Wintery Igloo

Here's my Christmas card for this week.

I played along with one of the sketch challenges in the Dare to get Dirty challenge forum on Splitcoast. This sketch is created by Cindy Lawrence and you can view the sketch here (but the link will only work if you're a Splitcoast Fan Club Member).

When I saw the sketch I immediately thought of my neglected Elzybells Christmas stamps that I ordered earlier this year. The igloo image couldn't be more perfect for this sketch, IMHO! I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow white and coloured it with copics. I always find it difficult to colour something that's supposed to be white, so I ended up doing more shading around the igloo and just added a few subtle lines to the igloo itself, and I'm happy with how it turned out. The tree and sign are popped for dimension. I added some red Tiny Twinkles to the tree and some dazzling diamonds to the snow. I like how this makes the igloo stand out more 'cause it's the only white element.

The patterned paper is by Pebbles Inc. and I added Not Quite Navy as my solid blue. I used my EK snowflakes border punch on a strip of white then saved the punched out snowflakes and added them as my three accents above the image. I layered up a ghost snowflake for the other embellishment and backed it with a circle of green to make it pop a little.

I know this is a busy looking card with all the patterned paper and snowflakes, but I really like how it turned out...it looks SO wintery!

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

Just Rite for Girls Night!

I finally cracked open my Girl Time Borders & Centers set of JustRite stamps. This week on Card Positioning Systems JustRite is sponsoring the sketch so it was the perfect reason to ink up new rubber and play along. When I think of Girls Night I immediately think of black, pink and bling, so I went with that theme for my card. The patterned paper is Making Memories Sabrina 6x6 pack, and just a note on that, the black spotches you see randomly on the papers are in the paper...I wasn't that messy when I stamped...LOL!

I stamped the center and border twice, once onto Choice Snow White and again onto pink patterned paper. I puched out the pink center and adhered it with pop dots to the white base. I couldn't resist adding lots of bling to the black scalloped circle with my Crystal Twinkles. Once my layers were in place I added some polka dot ribbon and secured it with the most perfect button I found in my Savannah pack. A little more bling from some Zva crystal swirls and two white Candy Dots finished the card nicely. This one came together super quick!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Frosty the Cupcake...

...was a very happy soul, with brown twig arms and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of coallllllllll! Sorry, I just couldn't help myself...giggle!!!

Here's a happy little Christmas card for today. I just love love LOVE these darling Christmas Cuppies from Taylored Expressions. And guess what?!? The Christmas stamp sets are on sale for 20% off until July 25th! Woo hoo...now you can pick up some cute new Christmas stamps and get a big head start on your holiday cards.

I chose an image from Home Sweet Home and stamped Frosty Cuppie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White. Then I coloured him with copics and cut him out with square Nestabilities. I added some shimmer to his hat with my red Spica glitter pen. I stitched him to a scalloped square of chocolate chip. Oh, and I should tell you the layout I used is Jen's Sketch For You To Try.

Aside from the white cardstock, the rest is all SU and the patterned paper is Ski Slope. I used my snowflakes border punch along the bottom of the red piece then tied some baja ribbon in a knot. I like how it looks a little like a bow tie. My favourite Christmas card embellishment is a ghost snowflake and Jen's sketch was calling out for me to add one. I backed it with a circle of olive so it would show up a little better then added a white Candy Dot to the center and two more in the corner. I love these candy dots because they're self adhesive, they have a mat finish and you can colour them with copics or pencils!

Well that's my Christmas card for this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Happiness is Contagious!

Here's a card I made for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #96.

I used another of my new 'Tude images from Stamping Bella. I stamped Gratty'Tude with Memento Tuxedo Black onto white and coloured her with copics. I added a little shimmer to the flower centers with my red Spica glitter pen then I cut her out with circle Nestabilities and layered her onto a scallop circle of real red.

When I was assembling this card I realized that I probably should have used ivory instead of white because it would coordinate better with the patterned paper...oh well...next time! The white card base is 5 inches square. The bottom layer is blue bayou. The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and I stitched the three panels to some Prism Sunflowers Medium cardstock. There's a real mish mash of paper on this card! After everything was in place I decided to add some Poppy Bella Glitter Dots to the patterned paper...it already had red dots there anyway so why not make them dimensional and sparkly?!?

Then I had no place for the adorable sentiment that is included with Gratty'Tude so I decorated the inside a little with the same papers and more Bella Glitter Dots. Heck, by the time I finished with the front of the card it was already too heavy for standard mail so I went all out on the inside too! :)

Hopefully this card makes you as happy as it makes me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

MWAH!!!

When I sat down to stamp last night I wanted to use a Ketto 'cause I hadn't used one in quite some time, and Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #27 was the perfect layout for this little darling.

I stamped Anise with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured her with copics. I added shimmer to her wings with my Stardust gelly roll pen. I have to admit, this card was looking like a train wreck last night. I couldn't do anything to salvage it so I left it on my stamp table and went to bed figuring I'd have fresh eyes in the morning and I'd be able to tweak it. Hmmmm....well I did have fresh eyes this morning and the only parts that remain from my card last night are the image and the yellow layer. I changed everything else and it looks sooooooo much better!

The yellow is Prism Sunflower Medium and I layered that onto Pink Pirouette...still one of my favourite pinks ever! The other papers are from my Basic Grey Lemonade 6x6 pad. I added a fun banner with the sentiment and finished it with a Prima and a Garnet Marble Bella Dot.

Don't forget to pop over to Bloggabella later on for this week's Bellarific challenge. Come play with us...it's fun and you just might win $20 Bella Bucks just for participating!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

No copics and almost all SU!

Here's a card that's nearly all SU! I know...I haven't done that in a while!

I really felt like watercolouring yesterday so I reached for my Spring Song stamp set...love those birds! I find this type of set is perfect for watercolouring because SU has already done the shading lines for me so I don't have to guess where to put the darker shades. The layout is the Weekend Sketch #89 hosted by Lori Craig. I also incorporated the Limited Supplies Challenge #229 on Splitcoast (to use your wedding or high school colours and at least one clip or staple or phototurn).

So I decided to use my wedding colour (because my high school colours were just horrid, in my humble opinion), light blue. I needed an accent colour so I chose light yellow because it goes so well with blue and also because the white flowers in the centerpieces had yellow centers, although it wasn't an official colour. Everything is SU except the ribbon and button.

I stamped the image with black Stazon onto watercolour paper, cut it out with oval Nesties and watercoloured it with an aquapainter and reinkers. I cut out the bird and two flowers and popped them for dimension. I added a light shading of blush blossom around the entire image to tone down the white paper, but after I did this I realized white would have been a wedding colour too...oh well, too late now.

Once I had my card assembled I had no place for the sentiment so I added it under the image and secured it with a mini library clip. A fun little accent I wouldn't have thought to do if I wasn't trying to complete the Limited Supplies Challenge.

I realize that I need more practice watercolouring, but I'm quite happy with how this turned out and it was fun to set my copics aside for a completely different look.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Have Fun!

I combined two challenges on this card, Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #74 and the Corrosive Challenge #20 (all about dogs).

I haven't used a Poochie image in a loooooong time and this was a perfect opportunity to dig out one of these little cuties! I decided on Poochie Frankie from The Cat's Pajamas and paired it with a sentiment from American Art Stamps (LOVE that sentiment!!!).

I started by stamping Poochie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White then I coloured him with copics. I honestly thought I'd only use a few markers because there's so much black from the solid image stamp...hmmm...I seem to have gotten a little carried away with shading. Oh well...that's why I have the markers, right? Although that one Ciao marker in my collection drives me crazy when it's time to photograph my colours...I may have to replace it with a Sketch. And those who know me know I'm not kidding. ;)

After he was all coloured I cut him out with square Nestabilities and layered him onto Prism Intense Teal. I slipped the sentiment circle under the image panel before stitching around the image. Then I added a little glitter to the water and use my new clear glaze pen on his shades. A few people have been raving about this glaze pen so I just had to try it for myself, and I LOVE it! You get essentially the same look as crystal effects with a waaaaaaaaay shorter drying time.

I loved how Taylor used punched out stars on her sample for this sketch so I shamelessly cased her idea and used buttons in the same manner. The purple ones are from my button bin and the green and teal ones are from the Whirligig Bag-O-Buttons. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Penny Lane line and I layered it onto Prism Frosted Kiwi before stitching the edges and adhering it to the white card base.

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Friendly Bellarific Friday

I love this circle of Snowman friends! It's so adorable with them all hugging, or maybe they're in a huddle about to play snowman football!?! This week's Bellarific sketch hostess was Joanneabella...thanks for a fun sketch Joanne!

I actually put away my copics for this card and pulled out my Lyras and mineral spirits! I stamped Group Hug with Memento Tuxedo black onto Prism Nautical Blue Light then coloured it with pencils. It's cut out with circle Nestabilities, layered onto a circle of white then onto a scallop circle on Not Quite Navy.

The white card base is 5 inches square. I layered Not Quite Navy and more Nautical Blue Light then added some fun patterned paper from Pebbles Inc.. A little sewing around the edge adds a nice detail, especially to the green triangle. The sentiment is also from Stamping Bella. I played around with a few things for the diagonal line and finally landed on a row of Blue Jean Glitter Bella dots in both sizes. I can't wait to see what the other Sistahs have come up with for this sketch. Let's hop over to Bloggabella and see.

This card is teetering on my Christmas card pile...it might make it to Christmas because of the winter theme, but I may end up giving it away before then. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Larger Than Life...

Apparently I have a bit of an Addy-Tude this week...LOL! Sorry, I just couldn't resist saying that since this is my second Bella post using Addy-Tude! Really though, who can resist her...she's such a diva! I used this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast for the layout, SC237.

This time I chose Addy-Tude is On Top of the World (which includes the sentiment). I stamped Addy with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured her with copics. I pulled the colours right from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper I chose to work with and I decided to give her a reddish coat this time. Doesn't she look like she's come straight from "chic Paris" (say that with a french accent and it sounds even better)! I added a little crystal effects to her glasses so they'd shine.

I matted each of the layers with black for some punch. The reddish solid paper is Prism Blush Red Medium...I {heart} this colour...it seems to go with so many patterned papers. I fancied up the card a little with my Fleur de Lis border punch...hey, that's a french name...hmmm, seems like I've got a bit of a french theme going...LOL! I added some black stitched ribbon from my stash and a couple of white Primas to each side of the image. Along the bottom I finished the card with a row of coal glitter Bella Dots under the sentiment.

Don't forget, you have until 5pm today to email your Bellarific submission to Em for a chance to win $20 in Bella Bucks. Click here for this week's sketch.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen