*Mwah*

Hi all!  Today’s card was made using the Bellariffic Friday sketch:

I used Mwahbella with Words.  She was colored with Copics and her shirt and bag were paper pieced.  The Prima hydrangea was airbrushed green to matched the striped patterned paper and I added a button, some twill and seam binding to finish it off. I hope you like it and TFL!

Is that a cupcake…

on your head?  is the name of this adorable image from Stamping Bella:


The sketch is from Tuesday Morning Sketches and the sentiment and matching die are from Stampin’ Up!  She was colored with Copics and the patterned paper pieces were cut out with my Zing using Make-The-Cut.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love MTC?  I added some silk ribbon from PTI and machine stitching to finish this off.

This is also for the There She Goes challenge – sewing, and MarkerPOP - fur/hair. I hope you like it and TFL!

Don't Be A Square Challenge

The latest challenge on The Greeting Farm blog is to make a non-square or non-rectangle card. I decided to make Angel Anya sitting on a cloud:


I cut the cloud on my Cricut using the Hello Kitty Greetings cart, and used Design Studio to make it into a card and sized it how I wanted. I also cut an extra full cloud shape, and then a smaller shape to serve as the pattern for the felt. I cut out the white felt and hand-stitched it onto the extra cloud shape with light pink rayon embroidery floss (it has a slight sheen that's really pretty). I stuffed it just a little so it has a nice puff.

Angel Anya has multiple layers for dimension that you can see better in this shot:


I added an extra face, bangs, arms and wings, as well as a paper pieced bow and dress. For the wings, I outlined with a Stardust glitter pen, then drew the glitter around with my waterbrush. This method fills in the area with a more subtle glitter sparkle than just filling in with the pen. I then went over the lines with Stickles. I also Stickled the halo.

I attached tiny little bows to her dress and a half pearl to her bow. The beaded pin is Making Memories, the ribbon is May Arts, the tag is Spellbinders and the sentiment is Stamping Bella.

Here's a shot of the inside where you can see I created a mirror image Anya. I paper pieced, embellished and colored her the same as the outside, but I didn't do all the 3D work:


I did this because I didn't want to hand draw a back to her, and I didn't want just a plain white back, or even worse, the back of my cardstock where the Copics bled through!

I really like shaped cards, so this was a super fun challenge for me! TFL!

Mwahbella x2

In the March/April 2009 issue of Memory Makers, they showcased 2 different sketches from Becky Fleck of Pagemaps called halfmaps. They are meant to be 6"x12" scrapbook pages, but I thought they would look good as the long skinny cards that fit into the business size envelopes (4"x9"), so I adapted both sketches.

When I thought about long skinny images to use, of course Bellas popped into my head immediately! I decided to go with Mwahbella for both cards.

<-- This card was made using the first sketch. Of course I had to do some paper piecing on her so I did her shirt and purse. Then I just colored the rest with Copics. I used some rubons for the "mwah", and then I used the mwah sentiment stamp, but I only inked up the (kisses) part of it. I hand stitched the circle with some old DMC Flower Thread that I've had from my cross-stitching days (I just Googled it and found out it's discontinued - maybe I should stop using it and just hoard it! lol!).

The flower is from Prima and the button was found in my stash.

This second card looks a lot better in real life than here. The silver glitter swirls look very dull and grey, but they're really super shiny and pretty, just like the glitter stickers at the bottom.

For the glitter swirl, I stamped a couple of Elegant Flourishes images from Autumn Leaves, and then traced over the lines with a glue pen and sprinkled the glitter on as I went. I didn't use Stickles because I was afraid it would be too gloppy and make all the lines too fat.

All the patterned paper is from Basic Grey.

I really love how both of these cards came out, probably because I really love Becky's sketches. I have to remind myself to go check out Pagemaps more often!

Beee Mine

For today's card, I used Laura's Sketch 19 from the 2 Sketches 4 You blog. I also used one of my new Huggabuggs from Stamping Bella - Beeemine. She is just too cute - love her!!


I stamped and colored her with Copics first, and then decided I wanted a black and white color scheme so I dug out this old Doodlebug patterned paper and some black cardstock. At first I was trying out some really wide red ribbon for that strip down the center, but the bows were way too big for this little image, so I came up with the swirly cardstock strip. Again, I tried red, but then decided if the heart was the only red, it would pop more, so I added the yellow strip instead, with white ribbon and a white button. Hope it works. TFL!

Stamping Bella Blog Candy

It's been a while since I posted a Stamping Bella card, so here are a few I've done lately.

I used Daisybella for this card, along with a couple of sheets of gorgeous Memory Box Sprout patterned paper.

I made 2 slightly different versions of the next card following the Bella Sketch #22 and using Is that a cupcake on your head?:

I'm not sure which Nesties shape I prefer with this image. Although I really like the shape of the first one in general, I think the second shape really goes well with this particular image. The paper is from the DCWV Sweet Stack and the sentiment is from one of my fave Papertrey Ink sets - Mixed Messages.

Now onto the blog candy part (I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this!): A while ago, I won the most INCREDIBLE blog candy from Em on the Stamping Bella blog - one of EACH of the new stamps released at the beginning of January!! I thought it was going to be 5-7 stamps, but it turned out to be 24!! HOLY CROW!! Em is the queen of generosity, yes?! Here's a picture I took of the haul - you can see I was so excited that I started ripping them open before I even thought to take a picture!
Well, since I haven't even mounted all the stamps I got from my Bella's anniversary order and I just had to place an order last night for some of the brand new releases, I knew I would never give all these fine stamps the loving they deserve. So I've gone through the collection many, MANY times, and picked out 5 that will go on to a better home through my first ever blog candy giveaway! The 5 are Lilly Loveaboo, cuddly owlies, twinkle toes huggabug, hanging heart block, and love collage.

***This giveaway is now closed. Thank you!***

If you're interested in winning, please leave me a comment at the end of this post, and tell me what your fave Stamping Bella image is. I know it's really hard to narrow it down to just one, so if you want, you can name several! I will pick a winner at random on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 12:01 am Hawaii time.

I have to say that right now I'm really loving Is that a cupcake on your head? because I'm obsessed with cupcakes and it's just so cute!! Now it's your turn!

Cupcake Challenges - Part 4

Here is my final set of cards to play along with Taylor's anniversary celebration!! Woohoo! I can't believe I got all 9 done, especially since I've been in such a slump lately!

Both of today's cards used the DCWV Nana's Nursery paper pads. Specifically the Baby Girl and Baby Boy pads respectively.

This first one used the sketch from Jami Sibley and features a brand new image from Stamping Bella called Cuppycake with a Huggabug on Top. How cute is she?! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Now that I'm looking at the sketch again, I can see that my card's a bit off. I guess when I copied the sketch to work off of, I drew it wrong! Oh well, I think it's pretty close!

And here's my final card for the cupcake challenges, which used the sketch from Ana Wohlfahrt. I finally got around to using this Kim Hughes' set, Birthday Bash, that I've had sitting around for a while.

I paper pieced the cupcake and liner, and then cut out an extra candle to pop up for dimension. The little shadow was done with an oval stamp from A Muse.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my cupcake creations! A big thanks to Taylor and all of her designers for the challenges - I had a ton of fun playing with cupcakes!

Musicabella

My Bellas have been feeling a bit neglected lately so I inked up Musicabella for the first time even though I've had her for a while.

I paired her with the Allegro embossing folder and made my own sentiment from Papertrey's Simple Alphabet.

Litte details: the bottom of her dress is popped up, her headband was colored with a Spica glitter pen, and I actually used a pin to make little dots of pearl paint for her necklace.

Other materials used: Berry Sorbet ribbon and cardstock - Papertrey Ink; patterned paper - Nana's Nursery Baby Girl paper pad; tag die - Spellbinders; Copic markers; silver cord - Stampin' Up!

Witchybella

Today's card was made with Jen's Sketch For You To Try. There is also a prize up for grabs if you use a Bella, so I took the opportunity to ink up my Witchybella for the first time.

The ribbon is velvet ric-rac from May Arts, the flowers are from Prima, and the centers are faux drops from Michael's that I covered with orange glitter glue. TFL!

Angel Anya

I recently came across a new-to-me stamp company called Pink Poison. She has some of the cutest stamps ever! I tried to resist, but it didn't take me long to place my first (and definitely not last) order! I *adore* the Anya stamps so here's my first Anya card.

I had to do some paper piecing and paper tole with her that I hope you can see in the close-up angled shot below. I pieced and popped up her dress and hair bow, and I also popped up an extra face, bangs, wings, and arms.

I colored her skin and hair with Copics and glittered her wings with Stickles. The sentiment is from Stamping Bella and both of those punches on the bottom are Stampin' Up! And of course that patterned paper is from the same Nana's Nursery Baby Girl pad that I can't stop using!

I hope you love her as much as I do!

Mwahbella BSC33

I played in another sketch challenge for today's card, this time in the Stamping Bella forum at Splicoast.

If you look at the sketch, you can see I tried to stay really true to it - I only added the pierced scalloped strip to the left of the patterned paper and the 2 bitty rhinestones on the upper right of the card.







Both of the stamps are from the Mwahbella with Words set. I did my usual paper piecing with a really cool piece of Basic Grey patterned paper from their Sultry line for her top and purse. I also used a plain brown piece of PP from the same line for her boots. The rest is colored with Copics and I added a little glitter pen to her headband and the heart on her purse.

I masked off her feet and stamped with an oval from the clear ovals set from A Muse. I then cut the image out using a long rectangle Nestie and then left on the Nestie to airbrush the light pink background. The white scalloped strip was also done with a long rectangle Nestie.

Other materials used: white cardstock - Georgia Pacific; Rose Red cardstock and ink - Stampin' Up!.

Cuppacakeabella

I think this might be my fave Bella card that I've made so far! I used more of my super old Kelly Panacci paper and I just love how that polka dot paper looks like a cupcake with sprinkles!!
I stamped Cuppacakeabella on Georgia Pacific white cardstock and the patterned paper with black Brilliance ink. I colored a little with my Copics and drew over all the dots on the cupcake top with a clear Spica glitter pen. I also colored the cherry with a red Spica glitter pen, then glued a red Dew Drop over that. In real life, it really sparkles!

The tag tied in the May Arts ribbon is a Cuttlebug diecut and the sweet little sentiment is from the Papertrey Ink set Mixed Messages. I really love how the small size is a perfect fit for the tiny tag.

The sentiment was stamped with Stampin' Up!'s Old Olive ink. And of course I cut out the focal image with my Nestabilities.

Finally, you can't really see it on screen, but I airbrushed a very light cream color around the edges of the white square to soften it a bit.

Sheetload of Bellas!

It took me about 3 nights to get them done, but it was worth it! I love how they all turned out, and with the sketch from Sheetload of Cards, it wasn't that hard to design them at all! I'm not one to normally mass produce cards so I made 2 of each design to keep from getting bored!

Lattebella:Balloonabella:
Billboardabella: First I stamped all the images, then I airbrushed a really light creamy color around all of them to take away the stark white edges. Next I colored them in with my beloved Copics, and then did some paper piecing on all of them using some really old Kelly Panacci paper I have, but still love.

Some really old Primas completed the sketch. I'm so proud of how I've been using my massive old stash lately! I always say if I love something, I'll eventually use it and it's definitely been proven true!

You'll notice on Billboardabella I changed up the materials just a bit. She just didn't look right with that dark pink cardstock so I just added more of the coordinating Kelly Panacci paper and a bit of Papertrey ribbon. Hope you like them!

Other materials used: white cardstock - Georgia Pacific; Rose Red cardstock - Stampin' Up!; blue patterned paper - My Mind's Eye; black Brilliance ink - Tsukineko; "thanks a latte" - My Favorite Things' Hot Stuff set; "thinking of you" - Papertrey Ink's Simple Little Things Limited Edition set; white brads - Pink Hedgehog Papercrafts.

Artistabella x3

I got an idea in my head last weekend that I wanted to try using up a whole piece of patterned paper at one time, rather than only making 1 card with it and having a bunch of scraps left over. So I tried it out, and while I only started with a 6x6” sheet and my use of the pieces isn’t terribly creative, I’m happy that I actually did it! And instead of only having 1 card after a stamping session, I’ve got 3!

Artistabella is the last new Bella that I have from my first order (but I just placed another order yesterday so I’ll have plenty of new images to show off soon!) and I thought she went perfectly with this sheet of PP from Basic Grey’s Cupcake collection. To me this particular paper felt like the doodlings of an artist.

As per my usual, I paper pieced her apron and beret, and then colored the rest of her with Copics. For the palette, I used Spica glitter pens in colors that matched the PP. I used Amy Rysavy’s masking and oval stamping tutorial to ground her and as a last touch, I airbrushed a pale yellow around her for a bit a background. For the last card, I colored plain white ribbon with the same blue as her pants for the perfect match. Oh, and I did just a bit of sewing on 2 of the cards.

Other materials used: white cardstock from Georgia Pacific; black Brilliance ink from Tsukineko; Barely Banana ink from Stampin’ Up!; Nestabilities from Spellbinders.

Back to the Bellas

Can you believe I still haven't run out of new Bellas from my very first order? Yes, I did go a little crazy, but I really had to make the most of the recent free shipping deal!

As I was browsing SBS13 blogs one day, I came across this post which showed a sketch that I thought would be perfect for Bella cards. {Thanks Richelle!}

Here’s what I came up with, using Cakeabella:I did my usual paper piecing with patterned paper (the pants and apron) and I stamped the cake area on a scrap of white cardstock so that it wouldn’t have the apron pattern all over it. I also punched out a couple of ¼” holes of cardstock to use to *slightly* pop up the cake (I felt a foam dot would be way too thick for such a little thing).
In the close up shot, you can see that I used a tiny little Swarovski crystal for the candle flame (I got the idea from this post by Taylor VanBruggen.) I think it adds a nice little sparkle! I also added three slightly bigger crystals to the scalloped sticker border near the bottom of the card for more sparkle, and because they fit the sketch!

I only have one new Bella left to play with, and then I guess I'll have to order more soon! lol!

Other materials used: sentiment stamp from Papertrey Ink; patterned paper for pants from My Mind's Eye; all other patterned paper and scalloped border sticker from Making Memories; white cardstock from Georgia Pacific; markers from Copic; black Brilliance ink from Tsukineko; pink ink from Stampin' Up!; crystals from Fire Mountain Gems; ribbon from May Arts; Nestabilities from Spellbinders.

Emmybella...

is up today. (Sorry I photographed her so crooked.)She was done pretty much the same way as the last 2 bellas. You can see in the close-up that I paper-pieced her top, pants, and both of her bags. I also did some shading on her pants and the shopping bag to make it look darker on the inside. Materials used: Emmybella stamp from Stamping Bella; patterned paper for background and top from Scenic Route; patterned paper for both bags and pants from My Minds Eye; Bliss Blue ink and cardstock from Stampin' Up!; ribbon from May Arts; markers from Copic; classic oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities from Spellbinders.

Another Bella card - BSC18

I am having so much fun playing with my new Bellas that I'm actually giddy!! The paper piecing and coloring are making me feel like a kid and I can't remember when was the last time I had such a great time stamping!! *Mwah* to Stamping Bella for these wonderful images!!

Today's card uses Flowahbella:

Just like Cosmobella, she was stamped with Black Brilliance ink onto Georgia Pacific white cardstock. Then I followed this tutorial by Michelle Wooderson to stamp just her dress onto a scrap of some REALLY old K&Company patterned paper I got from QVC years ago, and also the pot onto a scrap of the same GP white cardstock.

After the ink dried, I colored her hair, skin, shoes, and the extra flower pot with my Copic markers. After cutting out the dress, I glued it onto her body and colored all the flowers with my Copics, adding in some green for stems and leaves. Lastly, I cut out and then glued on the extra flower pot, and followed this tutorial by Amy Rysavy to stamp the little shadow around her feet.

Here's a close-up of the paper pieced dress and the flowers and pot:

The sketch I used is from Jamie's Bella Sketch Challenge #18 posted on Splitcoast. I used more of the same GP cardstock for the base, and also the same K&Co paper for the background scalloped square. The sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps and the ribbon is May Arts. I also sponged ink around the focal image and the sentiment strip. Thanks for looking!

Other materials used: pale plum ink and cardstock and perfect plum ink from Stampin' Up!; scalloped square Nestabilities from Spellbinders; brads unknown.

My first Bella card!

I know it seems as if I get something fabulous in the mail every day and that's because it's practically true! I am a shop-a-holic and today was another great mail day. My Bellas arrived in record time all the way from Canada! I ordered a bunch of them to take advantage of the recent free shipping offer and I love them even more in person!

I really wanted to do some paper piecing and coloring with my Copics, so I chose Cosmobella as my first "victim." What do you think?
I stamped her on Georgia Pacific white cardstock in Brilliance black ink first so the ink could dry. Then I stamped her torso on a scrap of Scenic Route patterned paper and her pants on a scrap of My Mind's Eye (a sheet from the GIANT slab from Costco way back when). After both scraps dried, I cut them out *very* carefully. I set the shirt aside and did some shading with my Copics on her pants. If you check out the close-up shot below, you can see the shading and also the very subtle pattern of the paper on her front leg that I just love.
To finish her off, I colored in all other parts of the image with Copics, added just a little Spica glitter pen to the Cosmo in her hand, and then glued on her clothes.

Lastly, I felt she needed some "grounding" so I followed this tutorial by Amy Rysavy. I didn't have any small oval stamps so I die-cut a piece of craft foam with an old Sizzlet oval die I had and used it to stamp the "ground."

In this last photo, you can see my post-it note mask stuck to the Cosmobella index paper so I can reuse it.

One final note: the "template" for this card is from Michelle Wooderson who has shown a lot of cards done with a 4"x4" piece of patterned paper. I love the look and am finding myself using it on many of my cards. I think it's great that you can get 9 cards out of one piece of 12"x12" PP!

I had SO much fun playing with Cosmobella tonight that you can be sure I'll be sharing more Bella cards soon!

Other materials used: background patterned paper from Heidi Grace; Tempting Turquoise ink and cardstock from Stampin' Up!; turquoise ribbon from Ben Franklin craft store.