Stella's into the sauce...

 

One last card to end 2012...

 

With it being New Year's Eve, I thought it was only right that I use "Stella with an Olive on Top" from Stamping Bella to wish you a Happy New Year!!! I said it a couple of weeks ago that Stella has always been one of my faves at Stamping Bella.  With them being on sale right now, I wanted to play with them before they go away.  I have stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then I watercolored with Tombow Markers. I added Stickles to the fabulous Stella as well. After all, she is wearing her crown.  LOL!!  They layout for my card is this week's Mojo Monday sketch that I flipped on its' side.

 

Cheers!!! Best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

 

Sending Oodles of Love

 

Hi there everyone!!! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. I went quiet on my blog this week so that I could spend some much needed time with my family.  I have been working so much this month (two different jobs) so I wanted to take advantage of my time off.  I didn't even go near my craft desk until today. 

 

I've been on a bit of a clean and simple kick lately and this card fits perfectly for the "Bellatastic Tuesday" challenge at SCS which is all about WHITE SPACE.  Make sure you participate as you'll have the opportunity to win $25 to the Stamping Bella store.  You have until Monday January 7th to get your entry in. Just make sure you add the keyword BELLADEC2012 so we can find it. 

 

I have been surfing around on Pinterest and noticed people making cards with buttons for Christmas trees etc so I decided I wanted to make a clean and simple card using buttons to make a heart.  I get the heart shape, I used my heart shaped nestabilities and traced around the edge. I then did the outer edge of the heart with buttons before adding the center buttons. For the sentiment I have used the sentiment from the Stamping Bella set called "Uptown Girl Lucille sends her Love".   Fun eh?  I plan on using the image from this set soon. 

 

Hope you have a great day!!!

 

2012 in Review

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I hope you have the opportunity to spend Christmas with your loved ones today. Right now, I'm the only one awake so I thought I would start my year in review of my favorite cards from each month.  Today I'm sharing my fave cards from January to June. 

 

January

 

February

 

 

March

 

 

April

 

 

May

 

 

June

 

 

 

I'll wrap up my year in review on New Year's Eve.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Well Soon

 

Hi there everyone!!! It's our last Bellarific Friday challenge at Stamping Bella for the year. WOW!! Where did this year go?  This week's challenge is "Thinking about You".  Cathabella is feeling under the weather so I decided to use one of my favorite Huggabuggs called "Fluey Huggabugg".  The image was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  The layout for my card is last week's Freshly Made Sketch.

 

 

I added some Crystal Stickles to this cutie pies' wings for a bit of extra dimension.  I also added a button.... it covers up a booboo.  Oops!!!  No sooner did I finish the image and the pink marker rolled onto my page. Yikes!!!

 

Thanks for popping by!! I'll be back over the holidays with some more fun stampy goodness. 

 

 

It's all about the Prezzies...

I have always loved the Stella line of stamps from Stamping Bella and it's been quite some time since I've inked one up... They were feeling a little unloved and begging for me to let them get dirty with ink. 

 

 

This week's Bellatastic Tuesday challenge is all about embracing the white space. We want you to go clean and simple.  I always find clean and simple cards hard to make because I tend to layer things on.  But I embraced the white space after being inspired by this week's Freshly Made Sketch challenge. Because I knew I wanted to use the Stella image called "Stella needs a Prezzie" which is on sale right now.

 

I stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed it with clear embossing powder and then watercolored it with Tombow Markers.  I then added various colors of Stickles to her lips (Fruit Punch), crown (yellow)  and the presents (Crystal).  A couple of Rhinestones and Stella is all ready for Christmas.

 

Thanks for popping by!! Make sure you head on over to Stamping Bella.  Emily is clearing out a bunch of old stamps to make way for some new ones!!! She's cut the prices like crazy!!!

 

See you tomorrow for Bellarific Friday :-)

A Bright Holiday Season

 

Have you noticed the sneak peeks over at There She Goes this week? Unfotunately, I'm sitting them out this month. BOO!!! My stamps for the release are stuck somewhere between Washington State and BC.... The sets are FANTASTIC this month so make sure you check them out.

