Happy Henrietta

The weather's so dreary here today with lots of rain and fog and I'm trying to brighten it up a little with some vibrant colours. Last time I checked the calendar it was still February so what's up with the rain? Hello...Mother Nature...it's still winter! We should be getting snow not rain!

But seriously...dreary day or not, can anyone resist the sweet innocent expression of Henrietta Lulu from Stamping Bella? I certainly couldn't resist her today so she's taking center stage.

I stamped Henrietta with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured her with copics. I added a little sparkle with orange and fuschia Spica glitter pens. I {heart} my Spica pens...they never 'take over' an image and always have just the perfect subtle sparkle. Then I glossed up her locks with my black Glaze pen...doesn't her hair look so healthy and shiny?!?

I chose my marker colours based on papers from the Basic Grey Indian Summer collection and I decided to layer with black to make it pop. I layered the patterned strip with white though to add a little softness. The base colour is SU melon mambo. A few Primas from my stash and a black button finish the card nicely and hide the edge of my sentiment banner.

This week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is a Winter/Winter Sports theme in celebration of the Winter Olympics. Email your submissions to Em by Thursday night to be incuded in the weekly round-up and for a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Beeday Huggabugg

When I sat down to stamp this morning I wasn't really sure what I wanted to stamp. I knew I wanted to make a birthday card to add to my stash, but that was about it. I looked for a sketch and nothing grabbed me so I went to my Stamping Bella images for inspiration. This sweet Bee-day Huggabugg spoke to me and this is the card I came up with.

I pulled out some fun, bright paper, Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday collection (I used Saturday and Sunday), and coloured my image to match. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper, twice, so I could pop the presents for dimension. I added a little sparkle with my yellow and red Spica glitter pens then added two hyacinth Bonbons to the antennas.

The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto Prism Intense Orange. I just love how that cute little bee on the patterned paper ended up at the perfect spot right beside my image...another happy accident!

So now for the layout...I'm not in love with it. I don't like the bottom part below the Blush Red Dark scallop border...hmph. I do like the pink colour but I wish I'd stamped the sentiment either over to one side or on a banner, or pretty much anywhere but where I put it. I had it all sewn and assembled though when I stamped the sentiment (gasp!!! WHY did I do that...I always do my stamping before assembling!) so what you see is what you get. I thought the Primas might make it a little better but I don't even really like them either. Oh well...if we don't make mistakes we'll never learn, right?  :)

This week's Bellarific Challenge is a sketch provided by Shannanabella and we hope you'll play along. Simply email your submission to Em by Thursday evening then check back to Bloggabella on Friday to see this week's creations. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarific Lovey Dovey

Happy Bellarific Friday, and what a fabulous day it is with the new Valentine Release over at Stamping Bella. Woo Hoo!!! In celebration of today's release, this week's Bellarific Friday theme was Lovey Dovey. And guess what.....I have a brand new Valentine image to share with you today and she's full of cuteness!!!!

This new sweetie, Priscilla, is part of the Green Bean Baby line...fun!!! You'll be able to pick her up today along with plenty more fabulous additions to Stamping Bella. Be sure to pop over to Bloggabella to see all the new images as well as this week's Bellarific submissions.

I stamped Priscilla with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I used the Card Positioning System layout, CPS149, but I swapped out the rectangle for a circular main panel. I used my bright and cheery Basic Grey Sugar Rush 6x6 paper pack on this card...yum! Then I finished the image with some Primas and a few Bonbons.

Be sure to leave some love over on Bloggabella for a chance to win $50 Bella Bucks (Em lovingly increased the prize for this week from the usual ten Bella Bucks!!!), which will come in handy for your shopping from the new Valentine release!

Next week's Bellarific theme is Twinchies! We all know what inchies are, right? Well Twinchies are 2x2" squares. You'll find Twinchies pre-cut at Stamping Bella, or just cut your own panels to play along. Get working...we're giving you lots of notice this week and it's a long weekend in the US so there's no excuse not to stamp.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

You're never too old to play with dolls...

Well, that's my opinion anyway. So for today's card I decided to play with my Ketto's Dolly image from Stamping Bella. Isn't she just simply adorable?

There's a mini version of Ketto's Dolly in the Ketto's Dolly and Bib Set. After my card was all done I thought that I should have used the mini image and made it look like she was holding it in her hand. Oh well, there's always next time!

First thing I did was decide on my layout and for that I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try. Then I chose my papers and then I started working on the image. I stamped Ketto's Dolly with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I used my clear Glaze pen on the hearts to give them a bit of shine. Then I cut out the image with rectangle Nestabilities and used my E41 copic to shade all around the image, leaving just the edge white to create a border.

The card base is ivory and a layered some Prism Rose Red onto the base before stitching on the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned paper. The image is layered onto a scallop of blue bayou and I added a strip of blue bayou stitched ribbon to the card base before layering some Primas. I really liked the circle element I did on this card using Bonbons so I repeated the same thing here for the half circle and added another baby blue Bonbon to the flowers.

Doesn't this bring you back to your childhood? I had plenty of dolls to play with growin up, and being the only girl with three brothers they never wanted to play with my toys! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Hoppin' with Lulu

Welcome to the Lulu Blog Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! You can start at the beginning on Bloggabella so you don't miss any of these sweet images.

If you're not familiar with Lulus, they're just one of the adorable collections of characters available at Stamping Bella.

I decided to use Gertie Lulu for my card today and I used this week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for the layout, SC247. I have to be honest, I didn't love the Lulus at first but they've really grown on me. I was worried that there was too much black on the images, but I think that's what I love most about them now, because it makes them super quick to colour! LOL! Sometimes images with solid areas like these can be tricky to stamp but I find I get the best impression if I ensure my ink pad is well inked and I stamp on a hard surface like my wood table. I stamped Gertie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I cut her out with rectangle Nestabilities and layered her onto a scallop rectangle of Prism Classic Purple. I stamped her a second time so I could cut out the two butterflies in her hair and pop them for dimension. I gave her glossy black locks with my black Glaze pen.

The patterned paper is from my Basic Grey Wisteria 6x6 pack. I just love all the purples, although I wouldn't call myself a purple girl, but I do love colouring with purples...they seem to blend soooooooo nicely and they look so rich! I layered some Prism Classic Purple and So Saffron onto the white card base before adhering the patterned paper. Then I ran some Orchid Opulence through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and added some sheer black polka dot ribbon. I finished the card with a purple Prima and two sizes of Medium Lilac Glitter Dots.

And it wouldn't be a Stamping Bella blog hop without a prize, right? So in addition to all the fabulous eye candy there's a prize hidden somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! So be sure to leave some love as you hop around. The winner will be announced on Monday in the Splitcoast forum.

Next you're off to see Gaby's fabulous creation. Have fun on the hop!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Memories of the green vacuum...

Happy Bellarific Friday!

I regressed a little to my childhood on this card. I can remember my mom's vacuum...an olive green Electrolux canister vacuum that she'd trail around the house. That thing seemed to run for-EVER. Needless to say, when I decided to use Suck It Up Stella from Stamping Bella I knew I'd be colouring the vacuum green! :)

This week's sketch was brought to us by Meahni...our South African Bella Babe...and what a fun sketch it was!

I stamped Stella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I cut her out with long rectangle Nestabilities then drew in the wood floor to occupy the white space under the image.

The sentiment totally cracks me up, and it's included with the image. I stamped it onto old olive and cut it out with a Spellbinder ribbon tag. The rest of the card is super simple...no complicated stitching or piercing on this one. The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday and I layered them onto Prism Island Mist Dark. I added some blue bayou ribbon and finished it with some layered Primas and a red Bella bonbon.

Don't forget to pop over to Bloggabella and check out this week's submissions. If you leave a comment while you're there you'll have a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bright and Happy #1

It's been quite a while since I played with one of my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenges so when I saw this week is a sketch challenge I just had to play along.

And the best part...I was planning on using You're my number one-abella from Stamping Bella and the sketch worked beautifully with the image. I love it when a plan comes together! :)

I started by stamping #1-aBella with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Bella's Bestest Paper then cut her out with rectangle Nestabilities. Then I coloured the image with copics and added some shimmer with both pink and yellow Spica glitter pens.

This is my first card using the new in-colours from SU...they're preeeeetty bright! I do really like how happy this card is though. I ran some Melon Mambo through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder then layered it onto the white card base. The patterned paper is from Razzleberry Lemonade and I added Razzleberry polka dot ribbon. The image is layered onto Razzleberry and so is the "you're". I finished the card with some purple Primas and a Fuschia Bella Bonbon in the center.

Don't forget to check Bloggabella for this week's Bellarific sketch challenge and play along for a chance to win Bella bucks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Black & White Flopsey

It feels so good to be back in my stamp room after our vacation. I didn't take any stamping stuff with me this time because we were moving around a lot, driving to visit both our families in Ontario, so I really wouldn't have had time to stamp anyway.

But, when we got home, my Bubble Bunny from MFT was waiting for me in the mailbox so I decided to get him inky right away. I thought it would be fun to use this Flopsey with the Black & White challenge in the MFT forum on Splitcoast.

I started by rooting through my paper collection and pulled out all the black and white patterned paper...I have way more than I thought I did! I ended up using some Bo Bunny paper along with solids of black, grey and white. The challenge says it's ok to use shades of grey and there can be some colour in the image, but everything else must be black and white.

Flopsey is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Lyra pencils. I wanted to keep the colours on the image soft and I find it's easier to do that with pencils instead of copics. If you look closely you can see that the bubbles have a hint of light pink. I added some Hero Arts gemstones to the bath tub...shouldn't everyone have a sparkly tub?!?

The card base is 5 inches square. I ran the grey piece through my Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder then added some ribbon from my stash. I layered some Primas onto a ghost flower and finished it with a black brad.

I don't often think of using only black, white and grey, but I really like how this turned out! Thanks for the challenge Joanne and Christina!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Dancing Bellarific Friday

Happy Bellarific Friday!

Paulabella created a fun sketch for this week's challenge and here's how I interpreted it.

I've been wanting to use my new-to-me Pierrette Pointy Toes image from Stamping Bella ever since it arrived a few weeks ago and this seemed like the perfect sketch for her. I chose some very girly patterned paper to go with her...I think it's Imaginisce but I'm not certain, and unfortunately I can't check because I'm writing this post as we're away on vacation...we'll be heading home by the time this post is published though.

I stamped Pierrette with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured her with copics. I thought it would be cute to give her a polka dotted skirt so I paper pieced that part. I added a little Glamour Dust to her wings and cut her out with Octagon Nestabilities. She's layered onto a scallop octagon of pink pirouette...hey, even the name of that cardstock is about dancing...too funny!

The white card base is 5 inches square. I layered some papers then added lots of piercing both around the image and around the base layers. Instead of using a split sentiment like the sketch showed I decided on lots of girly Primas...how could I resist since I had some polka dot ones! A couple of Fuschia Bella Bonbons finish off the flowers nicely.

I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with for this sketch. We'll have to pop over to Bloggabella for a peek!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Flirty Francine Flapper

Happy Monday! Isn't this image just darling?!?

I must confess, I didn't love Stamping Bella's Francine Flapper when she was first released...what!!!...how could that be...she's so cute! But she's definitely grown on me over the months, to the point where I absolutely had to add her to my Bella collection. :)

I decided she'd be perfect for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I started by stamping Francine Flapper with Memento Tuxedo Black once onto white cardstock and again onto the plaid paper from Basic Grey's Lemonade 6x6 pack. Francine is mostly coloured with copics and I paper pieced the largest part of her dress. Her little sandals were screaming for some bling and I added a little bling to the scarf on her head too. I used my YG25 copic to colour three clear rhinestones so they'd coordinate with her outfit. I used my new-to-me Labels Nestabilities to cut her out and stitched her to a layer from the Lemonade pack.

