Stop the Press, and Welcome Julia!

Please join me in welcoming our newest Staff Reporter; Julia Stainton! When Julia expressed an interest in joining Craft Critique I was just thrilled! I know she will be bringing an edge of experience to our team, and I am eager to share her first article with you... check back Monday for that! :)

Julia Stainton is a long-time crafter who is delighted to share her unsolicited opinion as a reporter for the Craft Critique Team. Julia has been crafting since as far back as she can remember, most of her 30 plus years. During her childhood, and much to her mother’s dismay, she was constantly creating things; often leaving evidence of glitter, ink, paint and threads behind her. Every new thing that caught her eye just had to be tried at least once! Both her grandmothers were very skilled with needles of all kinds and taught her to sew, knit and do needlework. It was from them that she learned the joy of creating beauty from the most basic of materials. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, Julia took art lessons and adored her photography class in high school.

For the past eighteen years, Julia has been married to her sweetheart; her very patient husband and lives in Ontario, Canada. They have been blessed with five wonderful children ages 22 months up to 16 years old…four of them boys. The youngest having the unfortunate experience of wearing some sort of glitter from his mom’s projects since the day he was born. A stay at home mom, Julia has continued crafting as a creative outlet from her busy days. No crafting aisle in safe from her eager eyes. Cross-stitch, sewing, smocking, painting, cake decorating, even soap-making…she’s been there and done that!

In 1999, Julia began scrapbooking her family memories. Noticing the stamping trend on layouts 3 years ago, she decided she had to give it a whirl. So many fun ideas and techniques had her hooked within days. Today Julia primarily focuses her time on rubber stamping and papercrafting. She really feels she has finally found her niche. Julia has just finished a term as a designer for the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club Design Team and is currently on the Lizzie Anne Designs Design Team. She also designs as a freelance concept design for various papercraft magazines. You can find Julia’s designs, papercrafting tips and ideas on her wonderful blog; Belle Papier.