Peek-a-boo Pookie!

Isn't this just the sweetest image!!! It's one of the new Lollipop images from Stamping Bella, called Pookie Lollipop, and she arrived at my house recently so I just had to ink her up! I was in the mood for purple so I reached for my favourite purply paper, Penny Lane from My Mind's Eye.

I started by stamping Pookie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and cut her out with circle Nestabilities. Then I stamped her three more times and coloured her with copics. I adhered the first image directly to the white circle so the flowers would go over the edge. Then I cut out the pot, ran it through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and popped it for dimension. Finally I cut out the three small flowers and popped them for even more dimension. The image is layered onto a circle of orchid opulence then onto a Blossom Nestabilities shape of intense kiwi. Oh, and I used Lindabella's fabulous "Lollipop face colouring tutorial" and it was easy peasy!!! If you're nervous about these little Lollipop and their faces, take a look at the tutorial in the Stamping Bella forum on Splitcoast. Here's a shot of the dimension.

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I layered some intense kiwi and intense teal before adding the patterned paper. Then I used my new-to-me Apron Lace border punch on a strip of elegant eggplant before stitching the layers together. I find the large orchid opulence piece really sets off the image nicely. I never used orchid opulence until I found this Penny Lane patterned paper!!! The velvet ribbon is from my stash...I think it's old SU. I added a little sparkle to the card with three medium lilac Glitter Dots and some purple Stickles.

This week's Bellarific challenge is to use the original Bella Character for your submission. You have until Thursday night to enter, via email to Em, for a chance to win some Bella Bucks!!! Read all the details on Bloggabella.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - Mini Binder Box

Today some of the Baker's Dozen are spotlighting the Mini Binder Boxes available at Taylored Expressions. They're purpose is for stamp storage but you'll see plenty more ways to use these fabulously sturdy Mini Binder Boxes.

For my project I decided to start a collection of 'Family Favourites' recipes. Wouldn't this make a wonderful shower gift for a new bride? You'll see that I only have two recipes done so far, but that's because I have to get my mom to write down some of my faves instead of just telling me "add some of this and some of that until it looks/feels like this"...ugh! I can't cook that way! Oh, and when I called her to get her super amazing secret recipe for Strawberry Freezer Jam, she told me to look on the inside of the Certo package because it's printed there...seriously?...way to burst my bubble Mom! LOL!!!

If you've never seen one a Mini Binder Box, let me tell you a bit about it. It's made of sturdy clear plastic with a clear plastic film that wraps right around the outside of the binder so you can insert a cover and spine and they're protected. The box is about the size of a hard-cover book, measuring 9.5 inches high by 7 inches wide and has a thickness of 1.25 inches. There's a latch on the outside to keep the Mini Binder Box closed.

Three 'binder' rings on the inside to hold your pages in place. The Mini Binder Box will hold four stamp sets.

But I also use my Mini Binder Boxes to store my Nestabilities. I saw this idea out in blogland and it's perfect for my storage needs. Simply adhere a magnetic sheet (from your local craft store) to the Plain Storage Panel and arrange your Spellbinders dies. I've got about 30 sets of dies in one binder box...a storage miracle if you ask me!

Now on to my Family Favourites recipe box.

I made my cover insert the same size as my recipe cards, with a finished size of 8.5 x 5.75 inches (which is the same size as the Plain Storage Panels). I also kept dimension to a minimum because I wanted to be able to easily slide the cover under the protective wrap, and I'd like to fit as many recipes as possible into my Mini Binder Box. I used my Just Rite Times Roman lower case font to spell out the title and paired it with my September 20th Key Ingredients (after all, the patterned paper is called Kitchen Spice...what could be more perfect!!!).

For the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe card I used the lemon from Chillax, along with some Bo Bunny polka dot patterned paper.

To keep a little consistency in my recipe cards I'm going to back them all with Prism Suede Brown Dark. The images and recipes are on Choice Snow White. Oh, and if you happen to try this pie recipe (it's a lot easier than it sounds) you'll never go back to the boxed lemon pie filling...ever!

For the 300 Stroke Chocolate Cake recipe card I used my September 20th Key Ingredients again and stamps from For the Love of Cupcakes.

This is THE best birthday cake...requested by everyone in my family, and again, so easy to make that you'll never make a boxed cake again. I think the secret is in how much in needs to be mixed, or in the olden days, it needed to be stirred 300 times (now that's a workout!). If you notice on the cupcake, I paper pieced the liner and 'frosted' it with Espresso Dimensional Pearls. I also added some sparkle to the flame with my lemon Spica glitter pen.

I created a spine for my box too and added a little chipboard flower to the outside of the plastic film. I figure dimension is ok on the spine because it won't get caught on anything in my cupboard. There's some Fruitpunch Stickles in the middle of the flower and all I did to the chipboard was colour it with my E09 copic marker.

But wait...I haven't even told you the BEST PART yet!!! The Mini Binder Box stands up on it's own so you can use it to display your recipe while you're cooking. Just slip the recipe under the protective plastic wrap on the back of the binder and it won't get dirty or splashed! Woo Hoo!!

The Mini Binder Box is just $9.95 and does NOT come with a cover/spine insert. The covers and spines are now available as a dowload and Taylored Expressions offers a cover for each of the stamp lines, Lasting Impressions, Stamp a Sweet Impression, and Whimsical Wishes for just $2.49 each...you pay once and print them as many times as you want!

The Mini Binder Box is on sale today and tomorrow for 15% off!!!

It's a great time to stock up and save, to get your your supplies organized, or to get started on those hand made gifts for Christmas!

I {heart} my Mini Binder Boxes and I know you will too!!!

Let's see what other fabulous creations the Baker's Dozen designers have come up with using the Mini Binder Box.

Dawn Easton

Denise Marzec

Jackie Pedro

Jami Sibley

Laurie Schmidlin

Sankari Wegman

and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Happy Birthday Nancy!!!

Today is my uber-talented friend Nancy McKinney's birthday and a few of us are celebrating with a little blog hop. In case you don't know Nancy's work, check out her blog Cardworthy. She creates the most gorgeous things and she's a stamp designer too!

For my card I used one of the sets Nancy designed, For the Love of Cupcakes available at Taylored Expressions. Cupcakes are yummy for any occasion, but they're perfect for a birthday!!! The layout is the Weekend Sketch #106.

First thing I did was stamp the three cupcakes with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White. Then I coloured them all with copics and jazzed up the two on the end a little with pink Stickles. I couldn't resist 'frosting' the middle cupcake with Espresso Dimensional Pearls.

I made my card long and skinny, so the white base measures 3.25 x 6.5 inches. I used papers from my Cupcakes Key Ingredients and added a little brown stitching along the edges. A few Multicolour Twinkles add just the right touch.

Nancy, hope your day is a special one!!! Happy Birthday!!!!

Here are some more friends who are wishing Nancy a very happy birthday.

Dana White

Michelle Leishman

Janet Rossi

Wendy Bond

Jodi Collins

Charmaine Ikach

Sankari Wegman

Donna Baker

Karen Giron

Laura Fredrickson

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Sweet Sunday Penguin

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC44. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

I decided to flip the sketch to work with my sweet penguin image. This set, Cool Yule from My Favorite Things, is a new addition to my collection and I just couldn't wait any longer to ink it up!

I started by stamping the penguin with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White, three times because I knew I'd be popping him for dimension. I masked the penguin's feet then stamped the ice block. The fun started once everything was coloured with copics. First thing I did was cover the ice block with Ranger Crackle Accents. I added some Waterfall Stickles to the hat and scarf then finished the hat with white liquid appliquee. The image is cut out with deckle rectangle Nestabilities. Here's a shot of the dimension.

The white card base measures 5.25 inches square. I stitched together a couple shades of blue for the base layer then used my Coluzzle (I know!!! I'm surprised I remember how to use it!!! LOL!!!) to cut the large circle because the biggest size of circle Nestabilities wasn't large enough. I stitched a white border around the edge of the circle then added some MFT Adornments for a blingy frame around the circle. The patterned paper circle has a pretty silver foil swirl running through it and the striped paper has a shimmery swirl. Both papers are from the SEI Glitzma collection. I used my EK snowflake border punch to get the small snowflakes along the left edge of the striped piece and added a Multicolour Twinkle to the center of each one. Then I sent this card over the top with a blue snowflake layered onto a ghost snowflake with a platinum Glitter Dot in the center. Told you there was lots of bling on this card!!!!

Now let's go see what the other Sweet Sunday Stampers came up with for this sketch!!!

Jen Tapler

Laura Fredrickson

Lynn Put

Nancy Riley

Sara-Jane Kale'

Vicki Burdick

and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

It's a Wildcard Bellarific Friday!

Happy Bellarific Friday!!! I can't believe how late I am with this post. I thought I'd typed it up and scheduled it for this morning, but apparently I only wrote it in my head because when I looked at my blog a few minutes ago it wasn't there! Oooopsy!! :)

This week Em gave us complete creative discretion with a WILDCARD theme!!! Anything goes today for Bellarific Friday. I decided to use Ellie-phant (my animal stamps have been a little neglected lately with all the new cuteness that Stamping Bella has released!) and I paired her with the balloon from I Can't See A Thing-abella.

I started by stamping Ellie-phant and the balloon with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured them with copics. then I cut them out and added some details like clear Glaze pen on Ellie's toes and on the balloon, and a little shimmer on the flower with my yellow Spica glitter pen. The layout is this week's Mojo Monday sketch, Mojo112.

I ran some Prism Spring Willow Medium through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder before stitching it to the Island Mist Light layer. The patterned strips are from my Cosmo Cricket Early Bird 6x6 mini deck and they're layered onto Island Mist Dark. I added three poppy Glitter Dots to help highlight the sentiment (which reads: I would never forget your birthday! and is included with Ellie-phant). It's difficult to see in the photo but shows up much better IRL. Ellie and the balloon are popped for dimension and I added some black hemp as the balloon string.

Have you taken a look at all the gorgeous samples on Bloggabella yet? They're fabulous, so be sure to pop over for a peek, and leave some love while you're there for a chance to win some Bella Bucks!!! Also, next week's theme has already been announced...create something using the original line of Bella Characters. Now, you have all weekend and next week to play along so no excuses, k? :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Oh Baby Baby!!!

Last summer I made this set of baby cards as a gift for my neighbour. I think new moms can always use a set of cards for thank yous, or birth announcements. Well, my neighbour must have liked the idea too because she commissioned me to make a set of baby cards to give away to a friend.

I was told her friend was having a boy but she left the rest of the design up to me. I reached for my adorable Bella Baby Bubble Bath image from Stamping Bella.

I wanted to keep the layout simple and make sure the card didn't look girlie so I went with straight lines and no bows or scallops. I also wanted to make sure the new mom would be able to send the cards with regular postage so I avoided too much dimension and bulky embellishments.

I stamped Baby Bella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured it with copics. To jazz up the image I coated the bathtub with clear Glaze pen and added some Moonlight Smooch to the bubbles. The image is cut out with square Nestabilities and stitched to a layer of bashful blue.

I found the patterned paper in my stash, just hanging loose between some packs of SU paper so I have no clue what the name of it is, but I know it's SU. I layered it with a large white panel that I ran through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then covered the seam with some blue gingham ribbon. Two blue brads in the top right corner finish the card nicely.

I made a set of twelve of this card and packaged them up nicely with envelopes. I love being able to create cards for people...it makes me happy and I know it makes them happy too! Isn't it funny how we can get so excited about layers of paper!!!! LOL!!!

Today is the deadline to submit your creation for this week's Bellarific Friday challenge and the theme is WILDCARD!!!! You can use any Stamping Bella image to create whatever you want! FUN!!! There's still time to play along and you'll find all the details here. Who knows...you could be this week's Bella Bucks winner!!! I'll be looking for your creation tomorrow on Bloggabella! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Hope Your Birthday is Stylin'!

I have an adorable Cuppie card for you today. I just couldn't resist using the stylin' cuppie from Sweet Indulgence, available at Taylored Expressions. I totally have hair on my brain (bwah ha ha...) because I was at the stylist yesterday and she uses a pink blow dryer just like the cute pink brad I used on this card! Plus, I was at the American Girl store yesterday picking up an outfit for a Christmas gift for my niece...man on man...that place is crazy!!! They even have a hair salon for dolls!!! Can you tell it was the first time I'd set foot in the store? Needless to say I quickly picked up an outfit and made a bee-line for the door before getting sucked into all that cuteness!!!!

Oh wait...I'm supposed to be talking about my card. Well, if people and dolls can go to the hair dresser, why shouldn't Cuppie? LOL!!!

I used today's Splitcoast sketch challenge for the layout, SC254 and I paired it with my fun Spa Key Ingredients. I can honestly say that with the Key Ingredients, I whipped up this card in just 30 minutes because everything is already coordinated for me! LOVE that!!!

Cuppie is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. I stamped the sentiment below the image then cut it out with rectangle Nestabilities. I added two coats with my clear Glaze pen to the hair dryer and a line of Turquoise Stickles. The cape is paper pieced and I added a pink Multicolour Twinkle to the closure. The rest of the card is super simple. I used my D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder for the base then wrapped some ribbon and secured it with the sweet brad.

I'm off to run some errands now...all the things I didn't get to yesterday because I was indulging in a little hair stylin' myself!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Thankful For You

I can't stop using the fabulous Celebrate Life set from Taylored Expressions!!! With US Thanksgiving quickly approaching (I still can't get used to Thanksgiving in November...I'm so used to it being in October in Canada) I thought it would be appropriate to create a 'Thankful For You' card.

Maybe I should mass produce this one and send it out to everyone I'm thankful for! Wait a sec...that would be a LOT of cards!!! :)

I started by stamping the pumpkin with Memento Rich Cocoa onto Choice Buttercream then I cut it out with circle Nestabilities. I coloured the pumpkin with copics and added some shimmer with my orange Spica glitter pen...it's subtle, but you can see it if you look near the brown lines. I stamped the leaf with old olive, cut it out and popped it for dimension.

The colour inspiration came from the fabulous fall papers in my Basic Grey Indian Summer 6x6 paper pack. My card base is Choice Buttercream then I layered some Prism Birchtone Dark and Prism Herbal Garden Medium. I used one of my many EK border punches on a strip of Prism Sunflowers Medium before tucking it under the patterned paper. I finished the card with some gold/brown Zva Crystals, a strip of ribbon from my stash and two vanilla brads.

Who are you thankful for?

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Karen

Sweet Sunday Birds

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC43. You'll find the sketch on Karen's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

I'm not really one for panels that are askew, but as soon as I saw this sketch I knew I had the perfect Stamping Bella image for the main panel. I rifled through my bag of Bella images that aren't even in Bindahs yet (because I'm an Addictabella and I have too many stamps to fit in my five very full Bindahs...sigh. Oh well, I'll just order another Bindah!) and I pulled out Merry Christmas Branch with Birdies.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured it with copics. To get the look of bark on the branch I simply drew in lines with the two darker browns and then just left it...no blending. The image is cut out with long rectangle Nestabilities and layered onto chocolate chip. I added some Waterfall Stickles to the dots and gave the sentiment boxes a shiny coating with my clear Glaze pen.

The patterned paper is SU Ski Slope. It's funny, I didn't even realize I was using the same colour scheme as Friday's card until I was writing up this post! Guess I really like these colours together!!!

My MS Drippy Goo border punch arrived this week in my Bella order (of course I wasn't on the ball enough to order it before Halloween) so I put it to work as icicles. I know...icicles are pointy at the bottom, but don't these look just as good? I debated coating them with Waterfall Stickles but I decided to just add a zig zag stitch instead. I ran the blue patterned background paper through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then lightly sanded the dots to reveal the white core of the paper for a subtle snow effect. Two poppy Glitter Dots finish the card nicely. This Merry Christmas Branch with Birdies is fabulous for mass production because it's an image and a sentiment all in one! Easy Peasy!!!

Let's go see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers came up with for this sketch.

Jen Tapler

Lynn Put

Nancy Riley

Sarah Jane-Kale'

Vicki Burdick

and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Time to get the Tree

Happy Bellarific Friday!!! This week's theme was Christmas/Winter. I dug into my Bella Bindahs and pulled out this adorable Car with a Tree on Top image from Stamping Bella.

This totally brings back childhood memories of trudging out to the forest to cut our Christmas tree. Growing up in Northern Ontario, there weren't specific tree farms, we just headed to the bush (which there's plenty of!). And in the middle of December there was usually a foot or two of snow to get through before finding the perfect tree. My brothers and I would head off with my dad and we'd be gone for hours, but Mom always had hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us when we got home. Mmmmm...

For my card today I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the layout. I started by stamping the image with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured it with copics. It's cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop circle of Prism Blush Red Dark. I added some sparkle to the image by colouring the star and ornaments with yellow and red Spica glitter pens. Then I used my clear Glaze pen on the windows and the ornaments. I love the bit of sparkle that shows through the clear Glaze pen on the ornaments!

For the card base I stitched some Baja Blue to the Blush Red Dark panel and layered it onto the white card base. The patterned paper is Imaginisce Polar Expressions and it has such a pretty sparkly line running through it! Of course I just had to use my favourite ghost snowflake and I added some platinum Glitter dots for more sparkle.

I always look forward to the fabulous Bellarific Friday creations that Em posts on Bloggabella. Did you play this week? I hope so...I'll be looking for your creation in Em's post!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen