Frankenstorm is on its way...

Hello folks. I hope you are home safe hunkering down with your family or friends if you are in the path of Hurricane Sandy. I happen to be in that path and I must say it was a very wierd day. The commute to work today had very little traffic, most schools and business were closed, the stock market was closed, and the highway was very empty. Alas they let us out early and we've been lucky to maintain power so far. Of course Sandy isn't expected to hit land until around 10 pm but some areas have already lost power. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this isn't a repeat of Irene.

I have another card I made this month that I haven't shared yet. If you follow Bellariffic Friday on Emily's blog you might have seen it. Halloween wouldn't be the same without me coloring one of my favoritist Cristy Croll images - The Mummy, the Witch and the Pirate. They are just so darn adorable. I again pulled the Bo Bunny Apple Cider 6x6 paper pack and Kraft cardstock. Can you tell how excited I am to see Stamping Bella carry this???? Love it.

Ok I stamped the image onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored with copics. I then used a Nestie to cut it out and layered with Bazzil Cardstock. Embellishments are a simple black satin ribbon and Viva Decor paper pen in black.

Stay Safe and hopefully you can use your storm holiday to spend some time in your craft room.

Ciao,
Cath

Spooky Stella sends Halloween Greetings

Today's Bellariffic Friday challenge was a little tricky...three papers, three embellishments and one image. I couldn't miss the opportunity to squeak in another Halloween image so I chose Stamping Bella's Spooky Stella. Annnnd par for the course these days, I stamped her onto Bella's Bestest paper, colored her with copics and added additional shading with Prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol and then cut her out. I just love the way images pop when you do this.

I placed the image onto a circle Nestie with a computer generated sentiment flag - that's one of the embellishments for me. Number two is the trio of black brads in the upper left hand corner and number three is the orange ribbon bow.

You might see that I've added some glitter to Stella's dress, her crown and star wand. The paper all came from the Authentique Enchanted 6x6 collection. Cardstock is Bazzil and Kraft - have you seent that the Bella shop is now stocking Kraft? Soooo excited about that. Oh and the border was cut with a Martha Stewart Spider Web punch.

Yeah - it feels so good to be creating again. Now I hope you can join us next week. We're going to make it easy for you and give you a sketch. Don't forget that there are Bella Bucks up for grabs for one lucky commentor and one lucky contributor. Head to the Bella Blog to see what the rest of the sistahs have to share.

Ciao!
Cath

I'm Alive!

Hello folks! It feels like ages since I have joined blogland. So sorry to have deserted you. About three weeks ago I came down with Shingles. I have been in a tremendous amount of pain and have barely found the energy to make it through my work day only to return home, dive into my sweats, take a pain pill and hit the hay. I've finally been able to forgo the drugs to get through the night and made my way into my craft room for the first time in 3 weeks. My word I've missed it and you!

To get me back into the swing of things, I decided to color an image perfect for the season....Fall! I've colored up the basket of apples from Stamping Bella's Lulu's set of Fruit 4 pack. I found the perfect designer paper - Bo Bunny Apple Cider collection and paired it with Bazzil cardstock.

Nestie dies helped with the scalopped square and the image panel (Labels 18). I started by stamping the image onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored with copics then cut it out. I added it to the image panel with a sentiment flag I hand cut and trimmed it with a hemp bow topped button.

Now that I'm getting my mojo back I have to tackle this week's Bellariffic Friday challenge - 3 papers and 3 embellishments - with of course 1 image. Too bad I couldn't fit that all into this card. Drat!

I'm off to create some more.

See you back here on Friday!
Cath

Charlie's waiting on the Chimney

Here we are once again celebrating Bellariffic Friday. Today's challenge was a sketch and I've stretched some boundaries with this one. First I flipped it. Then, the center had two layered rectangles but I used a circle in a square. Annnnd I cut the image out because I love doing that.

I started by stamping one of Stamping Bella's newest Uptown Girls, Charlie Waits by the Chimney onto Bella's Bestest paper. I colored her with copics, added glitter and then cut her out. She was placed atop an Oval Nestie cut from Red cardstock and then mounted again on a circle. Design papers are by My Minds's Eye. I've tied the center of the card with a red seam binding ribbon bow. Last embellishments are a trio of red half pearls across the top and bottom.

Here's a closeup...

Next week our challenge is Halloween - Image or Colors. One of my most favorite challenges because I LOVE this time of year. Hope you can play along with us.

And now I'e like to share with you the newest Babarooni...Mary Johnson. Mary has been one of my most avid commentors this past year. I've been following her blog and love all her wonderful creations...and boy can she color!!! Imagine my surprise when I received an email welcoming Mary to the Bella Family. You could have heard me screaming WEEEEE all the way to the UK where Mary lives. So Mary, welcome once again. Now head on over to her blog "Where's My Creativity" to check out her work for yourself.

Ciao for now,
Cath

October Release...

Hey Stamping Bella fans, have you seen all the new images Emily released yesterday? I have another card to share with you using a new stamp by designer Rheea. It's called a Little Something for You. I wanted to go a little non-traditional and used teal, burgandy and green as my color palette.

I started by stamping onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored with copics. She was then cut using a Nestie Petite Oval die and then backed with Nestie Floral Ovals. The edges were sponged with first Wheat Versamagic Chalk ink and then Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Weathered Wood. The balloons were given a heaping coat of Stampin' Up! Crystal Effects so they'd shine and I sprinkled glitter in the skyline. The background paper is Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather and matted in Bazzil. A ribbon bow from my stash was meant to wrap this in yumminess and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add a big rhinestone to anchor the sentiment panel.

If you haven't seen all the new images, head on over to the Bella Blog or the Shop to see. I know that my order will be going in today so you'd better leave some inventory for me ok? And in case you needed a little help paying for it all, Em has a special offer through Monday - get 15% off your entire order. Just add code: October2012.

Ciao for now and have a super fantastic day!
Cath