Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Friday, October 29, 2010

Bellariffic Friday Re-Visited

As you know Em was at the Creativ Festival this past weekend, and a little bit under the weather, so we decided to re-visit the same challenge as last week.
It was using Elainabella's sketch.

Your probably saying Hmmm I've seen this card before, and you have.  I am posting last weeks card again. Sorry ladies, I am so far behind the 8 ball this week and just didn't have time to whip up another.  So in case you didn't see my card last week here it is again. Cute eh?


For next weeks challenge it is 1,2,3,- yep 1 image, 2 papers and 3 embellishments - how fun does that sound!  So get your cards done and email to Emily by 5 on thursday, to be entered in the draw for some bella bucks!

Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Another Christmas card

Do you ever have visions on how your card will turn out, and then it doesn't?
I spent 3 hours last night trying to come up with a layout. I even had papers picked out to go with my image and after it was colored it just didn't work.  So changed my paper choice then I struggled with a layout! Why does this happen?  Am I being too picky, just trying to get is just so? Maybe the paper was too busy for what I wanted.  I don't know, but came home after work and finished it up.

So here it is:


This cute little row of trees is called "Birds Decorating a Tree" and it even comes with a matching mini stamp.

I stamped the trees using black memento ink on bella's bestest paper and colored with my prismas and gamsol.  Cut out the image with my square nestie. Paper is from the Crate - Snowy Day collection. I used my EK Success scallop punch on the brown piece.  Added some glaze to the light bulbs using my glaze pen. Finished it off with some red ribbon, a button, and some really sparkly glitter on the ground.

Another Christmas card done- many more to go!

See ya!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Bellariffic Friday Update

Hi - Just an update on this weeks Bellariffic Friday challenge.  You probably noticed that Em has not posted any of last weeks challenge on Bloggabella- she was at the Creativ Festival in Toronto on the weekend- and still recouping -  Sooooooo we decided to repeat last weeks sketch challenge.  You can email your card to Emily by thursday night at 5.



If you have already completed the 1,2,3 challenge, we will be doing that on Nov 5, so hang on to those for another week.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Retreat Pictures and a Card

Hi Everyone,

Well I survived the weekend, although it should of been an Eat-a-thon instead of a Retreat.  Seemed like all we did was eat.  All of our meals were home cooked for us which was wonderful. The ladies loved my card class I did with them, they all did wonderful- they were just thrilled that they had made a couple of cards.

Here is a picture of the group of ladies I went with.  I'm in the front row, kind of scrunched down a bit so the other gals could see over me. Also some of the scenery pictures I took. We did a lot of walking. Overall it was a great weekend.

So now on with my card.  Today I have Fushias for Lulu to share with you. I stamped image onto Bella's bestest paper with black memento ink and colored it up with my prismas and gamsol.
I used my oval s/binder dies to cut out the image, as well as the pieces behind the image.The DP papers is from K & Co.  The border punch is by Martha Stewart.  Finished it off with some glitter on the flowers and some green ribbon.


Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Bellariffic friday - Group Hug

Happy Friday!  I'm excited about this weekend and with good reason.   I'm going on my first retreat with 7 other ladies from our church choir.  We are heading up near Guelph to Crieff Hills.  I've also been asked it I would do a card making class with them.  Should be fun, I don't think any of them has ever stamped before.  I'll let you know how they did!

So now onto my card.  I'm in desperate need of getting Christmas cards done so I decided on these cute little snowman known as Group Hug. I bought this stamp last year but never got a chance to ink it up.

 I stamped the snowmen on
bella's bestest paper with black memento
ink and colored with my prisma color pencils and blended with gamsol (OMS).
I pulled out my circle nesties to cut out the image, leaving the die on I sponged some versamagic sea breeze and some versamagic white around the image.
I also used my lacey circle die for the darker aqua layer.  DP paper is from last years Cosmo Cricket.  Added some glitter to the snowman and some Marble Jade bella dots to the corners.
I also did some stitching on the card to finish it off.



For those who want to get a jump start on next weeks challenge, the theme is 1,2,3- what's that you ask? well it's 1 image, 2 pattern papers and 3 embellishments.  Sounds easy eh? So put your thinking cap on and get creating, then email your card to Emily by 5 on thursday.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Inspired by a piece of ribbon

This card I share with you today, all came together by this piece of ribbon I picked up  last week for which I had a piece of Basic Grey paper in mind. When I matched it up I knew it would work well together, so my next thought is what image would suite this combination. So, for my post today,  I share with you Bellas Topiary.



As usual, I stamped on bella's bestest paper and colored with my prismas. After cutting out with labels #14 I left the die on and shaded around the image with versamagic pixie pink - it was a bit too pink for my liking so added some versamagic wheat to tone it down. I don't know if you can see in the picture or not but underneath the image is a layer of vellum- the next size up #14 die was too big, so I turned the die upside down (the one I cut the image with) and traced it out onto vellum, then cut it out.  It gave just enough of a difference in size for what I wanted. The dusty pink c/s was cut with labels #13.
Finished it off with some glitter on the flowers and some pearls.
The ribbon seems a bit dark in the photo, it is kind of a dark purple/burgundy color.

Thanks for stopping by, see you on friday for the challenge.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sweet Pea

Hi everyone.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.  The weather is nice here, cool, but the sun is shining - typical fall day. 

Today I would like to share with you a cute little card I did up last week.
Let me introduce baby bella pea.  Now isn't she just the cutest? Doesn't she have the cutest cheeks?


Since bella pea had little flowers on her outfit, I knew she had to be colored in pinks.  I had a piece of this DP paper from Heidi Grace Designs, which knew would be perfect.
I colored her with prismacolor pencils  and blended with gamsol (OMS) on
bella's bestest paper with black memento ink.

I cut the image with my oval nestie, and then used my new labels #14 die for the pink layer.  I thought the shape of this fit perfectly with this image.

I thought I had a bella sentiment called sweet pea, but checking through my binder and Emily's website I couldn't find it - must of been dreaming!!! - Maybe Emily needs to get a sentiment that says "sweet-pea" what do you think? I then realized the paper had that same sentiment on it, so I strategically cut the paper so the words would show.  I did some stitching, added a piece of white ric rak and some glitter on bella pea.  I first had intentions of using some small buttons on the card, but then decided on this little pink flower bud- I think that was a better choice!

That's it for today peeps, plans for today are getting my papers cut for my class at Paper Pickle this tuesday. We will be making 2 great Christmas cards. For those in the area we have opened a second class date, so if you were unable to make the first class, check with Paper Pickle on the second class date.  Hope to see you there.

One more thing, this weeks challenge is a sketch from Elainabella. 
This is such an easy peasy sketch, so hope you can join in the fun.  Email Emily your card by thursday at 5, and you will have a chance to win some bella bucks!


Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Happy Thoughts

It's friday once again,(woohoo!) which means another Bellariffic Challenge.  This weeks challenge was using a Ketto.

So for my card I decided upon Anise Ketto.  I wanted to use some new papers I got from the Jack & Jill collection by Prima.  I love all the papers in this 6x6 pk, all soft tones.

As usual stamped on bella's bestest paper with black memento ink, and colored up with my prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol.  I did her skin tones using Copics E000, E00, E01, E11. She was cut out with a circle nestie, and the brown layer underneath was a new s/binder die called Eyelet circles. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the white strip. The little sentiment is from the set billboardabellas words only.

I saw this sketch layout  from i(heart)2stamp and thought it would work perfectly for my card.  Although I altered it a bit, I still followed it somewhat.

Finished it off with some stitching,  glossy accents on the centers of the flowers and glitter on her wings, and along the bottom of her dress.

 Next weeks challenge is a sketch from Elaineabella. If you would like to play along send your card to Emily by thursday at 5.  There are some bella bucks up for grabs! Here is the sketch:

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Bunny's are not just for Easter...

Remember Emily said she does not have scheduled releases, they would just happen when the mood strikes ... well it just so happens that today she has a BIIIIGGGGG release.  How exciting is that!

This is a sneak peak of one of the images Emily had sent me  (not sure of the correct name yet) to color up for the release. I was so excited when I received this Mo image because I had been looking at it on Mo's website but never bought it.


I wanted the santa hat and the bow to be a very vibrant red so decided to color  this image with Copics on Bella's bestest paper. After coloring with copics, I added some shading by using my prismacolor pencils and gamsol.  I used some scrap pieces from the leftovers from last years papers - the background is from Bo Bunny and the scallop is a Basic Grey - not sure of the line this is from.  I added some white flock on his hat, glitter on the bow and on the ground area.  The scallop was done using an EK Success border punch.  I finished it off using some Bella dots and some bright green chiffon ribbon.

I know I will be making some more of this card for my Christmas cards.  I think he is just so cute!

Here are the Copics I used:

Bunny: E30, 42, 50, R20-cheeks
Bow & hat: R24, 27, 29, 39
Carrot : YR00, 01, 02, 04, 07.09
Leafy greens : YG00, 17, 23, 25
Shading: B0000, B000

Also don't forget this weeks challenge is KETTO's.  If you want to play along email your card to Emily by thursday night at 5, for your chance to display your talent as well as a chance to win some Bella bucks!

Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving..

to all my fellow Canadian readers.  We are having such beautiful weather here for our long weekend, a shame we have to go back to work tomorrow.
Yesterday we celebrated  Thanksgiving  at my brother Steve & Cathy's place in London, where my family, my sister and her hubs (Arlene & Jasan) along with my Dad all gathered for a festive dinner.  It was delicious! (thanks Cathy), ate way too much but so worth it. It was a beautiful drive up, with the changing of all the leaves, so colorful.

I have a busy day ahead of me, but thought I would squeeze in another short post. Today I share with you Little Witchy.


I colored her with my prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol, on bella's bestest paper.  I used some Basic Grey Erie paper for the bottom half.  I stamped out SPOOOOOOKY and then cut it like a ribbon tag and slipped it behind the bow to hold it in place.  Added some glitter and that finished her off.

I hope you can play along with this weeks Bellariffic challenge.  It is KETTOS - so dig them out, ink them up  and send off your card to Emily by 5:00 thursday night.  I've got mine all colored up just need to put it together.

Be sure to check back on Wednesday, I will have a sneak peak of Emily's release. All I will say, it is a Christmas image, you will love it! (hehe).

See you soon,

Friday, October 8, 2010

Fall colors..

Hi - Must say, I am feeling much better than earlier in the week. I'm so happy it's friday not only because of another Bellariffic challenge, but it's the weekend- Thanksgiving weekend for us Canadian folk- which means we have monday off -  whoohoo! I love long weekends.

For todays challenge it was Fall Colors - so I picked Ilovetoshopabella to color up.
Now most times I struggle with what image to use, more so what papers and layout. So my BFF Lindabella, gave me a few tidbits.  Pick your image, then go to your papers and the first ones to catch your eye, go with it.  Sooooo.. that's what I did, I had my stamp, then went to by Memory Box papers and new I wanted fall colors so saw these papers from the Twiggy line, and went with it.  Normally it can take me anywhere from 1-3 hours just digging around through all my papers, second guessing what I decided on, change papers again,blah, blah, blah... anyways you get the picture. Do any of you have this problem?

Anyhoo here she is all colored  up and fallish looking.
I did the usual, stamped on bella's bestest paper with black memento ink, and colored with my prismacolor pencils and gamsol - used Copics for her skin tones.  I cut her out with my oval spellbinders and cut a rust scallop border.  I used a MS raindrop border punch along the bottom.  Did some stitching on the card, and pulled it together with a nice green gingham bow!  Oh yes, and added glitter to the presents! Gotta have glitter!

Next weeks challenge is any of the KETTO images.  There is some pretty cute ones, so please play along with us.  Email your card to Emily by thursday night to have a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

In case you haven't already heard we have another new Babe that has joined  our team - Ebru Vatansever- known as our Videoriffic Babe - she is creating the Stamping Bella Youtube Channel.  You can see here first video on Bloggabella. A fantastic job done by both Ebru and Emily!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Stella's Cupcake

Well this is a short post tonight.  Not feeling very well - sore throat, headache, teeth ache, runny nose - you know the typical sinus cold - yuk, just want to go crawl under the covers where it is nice and warm!

So tonight I share with you Stella's cupcake.

I stamped her with black memento ink and colored her up with prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol. I did her skin tones and lips using Copics. Not sure on the name of the DP paper, had this piece for a while now but not the end with name on it.  For the sentiment I used "A Big Happy Birthday" it was one of the first Bella sentiments I bought.
Next I cut Stella out with my rectangle nestie,  punched out a white border with my MS border punch, ran the turquoise circle through the swiss dot embossing folder, only half of the circle though, wanted the top part plain so I could stamp on it.
Finished it off with some bella dots and donuts in bubble gum color, and of course glitter!

Oh, and don't forget this weeks challenge is Fall Colors - thats' right anything red, orange, rust, brown, yellow, green - then email it off to Emily before Thursday night for your chance to win some bella bucks!

Well that's it ladies.  Short and sweet as promised.


See ya

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Brrrrrrr.......

Hi everyone!
I don't think I'm quite ready for this blast of cooler weather we are having.  We even turned the heat on for the first time just to take the dampness out.  It's been raining since friday afternoon and finally quit this morning.  Sun and a tad bit warmer for the rest of the week ahead :).

So with the cooler weather, it put me in the mood to work on some Christmas cards. Now Linda brought back my Stamping Bella order from when she was teaching last weekend at Bellaland, so it was hard to decide what I wanted to ink up first.

I decided on Theo gives a Prezzie.
Theo  was stamped using black memento ink on bella's bestest paper, and colored with my prismacolor pencils.  The paper is from last years stash called Be Merry from MME. I bought a few extra sheets because I didn't want to run out and not be able to get any more (yes, I know I have a serious problem when it comes to paper!).
I added some white flock to Theo's santa hat, and some glitter on the present and the holly leaves. Dotted the holly's with my clear glaze pen. I also used my Martha Stewart punch for red border. Finished off with a piece of ribbon topped with a button.

If you haven't already heard we have a new "Babe" in the house.  Her name is Kim Teasdale, her work is amazing- you can check out her blog here,

Now for next weeks challenge the theme is
Fall Colors. So pull out a bella image and color it up in those earth tones, yellow, orange, red, brown, green- anything fall. Submit your entry to Emily by thursday night for a chance to win some bella bucks.

Have a good week, see you soon.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Spoooky Trio

Hey, Happy Friday!!! I'm so glad it's finally the weekend, I thought yesterday was friday! It's been a very busy week for me, both work and home life, and it has basically sucked the life out of me. 

So this weeks challenge is anything related to Halloween. For my card I am using The Mummy, the witch and the pirate.

 As usual image stamped with black memento on bella's bestest paper, and then colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol. Paper is from last years  Basic Grey Eerie and Ambrosia.  I used the large square scallop spellbinder die for behind the image and Tim Holtz Ornate die for the ambrosia paper. When I cut out the image with my square die, I cut around the knife the pirate has in his hand and laid it on top of the die so that I could cut the image out without cutting the knife off.
Added some glossy accents to the pirates eye patch as well as his knife.  Dotted glitter on the pumpkins, finished with a BG brad in the center of the bow.

If you have a chance, check out Bloggabella and leave a comment on this weeks submission for a chance to win some Bella Bucks!

Have a wonderful weekend.

See you again soon,