Apple of my eye - SFYTT

It's here...Bellariffic Friday has come around again! This week we were challenged to Pop it up...now that's not really a challenge - I put dimensionals on just about every card these days. But...for this card I gave it an extra lift.

I started with Appleybowl Huggabugg another Cristy Croll creation released through Stamping Bella. I have had this stamp on my wish list since last year. It finally made its way to my craft room last week, just in time for fall.. I stamped her onto Bella's Bestest paper with Memento Tuxedo black ink and then colored her with copics. Of course, I also added some shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. My other new found favorite for shading is Tim Holtz Distress inks and I added them to the edges of the lime cardstock along with the image panel.

Want to know where all the dimensionals are? Well, first I POPped the image panel. Then I stamped and colored another bowl of apples. I cut them out and POPped them up on top. I didn't stop there, I stamped and colored one more batch of apples, colored them and cut them out to POP them up one more time. Woo Hoo - that's 3 layers high! Take a closer look.


I added a few extras too...glitter on the wings, crystal effects from SU on the bowl of apples, machine stitching, Cuttlebug embossing folder with distress inks for the green layer, and a simple twine bow. The sentiment is also by Stamping Bella but its from the Polky Apple stamp. I thought it was perfect cut with a Nestie pennant die and adorned with a hand trimmed apple.

Check out all the glitter and shine...


The design paper is 12x12 double sided from Imaginisce called Apple Cider Apple Crisp and it came home with me last Novemeber from the Bella store. Who could resist names like that? It was the last sheet and I was dying to pair it with this stamp. Well the sun and moon finally aligned and the two came together...he he I crack myself up! So dramatic huh?

The sketch is the September SFYTT by Jen delMuro. I'm sneaking it in just in time!

Now head on over to Em's blog to see what all the other Babes and sisters have done. Did you know that there are Bella Bucks up for grabs for one lucky commentor? Yup, so stop on by, leave a note and check back next week to see if you scored. If you want to play along with us - our theme next week is Fall. Hopefully my card today can give you some inspiration in that department. Oh and there's Bella Bucks up for grabs for one contributor too so get your fall colors out and show us your stuff.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Cath

I Heart You

My word, where is the week flying to? Hubby and I spent some time this past weekend in Naples, NY for the annual Grape Fest. Have I told you yet how much I love fall? Well I do and the weekend was fabulous! It was slightly cooler on Saturday with grey skies but as the day moved along so did the clouds. No rain was the hit of the day. I had some fun looking at the vendor's wares in town and found a neat painted canvas banner to decorate my front porch for the winter season. We stopped at a country farm market and I found mums at a bargain...only wish we had more room in the car to bring another one home with us. Anyhoo when you play all weekend it means the real stuff has to get done during the week. After working all day there doesn't seem to be enough time to get it all done. Anyone else have that problem?



So here is a little card I made to play along in this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I started with BeeBee Bittybloom by Stamping Bella stamped onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I colored her with copics and used prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol for the grass. The surround shading was done using Tim Holtz Distress Ink applied with the Adirondak Alcohol Ink applicator. Design paper is from the Authentique 6x6 bundle Uncommon which I found in the Bella online shop. I had to glitter this cutie up and pulled my favorite Quickie Glue pen to apply it. The sentiment actually comes with another stamp Lilly Loveaboo but I remembered that I had it and that it would fit perfectly with this image too. Remarkable I know (that I would remember that is). Image and sentiment panel were cut using Nestabilites dies. The center strip was cut with a SU border punch.

This card was a just because but I think BeeBee would be great for Valentine's Day too. Hmm can I remember that when the time comes?

Now I'm off to work on my POPped card for Friday's challenge. YOu still have time to play along too.

Thanks for stopping by.
Cathy

Irma & Vieno

I am sooooo glad that Mo Manning has brought her fabulous images to Stamping Bella! I simply love to color them. And this pair, Irma and Vieno, part of the latest August release are no exception.

We were given the sketch from Paulinabella so thankfully one decision was down. Next came the paper which was a recent purchase of My Mind's Eye 6x6 pads. This one is from the Lost and Found Christmas collection. I stamped the pair onto Bella's Bestest paper with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with copics. I added the look of aging with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and surround shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol.

Other extras are velvet ric ribbon, a felt snowflake with a Ruby rhinestone and glitter - lots of it. It's one of the best things about snow scenes...you can make them sparkle like real snow by applying glitter with a Quickie Glue Pen. The sentiment is also from Stamping Bella and was cut using a Spellbinders Nesties pennant die.

Next week your challenge is to add some POP to your creation, ya know like dimensionals to Pop something up. Now that's an easy one. I do that alot on my cards so the image panel draws you in or under a button or flower. Don't forget to head on over to the Bella blog to see what the rest of the sistahs have come up with.

Enjoy your week!

Cath

"Un-conventional"

Hello folks! Can you guess what I'm using this card for?

Well, I perused the Bella online store and chuckled when I saw the sentiments that came with this stamp. Yup- two sentiments come with the Daisy Stove stamp. One I used on Mondays card - it's Hot Stuff. The other I used for the inside of this card - "Heard there's a bun in the oven". And that kind of gives it away now doesn't it? Yes, this is a congratulations card for a co-worker that found out she's expecting her first child. And she found out it's a boy so I had to color it in soft blue tones.

I stamped this onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I changed things up a bit though because I colored this with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I went for a quick and easy card too. But you'll find machine stitching, shading with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, rhinestones and a sheer blue ribbon.

Think she'll like it?

See ya on Friday with our Bellariffic Friday sketch challenge.

Cath

Fabby!

Ok, I love this girl. Fabby is a Cristy Croll image released in rubbah through Stamping Bella. Doesn't she look like she's having the time of her life? I can't tell if it's because she's a dancer and finally made Broadway or she just won the lottery and is heading shopping! How cool would either of those be?

Me, I'm doing the happy dance because the sketch is this weeks Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge so I didn't have to think about it. Fellow Bella Babe, Dana is part of the team and I love to check out her blog on Sunday morning. Head on over to Karen's blog to see the rest of this weeks creations.

Let's get down to the details. Fabby was stamped onto Bella's Bestest paper with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with copics. I then added two mediums to give the image panel shading, first, Prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol for the surround color and then Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Scattered Straw for the corners. Oh and I also shaded the white Nestie Blossom Circle with the distress ink too. I'm not so comfortable with all the mixed media art work my fellow Babes have been sharing but I'm slowing trying.

Since the My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Gertie paper was on my desk, I used it here for the dp. The center of the flower was dry embossed using a Cuttlebug Polka Dot folder. Two buttons from my stash and bakers twine adorn the right while a sentiment tag adorns the left. The sentiment actually comes with the Daisy Stove image (you'll be seeng that a little later this week).

You still have time to work on this weeks Bellariffic Friday challenge. It too is a sketch challenge from our very own Paulineabella. Take a look and play along won't you?


Thanks for stopping by ...
See ya later.
Cath

Uptown Girl Claudia...fall style

OMG where did the week go? EEkkk, I realized I never made my way into the craft room which means you've been staring at the same pumpkins for days now. I'll make it up to you. I've got something up my sleeve I'm trying to put together for you all. Stay tuned.

In the mean time, how about a little Uptown girl to make your day? My Bella shipment arrived and I'm in hog heaven with my markers and papers. To start, I decided to color up Claudia in nice fall colors. I have a niece with a birthday next month and that means I'm finally ahead of the game. For color inspiration I used the My Minds Eye Stella & Rose Gertie design paper. Colored cardstock is AC Cardstock. Of course I had to stamp Claudia onto Bella's Bestest paper - only the best for my Bella's. Memento Tuxedo black is my ink of choice so I can color right away and then out came my copics. Believe it or not I had colored a goldfish this week and the golden yellows were on my desk..I had an aha moment and felt they were perfect for matching my paper and giving us a hint of fall.

This stamped image is pretty big so you don't have a lot of room for frills afterwards but I knew I wanted a ribbon. Couldn't find the right shade in my stash though so I pulled out my copic marker Y21 (Totally Love this color) and colored it to match. The sentiment comes with the image and I love making tags so I pulled out a new Nestie ribbon tag and used only the bottom. I feel like bows are naked without an adornment so I pulled a button from my stash and adhered it with bakers twine. Shading around the image was added with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol.

If you look closely at the sucker you can see that I also added some glitter... it's easy if you use your Quickie Glue pen. You might remember fellow Bella Babe Paula's sneak peek creation, she used a alternating color scheme too. The image has the swirls but who hasn't seen these suckers with alternating colors? It screamed for me to repeat the creation here.

Ok so now I'm off to create some more ...I'll see ya back here tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day.
Cath

Are you ready for Fall?

I noticed quite a few changes over the weekend. Days are cooler, the woods smell crisper lots of pine and earth, leaves are staring to turn yellow or are littering the lawn...it means fall is here. Woo Hoo!!! I love fall. Love the colors, the scents, the decorations love everything about it.

So, I had the impulse to color fall. Here's my first card of the season and I used Row of Pumpykins by Stamping Bella. I stamped it onto Bella's Bestest white paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink. Then I colored with Copics. The ground was shaded using prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. Design paper is Memory Box 6x6 Blackbird collection. Cardstock is Bazzil. Nesties Petite Ovals Large and Labels 18 make up the image panel. I had to add some machine stitching and then finished it off with some black brads, a satin ribbon and bow and green victorian brad.

Hope you enjoy your week.
Thanks for stopping by.

Cath

Butch and Mimi

So the Bellariffic Friday animals arrive a day late. I woke up bright and early to finish this for you all and I hope you likey.

I'm a big dog fan myself but Butch and Mimi from Stamping Bella were too resistable. If you've followed Lindabella you know that she has a cute but demanding little Westie named Bessie that reminds me of these two. Now she was lucky enough to have the living model, I had to wing it. So don't look too closely at the ears...I think they are a tad bit too dark. Hmpf!!! I started with Bellas's Bestest paper and stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink. Coloring was done with copics and surround shading was added with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol.

I ran to fellow Babe Danabella's blog last Sunday to find the Sweet Sunday sketch. I was psyched to use sketch 133 as my quide ... it doesn't fit the sketch exactly because I didn't want to use two papers. I had this piece of dp from Fancy Pants sitting in my stash that I wanted to use and I couldn't find anything else to go with it. Funny, I have a TON of paper or so the hubby would say, but I hate when you can't find coordinating pieces. Guess that means it's time to buy some more. Hehe. Anyway, I added a hand dyed seam binding ribbon, some metal brads applied with Scrap Dots and a computer generated sentiment. Those lovely circles were all done with Nesties. Of course, I also had to whip this through the sewing machine for a nice finished look.

Hubby is working so I'm creating and doing some laundry and picking up. Hope you are enjoying your weekend as well.

See ya later folks.
Cath

Animals Friday

Today is Bellariffic Friday - Animal style. Or at least it's supposed to be. Friends, I just couldn't get a card done in time. With my hubby working long days I vowed to pay attention to him and feed him with a nice meal once he did get home so it cut into my creating time drastically.

Our county is still responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. On top of that we just had 4 straight days of rain and with creeks already running high it meant more flooding again. School has been delayed until next week so Highway crews can repair the washed out roads and bridges.

So, I promise to finish the card that is in pieces on my work table over the weekend.But for now, hop on over to the Bella blog and see what the rest of the Babes have to show you along with all the sistahs too!

Please make note that we are taking next Friday off as Emily, Paula and Linda will be heading to Mall of America to teach some classes and demo Stamping Bella stamps. When they get back we have a sketch from super talentd Paulineabella for you. That means you'll have two weeks to play so I'll be waiting to see your lovely creations.


Until the weekend...
Cath

Rain or Shine

I made this card using Shower Bugg, a stamp designed by Cristy Croll for Stampng Bella, after a weekend filled with sun, rain and Neighbors helping Neighbors. Let me explain...

We had some more rain this weekend. It was the fear of Greene county after last weekend's Tropical Storm Irene. My husband along with numerous volunteers in and out of state and the National Guard have been manning the emergency operations center and dealing with the cleanup of mountain towns that lost a great deal. They have been working all day, all night to bring some normalcy to these people who have suffered greatly. I made my first trip up on Saturday and saw the creeks that had swelled to massive rivers. They took everything in their path and have left a trail of downed trees, caked clay and mud and everything else they picked up along the way...boats, school buses, cars, timber, house parts and a ton of rocks.

On Sunday I actually went up to the ski resort town of Windham. Much of the town is open to local traffic or relief workers only. That is, what is left of the town. A local group from my hometown called Neighbors helping Neighbors volunteered to do laundry services for the mountaintop folks. It was a free service with the machines, soap and manpower being donated by the Coxsackie neighbors. I volunteered to help by driving up to retrieve dirty bags of clothing while passing out the clean clothes done the night before. What I found was destruction that I could not comprehend. Parts of the roads were swept away and the Transportation crew was working diligently to fill it back in. As the water raged down the culverts in front of people's houses it took the only means of exit from their property with it. Huge ravines were created with cars on one side and the road on the other. In many places the road was reduced to one lane as the workers tried to rebuild what the water took. Once in town I found the bridge with the house that came to rest against it, the school bus that floated down the street, cars that were imbedded into the banks of what was once the creek. Restaurants and shops with blown out windows, doors ripped off and all the contents sitting alongside the street caked with a red clay mud that seemed to be the new ground cover in this once idyllic resort town.

