Fall Birthday Bling

Happy Bellariffic Friday - again! Today's challenge was to bling it on! Ya know what I've learned, if you tell me to use bling - I can't quite get it to work in - just sayin! Same with color, ribbon and other embellishments. Give me a free spirit and I can come up with lots of ideas. I guess that's why it's called a challenge. Hmpf!

Today I colored Bessie Lulu from Stamping Bella. She's one of my favorite original Lulu's. And in the tradition of fall, I brought in some golden yellows, rusty browns and teal. I stamped her onto Bella's Bestest paper, colored her with copics and cut her out. She's sitting atop a frame cut with my new Nestie Resplendent Rectangle die. The dp is Authentique Gathering - and it's stamped with a sentiment from my old Stampin' Up! stash.

The background dp is from Simple Stories Fabulous 6x6 pack and it's matted with a rusty red/brown from Bazzil. Glitter adorns the sunflowers and rhinestones embellish the lower right corner. I topped that with a ribbon to match and made a simple bow. Bessie's dress is decked out with teal half pearls from Recollections.

For a little change of pace, I rounded all the edges with a corner punch. The center mat was cut with an EK Success border punch called Fancy Flight.

There ya go, now head on over to the Bella blog to see the other Babes came up with. If ya have time to play along next week we have another sketch for you. Hmmm, what should I color? I'm thinking - are you?

Enjoy your weekend and keep checking Em's blog - her new release is due out soon (not even we know the images or date) and I've seen quite a few I've put on my wish list already!

Ciao,
Cath

Caitlin is bringing on the cupcakes...

Well I guess everyone knows my love of cupcakes...even Bella Boss-lady Em, for she sent me this great image to color for the new release. Yes, Stamping Bella is having another release soon, this week I hope!

Meet Caitlin, the newest member to the Uptown Girl family by designer Lulu. Isn't she fun? The image and all the cupcakes are so fantastic that I wanted that to be the focus of the card...I know I have tons of paper around and I had tons on my desk as I was making this but the papers moved and I was left with the image bordered in Bazzil cardstock and simply loved the simplicity. So I hunted down a sentiment from Uptown Girl Posh has a present and added some red half pearls. There's a ton of glitter sparkle on the skirt, present and Caitlin's hem as well.

The table cloth was stamped onto Authentique 6x6 bundle - Carefree. I found about 8 new paper packs on my trip to Mary Maxim in Port Huron, MI over the weekend. Of course, this one seemed perfect for a table covering and the contrasting bright blue seemed to pop.

I know that the rest of the babes are showcasing new images too so keep checking their blogs as well...I can't wait to shop.

Thanks for stopping by!
Cath

Warm Hugs

Another week has flown by and as the wind came whipping across my neck of the woods it brought some cooler temperatures too. Kind of put me in a hunker down and nesting mood. So for this week's Bellariffic Friday sketch challenge I decided to pull out Lulu's Snowman. I know it's a little too early for the white stuff just yet but when snow is upon us there's never enough time to get all the cards done I need.

This image makes me smile. I remember building snowmen as a kid and now have the pleasure of some pretty cute neighbors that dress theirs up in high fashion! To build this one I started with Bella's Bestest paper, copics and prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. The image panel was cut using layered Nestie circle dies. The edges were sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink for a soft pink glow. The sentiment was cut using layered Nestie petite ovals classic and scalloped. The snow is a combination of Glitter applied over the top of liquid pearls and Viva Decor Paper Pen in cream.

The papers are Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly. They're actually from a sheet of 12x12 that I've been hoarding and thought it was time to break in to. The scalloped border was made with a Nestie and it's the back side of the pink paper. The black cardstock is Bazzil and there's some Neenah classic crest white and Kraft as well. Did ya notice the button bedecked snowflake? I made that with a Martha Stewart punch.

Next week you can play along by adding lots of BLING to your creation. Em's got a new release brewing so some Bella Bucks to spend might just come in handy! I'll have a picture to share with you in a few days...we're traveling yet again for another wedding and I need some time to get my creation done. Head on over to the Bella blog though and see quite a few new images from the other babes and don't forget to leave a comment for yet one more chance to win Bella Bucks. If you're playing along for next week email a photo of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com.

Ciao for now.

Cath

BeWitcheda 'Tude!

Hello there folks! If you haven't noticed, I'm kinda in a Halloween - Fall mood. And today's card follows that theme.

I share with you another image by designer Christy Croll released in rubber through Stamping Bella. This is Bewitcheda 'Tude. She looks more like a kind and gentle witch to me... not so scary or sassy. One of my all time Halloween favorites from the Bella shop though. I paired her with a combination of design papers from My Mind's Eye - Michievous and Lost & Found Halloween. You might notice that I've applied a bit of Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress inks to the edges to give everything an aged dark feel too.

The image was stamped onto Bella's Bestest paper, colored with copics and glued her to the image panel. I hand made the sentiment rosette - fanfolding a strip of dp. The banner, another Cath favorite, was hand cut from the dp. The black bats were cut using an EK Success border punch.

I thought this needed one more thing to catch your eye so I also added some hemp twine tied with a brown button. (It was on my desk and caught my eye.) He he sometimes things just fall into place that way.

Ok - now I'm off to work on this week's sketch challenge. What to color? What to color?

See ya at the end of the week!

Cath

Boo to You!

Hello folks. It's starting to get closer to my favorite time of year ... fall! And with fall comes Halloween. I love to decorate for Halloween. I love all the little kidlets getting dressed up too! So for this week's Bellariffic Friday challenge, I decided to pull out Cristy Croll's image Everyday Princess released in rubber through Stamping Bella. She is the perfect girly Halloween image and I love to deck her out.

For starters, I stamped her onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored her with copics. I added surround shading which is coming out pretty light in this photo - sorry - using prismacolor pencil PC1012 Jasmine blended with gamsol along with French Grey 50% and 90% for the ground. I then combined various papers from a pack I bought at the end of last year by My Mind's Eye called Mischievous. I loved this because it had rusty oranges and teal blues. I little different color palate for the holiday. The image was cut using another new Sizzix die I picked up called Tags Rounded. Machine stitching holds it all together.

Our challenge was to use ribbon and/or buttons, and I've used both. The orange pattern that separates the wordy paper on top and the teal polka dots on the bottom is actually stick-on ribbon by Martha Stewart. It was a pack of fall colors I picked up at a yard sale. Score! The top border was cut using a Nestie scallop edge and then topped with a sheer black ribbon bow. I topped that with a bat button from Little Yellow Bicycle company and tied it with twine from Queen & Co.

The image was adorned with Charcoal glitter applied with a Quickie Glue pen and some Sakura black Glaze Pen for her shoes. The sentiment is also from Bella and I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo black ink.

Next week we are back with another sketch challenge. We hope you can play along with us. There are Bella Bucks for one random contributor and one random commentor so head on over to the Bella blog and share what you think. Ya just never know when those Bella Bucks will come in handy.

Enjoy your weekend. I'm participating in a walk/race for a local charity and then look forward to pulling all my fall decorations out. Woo Hoo!

Thanks for stopping by,
Cath

Seize the cupcake!

Hello folks! If you've followed me for a bit then you've heard my rantings about loving cupcakes. Stamping Bella carries quite a few images for the the cupcake lover and one of my favorites is Izzie with a Cherry on Top designed by Cristy Croll.

Now I must confess that I cased this card, the design that is. I'm inspired by many things - in the places I visit, cruising blogs, store windows and magazines. The paper and layout design for this caught my eye as I was checking out ex-Bella Babe Jeannie - The Spotted Chick's blog. I really liked the tall layout and the mix of October Afternoon papers which I happened to have.

So I stamped Izzie onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her with copics. The cupcake was topped with glitter to give the impression of ultra fine sugar and the cherry was given a glaze with a clear Sakura Glaze pen. Prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol were added for surround shading. The sentiment was computer generated and cut using Nestie Petite Ovals. Red brads, a grossgrain ribbon, along with black machine stitching are additional embellishments.

I hope you'll find this inspiring too! And thanks Jeannie for giving me such a wonderful design!

Enjoy your week!

Cath

Life's too short...

...so make sure you take the time to enjoy the ride! That's what Uptown Girl Vienna and her Vespa are doing. Vienna is my kind of girl. I saw Vespa's on our recent trip out west and was inspired..I'm telling ya, if only I had my craft room there I would have had a ton of cards to make - now they're in my head just itching to come to life.

Vienna, one of the newer Stamping Bella images by artist Lulu, was stamped onto Bella's Bestest paper and trimmed up using my Fiskars swivel hand trimmer. She was colored with copics and highlighted with glitter applied with a Quickie Glue pen. The background cardstock was cut with a Circle Nestie die and Fleur De Lis Motifs. I then put the light pink trough the Cuttle Bug Polka Dot embossing folder. I even distressed it a little with Tim Holtz Tea Dye. The design paper is from Echo Park This & That 6x6 paper pad. (I told ya, I got a ton of new papers - and I'm so excited to use them).

The sentiment comes with the image. I placed half of it on the front and then used the rest to decorate the inside...Leslie do you see that I'm borrowing some ideas from you? I must say, I really like the way this looks. It kills me to not color the image but for the inside it's subtle and flows...I like it.








Thought I'd share a few photos from our trip out west too. I spent my Birthday biking down Pikes Peak. This is a view of the mountains from our hotel in Colorado Springs - The Antler's Hilton.

And this is Hubby and I decked out in our bike gear. We had the ride of a lifetime on this mountain. Our young guide didn't know how much gravity was going to be on our side...we cruised down that mountain!
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Enjoy your week!

Cath

Even Cinderella Gets Married...

Happy Bellariffic Friday folks! I have another non-traditional wedding card to share with you. And in all honesty I have to tell you it didn't come out like I had hoped. We have a fall wedding to attend and it's for another young couple. The bride is a college roomie of our daughters and they have a fetish for princesses. My initial thought was fall colors and an opportunity to use Stamping Bella image Stella's Chariot. Eek - I don't see the image in the shop anymore though. Oh drat!

I had a vision after seeing a frame painted on the side of a building. With my inspiration I set out to bring it to life. I started building the frame using Authentique Enchanted dp and a new Sizzix die (finds on my adventure out west - what's a vacation without a trip to the local paper crafting store). Anyhoo, I built the frame and then stamped the image onto Bella's Bestest paper using Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with a combination of copics and prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I then applied glitter using a Quickie Glue pen. The bottom of the frame was cut using the Tim Holtz "On the Edge" die. I loved the ornate flourish and layered the paper to give it additional interest. I then hand cut some paper flowers using additional patterns from the dp and centered them with Kaiser flat backed pearls. The sentiment comes with the image and I thought it was perfect for my Cinderella gets married theme.

Since this week's challenge was a sketch I had some parameters to meet. And I have to admitt that I loved everything about this card until I went and put the paper, rhinestones and ribbon in the upper left hand corner. I don't know - it seems to clutter it up a bit. But glue and tape were against me and I'm stuck with it. Give me your honest feedback - what do you think?

Want to play along with us next week and have a try for some Bella Bucks? Simply make a card or project using a Stamping Bella image and add buttons or bows. Pretty easy - eh? Don't forget to send a photo of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday night. Now hop on over to the Bella blog to see what the rest of the sistahs have created.

Enjoy your weekend.

Cath