Time to get Organized

Happy Monday everyone! It's Memorial Day here in the US which means a long weekend of course. Usually people have all kinds of fun things planned for the long weekend but we are at home getting organized for the upcoming week after returning yesterday from a fabulous vacation to San Francisco and Hawaii!!! Betcha didn't even know I was gone, eh?!? So I guess I can't really complain that I have to do laundry and household chores today.  :)

I decided to make a card with Execubella from Stamping Bella in honour of getting back into the daily grind. I wish I had a fun chair like hers!!! She's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured with copics. I added a little green sparkle with my Spica glitter pen and a little shine to a few of the elements on her desk with my clear Glaze pen.

I cut her out with square Nestabilities and layered her onto a big scallop square of intense teal. I coloured the image to coordinate with my Quite Contrary paper...I still adore this collection! I kept the layout really simple (as I always do if I'm not using a sketch, which is why I'm such a sketch junkie!) and added a pink layer punched with a new EK border punch. I couldn't resist adding more pink with a fun bow and two Glitter dots.

This week's Bellarific Friday challenge is Here Comes Summer. Create a summer themed project using Stamping Bella stamps and email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up.

Stamping Bella is having a release today too, so be sure to head over to the store to see what's new.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Medicine

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC71. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

Isn't this little nurse the absolute cutest thing you've ever seen?!? She's from the Pure Innocence line from My Favorite Things and the set is called Best Medicine. Seriously, I just wanna squeeze this card, I love it so much!!! I stamped the little nurse with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream then again onto the yellow patterned paper from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop 8x8 pad so I could paper piece her apron. The rest is coloured with copics and I added shine to the red crosses with my clear Glaze pen. Oh, and I gave her red patent shoes with my clear Glaze pen too...fun! I tried my hand at sponging around the image...all I can say is that I need more practice because it's pretty heavy in places.

The red polka dot paper is from October Afternoon's Report Card 8x8 pad...I love how the different collections can be mixed and matched. I cut the cork layer with my scalloped scallop Die-namic and the yellow layer with the jumbo scallop Die-namic...sweet! I finished with some black polka dot ribbon (can you ever have too many polkadots???) and black Tiny Twinkles in the corners.

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 rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created with 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

Father, defined

Happy Bellarific Friday!!! This week's challenge was For the Boys/Men...create a masculine project. This was a perfect challenge with Father's Day in just a few weeks.

I decided to use my Father Definition from Stamping Bella. I love love LOVE all the definition stamps and what's fabulous is that they're large enough to be the focus of a card. I stamped the definition with Memento Tuxedo Black onto kraft then sponged the edges with Memento Desert Sand. I used two new EK border punches, chain link and round binding. Woo hoo...now I have something other than a star border punch to add to masculine cards!!! The patterned paper is from the new Basic Grey Max & Whiskers 6x6 pad and I paired it with intense teal, suede brown medium, and suede brown dark. The card needed a little something besides layers of paper so I wrapped some twill and twine then tied on a brown button. While I was looking at the button I thought it could be a masculine flower, if there is such a thing! So I cut out and layered  some leaves which I crumpled and sponged for a distressed look then I finished the card with two Glitter dots.

Next week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is Here Comes Summer. Create a summer themed project using Stamping Bella images and email your submission to Em by next Thursday to be included in the Friday round-up. Now, don't forget to hop over to Bloggabella to see all of this week's submissions and leave some love while you're there...you just might win Bella Bucks. I can't wait to see all the masculine ideas!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Hangin' Out with You

I love the new Hangin' Out set from Taylored Expressions...there are soooooooooo many possibilities for this set!!!

I made this card to give to hubby in June for our anniversary...it'll be 12 years already! Wow! And he doesn't read my blog so I know it'll still be a surprise when I give it to him. I thought he'd get a kick out the underwear "hangin' out" on the line. I stamped the undies with Memento Tuxedo Black onto patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary line then cut them out (I added the waistband on the boxers afterwards). The poles are stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa onto Choice Snow White. All the elements are cut out and popped on foam tape for dimension and I layered them onto a panel that I stamped with Memento Summer Sky using my Cloudy Days Big Background. I used hemp to create the clothes line.

The grass is layers of patterned paper that I punched with my MS grass punch. I love how it feels like the underwear is blowing in the wind in the middle of a field! The layout for this card follows SSS55, a sketch from a  few weeks back on the Sweet Stop blog. The solid cardstock colours are Prism intense teal, intense pink and suede brown dark then I added a pink scallop gingham strip and topped it with some fun polka dot ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Plane (not plain) Birthday Card

A few weeks ago in this post I mentioned how I was all over the April release from Papertrey Ink because of the masculine sets.

Well this little gem, Fly Away, caught my attention because it's absolutely perfect for one of my brothers...he's a pilot and has his own plane. Although it's a float plane, but this is close enough.

His plane is white and orange so I coloured this one with plenty of orange and a touch of yellow...leaving it white just seemed wrong when I love colouring so much! The layout is SSS56 from the Sweet Stop Sketch blog and it's a sketch with a spin, to make a masculine card. I was also totally inspired by Stacey's Curtain Call Act 29 from a couple weeks ago...the colours were perfect for my vision of this card (and that's also where the yellow comes in...LOL!).

I used patterned papers from my Basic Grey June Bug 6x6 paper pad and paired them with Summer Sun, Bordering Blue, and a little Basic Grey for good measure. The sentiment banner is stamped onto Tangerine Tango and I tied it to the plane with black hemp. I used my new MFT cloud trio Die-namics and some fabulous white felt from the Necessary Neutrals for a nice texture.

That's it for me today...have a fabulous day.
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Christmas, Bella Style!

Happy Monday!!! I'm doing my best to stay on track with my Christmas-card-a-week and for this week's card I used my new JingleBella image from Stamping Bella. Isn't she just so cute in her little Santa suit?!?

I stamped JingleBella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream Paper and coloured her with copics. I added sparkly berries with my red Spica glitter pen and gave her furry trim with white liquid applique that I sprinkled with Glamour Dust before heating. There's also a little sparkle on the tree thanks to yellow and pitch black Spica glitter pens. The layout for this card is SSS54, an older sketch from the Sweet Stop blog and I used the mirror image of the sketch.

The patterned papers are from my much loved October Afternoon Good Cheer 8x8 pad...I've gotten a lot of mileage from that pad of patterned paper lately! I ran the sentiment circle through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder to help it stand out a little because I didn't want to layer it with another colour. I'm really happy with the embellishments on this card...the ghost snowflake topped with a marble Bella Dot and the groupings of three ruby red Bonbons add just the right touch, IMHO.  :)

Don't forget to play along with this week's Bellarific Friday challenge...For the Boys/Men. Create a masculine themed project using Stamping Bella images and email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. You might win some Bella Bucks just for playing along!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Onesies

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC70. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

For my card today I reached for my Hangin' Out set from Taylored Expressions. The sweet little onesie image seemed perfect for the three square elements on the sketch. I stamped the onesie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto three different patterns from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary then cut them out. I layered them onto a little scallop square of Choice Buttercream followed by a square of Prism frosted pink.

I love love LOVE the flourish element on this sketch and I knew I wanted to use some Zva crystal swirls. I thought I had a bigger swirl in my stash but I could only find the small swirls so I ended up cutting them apart a little and adapting the swirls to fit my vision. Then I added three punched flowers and for the center of each flower I coloured a Crystal Twinkle with a green copic. The sentiment is stamped directly onto the patterned paper and there's another smaller Twinkle in the center of that flower too.

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 this sketch.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

It's a Fabby Happy Day

Happy Bellarific Friday!! I wish I could jump like sweet Fabby here, because I'd be jumping all around the house to celebrate that it's finally Friday, the best day of the week, IMHO, because that means it's Bellarific Friday!!!

Did you play along this week with Jeaniebella's fun sketch? I decided to do a little paper piecing on Fabby's outfit and purse. The rest of her is coloured with copics before I cut her out with rectangle Nesatibilities. I love how bright and happy this card is, thanks to the cheery colours from my Basic Grey Green at Heart papers. I paired them with kiwi kiss, melon mambo and rich razzleberry.

See the little sentiment? It's from a darling set called Mini Words and it's actually Em's handwriting...cool! Talk about having a little of the Bella herself on a card!!! A little stitching (ok, a lot of stitching...) a fun polka dot bow and three fuschia Bonbons finish the details. Oh, and the button is from the coordinating Basic Grey pack.

Next week's Bellarific Friday challenge is for the boys. Create a masculine card or project and email your submission to Em by next Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. Now don't forget to pop over to Bloggabella to see all of this week's sketchy creations, and leave some love while you're there for a chance to win Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Center of Attention Product Spotlight - Stickers

It's time for this month's Product Focus from Taylored Expressions. Taylor asked us to play with different stickers that are available in the TE Store...fun!

I chose to use the Thrift Shop Mini Market Ledger alphabet for my card and I thought I'd use it a little differently than simply spelling out a sentiment.

I decided to pair the stickers with Cuppie in the Kitchen to create a fun friendship card. I used the letters to spell out words that are associated with friendship then I proceeded to partially cover them up with the image...doh! I like how this creates a custom "patterned paper" look while still leaving the card wide open for a sentiment. You could also use this same technique on a scrapbook page and spell out names of family members, or places you visited on vacation, or emotions that a certain photo evokes...the possibilities are endless!

Cuppie was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. I use the floral pattern to paper piece the apron and also to create the flower embellishment. I used my big scallop circle Nestabilities to layer the Cuppie image and also to create the flower and I added a fun black Glitter Candy Dot to the center of the flower to tie in the black patterned paper.

I used the new round binding edge punch on the blush red dark cardstock to make it look like the letter panel had been pulled out of a notebook. The patterned papers are from the coordinating Thrift Shop 8x8 pad. I love coordinating items...makes life so much easier when you sit down to create! The sentiment is cut out using the largest of the Labels Trio dies and I added plenty of stitching all around the card for a homey feel.

Also, I thought I'd show you all the letters I have left after creating this card, so you can see for yourself the value and mileage you get from stickers. I could have altered the stickers too, if I'd thought about it before now...LOL!...like sponging them with Desert Sand for a little depth. I guess I'll save that trick for next time though!

Good news!!! Since stickers are the product focus this month, they'll be on sale for 15% off from now until May 23rd. You'll find the entire sticker section right HERE in the TE Store.

Be sure to hop over to the other Baker's Dozen gals for more inspiration using stickers.
Alex Maldonado
Carolina Butching
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Sankari Wegman
and Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

TE Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blast from the Past blog hop sponsored by Taylored Expressions! I'm super excited to see what everyone created using their much loved stamp sets that were released in either 2008 or 2009. I used Doctor's Orders for my card which I made for one of the neighbourhood girls who had an unexpected stay in the hospital. This set is one of my fave go-to sets for get well cards because really, who could resist sweet Cuppie? He makes me smile every time I look at him!

I did plenty of paper piecing and I thought I'd share a photo tutorial at the end of just how I like to paper piece in order to keep the proper perspective of an image. Everything is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream then I coloured Cuppie, the book and the headboard with copics. The rest is paper pieced with fun patterns from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary.

The image is cut out with rectangle Nestabilities and I layered it onto a big scallop rectangle of Prism suede brown dark. For interest I added plenty of stitching and some Crystal Twinkles along the intense pink scallop border.

Now here's the tutorial showing the way I like to paper piece......it's a little labour intensive but definitely worth the end result.

This shows all the layers cut out and ready to be adhered together...

I cut away the headboard on the green layer...

I cut away the bottom fitted sheet on this pink layer...

I cut away the pillows and coloured Cuppie and the wood feet on the bed on this Buttercream layer...

I cut away Cuppie and the feet on the bed on this pink layer...

For the last layer I added the green flat sheet and the coloured book...

There's plenty more eye candy along the hop so be sure to visit everyone's blog, and have a Blast while you're hopping!!!


Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

A Bookworm Thank You

This is the other card I made for my nephews to give to their teachers. I thought Spencer the Bookworm from Stamping Bella was perfect for a teacher card.

This fun layout is last week's sketch challenge from my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenge blog. I thought the layout was perfect to showcase all these fun paper from October Afternoon's Report Card 8x8 pad. I stamped Spencer with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream paper and coloured him with copics. I gave the lenses on his glasses a coat of my clear Glaze pen then cut out the image with rectangle Nestabilities.