A trip to the actual ski resort had me in shock. The parking lot is now a mess. The water ripped it to shreds as it rushed down the mountain. Beautiful landscaped break walls were blown out. It picked up black top and rippled it so that huge craters were left behind.

The DOT is using the lot across the way to store great amounts of stones that are being used to secure roadways again. An ever present sign on the trip up or down the mountain was construction trucks used to transport the rock up, dump trucks and waste vehicles trying to bring in containers to clear the trash away. As you can imagine, trash is the new problem. Where do you put a mountaintop full of trash and household possessions that have been destroyed. Mold is also a growing concern.

I have a few pictures I've gathered to put this all into perspective for you...

Beth's Cafe in Prattsville, NY. This is the local diner Shaun and I had breakfast at last month on one of our exploration trips on the motorcycle. It was flooded up to the second floor.


Right across the street from that a garage was moved from its foundation where it came to rest on another building and a police cruiser.


A house down the street had the misfortune of being built next to the creek. When the creek flooded it created a new path right under the foundation of the house. The house is for sale...I don't think it's likely that a buyer will come in now.


This was a goreouse Victorian house. It reminded me of a child's doll house that might have been recklessly tossed in the play room. Note that the foundation was destroyed and it is actually leaning forward. To put it into perspective for you, the ground is mid-way to the first floor window.


Power lines held but the telephone poles could not withstand the force of the water. Crews are working nonstop to restore power.


Roads rippled like ribbon candy as the water plowed a new course.


And this was a common scene of roads with broken access.


This home lost its backside to the Batavia Kill, a creek which meandered through Windham, NY.


Cars ended up all over the place.


The Holiday was a means to have numerous volunteers ready to help clear towns. I think it will be some time before all is well here again.

Please keep the victims of Mother Nature in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cath

Summer's End

Well folks, I'm sad to see the summer come to a close. But that's what Labor Day weekend brings here in the States. I felt that I had better get to coloring Ida Lulu by Stamping Bella before another summer comes and goes. Yup this is season number two and yet she was still in her original wrapper. See, I get a little intimidated too...

Now I can't take credit for the design of this card though. I was doing a google search like always and came across a card by Sandra McLean that I fell in love with. I had to share it with you. What I loved best about this was the neat addition of fishnet stockings. Look close now because I had to hand draw them in. Awesome idea Sandra! Ida looks so sexy!

To start, I stamped Ida onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink. Then I colored with copics. I also added some shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. To make her hair pop, I went over it with a Black Glaze pen. Her sunglasses have a coating of Crysal effects by Stampin Up! If you look closely at the flower in her hair and on her bathing suit, I added a pink swarkovski crystal.

The background paper is AC cardstock, the design paper is October Afternoon. Spellbinder nesties helped frame the image panel along with machine stitching. The blue sky shading and grass were done with pencils. The sentiment is from Verve and it had a ton of dust on it...seems Bella's find their way into my cluthes most often. Hehe. A simple black ribbon bow finishes this off.

I hope you enjoy your holiday.
See ya soon.

Cath

Reading Reverie

It's Back to School time! And for the first year in eons, I don't have to fret over buying supplies or hauling a ton of stuff up 3 - 4 flights of stairs in the dorms or student housing. All our kidlets are done with school! I know that it does mean lots of school-age children, parents and teens will be reading! So for this weeks Bellariffic Friday post I have colored up Reading Reverie by Stamping Bella.

I had a stash of design paper from Paula sitting on my desk that I decided to use. I have no idea who the manufacturer is but I loved the green/brown combo and thought the September calender paper used on the circle was so perfect! I stamped the image onto Bella's Bestest paper with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with copics. I also used prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol to add shading, the grass and the soft blue glow around the image.

Glitter applied with a Quickie Glue pen added some bling to this studious babe's skirt. The white border strip was made with a Stampin Up! punch. Machine stitching and a satin bow finish this off. Please note, I had a hard time getting that pink satin to photgraph right. Sorry, I hate when that happens.

Next week your challenge is to use Animals...paper, stamp, or embellishments but make sure it's a Stamping Bella image. You can submit a photo of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday night for a chance to win some Bella bucks and to be included in the weekly Friday lineup. Double your chances and stop by the Bella blog and leave a comment for another shot at some Bella bucks!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Cath