Hello There!

If you know me, then it comes as no surprise that Cheep Talk was one of the first sets I purchased from the new SU catalogue...it's got birds! I'm all about birds. LOL! I decided to get it inky for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #57. 

It was about 9:30 last night when I sat down to stamp this and I wanted an image I didn't have to colour. The leaves and wing are cut out and popped for a little dimension. At first I tied the ribbon into a bow but it was overwhelming the panel, so then I switched it to this tailored half-bow thingy. The end of the ribbon reminds me of the beak on the other bird...his mouth is open and he's chirping away. Oh, and one more thing I noticed while I was cutting out the leaves...if you look at the two leaves closest to the bird, they look like a moustache. So if you want to add a moustache to anything you can use these leaves. Sigh...Sometimes even I wonder about my imagination! LOL!

Aside from a little sewing with my Janome and the nesties, this is an all SU card. The new buttons and brads are just wonderful...thanks SU!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Calling STELLA and an award

S-T-E-L-L-AAAAAAAAA, as my BFF loves to call her, is who I chose to work with for this week's Bellarific Friday challenge (click the link to see the inspiration piece) on the Stamping Bella blog. If you didn't have a chance to play along this week, don't worry...Em will have another challenge for us on Monday. And, you could win Bella Bucks just for playing along. Be sure to pop over to Bloggabella to see the submissions from the Bellarific Babes and all the Bella Sistahs...there's soooooo much fabulous eye candy!

I stamped Gossipy Stella with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured most of her with copics, but her dress is paper pieced. Isn't the little mouse holding the phone just absolutely adorable!!! I love him! I showed the finished card to my hubby (he's actually my art critic) and he said "that's really cute!". 

The image is cut out with rectangle nestabilities and layered onto a scallop rectangle of Basic Grey. The patterned background paper is so saffron and certainly celery designer papers. I layered them onto some basic grey then stitched a zig zag with my Janome Sew Mini. 

The flower embellishment is two Prima hydrangeas which I layered with some emBELLAshments: a Smokey Grey Glitter Donut and a 5mm solid Pistachio dot. The layout is actually from Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #6...except I didn't realize the sketch had embellishments in the top left and bottom right corners til after my card was all done. Oh well...sketches are for inspiration, right?!?

I really love how this card turned out. The inspiration piece was so pretty but I wasn't sure about the colours...don't really know why I was concerned.  :)

Now on to the award.

The lovely Ruby McGuire has given me this fabulous blog award, and she's said some wonderful things about my blog. Thank you so much Ruby, I'm truly honoured! You must go check out her blog, Ruby 2 Shoes. Isn't that just the greatest name...I love it! I'll follow Ruby's lead and pass this award along to another fabulous blogger, and she's also my BFF. I LOVE her work so Dana White of Dana's House of Cards, come on down! You're the next recipient of the Friends Blogger Award! LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Karen

Eye Chart Card

My dad's birthday is coming up in March, and he's an optometrist (so are two of my brothers) so when the set, Off the Chart, from SU came out a few years ago I just had to have it...it's so appropriate for my family. I decided to use it this year for my dad's card.

The layout is from sketch challenge #216 on Splitcoast. The entire card came together quite quickly because there wasn't anything to colour in. The image is inked with chocolate chip and ruby red inks (I used my marker for the red part) and stamped onto kraft cardstock. It's cut out with nesties and layered onto chocolate chip. 

The card base is always artichoke. I chose papers from the Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy line. I pierced on the strip then again around the focal image. I added some chocolate brads and tucked a little circle of artichoke under them, for a little contrast. 

That's it! Super quick and easy. I know I'm safe posting this cause my dad doesn't read my blog...heck...he doesn't even own a computer, and I wonder how I could ever live without one. LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bella goes Boarding

Woo Hoo Winter!!! If you don't embrace it, it can really beat you down. That's why I'm super happy to hit the slopes whenever I can. Plus, I'm Canadian from Northern Ontario...winter is long and cold where I come from so knowing how to make the best of it is practically in my blood. I'm posting this card today because this has been me for the past three days...well, with skis instead of a snowboard and a helmet instead of a hat, but I do have a bright pink jacket. {{{grin!}}} Hey, maybe we need a SkibunnyaBELLA...Em??? Hint hint hint! Hubby and I have been enjoying a little ski getaway in Vermont. 

The layout for this card is from Jen's Sketch For You To Try (she's a Bella Babe too!). I chose to flip the sketch though. I stamped Daisyboardabella, a Stamping Bella image of course, with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with copics. The blue on her hat and the snowboard seem really bright in the photo but they're not so "in your face" in real life. I just couldn't get a better photo...sorry. 