I used my circle Nestabilities for the fun accent papers then punched a big green star and added an orange corduroy brad. The sentiment is half of the merci buckets sentiment. My nephews are in french school so I thought it was perfect...I only wish I'd thought of it for the other card I made...oh well.

Don't forget about this week's Bellarific Friday sketch challenge. Email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. Oh, and you just might win some Bella Bucks for playing along! Here's the sketch...

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday Presents

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC69. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing.

I'm not quite sure why I keep using the Sweet Sunday Sketches for my Christmas-card-a-week cards, but that seems to be the pattern I've fallen into so why should this week be any different? :)

I dug out this darling Pure Innocence Presents for You set from My Favorite Things for today's sketch. Have a told you how much I LOVE working with circles??? They're my favourite shape, by far, and I love love LOVE the three strips on this sketch too...sooooo many possibilities!! I keept it quite literal though for this card.

I stamped the PI girl onto Choice Buttercream a couple of times because I knew I'd be paper piecing her, and I stamped her onto patterned paper twice as well. Her coat and hat are paper pieced and you might notice that the pattern on her sleeve doesn't match up with the pattern on her coat and that's because I pieced her sleeve as another layer. I like to do that to help keep the proper perspective. The rest of her is coloured with copics and I added some Tiny Twinkles for her buttons. The fuzz on her hat is white liquid applique that I sprinkled with glitter before heating...it's super cute in real life! Instead placing her on a neutral background I used the fun pink snowflake paper from October Afternoon's Good Cheer 8x8 pad (and the paper strips are from that same collection). I ran the blue layer through my snowflakes Cuttlebug folder before attaching everything. I dug through my SU embellishments and found three sizes of red rhinestone brads...perfect!!!

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 rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers have come up with for this sketch.
Jen Tapler
Joanne Basile
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Nancy Riley
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Thank You, Teacher

Last month I made a bunch of teather thank you cards and gave them to my friend. Well, as Murphy's Law would have it, my sister-in-law called last week asking if I had a couple of cards her boys could give to their teachers at the end of the year...doh!

Of course I couldn't say no, so I broke out my Make the Grade and Extra Credit sets from Taylored Expressions again.

I used TESC113 for the layout because it gave me a great opportunity to use several of the fun images in these sets. The images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Buttercream and coloured with copics. I used my white gel pen to write the 'thank you' on the black board. The main image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto a Big Scallop Circle of Prism blush red dark.

I cut out the smaller images by hand and popped them using foam tape onto squares of Prism island mist dark. The patterned papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend mini deck and I ran the pencil paper through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder for dimension before stitching it to the Prism classic yellow-green layer. I figured it was ok to add some Crystal Twinkles to the scallops along the bottom because their teachers are women.

Today some of the Baker's Dozen are showcasing the monthly Key Ingredients subscription kit so be sure to pop over to Taylor's blog for all the details!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarific Anabel

T.G.I.F!!!! And even better, T.G.I.B.F. (Thank Goodness It's Bellarific Friday!!!). LOL!!! This week was a colour challenge with pink, green and chocolate...yum! What a delish combination!

I decided to use a new Lulu for my card today...please meet Anabel...she's part of the April release from Stamping Bella. Does she not look absolutely gorgeous with that ball gown!!

I stamped Anabel with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream Paper then coloured her with copics. I gave her glossy black hair with my black Glaze pen then added sparkle to the icing on the cake by colouring over it with my clear Spica glitter pen. The image is cut out with square Nestabilities and I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch from a few weeks ago for the layout, MTSC70. I used one of the pink patterned papers from the Quite Contrary collection and layered everything with chocolate. I had a really tough time with colours when I was editing these photos in Photoshop, so you'll have to just trust me when I say I used Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, and chocolate. I added plenty of stitching and finished with three cotton candy Bonbons in the bottom right corner.

Next week's Bellarific Friday challenge is a sketch designed by our very own Jeanieabella. Here it is so you can get started on it over the weekend. Just email your submission to Em by next Thursday to be included in the Friday round-up.

Em will be posting this week's round-up on Bloggabella on Monday, so be sure to check back then to see all the pink, green and chocolate eye candy. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen