It's A Happy Mother's Day Bellariffic Friday

Yeah, this week's challenge has me ahead of the ball game - finally. I can't tell you how many times I loose track of time only to have special events sneak up on me. So I am super psyched to have this on my done list.


I couldn't resist the big bouquet of flowers that Patsy Pixie, one of the new releases from Stamping Bella, is playing in for my Mother's Day card. I also couldn't resist the Stella and Rose design paper - Gertie, by My Minds Eye. I started with Bella's Bestest paper and stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored with copics but I used the coloreless blender to "paint" the color on with. Of course then I used prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol to add shading. If you look close, you can also see that I also added some glitter applied with the Quickie Glue Pen to give the appearance of days first dew.

Next week our challenge is Flowers - bring it on girls, your paper, embellishments, or your stamped image. Be creative but don't forget to send a photo of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday night.

Caio for now.
Cath

Do you Facebook?

Hello Bella fans. Just wanted to share a little facebook contest we will be doing this week starting this morning to get the Facebook page up to 2,000 fans. Em is giving away a $25 gift certificate to ONE lucky member who is new to the Facebook page that 'likes' us, and also ANOTHER $25 to the person who referred them! SO generous! So, basically, from now through tomorrow night they'll have to say "blank referred me" on the Stamping Bella page's Wall and we'll choose a random winner to announce on bella-riffic Friday.

How's that for some fun money?

I also wanted to share a card I received from Ebrubella.

She is so gosh darn talented. She sent me this awesome creation she drew and colored herself. I love it! Stop by to tell her how great she is.

See ya back here soon.

Cath

April's SFYTT

My latest Stamping Bella order was filled with the baby animal stamps I bought with the intention of stocking up on my supply of baby cards. For my first one I've chosen Animals - Spotted Giraffe and Jen delMuro's April Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT). And I'm sneaking it in just in time as the month is quickly coming to and end.

Color inspiration came from October Afternoon's Campfire design paper. Of course, I started coloring with copics on my Bella's Bestest paper. But I added additional shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol and Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink. Cardstock is Bazzil. Machine stitching in both zig zag and straight stitches were added as well as some red brads.

Don't forget to get out an image for this week's Mother's Day Bellariffic Friday challenge. You can send Emily a photo of your card to be included in this week's post at emily@stampingbella.com.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cath

Happy Easter Chickies!

Happy Easter folks! Hope you were able to share the day with family. I've had my Sister in town and the mini-Bella's. We've been exploring, had an adventure trip to NYC, colored, baked, played games and just laughed all weekend.

I wanted to share this card that I made for the girlies Easter present.

Sissy and I call them Chickies so this Stamping Bella stamp called Chick Stack was perfect. I wanted to keep it clean and simple so I colored the chicks up with copics on Bella's Bestest paper and added a computer generated sentiment. I used my new Nestie die and matted the image with Kraft cardstock and a satin ribbon bow. It ended up being only 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches square.

I added another piece of cardstock to the back so this would stand. Pretty easy, just line up a piece of cardstock that will start below the holes on the top of the card but goes all the way to the bottom of the card. So for this I needed 3 1/4 inches. I then needed to add about 3 inches more - enough to attach to the back without being seen through the holes at either the top of bottom of the frame. I folded the cardstock at 3 inches and glued it to the back of the image panel.

Hope you have a wonderful week. I have a neat card to show you a little later so stop on back ok?

Cath

Butterfly Wishes

First off, so sorry for the late post. My computer has been riddled with computer viruses that spy ware software never found. My sissy came for a visit and has been working on cleaning things up. I'm frustrated that I bought software and use it regularly but it can't find all the bad things people use to hijack your computer. Three programs later, I think I'm good to go.

So now I can share my Bellariffic Friday creation.

I dappled in some of the mixed media frenzy from the Stamping Bella booth at Scrapfest. Isabelle's Eclectic Butterfly stamp intrigued me. The buuterfly wings were beautifully shaped and I loved the script writting in the background. I decided to stamp it using Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink first and made a tag on ivory cardstock. Then I stamped the image again on another piece of cardstock using Red brick distress ink. I cut that one out and attached it over the antique linen one. A few rhinestones were added to give shape to the body and a Bella sentiment was added using Cocoa Memento ink.

I used three design papers and stitched them together for the background and then added more distress ink to give it an aged appearance. Simple machine stitching brought it all together. It felt good to make a card that didn't require coloring but yet was full of color. There are a few more of Isabelle's stamps on my wish list and I look forward to dappling some more in this cardmaking medium. You should deffinately see what Linda and Paula have been up to using some of her stamps.

Next week's Bellariffic Friday challenge is Mother's Day. This should ensure that you have a card made on time for someone special in your life. I'm so thankful for Dana's planning ...she keeps us on track! Send a copy of your card to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday night to be included in the Bellariffic Friday post. And she always has Bella bucks up for grabs for one participant and one commentator.

See ya soon babes!

Cath

Cherry Blossoms yet?

Hello folks. It's National Cherry Blossom time in Washington DC. Have you ever been to see the spectacular show? I've only seen pictures but the thought of it motivated me to bring out Stamping Bella's Cherry Blossom Bittybloom. I also dug out some Graphic 45 design paper I bought specifically for this image.



I've colored with copics but added shading with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol. My new copics arrived and I couldn't resist the urge to start using them. So, I grabbed my new YG61 and blended it with my old YG63. Love having a new range of color to play with.

Details: Card size 5x5, Stampin Up! Kiwi Kiss and Dusty Durango cardstock, Bella's Bestest paper for image,Memento Tuxedo black ink, Graphic 45 design paper, Nestie Label 18 and Classic oval, May Arts ribbon, silk flower, Tim Holtz metal leaf, glitter, black brads and black machine stitching in both straight and zig zag stitches.

There's lots of fun, new activity on the Bella Forum. Jessabella has been drumming up new chat threads, contests and gallery activity. Won't you come and join us?

See ya on Friday for the Free for All Bellariffic challenge.

Cath

Some Bunny Loves You

I'm sneaking in one more Easter card. This is a Cristy Croll image for Stamping Bella called Animals - Bunny. It's a small image but it's perfect for circle Nesties. I was even able to make this A2 size and I haven't done that in ages.

I stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink onto Bella's Bestest paper and colored with copics. You can probably tell that I also used prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol to add shading, the sky and the grass. Design paper is Basic Grey Olivia and it's bordered by a Stampin Up! Border punch. The card background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. Machine stitching and a simple sheer bow finish this off.

That's it for today folks. If you're on Spring Break - I hope you're someplace fun. If it's a normal week for you how about participating in this week's Bellariffic Friday challenge, it's Free Form which means use any Bella image anyway you want. Don't forget to send a photo of your creation to Emily@stampingbella.com by Thursday.

Have a great week!

Cath