a highly sought-after sand dollar (skeletons only; living creatures are always left in their habitat)--whole and unbroken. Their eyes became so big and they could hardly contain their excitement . . . I've kept the sand dollars in a vintage bowl I found at a local antique shop because they remind me of those great times! *happy sigh*

And, it's this bowl of shells that serves as inspiration for the creation I'm sharing today:

To replicate the delicate, almost lace-like features of the sea star in the bowl (true confessions; bought the sea star at a local tourist shop a few years ago, knowing I'd probably never find one, and it looked so pretty nestled in with the sand dollars . . . ) I white embossed a sea star stamp image on buttery yellow card stock and added just a little bit of shading with a marker and then popped it up on dimensional adhesive to make it stand out.

Most of my creations are quite simple, and I have a thing for white space, but I also often like to add something just a wee bit different or unusual in some way, if I can, that drives home the overall impact I'm trying to make with the design. As luck would have it, after rummaging around in the craft closet for a few minutes, I found a bag of candle-scape sand--perfect for adding a beach-like texture. SCORE!!!

It was *uber* fun to translate this bit of inspiration that sits on my coffee table into paper, and re-live some very happy memories! Thanks for that, Cath!

All supplies by/from a•muse studio, unless otherwise noted: Stamps (Seashells and sentiment), Card Stock (Bermuda, Buttercup, Wheat & White), Bermuda and Wheat Pigment Inks, Versamark Ink, Copic Marker YR21 Cream, White Embossing Powder, Clear Twinkle Stickers, Ivory Twine, Super Stick Tape; Candle-scape Sand (craft supply store)

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Isn't that project gorgeous, friends? I just love seeing how people are inspired by items in their homes, aren't you? A heartfelt thanks to Julie for sharing a bit of hers with us today.

Grateful for Julie,

~Cath

PS Have you seen? A Muse Art Stamps has launched a brand new line, from which Julie has created this project. Be sure and click here to see what's up!