Buzzin By...

Gosh I've been a slacker blogger with no posts since Sunday. I think the gorgeous summer weather has stolen my mojo because I have no desire to spend any time in my stamp room. Well that, and I've taken up a new hobby...I'm taking flying lessons so I can get my private pilot's licence!!!! It's soooo much fun!!!!

Anyway, for my card today I dug out sweet little Buzzy Huggabugg...the entire Huggabugg collection from Stamping Bella is so adorable, but this little guy spoke to me last night. I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch, MTSC80, for the layout.

Buzzy is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream paper and coloured with copics. I mixed and layered blues and greens to get the colour of his hat and pants...that's the fun of copics! I added sparkle with a couple of Spica glitter pens then cut him out. I adhered him to a circle of Prism Sunflowers Medium, going for a little bit of a "sun" look. The patterned papers are My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary and I used my MS Modern Garland punch along the bottom. A couple of Bonbons finish the card nicely.

Did you see the Stamping Bella release on Monday? So many fun new images to play with and you'll find them all in this post!!! AND, Em's put the entire store on sale at 20% off until July 3rd in honour of her birthday. Enter the code emily38 at checkout.

And don't forget to play along with this week's Bellarific Friday Challenge - Square Cards!!! Email a picture of your card using Stamping Bella images to Em by Thursday night to be included in the Friday round-up.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Reindeer

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC75. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

For today's sketch I made my weekly Christmas card (although I skipped last week, so if I'd been smart I would have made two of these...but I didn't...oh well!). I've had this sweet Elzybells image for over a year now and I knew it would work nicely with this sketch. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. I sponged an evening sky to make the stars pop a little more. The large star is popped for dimension and I covered the snow with diamond dust.

The patterned paper is from my stash but I don't know the name of it. The dark blue layers are Not Quite Navy. This was the perfect sketch for plenty of ghost snowflakes and punched snowflakes all layered with buttons and bling.

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation on Karen's blog. Now let's go see what the other Sweet Sunday Stampers created.
Jen Tapler
Laura Fredrickson
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarific Baking Turtle

Happy Bellarific Friday and HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM!!!!!!!!! Yup, that's right...today is da Bella's birthday and I think she might have a little present for us with a wee surprise release!!! I'm so excited to see what she's got up her sleeve!!!

But first, my card for today. This week's challenge was a fun sketch by Jodibella and I chose to use Turtle Tots Baker, cause she's baking up a birthday cake to celebrate Em's birthday!!! And Em, this card's in the mail to you but it'll be a little late arriving...I'll blame it on cross-border snail mail...wink!

I stamped the sweet turtle with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream paper and coloured it with copics. I added some fuschia sparkle with a Spica glitter pen and gave the mixing bowl a glossy look with my clear Glaze pen. The colours are pulled from the October Afternoon Thrift Shop patterned papers. I added plenty of stitching on the patterned layers and used my new Martha Stewart Modern Garland border punch on the vibrant pink layer, which gave me the perfect opportunity to add some Bonbons along the punched edge.

Next week's Bellarific Challenge is square cards. To play along simply create a square card using Stamping Bella images and email a picture of your creation to Em by next Thursday to be included in the Friday round-up. You could win Bella Bucks just for playing along! Now let's hop over to Bloggabella to see today's round-up and maybe, just maybe, Em will have some new images to share too!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Tissues Tissues Everywhere...

Welcome to the Blast from the Past blog hop sponsored by Taylored Expressions!!! Hopefully you started at Taylor's blog and have seen fabulous creations as you've been hopping along.

For my card I just couldn't decide which set to use...they're all so fabulous...decisions, decisions, decisions....but I ended up using Doctor's Orders and pairing it with SC285.

You know what's really bizarre though, as I was typing up this post I realized that I used the exact same stamp set for last month's Blast from the Past blog hop!!! How freaky is that!!! I pulled out my In the Kitchen Project Pantry for all the papers and added in a smidge of kraft.  Because of the kraft cardstock, my card qualifies for my bud Jeanie's That's Krafty Thursday #31 challenge. The tissue boxes are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I added a little sparkle with my orange Spica glitter pen then cut out the tissue boxes and popped them on foam tape. I used my deco scallop border punch on a strip of kraft and added Crystal Twinkles for some sparkle.

There's plenty more eye candy to see on the hop so get going...happy hopping!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

It's a Purse Thing!

Happy Monday! I have a gorgeous pumpkin patterned purse to share with you today...I know a certain someone (Dana) who would probably love to have one just like this in real life! Actually, I've missed my BFF Danabella the past almost two weeks because first I was away then she was away (you need to understand that we chat every week day on the phone) so I think I was channeling Dana when I made this card last night. Glad you're home my friend so we can chat this afternoon...I've missed you!  :)

The image is slouchy purse from Stamping Bella and it's quite fun to work with. I decided to paper piece the image with papers from my 365' Degrees 6x6 paper pack by Pink Paislee. The buckles are coloured with a dark blue Spica glitter pen. The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try from Saturday.

I used my corner chomper to round the bottom corners before stitching the layers together. My sewing machine's acting up a little...see that one missed stitch in the bottom left corner??? Argh!!! WHY is it doing that??? I can't figure out what the problem is with my Janome so if anyone knows, please help, because it's driving me bananas!!! So after that little sewing mishap I put myself in a good mood again by making a rolled paper flower for the accent. I finished it with a hyacinth Bonbon in the center for a little shine.

Have you already got your card done for this week's Bellarific Friday? If not, there's still plenty of time to play along...simply email a photo of your card (using Stamping Bella images) to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up on Bloggabella. Here's the sketch for this week's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Hammock

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC74. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

Yesterday when I sat down to make this card the weather was absolutely gorgeous...sunny, hot, nice breeze but not humid...a perfect day. All I wanted to do was get outside, so as soon as I was done making this card I sat out on the deck to type up this post. I love having a laptop and wireless internet! :)

Given the beautiful weather, I reached for my Hangin' Out at the Beach set from Taylored Expressions. The hammock is paper pieced and the tree was already coloured (leftover from a previous project) so I don't have a photo of copic markers...sorry. But I did use Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp the hammock and the sentiment. I used my June Key Ingredients for all the supplies on the card except the three gold Tiny Twinkles and the border punch I used is the open scallop.

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your project on Karen's blog. Now let's go see what the other Sweet Sunday Stampers came up with.
Jen Tapler
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick 
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

You Shouldn't Have...

I needed a thank you card that's long overdue and I wanted to post a Bella today because it's Friday, and eventhough Bellarific Friday Challenges don't resume until next week, it just feels weird not posting a Bella on Friday! So I reached for sweet Henrietta...she's part of the fabulous Lulu collection from Stamping Bella and she includes the sentiment too (which reads "you shouldn't have" on the inside of the card).

I stamped Henrietta with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured her with copics. You know how much I love my Spica glitter pens so I added black sparkle to parts of her dress with my Pitch Black Spica pen. Then I glossed up her lovely up-do with my black Glaze pen before cutting her out with Petite Oval Nestabilities. The layout is a Splitcoast sketch from a couple of weeks ago, SC283, but I used an oval for my image panel instead of a rectangle.

The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary and I paired it with Prism intense kiwi, frosted pink and intense pink. I ran the white layer through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder for a little dimension before stitching it down. The border punch I used is Martha Stewart layered arches and I added a little rhinestone between each arch for some bling. I finished the card with some pink ribbon from my stash and I pleated it instead of just adhering it flat. My friend Jackie does this all the time and I love the look!

Here's the sketch for next week's Bellarific Friday challenge so you can play along this weekend if you haven't already got your card done. Email a picture of your card to Em by next Thursday to be included in the Friday round-up on Bloggabella.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Trying to Keep Up with Christmas Cards

I'm doing my best to keep up with one Christmas card per week and when I saw this week's Mojo sketch, Mojo143,  I knew just the image I wanted to use.

I stamped Reindeer Circle from Stamping Bella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured it with copics. I added sparkle with a couple of Spica glitter pens then punched out the image with my 2" circle punch.

The patterned papers are retired SU Ski Slope and I chose them because there's chocolate in the papers so I knew it would coordinate nicely with my reindeer. I stamped the sentiment then stitched the blue patterned paper to a chocolate chip layer and added the ribbon and red panels. The image is popped on foam tape and finished with three ruby red Bonbons.

The next Bellarific Friday challenge is June 25th and it's a sketch...Jodibella created this beauty for us. To play along simply create a card using Stamping Bella images and this sketch then email a picture of it to Em by Thursday June 24th to be included in the Friday round-up on Bloggabella. You just might win some Bella Bucks for participating!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

June Key Ingredients Kit from Taylored Expressions

It's time for the June Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions and let me tell you, it's a fabulous kit, like all the kits Taylor puts together. This month there's an amazing promotion on the the Key Ingredients Subscriptions...

From June 15th - 19th, anyone who purchases a 6 month subscription, renews a 6 month subscription, or extends their current subscription for 6 months will receive a FREE stamp set designed by Taylor!!! The stamp set (a $21.95 value) will be exclusive to subscribers and sent out upon completion of your 6 month subscription. A 6 month subscription costs just $23.95 per month (and that includes shipping).

Here's the project I created with the June Key Ingredients. Taylor challenged us to create flower embellishments and I did that with both the die cut flowers from the kit and rolled paper flowers using patterned papers and solid cardstocks from the June Key Ingredients.

I created a flower patch message board with custom floral push pins. I used the flower die cuts, paper flowers and buttons from the June KI to create the focal image, along with my grass punch. I didn't even use stamps on this project!

For the cutest push pins ever (if I do say so myself...LOL!), I rolled up patterned paper into tight little buds and hand cut green gingham leaves. The flowers and leaves are glued onto flat push pins. Because I kept the flowers rolled tight, the push pins are nice and sturdy and easy to grab onto. They turned out better than I'd imagined!!!

Another bonus to Key Ingredients Subscribers is that you receive 10% off and free shipping in the TE Store when you order products to be shipped with your monthly key ingredients kit. Taylor's super organized and you'll even receive a reminder email!

Subscribe today and your kit will be shipped out immediately!!! And, you're invited to play along in the KI challenge each month...how fun!!! What I love most is that I've never once been able to completely use up a Key Ingredients kit...and trust me...I've tried! There's just so many supplies in each kit, they seem to be never ending! LOL!!!

But you'll be able to hear directly from a few key ingredients subscribers because we're lucky to have them joining us today to share projects. So let's go see what everyone created!!!
Rosie Hughes
Candace Mitchell
Lisa Hjulberg
Stacey Schafer
Cassandra Trask
Colleen Begley
JoAnn Valderama
Tracy Clemente
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Birthday Wagon

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC73. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

For my card today I decided I'd make a birthday card, because, well, it's my birthday today! I figured it was only appropriate to show a birthday card on my birthday...LOL! I used some of my favourite things on this card...Quite Contrary paper with pinks and greens, sewing, bling, paper piecing, foam tape, and a sweet handmade felt flower.

The image is a combination of two Pure Innocence girls from My Favorite Things. The cake is from Birthday Princess and I paired it with the new Pullin For You set (which is quite popular because it's sold out at the moment). I knew it would be really sweet to have the cake sitting on the wagon. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics, except for her dress which is paper pieced. Then I cut everything out and popped it on foam tape. I added Espresso Dimensional Pearls to the icing on the cake to make it look yummy.

So, when I was about half way finished putting this image together I loved this card soooooooooooo much, and it dawned on me that I was making a card for my own birthday!!! How tacky is that!!! But you know when something just makes you so happy as you're creating it? Well that's what this card did to me...and I tell ya, I was laughing with Dana when I confessed that I was making my own birthday card!! But, I ended up giving this card to hubby so he could give it back to me, and I told him to be sure and write on a post-it note on the inside so I could actually give this away to someone else. LOL!!! I'm such a nerd!

I thought empty part of the circle was looking like it needed some love so I created a rolled flower using pink felt from my Banana Split pack...sweet!!! Doesn't it look like the roses on store-bought birthday cakes? I know I've said it already, but I love love LOVE how this card turned out!!! I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation to Karen's blog. Check out the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers for more inspiration with the sketch.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Taylorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Happy birthday to you!!! Yup, that's right, it's Taylor's big day and we've got a little surprise blog hop to celebrate.

I reached for my Sweet Occasions set and paired it with Taylor's current sketch challenge, TESC117. Doesn't that ice cream sundae look good enough to eat!!!!!!! I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured it with copics. I also stamped it onto patterned paper from October Afternoon's Farm Fresh 8x8 pad so I could paper piece the frame around the image. I added glossy shine to the cherry and letters with my clear Glaze pen and I couldn't resist adding Espresso Dimensional Pearls to make the fudge topping look even more delicious!!!

I layered the image onto blush red dark and backed that with suede brown dark. The edge was punched with my open scallop edger and I added Tiny Twinkles between each scallop. I finished the card with some red glimmer twill for plenty of sparkle.

Taylor, wishing you a day filled with plenty of cupcakes and laughter. Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Here's the list of other friends wishing Taylor a big happy birthday:

• Alice Wertz
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Jen Balcer
• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Sankari Wegman
• Sandra MacLean
• Nancy McKinney
• Sharon Harnist
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Sherrie Siemens
• 
  
• Thanks for stopping by!
• Karen

Manly Mercy Sketch

Happy Friday!!! It may not be a Bellarific Friday but I still have a Stamping Bella card to share...let's just say that old habits die hard and it just seemed weird to me not to post a Bella on Friday! LOL!!!

I used Mercy's fun sketch for the layout, MTSC77, and when I saw the sketch I immediately thought of my circle images from Stamping Bella. This little gem has been waiting very patiently to get inky. I stamped the Dotty Tie Circle with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured it with copics. I should have stamped it onto cream paper so to fix the problem I simply coloured in the diamonds with my E41 copic. I used my 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out the image and it lined up just inside the black circle edge...perfect! If you wanted the black circle edge to show on these circle images just use a 2" punch instead.

The patterned papers are old ones from my stash by Pebbles Inc. I stitched the plaid paper to some river rock then layered it onto cream. I added a manly grey knotted ribbon to finish the main panel. For the background I ran some green through my argyle Cuttlebug folder then stitched it to black to make it pop. I chose not to add a sentiment so I can use it for either Father's Day or a manly birthday.

Em is travelling to Europe so Bellarific Friday Challenges are on hiatus until June 25th. But here's the sketch for that challenge so you can work ahead and get your submission emailed to Em to be included in the round-up on Bloggabella.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sunshine and Sandy Beaches

For my card today I had visions of bathing suits hanging on the line after a fun day at the beach, the sun setting in the background. So I reached for my Hangin' Out-at the Beach set from Taylored Expressions and set to work. I used TESC116.

And this is what I ended up with!!! I'm really happy with the result!!! I used this sunset photo from our recent trip to Hawaii as inspiration for the sunset background.

Here's how I did the sunset background. First I cut out a circle of Choice Snow white with Nestabilities. Then I placed Eclipse tape straight across the circle to create the horizon and I punched a small circle from Eclipse tape for the sun. Then I sponged the sky using sponge daubers and three shades of Memento ink. Starting at the horizon line and working my way up I used Potter's Clay, Cantaloupe, and Dandelion, blending the edges of each colour with the next. Once the sky was all sponged I pulled up the circle of Eclipse tape and added a touch of colour to the sun to tone down the stark white of the paper. Then I moved my Eclipse tape to cover the sky and set to work on the water. I used the same sponging technique for the water, working with three shades of blue, Paris Dusk, Danube Blue, and Bahama Blue.

The rest of the card is pretty basic. I added a piece of hemp for the clothes line and a little cork for the sandy beach, then I paired the sunset with Cosmo Cricket Delovely paper and toned it down again with a little kraft cardstock. The bathing suit is paper pieced and the flowers were stamped with Lilac Posies and popped on foam tape for dimension. I wanted the flowers to look like the ones on the paper so I added clear rhinestones to the centers then coloured them with a yellow copic marker (Y15).

Have you signed up for this month's Blast from the Past blog hop yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Quick...read all the details here and join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Celebrate

For today's card I decided to ink up my Celebrate definition block from Stamping Bella and let it take center stage. Have I told you how much I love these definition stamps??? Yes, I think I have, but I'll tell you again...LOL!!! This one could be used for soooooooo  many occasions, but I turned it into a birthday card by incorporating one of the cupcake images from the Mommy and Baby Cupcake stamp. I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the layout.

I reached for my Cosmo Cricket Delovely mini deck for plenty of colour on this card, but I toned it down just a little with a layer of kraft cardstock. Thanks to my fellow Bella Babe Jeanie for reminding me to use kraft...and now I can link this card up to her That's Krafty Thursday Challenge.

The Celebrate definition was stamped directly onto patterned paper then cut out with Nestabilties. The cupcake was stamped onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured with copics. I added sparkle with some Spica glitter pens. The little bit of yellow ribbon is from my stash and I added some aqua Bonbons for sparkle.

Bellarific Fridays are on hold for two weeks while Em is travelling and we'll resume again on June 25th with this fabulous sketch from Jodibella. There's plenty of time for you to play along, just be sure to email your submission to Em by June 24th in order to be included in the round-up.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Come Join the Hop!!!

Taylored Expressions hosted a customer blog hop last month and it was truly a blast from the past. How fun to see so many people playing along!!! Well, we're doing it again this month and we'd LOVE for you to come out and play. Here are all the details:

Hop Rules: Create a card featuring any Taylored Expressions stamps released through March 2010. We will provide a challenge to get you started, but the challenge is optional. Then just post the card on your blog on June 22nd at 8am PST and include links to all participants in your blog post. Oh... and don't worry! We'll give you an easy stretch of code to copy and paste into your blog post so you don't have to spend hours linking to everyone! This will be a great reason to pull out your much loved TE stamp sets and get to know fellow TE lovers on the hop!

-- Sign up to play by sending an e-mail to bloghop@tayloredexpressions.com  with the subject line "June 22 Hop". In your e-mail simply list the following info: your first and last name, the name of your blog, your blog address.  By sending this e-mail you are committing to posting a creation on your blog at 8am PST on June 22nd according to the Hop Rules.

-- You will receive an e-mail confirming your spot in the hop.  That e-mail will also include the optional challenge, a list of excluded stamp sets (released after March 2010) and a recap of the Rules.

-- You will receive another e-mail 2 days prior to the Hop with a list of all participants and links to include in your post along with the Hop badge.

-- One random participant will be selected to win the stamp set of your choice from Taylored Expressions!  And someone will be chosen to have their card featured in an upcoming Newsletter.
The deadline to sign up for the hop is June 17th.

So quick...before you forget...send an email to sign up for this month's Blast from the Past blog hop!!! And tell all your friends to join too...the more the merrier!!!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Sweet Sunday Polar Bear

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC72. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

I deviated from Christmas cards these past couple of Sundays and it seems like a few of you missed my Christmas cards, so I've indulged you and created a Christmas card for today's sketch. I never realized just how much people actually enjoyed seeing Christmas cards in the heat of summer.  :)

For this card I pulled out my Cool Yule set (which is on sale in the Bubble Bin for the low low price of just $6.95!!!!!) from My Favorite Things and paired it with patterned papers from October Afternoon's Good Cheer 8x8 pad, along with baja blue, Prism blush red dark, and Choice Buttercream. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and I popped both the snow and the bear on foam tape for dimension. I paper pieced his scarf...you'll notice the stripes on the scarf don't line up exactly and I did that on purpose because it looked too perfect otherwise, so I added an extra layer of paper piecing to the parts that are more "forward". I covered the bear with cotton ball Fun Flock so he's fuzzy IRL, then I added Diamond Stickles to the snow to make it all sparkly. The snowflake embellishment is anchored with ivory ribbon and I added some stitching too, cause I couldn't resist!

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation to Karen's blog. Now let's go see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers came up with for today's sketch.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen