Christmas in July

Happy Friday everyone!! woohoo, so love the weekends, and this weekend is a 3 day for us Canucks! Well the heat wave is back, but not as bad as it was last week.
So with that being said, it was a joy to colour something wintery - made you kind of forget about the heat and think cool! lol!

For this weeks challenge it was Christmas in July, so for my card I'm using one of my favourite bella images - Wreathabella. I remember taking Linda's class at Paper Pickle a few years ago and we coloured this image using pencils.  Well this time around I coloured her up using Copics and did some shading with pencils. I really like how this turned out.  I don't colour with Copics a lot, but maybe I need to use them more.

I stamped the image on bella's bestest paper and used Copics and pencils to colour.  I pulled out a bunch of different s/binder dies to see what would fit best and when I came across this hexagon shape, it seemed to fit perfectly.  Used the scallop hexagon for the red border.  DP is all from Fancy Pants- love the colours in this paper - green, red, yellow, white and aqua, so pretty. I used a papertrey scallop border die to cut the scallop paper.

Now I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I messed up.  I was experimenting with some different sentiments on vellum, and I must of stuck my thumb on the ink before it was dry and didn't notice.  I then picked up my image and guess what - yup I have my thumb print with black ink on my image. ACK!!! I was ticked, and I didn't feel like colouring up the image again - tried to erase it - it did remove some, so then I tried white pencil, nope that wouldn't cover it, nor would white craft ink! So my only thought was to stick something there, so that is why I have 3 bella dots on the right side by her head, then of course it looked out of balance so stuck 3 more on the bottom left side. So needless to say I didn't use the vellum, and that is why I used the dots! Hope it's not too much!
Finishing touches - ribbon and glitter, and also added some white flocking to the hat brim, pompoms and to the cuffs on her boots!

Be sure to check out all the other great inspirations over at Bloggabella.

Next weeks challenge is Heavy Metal. So add anything metal - brads, clips, buckles whatever! Once your card is done, email it to Emily by thursday night, there is some bella bucks up for grabs ladies.

Have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

Pauline

Turtle Tots

Hi everyone.  I'm back today with a cute fun card to share with you.
I'm using a Stamping Bella image called Turtle Tots - birthday wishes.

Stinkin cute eh?  A fun card for a young boy - I don't have anyone in my family to give this too, so I will put it in my sale basket, I'm sure it will sell :).

So, started out by stamping him on bella's bestest paper, and colour with prismacolour pencils.  The DP is from MME - Fly a Kite. I wanted something to fill the white space in the top right corner of the image, and the idea of flags came to mind.  So I free hand cut these 4 out, as well as a base out of kraft. Glued them together with a string running between the layers. I just realized as I'm typing my post that the first flag says 'hi'.  I probably couldn't do that again if I tried!
Finished off with some glitter.

Thanks for stopping by today, I'll be back on friday with my challenge card. Do you have yours done? You still have time - theme is Christmas in July- a good way to jump start your christmas cards.  Let's see what you can do! Email you card to Emily by thursday evening.

Pauline

Funky Irises

Hi - Hope everyone had a good weekend.  I just wished they were longer!
For today's card I'm using Funky Irises from Stamping Bella.

I stamped the irises on bella's bestest paper and coloured using prismacolour pencils. Image was cut using s/binder labels #9. I usually do shading around the image with my pencils, but this time, I just took a sponge dauber and applied some soft sky ink and lightly added colour around the irises.  Then I used versamagic spring pansy and lightly sponged around the outside of the image leaving the die in place.
The DP is some scraps I had in my scrap bucket, so not sure of the company that it's from.  Finished up with some glitter and ribbon.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and don't forget about our challenge this week -
Christmas in July - a good way to jump start those christmas cards.

Pauline

Serenity

Just thought I would pop in with a quick post with  a card I did for a friend a couple of weeks ago. Then sentiment is from the Verve set called Serenity. If you have never used Verve stamps, you must give them a try.  The are clear stamps, and stamp wonderfully, nice and crisp.
So here is my card it did,

Paper is from K & Co.  The flourish is a die from Cherry Lynn Designs.
I bought this one along with a couple more from Stamp Art in London ON. Nancy carries a wide variety of everything from papers, die, punches, and tons of stamps from numerous stamp companies.  I will warn you, you will need a couple of hours to go through her store.  If you do make it there, just mention my name!
I also used MS butterfly punch, cream satin ribbon, lace, pearls and a rolled flower.

Well that's it for today, thanks for stopping by.  Back tomorrow with a stamping bella card.

Pauline

Stell has her fix!

Well it's Friday and I think we all survived the hottest day of the year yesterday, and I bet there were many records broken with these high temperatures. Yesterday around 2:30 it was 120F with the humidex - unbelievable!  So thankful for a/c, but I hate to see my next hydro bill - yikes - but in the long run so worth having.  I don't have mine set very coolish- it's usually around 77 F.

On with today's card.  It was a sketch challenge this week, circle or a square, although I love circles I decided to do the square version.  For my image I chose
Stella has her fix!  After colouring up a Stella last week, I was still in the mood to colour up some more.

I stamped her on bella's bestest paper and coloured her up using prismacolour pencils.  Cut her out using the circle s/binder die as well as the next layer.  The purple layer was cut using the lacey circle die.  I sponged some versamagic spring pansy around the image.  Wasn't sure which sentiment to use with this Stella image, but when I came across this one, I thought perfect - it's exactly what I like to do - take time out and enjoy and nice cup of coffee!
I stamped the sentiment using black versafine, used pop dots to adhere to my card then add the flower on the end.
Finishing touches: bella dots, glitter and a brad.

Hop over to bloggabella to see what the rest of the babes and sistahs have posted for this week. 

For next week our challenge is 'Christmas in July'.  Great way to get a jump start on your Christmas cards.  Hope you have a chance to play along, if so, email Emily your card by thursday night.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for coming by.

Pauline

Much needed relief...

We are in much needed relief from this heat wave we are having here.  It was 108 yesterday and on thursday it is suppose to reach 117 with the humidex factor!
It looks like we won't see any relief until early next week.  It's just to hot to even be outside, and I'm just itching to go for a bike ride on my new bike! Yup, Bill and I got new bikes on Monday. So excited.  I try to do an hour of walking every day, but thought I would alternate with the bike riding.  And I must say, I look nothing like this bella.. I-wish-I-looked-so-good-on-a-bike-abella.

Isn't she cute, especially with her pooch in the basket!  As usual I stamped her on bella's bestest paper and coloured with primsacolour pencils.  Border punch is EK success, and DP is Basic Grey Pheobe.  As I was looking for a bit of bling to put on her flower in her hair, I came across a pkg of clear flower epoxy stick-ons, which worked perfectly on the center of the wheels - so cute! Finished it off with some brown seam binding ribbon.

There is still time to participate in this fridays challenge.  It's a sketch - circle or square - you decide.  Email your card to Emily by thursday night - you could win some bella bucks!

Enjoy your day,
Pauline

An old technique revisited

Hi - hope you had a great weekend!  On Saturday, I took Lindabella's card class.
Oh what fun it was.  Paulabella came over from Michigan, and Kathy - Linda's co-worker was there as well.

Remember the days when adirondak alcohol inks were the in thing? I think I bought every colour that was available.

So yesterday one step of the card was to make a piece of alcohol background paper. I forgot how much fun it was to do this. The fun thing about doing alcohol backgrounds, no two pieces are alike. We also did some collaging with stamps using various colours of inks, added dimension using stencils, and sprays.So this morning I was up at the crack of dawn and started to play around some more with the inks.  I came up with some fabulous samples.  One of them I made into this card.

The colour of inks I used were : lettuce, bottle and a bit of denim.  The layer underneath the spokes - I started with a piece of cream c/s, and added these distress colours: bundled sage, broken china, stormy sky, and pine needles.
The stamps I used on this piece were : eclectic #8 ticket full background, eclectic  mini bubblewrap mesh and french script set, I also used a crackle stamp from Stampendous. Stencils I used were : Crafters workshop - mini arabesque and mini time travel.  I went to link up the mini time travel but I see the Emily is sold out of them, but you can see here some of the  other stencils she has. To apply the inks using a  Tim Holtz sponge applicator and  craft mat (which I absolutely love). The leaves and spokes are all dies from Spellbinders. The spokes were cut out of thin chipboard and then I sponged inks on them. The leaves were cut out of the alcohol piece I made. I also distressed around the edge of the collage piece.

I have a few more alcohol pieces done, so will be making a few more cards with those.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Pauline

Stella DIGS it!

Yup, here we are with another Bellariffic friday.  This weeks challenge was to use a Bella or a Stella on your card.

I coloured up Stella DIGS it! with my prismacolour pencils and copics for the skin tones. Isn't she adorable in her green rubber boots, I just love her, well I love all the stella's, I guess I should colour them up more often. DP is from Memory Box - another favourite paper company.  The leaf flourish is a new die I bought last weekend while in London - its from Marianne designs. There are a few more I would love to get.
Finished up Stella with some stitching, glitter, ribbon, button and a pink pearl!

Be sure to visit bloggabella to see all the other great creations done for this weeks challenge.  I can't wait to see myself - always great inspiration there every week.  And be sure to leave a comment - you have a chance to win some bella bucks!


Next weeks challenge is a sketch by our very talented 'videobabe' Ebru.  We are in for a special treat with this sketch because you have 2 options.  You can either do your card square or circle.  Such fun, the choice is yours! Hey maybe do one of each!

Any plans for the weekend? For me I'm taking Lindabella's class at Paper Pickle this saturday- so excited.  It's been a long time since I've taken a class.  I teach them, but it's always nice to be on the end if you KWIM!

Thanks for coming by,
Pauline

Your Tea-riffic

Hi! I'm back today with another image from Stamping Bella.  Today's card I'm using Lattebella.

  For my inspiration to colour her up - I pulled out my new 6x6 pack of Out of Print by Basic Grey.  So I started by stamping her on bella's bestest paper using black memento ink and coloured using prismacolour pencils. After cutting the image I sponged some versamagic pixie pink ink around her. Since I didn't have a sentiment to go with the 'latte' I decided to use 'you're tea-riffic" instead.
Spellbinder dies I used are labels 18, square and banner (for the sentiment).
Finished up with some stitching, glitter and some pink dots - called strawberry parfait! doesn't that sound yummy?

Don't forget about our challenge this friday - using a BELLA or a STELLA, then email Emily your card by thursday night. 

Thanks for peeking in.

Pauline

A Lulu card

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  It was sunny, warm and humid, typical weather for SW Ontario.  We took a drive up to Port Stanley and St. Thomas this weekend, did some site seeing (gorgeous view along the lake, and lots of sail boats),  picture taking, and I even took some colouring to do in the car.

This is the image I coloured - Clara Lulu! I absolutely love how she turned out.

I started by stamping her on bella's bestest paper and coloured her using prismacolour pencils, and skin tones and hair done in copics.  I paired her up with some pretty papers from MME  Stella Rose - Mabel.  I just love these colours together, oranges and turquoise. Tools I used were s/binder oval, oval scallop and papertrey scallop die.  Orange shiffon ribbon, stitching and glitter finished her up nicely!

Well that's it for me today, short post.  Thanks for stopping by.

Pauline

Ribbon challenge

Yay, Friday is upon us once again, which means another Bellariffic challenge.
This weeks challenge was to use ribbon on your card - how much easier can that be.
So for my card today I'm using Funky Potted Flowers by Stamping Bella.

