Holiday Wishes

This week's holiday card uses Stamping Bella's Candy Jar with Holly image. This neat little stamp also comes with two holiday sentiments as well.



Who can go through the holiday season without putting a candy jar out? I know it can be my diet downfall. It's so easy to stop by and pick one out. Then you stop back for another and before you know it it's hard to stop. My favorite holiday treat is definately Peanut Brittle. Grandma Soporito always made a tradition of hunting for the blanched peanuts and making batches of this treat to share with everyone. Thank goodness my mother has the recipe and continues the tradition.

Back to the card. Today I did clean and simple. No stitching because I wanted a card that could be duplicated quite easily. Coloring was done with Copic markers. The candy swirls were added with a white Sakura Glaze pen. I left this without alot of extra shading and simply added Swarkovski red crystals and a fine silk ribbon tied into a bow as my only embellishments. The design paper is K&Company. There are two new 12x12 packs out there that I've seen so far so check through them before you quick grab one.

Don't forget to check the Bella blog...Emily should be posting the submissions from last week's Bellarific Friday challenge. I can't wait to see what everyone did.

Hope you have a great week.

Cath

Loralie - Halloween

Yeah, I've finally got a finished card for the October Mary Maxim Copic classes to show you. We choose a Loralie stamp that seemed appropriate... masquerade dancer!



Oh my, I had never seen these stamps before the Novi stamp show in August. But I was very intrigued by the oversized characters. Then Mary Maxim got them in. Rainbow Beauty looked great to decorate Halloween style. Since it's a Copic class, I stamped this image on Neenah Classic Crest cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Shading was added around her and under her with prismacolor pencils. Then, I lifted the skirt with an extacto knife and added some tulle for a nice fluffy lift. Glitter sprinkled with a Quickie Glue pen on the mask gave it a lift as well.

The design paper is from the new Graphic 45 Halloween collection. Loved it! I used the less designed back side so that it would match the harlequin top. Now that wasn't part of the stamp - I had to hand draw that! But I loved the way it looked with the dress. Actually, it's what attracted me to the stamp and then I found it wasn't part of it. Hmph! Now I was challenged to make it work.

A simple sheer ribbon completes the ensemble. If you're in the Port Huron, MI area, give the store a call so you can reserve a spot in one of our classes. I have the contact information listed on my right side bar. They're free and we have a great time!

Have a great evening! I'll try to be back tomorrow with another creation to share.

Thanks for stopping in.

Cath

Go Penn State!

Woo Hoo, it's Bellarific Friday again at Stamping Bella! I love Fridays and they've just gotten better. Were you able to play along this week? The challenge was "Back to School" - whatever that means for you. Well my kids are well past the back to school age. We only have one left in her Senior year at Central Michigan. But I do have a niece that is starting her Freshman year at Penn State. I wanted to send her some snail mail and thought a little cheering from PomPomabella would be appropriate.



I've stamped this cheerleader with Memento Tuxedo black ink onto Neenah Classic Crest cardstock. Coloring was done with Copics while shading was added with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I again added some extra shading with Wheat VersaMagic chalk ink while the panel was left in the Circle Nestie.

A scallop ruffle was added using the EK Success scallop border punch. I simply layered two together. The Penn State mascot logo was generated on the computer and added to the far right scallop to tie in the Penn State theme as well as the Blue/Grey colors.

A fluffy bow was added to the main image panel - it gives you so much more room to punch a hole in the image panel - love the person that tried this first! I had to make this girly so I added glitter with my Quickie glue pen to the pom poms and the bows in Bella's hair. I even added a little shading to the pom poms with my Signo Uniball White pen. Love the texture this gave to them.

Mini-Bella McKenzie has a submission for us as well. She has colored up Stamping Bella. McKenz is using a wheeled backpack for school this year. She was also told that she had to "dress to impress her teacher" for the first day of school so she felt this image would fit the bill as a back to school card.



Next week's theme is a sketch from Linda Bella.



Hope you can find some time this week to play along. Regardless, don't forget to hop on over to the Bella blog to leave a comment for a chance to win $10 in Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cath


Stamp: Pompomabella - Stamping Bella
Paper: Making Memories - Poolside, K&Company - Blue Awning, Bazzil cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Circle Nesties, dimensionals, glitter, Quickie Glue pen, Signo White pen, Wheat VersaMagic chalk ink, EK Success scallop border punch, satin ribbon
Size: 6x5

Triple Decker Prezzies...

Who doesn't love prezzies? I was pretty lucky last week, I got a few for my Birthday and decided that they warranted some love back. I had the perfect image...Triple Decker Presents from Stamping Bella. They're neat little packages all lined up and waiting to be colored. Spots, stripes...Ohhhh. Love em. What color should I do? Well, I'm loving the pink and I had some yummy papers to use so I was off on a mission.

Here's take number one...



Isn't this cute? I made a bunch of these as 4 1/4 inch squares. Perfect for a little note. Coloring was done with Copics so I stamped it up with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Classic Crest cardstock. I wanted to add detailing so I highlighted the circles with a Clear Saukura Glaze pen. The bow on top was decked out with glitter adhered with Quickie Glue. A scrap piece of ribbon topped with a button was my only embellishment.

Here's a look at the inside...



This stamp comes with a cute little mini as well so I stamped it inside with VersaMagic chalk ink and left it uncolored. Simple and I love the effect.

Just because I wanted some variety, I made another set as well. This time I kept the colors brown and pink.



That's it for today folks. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you can play along with this week's Bellarific Friday challenge - Back to School. And that is whatever that means to you...a chance to relax with some joe, reading time with the kidlets...just send your entry to Emily by Thursday night.

See you Friday,
Cath

Birthday Boy!

I love when cards just come together. My nephew has a birthday he's celebrating this weekend and he's no longer in the cutesy age bracket. What to do? No coloring, no ribbons, no bows...I pulled out the Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots embossing folder and Nesties and went to work on stars. I love stars! They're uplifting and bright and make me think happy thoughts. So I went to work on stars.



Primary colors always work well so I grabbed a pack of paper by Making Memories that I've been hoarding for over a year now. It was on clearance at Target (go figure) and was all boy themed. With the aid of Sweet Stop Sketch #71 I quickly got the job done. My fellow Bella Babe, Dana, always uses these and I decided to give it a try. Love how easy it was to find just the right layout, put it together and go.

And I can't believe it but there wasn't any coloring or stamping on this card. The sentiment was computer generated as well as the inside. Take a peek here...



Woo Hoo - I'm not one for kits but this little set had all the components to make this work, including the scallop strip inside.

Have a great week everyone!

Cath


Paper: Making Memories 8x8 Big Kids Boy, cardstock - Bazzil
Sentiment: computer generated - font LD Traditional Print
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Circle Nesties, Star Nesties
Size: 6x5

One down...can't even think how many to go!

I guess it's time to hop on the band wagon...the Christmas card making frenzy band wagon that is. Linda posted this week that she has plans to make one holiday card a week to tackle this task. I've never been on time with making ALL my Holiday cards. Can't even imagine MAKING that many. And at this point, I don't think one a week will actually supply me with enough for all my family and friends that I would like to make one for. But, she's right, you can't wait forever and one is better than none. So I started with Penelope with Prezzies from Stamping Bella.



I have a niece that will be getting this card along with her Christmas presents this year. The image reminds me of her and I just love the look of these presents. They are so fun to color. I've highighted the circles in the wrapping paper with a clear Sakura Glaze pen as well as adorning the bow on top with some Bella glitter applied with Quickie Glue. If you haven't tried this adhesive yet, I highly suggest it. It's easy and neat and your glitter really pops.

Since Copics give a rich vibrant color, I started there. I'm thrilled with how velvety the red dress turned out. Just build layers of red and blend it out. And since I chose Copics, I stamped this with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Classic Crest cardstock. Of course, I shaded around the image with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. The tan shading is actually Wheat chalk ink from VersaMagic that I blended while the panel was still in the Circle Nestie. I love the look of punching a hole in your main design panel so that a bow will sit on top rather than crowding to the side so I've done that here as well.

Ok, now that I've got one down, perhaps it won't be so hard to do another.

Hope you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend. I am thrilled to have another day to hide in my craft room.

Don't forget to stop by Blogabella to see what's on special this week for the Tantalizing Tuesday sale. A small comment from you might turn into some Bella cash. I won $20 the previous week and just bought some of last week's specials - did you check out Battiful Darling for just $0.50? How sweet is that - just in time for Halloween. Elaineabella did an awesome card this week showcasing this stamp.

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon.

Cath


Stamps: Penelope with Prezzies and sentiment(Stamping Bella)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Paper: red dp-Basic Grey, June Bug, greeen dp-Graphic 45, cardstock Bazzil
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, Sakura Clear Glaze pen, Quickie Glue, Bella Glitter, Martha Stewart Embossed Zig Zag punch, sheer ribbon, dimensionals, Nesties Large and Small Circles, and Labels 3
Size: 5x7

Friends come in all shapes and sizes...

Ain't that the truth! And we never know where we'll meet them. This is my first Bellarific Friday post as a Stamping Bella Babe. Woo Hoo. The theme this week was Animals and I chose to use Cristy Croll's Friends come in all shapes and sizes stamp 'cause I loved the message. I am so grateful for everyone that I've met along the way.



Isn't this image adorable! It would make a great little girl's birthday card too! Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock was my starting point along with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Next came coloring with Copics and shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. I know I'm repetitive about that but thankfully mixing up the colors never makes it boring. Glamor Dust Glitter was applied with a Quickie Glue pen on the crown and along the skirt of the Princess. Every little princess deserves to have lots of sparkles right? For a smidgen more, I added a couple tiny pink swarovski crystals along the right side and again on the sentiment panel. Speaking of which, the sentiment was cut with a Spellbinders Oval die and matted with Labels 10. The main image was matted with cardstock and then backed with the Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Rectangles. The design paper is October Afternoon Ducks in a Row. An 8x8 pack that I hoard. But the big circle pattern matched the big cirles in this little lady's skirt. Woo Hoo. And I know that card sizes can be deceiving in photos so note that this is actually 5x7. I finished it off with a sheer fluffy ribbon bow.

And here is Mini-Bella McKenzies card. She was busy last week using Little Mavis and has another creation to share. In case ya'all didn't know McKenz is my 9 year old niece and she loves to create with me and da Bellas.



The Bella Babe lineup has grown this week so don't forget to visit the Stamping Bella Blog to see all their creations too. One lucky commentor has the chance to pickup some Bella bucks. It might be you! Next week's challenge is "Back to School". I had an Ahha moment and know exactly which Bella stamp I am going to work on this weekend. Won't you join us too? Simply send Emily a photo of your creation by Thursday night.

Now, I know that last month brought on some real creativity from the sistahood. About 50 participants joined in each week to showcase their bestest work. I am grateful beyond believe for this opportunity to be part of the team and to promote Stamping Bella products - an easy task I might add as they are so darn stinkin cute! But I want to share with you that creativity is a journey.

So here's my story (a condensed version so you get the gist of it without boring you). I started stamping about 12 years ago. My Mom made cards and dragged me to a party. I quickly realized that I wanted more than just stamping images and cutting paper. A dear mentor introduced me to the Internet. Through the Internet I found oodles and oodles of card styles and designers but the first blog I ever visited was Amy Sheffer's. That girl knows how to make cards! I was always casing her designs. She participated in the Saturday SFYTT with Jen. Jen was a Bella Babe so I started visiting the Bella blog. Colored images started to draw my attention so I went to a Copic Certification class. Amy had a post about an awesome blog - Heavens Created This. I clicked on every photo Linda, another Bella Babe, posted seeking to gain a better understanding of shading and depth with her beloved Copics. My dear son sent me to a pencil coloring class with Paula Williamson yet another Bella Babe as a Christmas gift this year. (Are you seeing the pattern here?) Paula gave me a hands on lesson of building color. With each step along the way I have been drawn to places, images, people that make me happy and feel at ease. Crafting has to be fun. It can be a challenge but what makes this such an outlet for me is that I get to play and make others happy around me too. (At least I think I do.)

During the August DT search - I was crazy about showing you my best work. And yes I had a meltdown or two. But I have the best darn husband around. He went into our bedroom and grabbed this off his dresser.



You're laughing aren't you? Hang with me though. This is a card I made for him about 6 years ago. I hadn't found the Internet yet so this was greatly influenced by a company that liked to cut or rip paper. I also didn't have nearly the supplies that I do today. The gift the kids and I gave him was a trailer so he could tow his Harley for long distance trips. I'm a sissy and hated to have my butt go numb. The annual road trip to Lake George, NY just got 4 hours longer with our move to Michigan - so 10 hours was a little past my limit. The gift might clarify the use of the papers and Harley brad - a bit anyway. But the message is what's important here. He told me "that was then and this is now. It doesn't matter if you win the contest, look how you've grown!"

I have some wonderful new sistahs that I have been getting to know this week. Please keep coloring, keep making cards and keep tyring to be what you can be. Creativity is a journey. Thank you for your support on mine and for visiting with me today.

Have a great weekend!

Cath