The image is cut out with oval Nestabilities and layered onto pink pirouette then chocolate chip. I added some liquid applique to her hat and boots...fun, fun, fun! The striped paper is from the My Mind's Eye Christmas line and I pulled the colours for the image right from the paper.

For the background I ran a piece of baja blue through my Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. I layered the striped piece onto some chocolate then stitched around the edge with my Janome Sew Mini. 

I did a very loose interpretation of the straight line piece on Jen's sketch. Everything I tried seemed to be to rigid with the straight lines, so I decided to line up some kiwi kiss circles instead of using one straight piece...I like it! Then I added a Heidi Swapp ghost snowflake with a Martha Stewart punched snowflake on top. The pink accents are from Stamping Bella: two large and one small solid Strawberry Parfait dots and a sparkly Pink Orchid Glitter donut. Isn't it brilliant how the donut fits perfectly around the small dot! Ooooh...so many possibilities.

Hey, I think this card qualifies as my Christmas card of the week too. Yay me!

Of course I couldn't resist taking the camera onto the slopes with us. The scenery is spectacular and yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. Hubby snapped this pic of me near the summit on our fave run. It's snow much fun! And see, I really do have a pink jacket! I'm super squinty though...it was really bright when I took my goggles off for the picture...but I had too, otherwise I look like a beetle beetle bug.   :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Window Shopping...

I made this card a while ago but haven't shared it here yet. The layout is from MFT sketch challenge #64 from a while back on Splitcoast. It uses MFT's Window Shopping set from the 'Who's That Girl' line. Funny thing, as I was checking out some past challenges on Splitcoast I realized that this card qualifies for the Who's That Girl Challenge #21, to use three different patterned papers on a card...woo hoo! I'd love to call it advance planning, but it was shear luck.  :)

I stamped the image with Memento black onto Gina K pure luxury cardstock, then again onto the pink Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper so I could paper piece her dress. I coloured the rest of the image with copics. The sassy strappy shoe is also paper pieced, then puched out with a circle punch and layered onto some Prima hydrangeas. 

I used my Janome Sew Mini to stitch on both the image panel and the background. Love that little machine! The sentiment banner is stamped on one of the solids from the Urban Prairie pack. I added a row of Hero Arts gemstones for some bling and the banner is curved and popped with dimensionals. 

This is a square card, with a base that measures 5.25 x 5.25 inches. I really like how the black layers add some 'punch' to the card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

It's a Happy Neighbourhood

OMG...I still can't believe I'm a Bellarific Babe!!! If you missed the announcement from Em last Friday, you can check out the details right here on Bloggabella. I'm already a huge Stamping Bella fan, and I was honoured when Em asked me to be a Bellarific Babe. I've listed the rest of the Babes on my sidebar in case you want to check them out. Ok...on to the card now. 

Doesn't this look like such a happy neighbourhood! Sunny houses, little birds, funky trees...I think I'd like to live there.  :)

The image is from Stamping Bella, Happy Neighbourhood. I have a small confession about this card though...I made it quite some time ago. Ahem...actually, just before we moved to the US back in June. I was colouring the images on the plane when I flew back and forth for the house transaction. Have copics, will travel! {{{grin!}}} Actually, I made a bunch of these with the good intentions of sending them out to family and friends as moving announcements with our new contact info. Needless to say...time ran out before I could ever get them written and addressed, so everyone got an email instead...sigh. 

This was when I first got my copic markers and I didn't quite know how to shade the way I do now, so don't look too close at the image. I have no idea which colours I used on this image, sorry. The cardstock base is so saffron and the patterned paper is retired SU. I love the purple, yellow and green combination. For a little bling I added three 7mm charcoal bonbons from Stamping Bella. They seem to add just the right amount of sparkle.

Don't forget that Bellarific Fridays are back! Em is posting this week's challenge today on Bloggabella so pop over there to see what it is and play along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen 

It's a Cuppie Christmas Card

I know, I know...a Christmas card already and it's only February. Well, I made a promise to myself that I would not be rushing this year to get my cards done and that I'd try to make one card a week. So yes, it's February and this is my first card so I'm already behind, but that doesn't stress me out cause I know I'll more than make up for it as we get closer to Christmas and I make more than one a week. What I'm really trying to avoid is any sort of last minute mass production in December...cause that's just no fun.

In order to be sure I'd be motivated to stamp Christmas cards this early in the year, I figured the best thing to do was get some new Christmas stamps {grin!}. So last month I picked up this adorable cuppie set, Season's Sweetings, from Taylored Expressions. Am I the only one who bought new Christmas stamps in January? If you bought some too, please let me know so I don't feel so weird. Of course I love to play along with Taylor's Cupcake Challenges, so this layout is from sketch #56 that she posted yesterday. 

The cuppie is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I'm loving the blue shading technique...it just seems to make the image really pop. I added some liquid applique to his ear muffs and before puffing it I sprinkled on a little glitter so he has sparkly muffs. I also used a Tiny Twinkle to dot the -i- in the sentiment. The image is cut out with oval Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop of night of navy. 

The patterned paper is by Pebbles Inc., the Snow Fun line. I picked that up in January too at my LSS. I sewed around the perimeter with my Janome Sew Mini. I thought about going around each panel individually but decided on the entire perimeter because I thought it would help unify the three panels. 

Next is a strip of kiwi kiss, which I pierced, then I adhered some ribbon from my stash. The bow detail is completely separate from the ribbon and it's super quick to make. I started with a loop of ribbon, wrapped some silver cord around it and threaded on a button, then tied the cord to cinch the center of the loop...easy peasy!

So there you have it, my first card for Christmas '09. I think the most fun part about making them this early in the year is when I pull them out in December to address them, I will have forgotten what I made so it'll be a fun surprise looking at each card. Why don't you join me and try making one holiday card per week...we'll all have a less stressful December if we do! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

It's a Bellarific Friday!

Woo Hoo!!! Bellarific Fridays are back!!! I'm SO happy that Bellarific Fridays are back. It's another great reason to play with my Stamping Bella images, and I love participating in challenges, so this is a perfect combination. 

In case you missed it on Bloggabella, Em posted this photo for us to use as inspiration. For my card I pulled out some Riding Hood red, River Rock (from the accents on the night table in the photo) and a lavender colour from my Coredinations Vintage Classic Sunshine pack. 

Em has lots of great Bellas, Huggabuggs, and other sweet images, but my first thought was to use the Happy Flowers stamp. I can picture this on the nightstand beside the bed, or maybe on another dresser in the room. Isn't it such a beautiful, full vase of flowers! 

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with copics. I stamped the flowers a second time, cut out three of them then popped them for dimension. I also added a layer of crystal effects to the vase for some shine. I didn't add any glitter to the flowers because, quite frankly, I didn't want to cover up my shading. How bad is that! {grin}

The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto River Rock, then onto a scallop of black. Then I added some 5mm Glitter Poppy Bella Dots all around the scallop...it's Bling-alicious!

I ran the lavender coredinations paper through my D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder then sanded the raised parts. The ribbon treatment was inspired by the bed skirt. I wanted a ruffled look so I looped the ribbon then stitched along with white striped with my Janome Sew Mini. I'm really happy with the end result. I know there's no black in the inspiration photo, but it's my neutral...plus I found the colours needed something to make them pop.  :)

So join in the fun and play along for the next Bellarific Friday challenge. Check Blogabella on Mondays for the weekly challenge, make your card, using Stamping Bella stamps and embellashments, and email a photo of it to Emily by 5pm EST on Thursdays. Your card may be featured on Em's blog and you could win some Bella Bucks. But best of all, it's a great reason to get inky and make a card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Swinging Friend...huh?

What were you thinking? LOL! It's a cute swinging Elzybell of course! I was feeling rather uninspired last night, eventhough I had been to my LSS in the afternoon and picked up this great Bella BLVD "Swing Into Spring" paper. I didn't end up stamping at all yesterday...gasp! But, as I was lying in bed, my mind started to put this cute little card together. The name of the paper is what totally inspired this card, and I remembered I have this sweet Elzybell on a Swing stamp. Of course I got this big grin on my face as I imagined how the card would look...and I drifted off to sleep, excited to know what I'd be stamping this morning.  :)

The image is stamped with Memento ink and coloured with copics. I shaded the blue around her with the technique that Candice shows in this great copic tutorial on Splitcoast. I love, love, LOVE the result!!! I drew in some grass with a fine black marker the coloured it with little swirls to look like the background paper. The image is cut out with oval Nestabilities and layered onto Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip. 

For the background I sewed a combo stitch around the edge. Can I tell you that I LOVE sewing!!! Not on clothes or fabric of course...just paper. Same as I don't iron clothes (well, rarely anyway) but I'd iron ribbon {grin}. Both patterned papers are layered onto Chocolate Chip and the card base is Gina K 120lb pure luxury cardstock. 

