paper possibilities

anastasia in red...

Happy BellaRIFFIC Friday, Happy Weekend!

I am feeling so much better since my sinus headache has finally gone away. It's hard to think straight at times, when all my eyes want to do is shut. I came home from work yesterday and took a nap on the couch. As much as I LOVE to nap, I don't do this during the week unless I'm not feeling good. Yesterday...I just didn't care. I had to close my eyes for a while and if I didn't fall asleep last night...well, today is FRIDAY!!

This week we had a sketch challenge to play with {compliments of Ebru!} and I have to say...mine is still missing the sentiment. How sad is that, lol. Take a look...I followed the sketch 100%.

I sat and clipped and trimmed little alphabet flag tags...but those will have to make it to next weeks card, because they just didn't do it for me. I was able to pull them off before they dried {thank gosh}.

Have you met Anastasia yet? Ohhhh, I am guilty of not yet coloring up all the latest Greenbean Baby girls from a while back. Now, they're all inked and waiting on my desk...with ALL my NEW rubber that showed up this week. {who wants to come over for a stamping party??} I am getting off of Anastasia a little...I right away knew I wanted to turn her into a Valentine card. Doesn't she look like a 'smart cookie' and I think I can come up with a fun Valentine sentiment. {it just didn't get done last night}

I was able to do her glasses in a realistic way and that made me pretty happy. I always struggle with glass and water elements, hehe, I avoid them! But, I'll share with you what I did for this little girl. I colored everything but the glass portion of her eyeglasses. Since my light source is always coming from the upper right hand corner, I imagined her glasses would be highlighted on the left sides of the lenses. So, if you pop this photo up...I added some COOL GREY 90% i the upper right corner of the glasses and blended it over to the left. Then on top of it all, 3 coats of Sakura Clear glaze pen. {let each layer dry a bit before adding the next}

...card recipe:

Finished size is 5" x 6 1/4", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Crate Paper 'Paper Heart' pp, 'Anastasia' from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Sakura Clear glaze pen, Distress ink in Antique Linen, nesties, glitter, ribbon & sewing.

Ok, a couple weeks ago..I got mixed up with the challenges and NOW is the week we are doing the VALENTINE challenge ~or~ you can do a red/pink/white card.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! & see ya soon!

i {heart} a girl named lucille...

!!Hola friends!!

Have you been trying to decide what to buy over at Stamping Bella? I mean really, life should be so hard, right? I asked Emily where the 'gotta-have-it-all' button was. When she shot me down about making me one, I had to load up the shopping basket. Now I'm waiting for Mr. UPS to toss a package on my deck.

I have been busy loading my cards up in my Splitcoaststampers gallery, so you may have seen this card in the forum, or maybe on Emily's blog. But, just in case you missed her...check out Lucille. Yeah, she's an UPTOWN Girl!!

...and I am in L.O.V.E. with her. She colored up pretty darn quick, until I got to layering all the Sakura clear glaze pen on the hearts. {you need to let each layer dry a bit before adding another. if not, the still damp paper might scratch away while you are laying down the next clear layer}

Lucille comes with a fun little sentiment and I placed it across her long legs. I figured, with legs that long, who'd notice. Sprinkled with glitter and loaded with LOVE, Lucille is perfect for Valentine's Day or any time you wanna spread the love.   :)

..card recipe:

Finished size is 5 1/2" x 61/2", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Crate Paper 'Paper Heart' 6x6 pad, 'Lucille' UPTOWN Girl w/ sentiment from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Sakura clear glaze pen, glitter & sewing.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend, I am making some soup and chilling {I mean keeping WARM} at home today. Don't forget our sketch for friday's challenge.

see ya soon! 

no more pink?...

yes...it's time for a change @ the old blog.

I have changed my font and I wanted to mess around on typepad to find something fresh and clean. I LOVE the choices that blogger offers, but if I moved this, all over to that site, I don't wanna chance what I could lose. I have said it many times, this chick ain't tech savvy and I like the small clicks here and there...not anything too confusing.

This suits me, or at least my card style. {think, simple} I just bought some material in black/cream, like the above banner. Must have been a sign?

~Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend~

 

stampin' sistah...

Hello Friends and welcome to BellaRIFFIC Friday!!

This blond got her challenge twisted around and I inked up a stamp that had not seen ink. I have no idea what I was reading last week, but I promise...at the end of this post...I will have the correct challenge for next friday. lol...on with the show! 

Since stamping can be such a social activity with sharing...what a better card to share with others who know what that feeling's like. That's why I picked this Stamping Bella sentiment, haha. I wanted a funky paper that was very hip and right now grey/yellow is a hot combo.

...card recipe:

Finished size is almost 5" x 7", Authentique pp, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Bazzill cs, 'sistahoodabella's' & sentiment from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, glitter and sewing.

Are you ready for the nect challenge? {remember...I'm getting it correct} It's a sketch!! woohoo, lucky us! Check it out...

Do you remember me mentioning that our talented & generous Ebrubella has gifted us with a years worth of sketches? It seems that sketches are really loved by so many card makers. We asked, you told spoke to us and we listened. Ebru is our sketch guru @ Stamping Bella, for those joining us since Emily {Stamping Bella} has re-joined Splitcoaststampers.

Have you checked us out yet?

Have you got a chance to check out the *NEW* release? Emily has new artists and new lines and you can check it all out HERE.

Keep warm, stay cool and keep on colorin', where ever you are!! See ya soon.    :)

two sneak peeks here...two sneak peeks...

Welcome to the special *sneak peek* for Stamping Bella's JAN 2012 release!! We are supposed to taunt & tease you with all the *new* images...but Emily isn't letting them outta her hands until tomorrow.

I have to tell you that we'll pretty much be seeing the release together...because I know what images I got to color, but I don't know what all the other girls got. So guess who's gonna be stalking the Bella's BLOG! Me!!

So, ya wanna see what I have for you? I hope so, because first up is an UPTOWN Girl... meet Molly. Her bags are packed and where in the world is she going to now...

I'm gonna tell you where she is not going, and that's on a card. This girl is traveling first class and in a frame. I have to tell you that there are certain things I color that I really consider small works of art, not to be hidden away in a drawer. Sneaky, eh? Put it in a frame and ya gotta keep it out to look at.

I couldn't stop at just one *new* release image, so I asked for 2 and Emily gave me an image from a new line and she's called Ramona. Check her out and just in time for Valentine wishes.

Is she not the sweetest, looking for someone to love. I'm pretty sure she'll catch someone with that glossy red heart on the end of her fishing pole.

 

So, there you have a couple images to get you warmed up for what comes out tomorrow. If you've been stopping by on Splitcoaststampers, than there will be a gallery for all the new rubber, you can look at all the samples all together.  :)   What can be better?

..card recipe: Framed piece is 5"x 7" and from IKEA, Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Echo Park Times & Seasons 6x6 pad, 'UPTOWN Girl Molly' w/ sentiment from Stamping Bella, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, photo corners & sewing.

Ramona card: Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Echo Park 'Yours Truly' 6x6 pad, 'Ramona Fishing' w/sentiment from Stamping Bella, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Ranger Glossy Accents {for heart}, string & sewing.

I hope you see a thing or two you like in this release!! Happy SNEAK PEEK monday!! woohoo   :)

happily ever after...

We are back, officially, to BellaRIFFIC fridays for a whole new year! I hope that 2012 is treating you with creative ideas. If not, don't worry...the mojo will return when it's ready. {we all experience this at times}

This first challenge was a sketch challenge, supplied by our Babe, Ebru. She is supplying all our sketches for this coming year and if they are anything like this one, we are all in for some awesome cards! Here's mine... 

'Eunice & Irving', all lovey dovey and ready for that special someone on Valentines' Day.    :)

I went old school paper here, pulling out my pad of 'Bittersweet' from Basic Grey. I needed the browns since there was a boy in the image. I have to tell you, I still struggled with the placement of the patterns and the choice I had to work with.

I picked a sentiment from Stamping Bella, that I don't think I have used before.... So really, this may seem more anniversary suited. Either way, I hope you got a chance to play along, and maybe drop into the forum to say "hello". I have started conversations/'threads' on asking babes a question, tv, daily chit-chat. Then there are places to talk about mixed media, pinterest...so much more. You can even start your own conversation.

...card recipe: Finished size is approx. 4 1/2" x 6", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Basic Grey 'Bittersweet' pp, 'Eunice & Irving' & sentiment from Stamping Bella, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, & sewing.

Next weeks BellaRIFFIC Challenge is INK UP AN UN-INKED IMAGE. hehe, ya know we all have something we bought and still have not colored up. Best intentions at heart, but somehow...it just hasn't been done yet. Now's your chance to show your stuff and share!    :)

Emily is feeling much better and her Art Journaling Monday will return in a few days. So we have the weekend to play and get our 'resolution' page or 'your word' for 2012, all arted out. Yep, I just made up the word 'arted'. lol, I am even going to work on this as well. It's been months for me and my supplies have a light matte coating of dust on them. See ya soon & HAPPY BELLARIFFIC FRIDAY!!

boy lovin'. valentine style...

Hey friends!

I am back, like I promised with two Valentines, made just with little boys in mind. hehe, Let's see how I've done...

When I colored up Molly WATT, I also pulled out her brothers. {at least in my mind, they're her brothers}  This is older brother..giga WATT. He looks older, don't you think? I colored both these guys with the same two papers pulled out onto my desk. They were the two pieces from my My Minds Eye pad, that looked 'boy friendly'. These cards are really simple and both have a glossy layer of Sakura's clear glaze pen, for the top of the bodies. Giga WATT here is holding a sign, paula didn't have am available tiny 'LOVE' to stamp in the middle...she she made her little alphabet tags. I am also loving that they are larger than the sign that giga WATT is holding.

 

 Kilo WATT here, is NOT finished!! omg, I just noticed I didn't add his ground shading and the shadow on the side, like I did with giga WATT. {ok, that'll be fixed when I get home. duh...what was I thinking?}

 I kept him in the grey/blue family, like his big brother above him. And then I really liked this subtle paper with the 'love' written over and over. {like a computer might generate???} The heart balloon is the opposite side of one of the two above patterns, and when I stamped it out and turned it over...look at the 'LOVE' right in the middle.

Like I said, very simple because kids...well, let's just say I purchase .99 cards at Target for them.   ;)  

...card recipe:

GIGA WATT: Finished size is 4" x 5", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, My Minds Eye pp, 'giga WATT' stamp from Stamping Bella, alphabet stamp from SU, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Sakura clear glaze pen and sewing.

 KILO WATT: Finished size is 5" x 6", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, My Minds Eye pp, 'kilo WATT' stamp from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Sakura clear glaze pen, Martha heart punch, wire & sewing.

The Babes have been hanging out on Splitcoaststampers, in the *Stamping Bella* forum. There is all kinds of chit chat, mixed media, stamping, TV talk going on. I think I will pop over there and get another thread started for stamping questions, or asking a Babe a specific question on a card they have done. I personally, had decided to remove my cbox area on this blog page. I was getting so much spam on there, that I just quit looking to see if anyone had a question. It's easy to remove the annoying spam off my comment section, but getting it removed from other areas was more complicated.

We have been seeing lots of new memebers to SCS in our forum and there are new sistah's playing in the BellaRIFFIC challenge for this week! woohoo!!

See ya friday!!

 

 

 

baby congrats & a return to SCS

Good Morning friends!

Lots of times I have been asked at work, for baby shower & wedding cards. I always say "nope, I don't have any"....why is that? Well, because I so rarely have a need for one, I generally don't make them. But, this is kinda what I am using this open time for, special occasions. {now, just ask me if I have anything for a boy! lol} Ya know paula is very partial to girly images. I know, not fair for those with little boys in their family. hehe

Honestly, I don't think I even own the boy image that matches 'have a seat Maya' from Stamping Bella.

While I am trying to branch out into cards I don't normally color & make...I am also using images that are not new releases. It's fun to go back and revisit images that I may have colored way back...I am just as amazed at how different I colored back in 2007. See, I ain't telling a tale when I say that your coloring improves with practice. {just don't expect me to admit that with my copics  *sigh*}

...card recipe:

Finished size is 5" square, Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, Simple Stores 6x6 pp, 'have a seat Maya' & sentiment from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colred pencils, gamsol/OMS, nesties, button Sakura clear glaze and sewing.

Now...if you are a fan of SplitCoastStampers/SCS and if you were maybe like myself and have not been on there in a while... Emily has become a Memeber Company again! We have our forum up and running. I been hopping in there, the last few days. {Bless you ipad, no longer need to sit at my laptop} Emily and Danabella are working on getting some *fresh* ways to connect back with Stamping Bella fans and I am really excited about it myself.   :)  I feel a BLOG HOP coming.... Check it out! BELLA FORUM 

See ya there!

it's all about LOVE...

Well, it's a new year folks and I don't know about you...but I came into it, on the couch and watching HGTV. Wait...that was until Jim got a hold of the remote and tuned into a Big Bang Theory marathon. I didn't watch the ball drop, I had enough of couch potato-ing and went to la la land. But the four days off from work have been relaxing and now it's time to show ya what I had been up to. To be kind, I will show ya a card I made today, and then I will share my other photos. Maybe you don't want to know about my little obsession with Tim Holtz product. lol, though I think you might share that obsession with me!

Here is Molly WATT and she's ready to spread some Valentine L.O.V.E.

I only purchased one pad of paper for this Valentine's Day...I was inspired by the pink/blue colors. So inspired, my *new* paper does not even show up on this card! How did that happen, I dunno...but it did and I realized it when I was cleaning my desk. I guess that will go onto another card, lol. I have colored Molly WATT before, I love this little set of robots from Stamping Bella. Molly is the only girl robot outta the group, so I better get a boy Valentine card colored up with one of the others.   :)

...sigh, I just love her little coil curls and her sweet little robot cheeks.

...card recipe:

Finished size is 4 1/2" x 5 1/2", Bazzill cs, Archivers kraft cs, Bo Bunny cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, 'Molly WATT' from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/oms, Sakura clear glaze pen, Antique Linen distress ink, Sizzix alphabet die, glitter & sewing.

Next friday, January 12th, us BABES are back at work, and cranking out some inspiration for ya! You can play along with our first sketch of the year...check it out. Our awesome!! Babe Ebru has gifted us with a years worth of sketches to use and here's numero uno. You have lots of time to play around, so I hope your mojo hasn't taken a winter siesta!

I can't say mine has, I have been working on other projects. Like...remember the Tim Holtz mania thing I mentioned. Well, Lindabella & my friend Mary came by for a visit, this past friday. They showed up at 2:30 and I had already pulled out lots of my "TH stash". {I been collecting for over a year now...just never used much of it} Linda and I had a goal to play around with Tim's 12 tags of Christmas techniques. Here is a few pics from fridays small chaos.

I don't have a lot of room on my island, but we managed to park the Vagabond there and do all the cutting here. My trimmer is from X-acto, and hidden on the far end of the island, it has a laser light, Linda kinda liked it...hehe, I do too! On top of my trimmer, I put my Ranger melting pot. Filled with HOT Utee, that is cooled, but still inside the tray.

I didn't extend my table, maybe I should have? I set up my ipad so we could scroll Tim's blog easily, and Linda and I worked on the same technique. I would let her go first and then copy hers. haha, you knew I was like that, right?  Oh, those are Linda's hands in the shot and her glass of wine. In the upper right hand corner, you see that white 7 Gypsies 12 slot tray...that is where my mini tags are going. Linda and I both cut the tags to fit the openings. Good idea!

Last, of my Tim day photos is Linda showing our hard work. Ok, so nothing really got finished, we we made a good start. Played with the shrink plastic in HOT Utee, distressed, stamped and splattered water. Tim does have several steps in hos tags. I was reading one out loud and I say "step 30..." what the...that man is insane! But his step by step instructions are the best. Here is a shot I took of all my organized Tim stuff, been buying for 40% off at Micheal's. 

Speaking of the BEST...I also got an amazing gift from my friend Mary, on this same day. Something I would never had imagined and was totally in awe of what I was holding. An original, MADE JUST FOR ME, piece of artwork from Annie Rodrigue. I {HEART} her work...her images. 

There is Pebbles on my desk and Daisy on my chair...curled around my pencils! The colors are so YUMMY. I can't stop looking at it, and it's in my kitchen, still on the counter...so I walk by and look at all the time. OMG, this is the BEST!! Thank you Mary & Annie!!

That's not all, just lemme share what I worked on for Mary, over a month...fitting it in here and there.

I never have an easy time photographing something like this...but it's a 12 Days of Christmas from Penny Black images. I bought the set a couple years ago. I know Mary and I had a fondness for Penny and I was hoping she would like this.

The knitting dove may just be my favorite and guess who knits...Mary! lol 

Pebbles liked it too and was smelling the frame, while mom tried to get a decent photo. I love this cat!

 

Seriously, that's all I have for now kids, I need to get something for dinner and get ready for work in the morning. All those smiling faces at Flushmate, bright & early!     :)    

peace!

 

i {heart} giftcard holder...

Today is WOW...it's Wednesday!?  hehe, a three day work week is soooo nice! One more day, tomorrow, and another 4 days off. I bet you can tell how happy I might be. On the other side, is that all this sorta down time means I got a little used to not doing a lot of coloring and I am just getting back into the swing. After Jordan and I went for haircuts last night, I got home and whipped up a gift card holder that is patterned after the gift card holders from Applebee's. {ok, I whipped most of it up and had to put some finishing touches on tonight}

Isn't Aptee'TUDE cute peeking from behind the heart punch? {Applebee's has a apple cut out on their card holder sleeve} I knew that some day my Martha punch-anywhere heart would find a good use. lol, until last night, I thought I might never use it. I punched the heart and made my 'wrap'. From there I colored up Aptee 'TUDE, and made the actual inside portion, that would slide out to hold the gift card. I used the same measurements as the Applebee's template, so I knew I was going to need to trim Aptee 'TUDES feet. I added some trim with my new Fiskars punch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to sew the bottom sides of my card holder insert, because even though it stays securely in the outer sleeve, I feel better with closed sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...card recipe:

Finished size is 3 1/2" x 4 3/4", Bazzill cs, Bella's BESTEST paper {for image}, American Crafts pp, 'Aptee 'TUDE' from Stamping Bella, memento ink, colored pencils, gamsol/OMS, Sakura clear glaze pen, Martha anywhere heart punch, Fiskars edge punch, Sizzix font 'wingo zingo' and sewing.

I am off to do a little coloring and catch up on a few episodes of Judge Judy. Hope you are all having a nice evening!    :)