Cupcake Flynn

Happy Bellariffic Friday! For today's challenge we had another sketch to play with. And I loved this one! It was the perfect sketch for cutting out an image and showcasing it. And I love the way images look when they are cut and popped up on dimensionsals.

Today I share a Cristy Croll image released in rubber through Stamping Bella called Cupcake Flynn. I stamped her onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored her with copics. No pencils today folks! Design paper is My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Life of the Party. With the cute little cupcake design I thought it would fit perfecty with Fynn's cupcake dress. The vertical panel was cut with the Nestie Label 22 die and matted with cardstock as well as the rest of the design paper (all from Stampin' Up!). The sentiment was hand made and printed onto another Nestie - a tag die. Double sided satin ribbon and machine stitching complete this card.

If you have time to play next week, our challenge is to add EMBOSSING to your card - dry, wet whatever makes you happy. Don't forget to share it with us though ok? Send a photo to Emily@stampingbella.com.

Enjoy your weekend. We're traveling - again! It's Graduation time and we've got another celebration to make.

Thanks for stopping by.
Cath

Summer Days!

Oh how I love Summer Days! And our very own Paulabella has captured them so wonderfully in her set of 2x2 stamps...aptly titled "Summer Days"! Can you feel the soft breeze sweeping off the lake onto the porch with this swing? I'll bet this image ellicits some sort of memory from days gone by...I know it does for me.

Short and sweet - I stamped the image onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento tuxedo black ink. I then colored with copics and added depth shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. The image panel and main card were cut using Nestie dies. I then added machine stitching and dp. I think this is from Memory Box but it came from a Paula care package eons ago.

A soft colored seam binding bow topped with my ever favorite button and twine and simple sentiment finish this off.

There's still time for you to participate in this week's sketch challenge check it out.

Enjoy your lazy summertime day!

Cath

Diplomabella

Happy Friday folks! Today I'm super psyched to head back home to celebrate my niece's Graduation from High School. It should be a mini reunion of sorts since I'll also get to visit with lots of family both who live in Rochester and those that are coming in to celebrate as well. And wouldn't you know - this week's Bellariffic Friday challenge was bring on the girls...a perfect opportunity to bring out Diplomabella from Stamping Bella.

Last time I stamped this image was for my other niece's Graduation...same school, so same colors. I had to switch this up a bit so I decided to play along with Karen Giron and the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge (SSSC#161). With my sketch decided I went on the hunt for papers. I had to use royal blue and reds (the school colors) and found Making Memories Large Floral Rouge Paperie, Confetti Parade "Celebrate" flowers and Bazzil cardstock.

To start, I stamped the image onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with copics. Shading was added using prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I liked the idea of this graduate being outside so I added the background cloud shading with Prismacolor Non-Photo Blue and sprinkled glitter over Quickie Glue. I then cut the panel out with a Nestie Rectangle die and the mat with the Scalloped Rectangle. I wanted to highlight the school emblem from the Graduation announcement so I cut that too with a Nestie Circle die and matted it and then hand made the folded medallian behind it. Pretty easy...cut a 12x1 inch strip of dp and score every 1/4 inch then fold back and forth and gather together to make a circle. Then you push the center together and hot glue onto a small paper circle. It makes it easier to adhere the medallian to the card later on. But before I did all that I added Quickie Glue to the edges and ran it through glitter so that too had some sparkle. To apply the school emblem to the medallian I used Scrap Dots from Helmar. They are perfect since it's a very liquid adhesive that will hold to imperfections like you'll find on the medallian surface. And it dries hard but you have to let it sit for a bit.

I pulled out my Nesties one more time to add the red and blue banner flags. They're perfect every time and Karen's sketch called for them today. Machine stitching finishes this off. I'll be linking this up to Karen's blog too.

Phew - I hope you're still with me - that was a long one. Next week we have another sketch challenge so pick any Stamping Bella image and give it a whirl.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!
Cath

Baby Congrats!

I love Stamping Bella! Wanna know why? Well there are lots of reasons but the best answer for me to that question is that I can find a stamp for every occassion I have. Take today's card using Babycakes! It's an oldy but goody. I have a friend whose daughter just found out she is expecting. I wanted to send her a quick note and immediately thought of this image. I wanted to keep it a little neutral since I don't know if it's boy or girl so I chose to color in shades of yellow and green but I've thrown in some pink on the hearts and blue on the plate.

I started by stamping the image onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I then shaded with prismacolor pencils - alot - especially in between all the layers. I even added some glitter because if it is a girl she'd appreciate it I'm sure. Grossgrain ribbon tied into a bow, topped with a flower button and a sentiment were the only embellishments.

This is the sketch I've used as my guide but you can see that I made it a square card instead of a rectangle and the bow replaces the series of buttons on Ebru's sketch. Hope that's ok for you all. Oh and I've added Tim Holtz Scattered Straw Distress Ink to the edges of all the papers. And don't look too close at the top of the image panel...drat, I know you just went there...it came out a little dark but I wasn't letting this go to waste! Design paper is from K&Company and the cardstock is Bazzil. Spellbinders dies were used for the image panel and mat.

Next weeks challenge is to INK UP THE GIRLS - yup easy peasy, pick your favorite girl image and give it a whirl for us. If you have too hard of a time picking your favorite (I know that's the case for me since there are so many I love) then just show us one of your favorites. Don't forget to send a photo to Em@stampingbella.com by Thursday night and then head to the Bella Blog to see what everyone is lovin!

Enjoy your weekend!
Cath

Hello Peeps! I have another card using Uptown Girls Patty and Dotty from Stamping Bella to share with you today. I even tried a trick I've seen some of the other Babes use - cropping the image so that only a portion of it is in the image panel. I have a hard time cutting any part of these glorious images off but I wanted to take up less real estate on the face of this card so it just seemed to work.

To start, I stamped the girls onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored them with copics. I then added dimensional shading using prismacolor pencis blended with gamsol. I then cut the image panel out using Spellbinders Classic circle dies. The matt of cardstock behind it is a Spellbinder die called Picot Edge circles. The design paper is from the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found II 6x6 Blush paper pack. I liked the way I could incorporate the Paris theme with these two decked out girls.

The adornments are a pink felt heart cut using a Spellbinders die then topped with a button and twine along with a hat pin. The pink ribbon border is from Close to My Heart - and I machine stitched it to the card. In the upper left hand corner I added two pink Dew Drops and glitter adorns the dresses and boas. Finished card is 5x6 inches.

You still have some time to work on this weeks Bellariffic Friday challenge - pick any sketch we've used this year and give it a whirl again! Don't forget to send a picture of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday night so it can be included in the Friday Blog lineup.

See ya later this week.

Cath

Big Guy Grilling

Hey folks! Have you checked out the latest Stamping Bella release yet? No, well head on over to the Bella Blog to see them all decked out and shining for you. I mean we've got two new artists, more Mo's and Uptown Girls and Em has even come out with her own new set. Girls, they are all so fantastic! I'll be dying until they make it across the border! Ok now let's move on to the real reason you have stopped by...it's Bellariffic Friday. This week we were challenged to make a masculine card. I pulled three images onto my desk (all from Mo) and my mojo was caught on...Big Guy Grilling! I love this image. I've colored it before so this time I decided to add some paper piecing to the mix.

You've probably guessed that I started with Bella's Bestest paper and Memento Tuxedo black ink. Coloring was done with copics and shading was added with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. But for the shirt, I picked a rather large and wild Basic Grey print from the Wisteria 6x6 pack that reminded me of a vacation shirt. Then I added some design papers that I propably would not have otherwise put together...Basic Grey June Bug and My Mind's Eye Madison Ave 12x12. Cardstock is Bazzil, the border is by Martha Stewart, metal brads adorn the lower corner and machine stitching finishes this off.

Next week our challenge is a sketch...pick your favorite sketch we've used so far and color up any Stamping Bella image. Can't wait to see what you come up with. And I really mean that too...I love to head to the Bella Blog to see what images you've colored and how you've interpreted the sketches. So join us and maybe you'll be the random winner of some Bella Bucks and wouldn't that be great right now so you can buy some images from the newest release.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Cath

Pippa and the fruits of her garden...

Hey all! Have you been checking out the sneaky peaks Emily and the Babes have been sharing for the newest Stamping Bella release? You have to check out the Bella blog to see them all but I wanted to share one of the newest Uptown Girls...Pippa. Pippa came to me at the most appropriate time, I've been working double time in our yard establishing some new gardens. This weekend I finally got the flowers planted. Next week I'll get all the vegetables in. So in honor of all you gardening peeps...enjoy the fruits of your labor!

I started with Bella's Bestest paper and colored with a combination of copics and prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I also added pencils for the grass and the surround shading. I've liked the way Lindabella and Paulabella have been making the surround shading look like clouds. I know there are multiple techniques used to do this but I love the soft shading spreading out and dusted with glitter so I've used that here today. Love it! Thanks for the inspiration girls!

Design papers are from My Mind's Eye Mss Caroline Howdy Doody 6x6 pack. I've distressed the edges with a nail file so it looks a little shabby chic but on the right I also stitched it to Bazzil cardstock. The sunburst on the left was made with a Nestie Lotus Pendant die - also with Bazzil cardstock. The sentiment comes with the image. The front only has a portion of the full saying...the rest is in the inside. I used scraps from the dp in an effort to be resourceful and reduce the pile that never seems to leave the corner of my desk. Here's a little view of that.

Release day is Thursday so get your list going and your pennies out of the piggy bank.

See ya,
Cath

Flutterby

I can't believe June is here! Where the heck did May go? Since we've closed on our house - we've spent the whole month in the yard trying to add gardens to our vast open landscape. Thanks to a friend from Michigan, we have about 10 new hostas, Johnny Jump Ups and a Red Hydrangea. Planting them was a bit of an undertaking but we're getting there. I wanted to send her a thank you card for the freebie plants she split from her garden and I had an aha moment...Stamping Bella has a wonderful Butterfly stamp called Flutterby that seemed perfect for a thank you especially for plants! I also wanted to incorporate my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers with my ink pads and dreamed about cutting the image out and placing it on a colored center panel.

So for this week's sketch challenge I started by cutting a small 2 1/2 inch square of Bella's Bestest paper. Then I applied Tim Holtz Distress Inks using a sponge applicator from the following colors: Barn Door, Broken China, and Rusty Hinge. Then I stamped Isabelle Norris' Eclectic Mini Mesh stamp with Vintage Photo distress ink and stamped it in the center of the square. Next, I stamped the Butterfly onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers: Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade. I then cut the image out and attached it to the square panel. And, I paired all of these wonderful colors to use with the Simple Stories Summer Fresh 6x6 design paper. I simply adore this paper! I even found a small snipet with a sentiment and wagon full of flowers that I thought would match perfectly for this card.

Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to add some machine stitching and glitter as well as grossgrain ribbon across the center. Nice and easy and yet totally new techniques for me. I was pleased with the result and can see me making a few more of these clean and simple cards for Notes and Thank Yous.

Next week our challenge is to create a Masculine card. With Father's Day right around the corner and Graduations, this might be the perfect opportunity to get them done. Hope you can play along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cath