The ribbon is from my LSS...I think. The sentiment is also from AMuse and I cut it out with the smallest of the Spellbinders tags trio and attached it with a white jump ring (which you can't really see in the photo). 

The final layout ended up being the Feb card sketch challenge from my LSS gallery.

I really hope spring is on the way soon! Snow snow go away...bring instead a sunny day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

You're Perfectly Polished!

Yesterday Joanne announced a new challenge in the Gina K forum on Splitcoast...to ink up stamps that haven't seen any love yet. Sadly...I have lots to choose from for this challenge cause I've neglected my latest purchase. But that's what a challenge is for, right? 

I knew exactly what set I wanted to use...Perfectly Polished. And I also knew I wanted to use the nail polish bottles and the coordinating sentiment cause it makes me think of my BFF...she got me hooked on doing my nails and now I have a wonderful polish collection.  :)

The image is stamped with Memento ink onto Gina K pure luxury and coloured with copics. I stamped one extra polish bottle, cut it out and place it too like like it had tipped over. I really wanted to leave the cap off and have some polish dripping out but I couldn't get it to look realistic enough. I added crystal effects to the bottles for some shine. The image is cut out with circle nesties (I love circles!) and I recalled seeing a great sketch with circles on the Our Creative Corner blog so I decided to use that layout. 

All the other papers on my card are from the Basic Grey Bittersweet 6x6 paper pad. I stitched around the main and background panels with my Janome Sew Mini. The sentiment is cut out using my new Lots of Tags sizzlet dies from Stampin' Up! Love Love LOVE that shape...I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing it again, and again, and again... {grin!}. 

This is another card that just makes me happy. Could be all the pink, might be the image, maybe the shape of the sentiment cut-out...don't really care why, it just makes me happy. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Dogs Hang Out Too!

I made this card to give to the lady who boards Shadow (our mini schnauzer) when we're away. She's had him quite a bit lately, (and she'll have him on and off over the next few months too), but it's so nice to know he's at a good home. She has seven dogs herself (I know...seven! You'd think it would be shear chaos at her house but she's also a dog trainer so they're very well behaved) and Shadow fits right in with the group. Sometimes I wonder if he's bored when he comes home to our house. 

The layout is from the Mojo Monday Sketch #74. This is one of my favourite dog images evah...Woofin' It Up by Stamping Bella. The sentiment, Let's Hang Out, is also Stamping Bella. The image is coloured with copics...don't be scared off by how many markers I used...I just wanted each of the dogs to look a little different and the top row of markers is only for the collars.  The big dog in front is cut out and popped on dimensionals. The image is cut out with rectangle Nestabilities.

All the papers, except the white, are from the Basic Grey Granola 6x6 pad. I stitched on the background with my Janome Sew Mini, using a combination of straight and zig-zag stitches. I paper pierced the dark brown layer under the image and also the two lighter brown pieces on the top and bottom. The ribbon is from Making Memories...I think...and I added four 5mm Marble Chocolate Bella Dots to finish off the details. 

I'm really pleased with this card and I'm excited to give it to her next week cause I know she'll appreciate it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Let's Make Margaritas!

This card makes me sooooooo happy! It reminds me of a warm summer day and I am SO ready for a warm summer day! LOL! 

I played with the layout from Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #5. I was amazed at how quickly this card came together too. The image and sentiment are both AMuse. I love Margaritas so I couldn't resist the sweet image. It's stamped with Memento black and coloured with copics. I punched it out with a 1 3/8" circle punch then layered it onto a scallop of patterned paper. 

This is a square card measuring 4.25 inches...what a great size to work with and I love square cards. I added a layer of black under the patterned paper for a little 'pop'. The papers are by Pebbles Inc. and I sewed around the edge with my Janome Sew Mini. I know...I can't sew in a straight line...don't look too close, especially to the stitching across the top. But, if I call it "whimsical" stitching then it works, right?  :)

The final details I added were a white Prima flower with a 5mm Glitter Sky Bella dot in the center, and a layer of Crystal Effects on the glass. 

I hope this card makes you as happy as it does for me. Maybe if we all post a summer-y card it'll help speed along the warmer weather. If you do make a summer-themed card, please leave me a comment with a link to your creation.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Rockin' Bella

Since I'm on a bit of a guitar hero kick, I thought I'd ink up Rockabella from Stamping Bella. I used the layout from Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try, and my October Afternoon papers were still out from yesterday so I decided to use them again. 

Rockabella is stamped with Memento black and coloured with copics. Then I drew in a wood plank floor so it would look like she's on stage. I painted some Bella Liquid Watercolour Glitter onto her guitar, cause every rock star needs a funky guitar. The image is cut out with rectangle Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop rectangle of navy. 

For the base, I ran some kiwi cardstock through my Perfect Paisley cuttlebug folder and layered it onto navy. I sewed around the striped paper with my Janome Sew Mini for a little interest. The sentiment, You Rock, is also from Stamping Bella and it's cut out with with Spellbinders tags trio. I added three 5mm Glitter Twilight Bella Dots to the sentiment and three 10mm Glitter Twilight Bella Dots to the striped paper. I LOVE that most of the emBELLAshments are available in two sizes. 

Hey, did you know that Bellarific Fridays are back? Wooo hooooo!!! Em's doing them on the Stamping Bella blog. She's already posted the first inspiration piece here. Go check it out then grab your Bella stamps and play along.  :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Last of the Valentine Cards

***This is a long post and my second of the day so be sure to scroll all the way down.***

As you know...I was working on DH's Valentine card today (yes...completely last minute!), and while I was at it I made him a treat tin too. Let's start with the card first. 

I used the fun set Maid for You from MFT. I looked for it on their website so I could give you a link, but it must be a popular set cause it's out of stock and not showing on the site. It's from the Who's That Girl line though. The sayings in the set just crack me up! {giggle!}

When I look at this image the first thing that pops to mind is "retro"...I think because of the antenna box on the tv. So then my mind wandered to big bold wallpaper with retro colours and I ended up paper piecing the wallpaper with some October Afternoon paper. That of course led to the colour combo which is totally not a traditional Valentine combo, but I'm ok with that. I coloured the rest of the image with copics then layered it onto some black cardstock for definition. 

For the base I chose River Rock cardstock and ran it through my Diamonds In The Rough Cuttlebug folder. I layered another pattern from October afternoon then tied some olive grosgrain ribbon and finished the knot with a blue button. I needed to add a heart and I don't own a heart punch...gasp!...but remember...I don't normally 'do' Valentine cards. Anyway, I remembered I had some small chipboard hearts so I inked it with Brilliance Moonlight White and embossed it with Iridescent Ice powder. I added a small blue button cause this is a manly card (really, it's cause I messed up the embossing a little and had to cover up the boo boo...LOL!). 

I decorated the inside and added the sentiment. Ok, funny story...remember though, my story is not at all indicative of DH and I. So I'm looking at the image, all coloured and done, and I can't believe how much it reminds me of the tv show 'Married With Children'! I can totally see Peggy and Al in this scene. I KNOW!!! Isn't my mind just crazy...where do I come up with these things?!?

Now for the treat tin...

DH loves Reese Peanut Butter Cups. In fact, we keep a bag of the mini bite-size ones in the cupboard for his evening snack when he wants a sweet fix (and yes, of course I eat them too!). I found some heart shaped ones...everything is available in heart shapes for this holiday! I had the white tin in my stash but I needed to make it a little more manly, so I used my crop-a-dile to punch holes and add some large eyelets. 

I went with the traditional red for this project and wove some wide red grosgrain in and out of the eyelets then tied a bow in the front. I used my copics to colour the cuppie image from Taylored 

Expressions' Love Is Sweet set. Do you see the cute little black bow tie and red ribbon I added to the image? I saw someone do this a while back but I can't recall who it was...I just tucked the idea in the back of my brain for future use. This was a super quick little project that I know he'll love. 

So you've seen the stuff I made for DH, now I thought I'd show you what he made for me.  :)

Look at those googlie eyes...TOO cute! Can you tell he didn't use the proper ink for colouring with copics? LOL! I know it looks like art work from a 5 year old, but I LOVE it! I just had to show you the inside too cause he used gemstone hearts as the butterfly wings! This card is just perfect!  And he'll kill me if he finds out I'm sharing it with you, so please don't tell!  :)

And while I'm at it, here's his very first masterpiece that he gave me a few years ago on my birthday.

I just love it...especially the bow, cause he actually took time to tie it! Didn't he do a great job lining up those alphabet letters to spell my name too! Oh, and the sentiment in the bottom right corner...it's stamped in pink...so I asked him why it was pink and everything else was black. This is hilarious...he told me that it was the last thing he stamped and right before he stamped it he remembered there are other in colours besides black. LOL! Seriously...my ink pads are in an open rack right in front of where I stamp...too funny!

Hope your day was wonderful! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Karen   :)