I went a little sewing crazy and decided each layer needed stitching, but I like the look of it. I layered Rose Red onto the white card base then added another pattern from Lemonade. The two green panels are Kiwi Kiss then I stamped the sentiment "so happy we're friends" onto the plaid pattern. I thought this sentiment was perfect for her, the way her leg is kicked up and her hands in the air, she's definitely happy about something...LOL! I added two pink orchid Bella Glitter Dots on each side of the sentiment to help it stand out a little.

Stamping Bella has a new release this coming Thursday...wooo Hooo!!! Em's got a sneak peek on Bloggabella today and she says she'll be teasing us with more peeks before the release, so go check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bellarific Bombshell

Happy Bellarific Friday!!!

Did you play along this week? I hope so, cause I was the sketch hostess. I really LOVE to see how everyone interprets the sketch. For my card I decided to use Betty Bombshell...she's such a doll!

I started by stamping Betty with Memento Tuxedo Black then I coloured her with copics and added in the ocean behind her. The beach pail is popped for dimension and I added a little Glamour Dust to her wings. Then I used my fun clear Glaze pen (Paulabella's the one who turned me on to this little gem) on her glasses and the red tube. I had added some white gel pen to the tube then put the glaze pen over top...wrong!!! The glaze pen caused the white gel pen to bleed and I worked with a toothpick to keep the white in a straight-ish line...cause I really didn't want to start over. So I just wanted you to know that the glaze pen will cause the white gel pen to bleed, so be careful...other than that though, I LOVE the clear glaze pen!!!

I cut out Betty with my long rectangles Nestabilities and layered her onto a scallop of chocolate. The patterned papers are My Mind's Eye Pretty Please and I layered them onto baja blue before adhering them to the white card base. I layered a few Primas and secured them with a button then tucked them under the image panel, as per the sketch.

Don't forget to pop over to Bloggabella to see the rest of the submissions. I'll be stalking the blog just waiting for Em's post cause I'm so excited to see what everyone did with the sketch. Oh, and in addition to the chance of winning $10 Bella Bucks for commenting on the Bloggabella post, Em has some fabulous blog candy to give away...$50 in Bella Bucks!!! Click here for the blog candy giveaway...I've been reading the comments and I'm totally cracking up at people's secrets!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Happy 81st Birthday!

I made this card for a friend to give to her mom this weekend. Her mom loves colour so I used plenty of it, and she also likes gardening and sewing so I added some Primas and stitched the base layers. The layout is Mojo 95.

My BFF Dana sent me this You Take the Cake set from MFT and it arrived yesterday...the timing couldn't have been more perfect. When I inked the image to stamp it I avoided inking the candles on the cake because I wanted to personalize it and use the number candles from For the Love of Cupcakes from Taylored Expressions. So I stamped the cake image first onto patterned paper for the wall paper, then I stamped it onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics. I used my stamp-a-majig to position the numbers on the cake. Then I cut out the lady, cake and candles (all in one piece) and adhered them onto the 'wall paper'. I added some lime green Stickles to the cake and used my yellow Spica pen for the candle flames. The cake image is layered onto black to make it pop.

Next I stamped two of the three presents, coloured them with copics and cut them out with Labels Four Nestabilities. All the paper I used was from the June Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions, except the black.

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I ran a square of Frosted Pink cardstock through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then layered it onto black and Blush Red Medium and stitched the layers together. I used my SU scallop border punch on a piece of striped paper then tied some apple green polka dot ribbon into a big fluffy bow. I tucked some Primas from my stash under the images and added a Bella Bonbon to the center.

This card's about half an inch thick with dimension, but I know it's ok because it's going to be hand delivered. I really hope she likes it!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

My Support Team...