 

In the meantime, I have made a candle using two TSG sets called "Holiday Tags" and "Wishing You". I stamped the snowflakes using a few different shades of blue (Memento and Stampin' Up). I then added some rhinestones to the center of each snowflake.  The sentiment was stamped using Chocolate Chip ink. 

 

I'm hoping that my "Secret Santa" person at work will like it :-) 

 

Happy Holidays :-)

 

It's feeling a lot like Christmas

 

Hi there everyone!! It's that time of week again... Bellarific Friday :-) This week, we were challenged to create a card using the sketch above.  I'm in full panic mode in terms of getting Christmas cards done so I made two cards using Stamping Bella images.

 

 

For my first card, I have used "Pia Puddingtop".  I love this image even though I had a bit of trouble coloring her up today.  I don't often use dark colors when coloring so I'm not super happy with how the coloring turned out.  She almost made it into the trash bin but I couldn't do it. The image has been stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  The DP is from Carta Bella and the edges have been sponged with Close to Cocoa ink.

 

 

For my second card, I've used the image called "Boots" ( I can't find it on the website so I am unsure if it's sold out or discontinued).  The image has been stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and watecolored with Tombow Markers. I added a bit of Stampendous "Shaved Ice" to make it look like snow.  The "hill" was created using the Memory Box die called Country Landscape. 

 

I know that last week we mentioned that this would be the last Bellarific Friday challenge but we changed our minds :-)  (That's what happens when the Bella Babes and the boss get together).  Our theme for next week is "Thinking of You". 

 

I hope you like my little bit of the holidays here on my blog.

 

 

Merry Christmas TSGA

 

Each month at There She Goes, we highlight a few of our older sets and this month we're highlighting Holiday Tags, Hohoho, No Peeking.  I started out with just making a tag but then I decided to put it onto a card.  A few rhinestones swirls and voila... For my card, today I've used the sets Holiday Tags (for the sentiment) and Hohoho for the snowflakes. I wanted to show that the TSG sets are so versatile in terms of what images are included in some of the sets.  I stamped the snowflakes in one of three inks: Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky and Old Olive.  The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip Ink onto a banner that is from the Just For You dies.

Easy peasy!!

Saying goodbye to iSpy

Hi there, everyone.  I'm not sure if you saw Kim's announcement last week on the iSpy blog but she's decided it's time to close the blog down.  Kim is working outside the home now and with all of us on the team so busy, no one was able to step up and take over the challenges.  I've loved being part of this team with such a fantastic group of ladies. 

 

In honor of saying goodbye to iSpy, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite cards I made while on the team. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Time...

 

Hi there!! Eeks!!! I'm loving this card.  As soon as I saw last week's Deconstructed Sketch, I knew I wanted to play.  One of my coworkers at Sylvan Learning has gone on maternity leave but we'll be throwing her a shower next weekend.  The staff all know that I'm an avid cardmaker so I knew I wanted to make something special for the mom-to-be.  I recently bought some DP from Pebbles called "Walnut Grove" (Swoon... I'm in love) and this dictated my color combo.  The mom to be already knows she's having a girl so I knew I was safe with this DP.  For my card, I've used the Stamping Bella image called "Teddybella".  This image has come in handy on so many occasions with baby showers.  Yeah!!! The image was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  I then added a few embellishments to finish off my card. 

Thanks for popping by!!!

 

 

 

TSG185 Gift of Giving

 

This week our challenge at There She Goes is brought to us by our Trendsetters! We are challenging YOU to make a card or project using our Season of Giving theme! You can use the theme in any way you chose, whether it be cards, tags, or actual gifts!

 I decided to have a little bit of fun and create a scene inside a picture frame.  For this project, I used a variety of DP (mainly Echo Park, My Mind's Eye and SImple Stories) for the trees as well as the background. In the background, I stamped some snowflakes from the set "HoHoHo" in Chocolate Chip ink and added some cream colored pearls.  The trees were created using "Christmas Tree Stacker" die from Dee's Distinctively Dies.  Each part of the trees has been sponged with Old Olive ink.  The reindeer are also from the HoHoHo set and have been watercolored with Tombow Markers and then popped up for a bit of dimension.  It's hard to see in the photo but I added a bunch of "Snow" at the bottom of the inside of the frame to make it look like a snowy ground. 

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a card or project using this week’s challenge and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (December 17th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

 

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the lookout to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

 

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG185 so we can check out your beautiful work!

Thanks for popping by!!!

 

Merry Holidays Bellarific Friday

Eeks!!! I'm still on Cloud 9 thinking that I'm one of the new Stamping Bella babes.  Pinch me, please!!! I've been playing along the last couple of weeks with the Stamping Bellarific Friday challenges as a participant but this is my first week as an official Babe. 

 

This week, we were challenge to make a tag :-) I made some earlier in the week and I had just as much fun (if not more fun) making this tag.  I've used the stamp called "Car with Tree on Top" (inventive name, isn't it? LOL). I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed it with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  The line at the bottom was emphasized using a chalk pencil.  I also added some blue rhinestones to the tree as ornaments.  We all know that trees come home with decorations on them, right? Or is that just in my mind that they do? LOL!! The sentiment is an old one that is no longer on the website. 

 

Next week, we'll be working with a sketch.  Check it out :-)

 

 

I can't wait to play with this one.  My wheels are already turning. 

 

Let's party....

 

Hi rhere everyone!!! Here I am with my first official post as a Bella Babe.  What better way to start it off with a fun card made with a little bit of sassy?  I had a bit of time to play a few days ago and knew that as soon as I saw this week's Retro Sketch that I had to play. I've always loved the Uptown Girls line at Stamping Bella but only bought my first few back in October. I love sassy stamps and this one is no exception.  For my card today, I've used "Victoria and Juliette's Night Out".The image has been stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers. I added some Diamond Stickles to the ruffles on each of the girls' dresses but unfortunately it doesn't translate well in pictures.  The DP I've used is Pebbles "Seen and Noted".  I must admit I'm having a bit of a love affair with their papers lately.  Their paper is another new addiction.  LOL!!!

 

Thanks for popping by :-)

 

TSG184 Tag, You're it!!!

I love the month of December leading up to Christmas and love being able to get creative. For this week's TSG challenge of making tags, I had a lot of fun. This week our challenge is brought to us by our Trendsetter of the week, Wendy!  She has challenged us to make a tag, whether it be on a card or just the tag itself!

 

 

Here is a shot of the tags I created all together.

 

 

The shot of the tags using the mittens die and sentiment from the TSG set called "Warmest Wishes".

 

 

A shot of the tags using Warmest Wishes again with the stocking die. 

 

For the set of tags, I've used some tags that I purchased at Michaels which I have altered by adding DP from Simple Stories and Echo Park.  I wanted to keep them with a bit more vintage look so I have sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. 

 

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a project that either is, or incorporates a tag, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (December 10th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

 

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the lookout to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

 

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG184 so we can check out your beautiful work!

 

 

 

MFTWSC100 Hot Chocolate please :-)

 

I had a bit of free time on Friday so I decided I needed to play along with this week's MFT Sketch challenge.  I was thinking making a card might help get rid of my 4 day headache (now on Day 5) but it didn't but at least it helped me get a card made. LOL!!. Sadly, this cutie pie a la Mode called "Hot Cocoa" has sat un-inked since last year when it was released... But it's finally gotten dirty... I've been trying to use up some of my DP so I pulled out a pad from Pebbles that I've barely used.  I swear I have an addiction to DP and it's only getting worse.  Eeks!!! The image has been stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers. 

 

Thanks for popping by!!!

 

Bee Mine - Bellarific Friday

Eeks!!! I don't officially start as a Bella babe until tomorrow (December 1st) but I couldn't resist playing along with this fantastic sketch for this week's challenge.  If you're a regular to my blog, you know that I'm a sucker for a sketch. LOL!

 

I thought about switching it up and flipping the sketch but I love it just the way it is.

 

 

I fell in love with this DP from Pebbles a few weeks ago at my LSS and knew I HAD to have it. Yup, I'm a sucker for pretty paper. It makes me warm and giddy.  LOL!!. For my card, I've used the image called "BeeeMine Huggabugg".  The image has been watercolored with Tombow Markers (surprising, right??). 

 

Next week's challenge is to create a TAG!!! You can always back your tag onto a card.   It's a perfect time to be making tags with Christmas coming soon. 

 

As an added bonus.....

 

Guess what! Stamping Bella is now hosting Bellatastic Tuesday challenges their Splitcoast Stampers Forum and we are debuting the very first one!

Want a chance to win $25 in Bella Cash to go on a spending spring in the Stamping Bella Store?! Then play along with us! It's an "Anything Goes" challenge this week and the only requirements are that you use any Stamping Bella image and then upload your creation to your Splitcoast Stampers gallery and use the keyword BELLANOV2012!

The challenge will run from today until midnight EST on Monday 10th December 2012. During this time, participants cards will also be posted in a special blog post over on Bloggabella! You may very well also see your cards on our Pinterest board!

The winner of the $25 prize will be chosen at random from the entries, and will be announced here and over on Bloggabella on Tuesday 11th December.

Good luck! and hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

ISSC44 Candy Cane Time...

I'm in the Christmas mood (kinda) when it comes to card making so I had a lot of fun playing with my stamps for this card.  This week at iSpy, we are featuring this week so I'm thrilled!!! This week we are featuring Christine Okken ( ChristineCreations at SCS) and is inspired by this card.

 

 

LOVE this sketch!!! It's a keeper and I know that I'll be using it again and again. 

 

 

I've had this stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas called "Raising Cane" for a few months now and I"m so glad I finally got to play with it. For my card, I was inspired by the DP I've chosen (mixture of Basic Grey, Simple Stories and Pebbles).  The image was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then I watercolored with Tombow Markers. This is the first time I've done the "Out of the Box" technique with having part of the image outside the main panel and I have to admit it made me a little nervous but I LOVE it.

 

Make sure you pop on over to the iSpy blog to see what the girls have created.

 

 

EP- You are my Sunshine

 

I can't believe another month of 2012 has flown by.... Less than a month to Christmas which means only a couple of weeks to my birthday. LOL!!! I'm 29 plus a few.  With another month coming to an end, that also means that my time as the Guest Designer at Eclectic Paperie is also coming to an end. 

 

For my card today, I went clean and relatively simple using the current Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge. I used two different stamp sets on my card today - one being my fave set I've used this month from Market Street Stamps called "Growth" and the other being a Wplus9 set called "The Birds and the Bees". I stamped one of the leave images from the Growth set in Versamark and then embossed it with Ranger Superfine clear embossing powder.  The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.  The DP I've used is from Basic Grey and is called Plumeria and the buttons are also Basic Grey Plumeria Vintage Buttons. I've attached some Twinery "Shore" twine to the button.

 

Thank you to Kim for having me on board this month!!! I've loved my time as Guest Designer :-)

 

It's a Jungle Out There

Hi there everyone!!!I made this scrapbook page last month to share on the TSG blog and I realized I never added it here on my blog.  I swear I did but nope... I'll have to admit that if you asked me a year ago if I liked scrapbooking, the answer would be a definite no. However, I am liking it more and more and have been creating some fun scrapbook pages. Adding stamps, makes scrapbooking that much more fun.

I'm sorry for the quality of the picture.... I forgot to take a picture during the day and am having a hard time getting a decent pic. For my page, I decided to use some pictures that I took quite a few years ago at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC. (I lived there for 3 years and the zoo was always a great place to go).

To add some fun elements to the page, I decided to use a vine die and then some of the images from the TSG set called "Jungle Out There". I have watercolored the image using Tombow Markers and then cut them out and popped them up.

A simple sentiment finishes off the page. Love it!!!

Thanks for popping by today :-)

TSG183 May your merry be very

This week our challenge at There She Goes is brought to us by Candace! She is challenging us to make a card or project using the provided inspiration photo.

As soon as I saw the inspiration pic, I immediately knew the direction I wanted to go in. 

 

 

Clean and simple is where it's at for this card :-).  I decided to use one of the Memory Box dies that I own and cut it out using green cardstock. I then added some magenta colored rhinestones. The bow is one of my MS punches. The sentiment from the TSG set "Warmest Wishes" was stamped in Close to Cocoa ink. 

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a card or project with the inspiration photo, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (December 3rd). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the lookout to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG183 so we can check out your beautiful work!

OMG!!! Exciting news!!!

Eeks!!!!! I have been sitting on some fun news for the last week and I'm so excited that I can finally share it with you!!!

I'm joining the Stamping Bella Design Team!!! I still can't believe it!! Stamping Bella has long been one of my favorite stamp companies and has always been one of my dream design teams.  I swear I must have looked like a fool doing my happy dance.  I officially start on December 1st so you'll be seeing a lot of fun cards from me soon.

 

In honor of this, I have combined this weeks' Bellarific Friday challenge (which is Holiday wishes) with this week's iSpy Sketch challenge. This week's iSpy challenge features  Jean Martin and is inspired by this card.

 

 

I think this sketch is truly fantastic and will keep it to use again at some point.

 

 

For my card, I've used one of the first stamps I ever purchased from Stamping Bella called "Polly Packages". The image was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder and then watercolored with Tombow Markers.  The DP is an older pad from Crate Paper called "Snow Day" (still one of my fave Christmas pads).  As you can see, I moved the bow to the right hand side of the card to balance it out.  Both the green and yellow DP were sponged in corresponding inks for a bit of extra dimension. 

 

Thanks for checking out my fantastic news :-)  I'm still on Cloud 9. 

 

  

TSG Sneak Peek - Snowbuddies and Snowman Sentiments

Our final day of Blog Hop Challenges for this release at There She Goes, and we have two FABULOUS sets from Melyssa!! Let's get started!!

 

Snowbuddies, the new set from Melyssa, has SO many possible ways to be used; we can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are about it! With a whopping 57 stamps, you can build your own snowman, use one provided, or a little of both. It’s the easiest way to build a snowman, and you don’t even have to get cold to do it. ;)

 

 

Snow buddies is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 57 stamps and will sell for $24.00.

What’s a snowman, without a SUPER cute and TOTALLY clever sentiment to go with it…well, we don’t want to know! The Snowman Sentiments set has 9 fabulous sentiments to coordinate with your Snowbuddies set, or any holiday set you want!

Snowman Sentiment is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $9.00.

Would you like to win the new Snowbuddies or Snowman Sentiments stamp sets? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, November 24th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

TSG Sneak Peek - Snowglobe and Dies

*** If you are looking for my Eclectic Paperie post, please scroll down***

Did you enjoy our first day of sneak peeks yesterday for the upcoming TSG release? Our second day of our regular release Blog Hop Challenges, and today is EXTRA special!!

 

I told you yesterday that you had to wait until today to see WHY the new Holiday Cheer set was so versatile…well, wait no more! Not only is it a set that stands alone, the SUPER cute images were designed to fit into today’s set, Snow Globe! Along with a matching die, Torico has really out done herself!!

I'm loving the fact that both of these sets go so well together.  Awesome eh??? Love it!!! For my card, I decided to use some papers that are a very non-traditional scheme. 

 

Snow Globe and Die is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 4 stamps and will sell for $28!

Would you like to win the new Snow Globe and Die set? Here is what you need to do-visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, November 24th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

Growth with Eclectic Paperie

I've been having so much fun this month has the Guest Designer at Eclectic Paperie and this week is no exception. I often am inspired by designer paper which would explain my addiction... err... obsession with it. LOL!!! If you only knew how many 6x6 paper pads I have.  My Mind's Eye always comes out with fabulous designer paper and when I saw "The Sweetest Thing: Honey" I knew I had to snatch it up.  I absolutely love the color combos in this pad.

 

I decided to make two projects for this week with this fantastic paper. 

 

 

I enjoy making journals to give as gifts and thought that this paper combined with the Market Street Stamps set called "Growth" would be a perfect fit. I used a sketch (for the life of me, I can't remember where it is from) that I thought would highlight each aspect.  I stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black.  The flower is from Maya Road and is called Vintage Gauze Blossoms.  I thought about using re-inkers to change the color of it but I chickened out. 

 

Here is my second project that I created using the same stamp set as well as the same papers.

 

 

I love how different each project looks.  I don't often create clean and simple cards but I think this DP called for it. I decided to change things up a bit for the card and used matting using Early Espresso cardstock.  The button I've used comes from the Basic Grey Plumeria Vintage buttons.

 

Thanks for popping by today :-)  I'll have another post shortly.