I gotta tell you I had this card done in record time- 45 min! Maybe that is a long time for some, but for me -  not!  Reason is - I came across the card base already done - it was in my scrap dp bin! I think at one time I was going to use it for something or other, but never did, sooooo - it came in handy today. With that being done all I had to do was stamp the funky potted flower on bella's bestest paper and colour up with my prismacolor pencils.  I sponged around the image using versamagic pixie dust.  Also used s/binder dies - skinny ovals and labels #18. MS border punch was used for the side piece. And for my ribbon - I used a piece of dyed seam binding. Added some glitter and done! I was really pleased how it turned out. I just wish all my cards would work up that fast.

Be sure to check out all the other fabulous cards over on bloggabella. Be sure to leave a comment, to have a chance to win some bella bucks.

Next weeks challenge is use a Bella or a Stella image.  I know which I am going to use how about you? Email your creation to Emily by thursday night.

Have a wonderful weekend, another hot one - so keep cool!

Pauline

Chillaxin!

Hi - I can't believe it is Wednesday already, I'm usually ahead of myself for my blog posts but for some reason the week is quickly flying by. So when I got home at noon today, and coloured up this image from Stamping Bella.

Here we have Parkbenchabella! - isn't she a cutie - wouldn't it be nice to be able to just have a relaxing day like this, go for a stroll, grab a cup of java and a book and sit for a while and read?  I always have good intentions of doing stuff like this, but it never happens - life just gets in the way sometimes!

I stamped her on bella's bestest paper and coloured her up using prismacolour pencils.  Used my square s/binder die to cut her out and then sponged some pixie dust versamagic around her while the die in place.
DP is by Basic Grey called Indian Summer.  Love the colours in this collection.
Used a papertrey scallop die to make my scallops.  Finished with some ribbon and some bella dots- marble garnet.

A quick reminder about our challenge this week.  Just need to use ribbon on your card along with any bella image, send to Emily by thursday night.  I don't have mine done yet, best do that tonight.

Back on friday, see you then,
Pauline

A Poppie of a different colour

Happy Monday! Well not really, but hey it's a holiday for all of our American folk!
Happy 4th of July!
Did you know that Poppies are not always red? Well I thought that was the only colour, until I did some research. They can be white, yellow, orange/yellow, purple (yes a nice deep purple), even some are kind of blueish tones.
For my card today I coloured up Flower Garden which you can find at Stamping Bella.

As you can see I started by stamping the image on bella's bestest paper and coloured using prismacolour pencils.  I choose to go with kind of an pinkish/orange flower to match this gorgeous paper from Memory Box.
I kept this card fairly simple, mainly because I didn't want to take away from the flowers, and secondly the paper was so pretty I didn't want to cover much of it up by layering different paper on top.
Finished it off with some stitching, ribbon, and lots of glitter.

Since it's only Monday, you still have time to participate in our challenge this week. Remember to use ribbon on your card along with a Stamping Bella image, then email Emily your card by thursday night.

Thanks for stopping by,
Pauline

Happy Canada Day!

TGIF! and what a great way to start the weekend with a holiday - Canada Day!
No plans for my 3 day weekend, just enjoy the nice weather we have been having, and maybe make a card or two!

No challenge this week, but I still have a card to share with you.  I was asked to make a birthday card for a very pregnant gal, with that being said, I knew exactly what image I was going to colour.  I pulled out one of my favourite family of images from Stamping Bella called Peeps! I introduce to you PregaPEEP!  How cute is she?

Since I was making this a birthday card, I used some yummy paper from MME called Life of the Party - I thought the cupcake design was perfect for a birthday.
Well you know the ritual, I stamped on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with prismacolour pencils.
Finished up with some stitching, glitter and ribbon.  A perfect birthday/pregnancy card don't you think?

Just a reminder for next weeks challenge. Very simple - just use ribbon on your card! Email your card to Emily by thursday night, there is some bella bucks up for grabs.

Have a great weekend, see you next week!

Pauline