ETA: Mel aked which line of Primas I used because it has skulls on it. I didn't even notice that was what was printed on the Primas...too funny! Here's what the back of the Prima packaging says: #714659-Petal Pallette Pink/Lime. The flowers come in a tube that's crimped at the top. Hope that helps! Thanks for pointing out the skulls Mel!

This card cracks me up!!! But I made it with a very specific purpose in mind.

When I was in Manhattan a few weeks ago one of my shopping missions was to go for a proper bra fitting at a specialty store. After all, as Stacy and Clinton say, the girls need to be taken care of, right? So I googled bra stores and found Bra Tenders, which was only two blocks from our hotel (and Crystal, my fit specialist, told me that Stacy and Clinton have brought people to them!!!). I liked that they're an independent business that's been in business for a long time with plenty of repeat clients. Needless to say, the proper bra really does make a difference...and makes you look slimmer too. It really was an uplifting experience!!! :)

As soon as I saw Granny's Support Team from Our Craft Lounge I knew it was the perfect set to use for my thank you card to the staff at Bra Tenders. I didn't plan that the card would be sooooooo bright but it'll actually fit in well with the store decor because they've got it decorated like you're on Broadway...bright, fun and cheery, just like this card. I used the Weekend Sketch #88, hosted by Jenn Balcer, for the layout.

I stamped Granny and the bra with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured them with copics. I added some black dots to the bra with my Copic Multiliner so it would coordinate with the green panties on the chair. I also added lime green Stickles to the flower centers on Granny's dress. I cut the bra out with Labels Four Nestabilities and cut out Granny with rectangle Nestabilities.

I chose the yellow floral pattern from my new Basic Grey June Bug 6x6 pad. The solid colours are Intense Kiwi, Blush Red Medium and Intense Orange, all by Prism. Once I had all my layers and strips in place I sewed around the edge with my Janome. The striped ribbon is from my stash and I love how it brings together all the colours. A few Primas and my favourite sentiment treatment, a banner, finished the card perfectly.

I can't wait to get this in the mail cause I know they'll get a good chuckle out of it at Bra Tenders (don't you just love that name...I love saying it!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

One Martini Addy-Tude

My new stamps from Stamping Bella arrived on Friday and this is the first one I inked up...I just love how sassy Miss Addy-Tude is!!!

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I hopped over to the Bella forum on Splitcoast to see what this week's Bella challenges were and the Show and Tell Challenge #2 is a fun one...to choose one of the Bella images that depicts what you do for a little bliss. Wait a second...I'm definitely not saying I turn to the bottle...LOL! But what I've really come to look forward to is our Friday nights out for dinner to our local American Joe's. It's our way of wrapping up the week and starting the weekend. We always sit in the bar area and usually have the same server, Cindy. We've gotten to know each other and she knows my favourite drink is their Pink Sangria...Mmmmmmm. I stay away from martinis though or it would be "one martini, forget the rest, floor"!

I stamped AddyTude Loves Her 'Tinis with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured her with copics. And look...four of my new light copic colours made it onto this image! I used YG0000for the drinks, W00 on the lenses of her glasses and her shoes, V0000 on her boa so it wouldn't be stark white and BG0000 around the image. I {heart} the new light copic colours!!! To jazz up the image even more I added white flocking to her boa and crystal effects to her glasses and shoes (to make them look like patent leather).

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I used black for layers and the rest of the papers are from Basic Grey Lemonade. I used an EK slim border punch along the vertical strip for some interest and stitched around the base layers. The black polka dot ribbon is sheer so I layered it onto black cardstock to give it more punch. The image is cut out with deckle rectangle Nestabilities and the sentiment (which is included with the image) is cut out with Labels Three Nestabilities. I layered a couple of Primas then finished the card with Marble Bella Dots in Pickle and Garnet.

So what do you do when you need a little pick-me-up? Come play along with the Show and Tell Challenge #2 in the Bella Forum on Splitcoast...of course there's a prize involved!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen