Surprise-abella!

Happy Bellarific Friday!

Today's sketch was created for us by the talented Shannanabella, and it was a fun one. Did you play along?

I decided to use one of my very first Bellas for this one, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't even think it had been inked yet...eeks! I also wanted to make a birthday card because my birthday stash seems to be getting a little low. I stamped Curly Surprise-abella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. She's cut out with Petite Oval Nestabilities. I decorated the packages a little with my copic multiliner and black glaze pen as well as with some purple Stickles.

The patterned paper is from the Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia collection and I paired it with Prism Majectic Purple Medium and Prism Papaya Puree Medium. I ran the one layer through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder before adding some green ribbon from my stash. I finished it with three Lilac Bella Glitter Dots in the bottom left corner...look close because they're easy to miss.

I can't wait to see what the Sistahood created for this week's challenge. Let's pop over to Bloggabella together, shall we?

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

No longer out of sight....

I created a fun project to get my Lyra pencils out of their drawer and into my line of sight...hoping that this will get me using them more often. Pop over to the Stamp A Sweet Impression blog for all the deets on my project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Verve Christmas

I finally picked up a couple of Verve sets a few weeks back so I decided to ink up Ornamental Christmas for my Christmas card this week. I know, I know...I didn't have a Christmas card last week. Seriously, I completely ran out of time and I'm blaming it on our vacation. :)

I chose very traditional colours for this card, burgundy, green and gold, and I just happened to have some fabulous Cosmo Cricket papers with those colours...yay! The swirly ornament is sooooooo elegant that I decided to emboss it in gold. I never emboss...ever...I just don't think of it, but I'm really pleased with the look here. I also embossed the ornament onto the patterned paper then paper pieced the center. For the layout I used one of the anni-Verve-sary sketches from Splitcoast, AVS203, but I flipped it to work with the image.

The rest of the card is pretty basic, although the gold paper just doesn't look as pretty in the photo as it does in real life...sigh. I did colour the clear rhinestones with a deep red copic though, and I also ran a dark green copic over the grosgrain ribbon to darken it a little.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

A Card for Amy

When we were visiting back home recently, our dog got to visit and stay the day with his old groomer, Amy. I'm sure Shadow had fun playing with Amy and her three dogs, so I thought I'd send her this card as a thank you for keeping him for the day while we did some shopping and visiting.

I stamped Dog-walk-abella from Stamping Bella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured it with copics. I did this card a little backwards (well, backwards for me anyway) and coloured the image before choosing any papers. I think that's why I ended up using a ridiculous amount of copics (29 to be exact!)...oh well...live and learn...I guess choosing my paper first kinda helps me stick to fewer colours. Regardless though, I really like how this turned out and it wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be to choose the papers after I'd coloured the image.

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I layered some Prism Suede Brown Dark then the yellow polka dot paper, which is from My Mind's Eye Delighted. The other layer is Prism Razzleberry Medium and I ran that piece through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder before stitching around the edge. I finished it off with some white satin ribbon and a button.

This week's Bellarific sketch is posted on Bloggabella. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win $20 Bella Bucks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Cheers!

I made this card for Taylor's Sketch Challenge #77, TESC77. I'm lovin' the new Chillax set from Taylored Expressions and having an absolute blast creating with it!

This time I created a trio of drinks for the main panel. Everything is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. The middle drink is popped on foam tape for dimension and I swiped my clear Glaze pen over each of the glasses to make them shine. The image is cut out with octagon Nestabilities and layered onto black, then I stitched a zig zag around the edge.

I chose a fun pattern from Basic Grey's June Bug 6x6 pack and accented it with black and Prism Blush Red Medium. The sentiment banner is stamped onto Prism Frosted Kiwi. Finally I added some black twill and I fished through my Whirligig buttons for the accents. I've seen people thread their buttons with fine strips of paper and I thought I'd give it a try this time. I really like the result and it was much easier than using white floss.

Cheers to you, and have a fabulous day!

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

Marching Bellas

When I saw the Marching Bandabellas I just had to have them, for two reasons.........

First, they're Bellas of course! Second, they bring me back to my university days...yes, I was in the marching band at university. Sigh...I know...but it was actually quite fun and not so easy to play the french horn and march in a straight line at the same time. I remember doing the halftime shows at the football games. Ok wait, I need to redeem myself a little...I also played varsity sports...not the popular sports though, I was on the badminton team...LOL! Alright, one more while I'm at it...I was editor of the yearbook in high school. So there you have it...Geek with a capital G! LOL!!! I like to think all of that shaped me into who I am today though. :)

Enough about me...I chose the bella with the trumpet cause it's a brass instrument like the french horn. She's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics, then I cut her out with oval Nestabilities. I added gold lame Smooch to the instrument to make it look more like brass.

The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Early Bird...LOVE it! I thought the colours kinda screamed marching band uniform. Although after I was done the card I thought I should have made it in my university colours...oh well! I ran the Prism Sunflowers Medium through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder before layering it onto riding hood red. I thought the sentiment was just perfect for this card so I did my fave banner thing and added a sparkly blue button from my stash.

Did you play along with this week's Bellarific Challenge? Paulabella designed a fabulous sketch which you can see on Bloggabella and you have until today at 5pm to email your submission to Em, so play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Taylored Expressions-It's Release Day!!!

Yippeeee! It's finally here...release day at Taylored Expressions and there are two fabulous new stamp sets, Berries and Cherries and Chillax. Today you'll find the Baker's Dozen showing samples of both sets.

I decided to use the Berries and Cherries along with the Berries and Cherries Key Ingredients for my project today. I know I say this all the time, but I truly love the Key Ingredients because everything coordinates beautifully.

I wanted to make a little gift package for some chocolate covered berries so I created a little box to hold a cello bag filled with chocolates. The little box was super quick and easy...it's just a 2-4-6-8 box, but I altered the dimensions to 3-6-9-12 so it would be a little bigger. I used my 1 3/4" circle punch to create a window in the front of the box then decorated it with a few strips of paper and some ribbon from the Berries and Cherries Key Ingredients. I stamped the row of cherries along the bottom with red ink and the sentiment with Memento Rich Cocoa. I used my 1 3/4" circle punch again to create a reverse scalloped edge along the top of the box then assembled it using Sticky Tape.

Next I created a fun tag to attach to the bag of chocolate covered berries. Did you know that the circle in Berries and Cherries coordinates with the 1 3/4" circle punch? How fabulous is that!?! Oh, and you can also use the 1 3/4" circle punch with lots of images in the Chillax set too, just take a look at my post from yesterday! Ok, back to the tag...I stamped the strawberry with Memento Rich Cocoa onto Choice Snow White, coloured it with copics, then cut it out. Taylored Expressions is now selling Copic Sketch markers and Spica Glitter Pens...wooo hoo! Check it out here! I stamped the circle onto Razzleberry Medium from the Berries and Cherries Key Ingredients and punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. I used Foam Tape to pop the strawberry for dimension then attached it to the bow with a jump ring.

I moved on to creating the card after my package was all complete. I really like the layout of my card in yesterday's post so I decided to duplicate it with the cherry images from Berries and Cherries. I stamped the circle three times and punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. I'm into the 'out of the box' look for images lately so I wasn't fussed when the entire bowl of cherries didn't fit into the circle...I placed it offset instead. Both cherry images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. They're also both popped on Foam Tape for dimension then I added the sentiment to the center circle.

Here's the detail shots of the cherries.

The white card base measures 3.25 x 6.5 inches. I added a few layers of solid colours, a strip of patterned paper and some yummy ribbon to finish it off. All the supplies I used on both the card and the box are from the Berries and Cherries Key Ingredients.

Taylor is offering a fabulous Berries and Cherries Bundle full of amazing products at a great value, so be sure to check it out. And if you haven't already done so, you really should sign up for the Taylored Expressions Newsletter for all the latest and greatest! You'll find the sign up box on the TE homepage.

You can see plenty more samples using Berries and Cherries and Chillax by visiting the rest of the Baker's Dozen.

Ana Wohlfahrt

Charmaine Ikach

Dawn Easton

Denise Marzec

Donna Baker

Jen del Muro

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laura Fredrickson

Laurie Schmidlin

Sankari Wegman

and Taylor Van Bruggen

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2-Chillax

The Baker's Dozen is showcasing another super fun new set from Taylored Expressions...Chillax.

This set just screams summer fun. I picked up a four-pack of mini Margarita bottles at my local liquor store and decided to alter them using the Chillax set. My friend Joanne and I keep saying that we need to get together for margaritas...seriously, we've been saying this for months now, so one day I'm gonna show up on her doorstep with my little four-pack all decorated up and she won't be able to say no.

In keeping with the margarita colours, I reached for my Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper and paired it with some Prism Intense Kiwi and Sunflowers Medium for my colour palette. I started by wrapping the box with cardstock. Then I stamped the lime image with Versamark, embossed it with white powder and added a strip of patterned paper. Next I stamped the chillax definition with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and cut it out with scissors. I highlighted the words "chillax" and "groovy" with a swipe of green and yellow marker. I stamped the lime a second time, coloured it with copics and popped it for dimension. Then I adhered the definition to some Prism Intense Kiwi which I cut out with my new-to-me Labels Nestabilities.

Then I moved on to decorating the bottles. I wrapped the neck and covered the label with more Prism Sunflowers Medium then added a strip of patterned paper to coordinate with the box. I tied some fun apple polka dot ribbon around the neck of each bottle then I stamped the margarita glass onto Choice Snow White and coloured it with copics. I used my 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out the image then adhered it to the bottle. Fun, quick, and easy!

Last thing I did was make the card, and this idea came to me as I was decorating the margarita bottles. I just couldn't make a decision on which image to use so I thought it would be fun to create an equation.

I stamped the lemons, blender and margarita onto Choice Snow White and coloured them with copics. Then I cut out each image and adhered it with foam tape to three yellow circles (I used my 1 3/4" circle punch for the circles). My layout is a variation of TECC75. My card base is 3.25 x 6.5 inches. I created the + and = symbols using black cardstock and my SU slot punch.

Here's the detail shots of the three images...I used my clear glaze pen on the 'glass' of the blender.

Once all the images were in place I stamped the sentiment and pierced all around the green base. I'm really happy with how this card turned out and the layout is so fun!

This brand new Chillax set will be available at Taylored Expressions starting Wednesday, August 5th from 8am Pacific. Now let's go see what the other gals have created.

Ana Wohlfahrt

Charmaine Ikach

Dawn Easton

Denise Marzec

Donna Baker

Jen del Muro

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laura Fredrickson

Laurie Schmidlin

Sankari Wegman

and Taylor Van Bruggen

I'll see you tomorrow with another fun project for release day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen