Bellarific Friday is Back to School!

Well my kids are back in school, they started this past Monday. I can't believe I have a Senior and a Sophomore in High School! I am feeling my age coming on. 

I am starting to worry about empty nest syndrome already, several years away! But times flies so fast, and before I know it, both my kids will have graduated and moved out, and I feel like crying. I'm not ready, stop time! I need more time! 

And I'm getting way ahead of myself, I know, lol. All because of Bellarific Friday and our Back to School challenge. hmmph!

Here's a cute little project a teenage girl might like for Back to School. I got one of these little spiral notebooks from Michael's dollar bins and simply embellished them with some pretty papers and this adorable Perry has a Laptop image. 

I paper pieced the the big comfy chair with a nice plaid paper from a new Bo Bunny pad. Beautiful rich autumn colors perfect for school time. The rest of the image was colored with my Copics and some colored pencils.

I added a couple of funky file tabs I got from the Silhouette store to the notebook pages for dividers. The notebook paper border is a cut file from the Silhouette store too. 

I hope you'll join us in our challenge, head on over to the Stamping Bella blog for all the details on how you can enter your card for a chance to win some Bella Bucks!
Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend!

Mommy and Mimi Lulu in the Snow

Good morning friends! I've got another Christmas card to share with you all today. I've never used this character before, Lulu from Stamping Bella. Very different from what I usually use, but there is something about her unique-ness that I just love. This one is called Mommy and Mimi Lulu in the Snow. 

I stamped her in a grey ink, to make the lines lighter than usual. It almost looks like no lines, just coloring. Almost all monochromatic, mostly blue with touches of red accents. 

The card background was cut on my Cameo, using patterned paper from one of Lili of the Valley's new paper pads. I dug into some of my stash, for the sentiment and metal label holder from SU. GOT to use these things UP! lol
By the way, this card is listed in my Etsy shop if you're interested, along with a few others.

Well, I'm off to bed, the kids are back to school and I have to get up earlier so we can all get a shower in time! 

Thanks for visiting!

Winter Hexagons

Here's another card using one of the newest releases from Lili of the Valley, Furry Festive Friends. This is a tiny card compared to the ones I usually make! Only 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". But these images are tiny and so cute, and so fast to color up.

I really love the hexagon trend zooming around everywhere you look, I love that I can use a bunch of different patterned papers and combine them in one card. This card was made using a cut file from Paper Threads that makes it so easy! I used several different patterns from the new patterned paper pads 'Frosty Christmas'. Love the pretty, soft blues that can be used all winter, not just Christmas.

The sentiment is from the 'Christmas Handwritten Phrases' stamp set. 

Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by!

Bellarific Friday Sketch ~Dancing in the Rain

Good morning friends, it's Friday and that means we have another challenge for Bellarific Friday. This week we have a lovely sketch to work with. 

My card is loosely based on the sketch, but ovals just weren't working for Lolly and her Brolly! I went with rounded corners instead, lol. Did some paper piecing in yellow plaid for her slicker, umbrella and Wellies. I always add a bit of shading to my paper piecing with Copics to add dimension.

I went over all the yellow rain gear with some Crystal Lacquer to make them look like the real thing. {love}

While digging through some of my old, old supplies I came across these raindrop clear stickers and they are perfect for this card! I never knew what to do with them until I made a rainy day card, lol. I think they're so cute!

The papers are from an older October Afternoon collection, I am determined to use up my old stash! 

Hope you'll join us this week for Bellarific Friday over at the Stamping Bella blog, there could be some Bella Bucks in it for you...

Lili of the Valley Christmas Animals Blog Hop

UPDATE: The winners have been announced on the Inspire blog, check HERE to see if you've won. 

Good morning LOTV fans, thanks for stopping by! Today we’re holding a Lili of the Valley sneak peek blog hop to celebrate the launch of some new Christmas Animals and Sentiment stamps! Here's how it's going to work... many of the DT members are going to be participating so all you have to do is 'hop' from blog to blog (links provided below) and leave a comment on each post for a chance to win some great prizes. 

Prize 1- One set of the brand new Christmas sentiment clear stamp sheets, 1 each of the new designs, worth £50.00 (approximately US$78.55).

Prize 2- The full set of the new Christmas animal rubber stamps, worth £45.00 (approximately US$70.70).

The prizes will be 'hidden' in 2 of the blogs, so you have to make sure and leave comments on all of them for the best chance of winning. The lucky blogs will be revealed tonight and two winners will be drawn at random from the comments left on those blogs. 

Now onto my card...

I chose to use 'All Cozy and Warm' for my card today. Remember these stamps will be available for purchase on August 22nd. I've colored these adorable animals with Copics and colored pencils.

The papers I used on this card are from the new 'Classic Christmas' paper pad recently made available in the store. They are wonderful! I especially love the tartan plaids included in this pad, I used the red for this card. I even added some texture to it using a linen impression plate, it almost looks like real fabric! The wood grain paper is not from the paper pad, it's a scrap I had laying on my craft table that just added the perfect 'lodge' Christmas look to the whole card. A pretty bow with some jingle bells and a tag from a new set of Christmas sentiment tags also being released on the 22nd and the card is done! I actually added some of the new papers to the inside of the card too, along with a verse from 'A5 Verses', but I forgot to take a picture of it. 

Anyway, hope you like it, now 'hop' along to the rest of our blogs and don't forget to leave comments on all of them for a chance to win! Thanks for visiting!

• Anne
• Bev
• Claudia Rosa
• Dawny P
• Dena
• Elise
• Fleur
• Gretha
• Lena Katrine
• Lou
• Moni
• Pops

Clarissa and Camille Have a Cafa

Happy Bellarific Friday! I have a little gift box to show you today featuring Clarissa and Camille Uptown Girls. A couple of months ago I got my auto delivery from Green Mountain Coffee and they included a few free samples for me, a cold drink cup and a box of four iced coffee K Cups. They came in this awesome custom box that I immediately tore apart and vowed to duplicate it! And here it is...

I simply traced it onto some sturdy cardstock and cut it out. It was a large template so I had to use two sheets of paper and weld the two together after I cut them out. Boy I wish I knew how to make this into a cut file for my Silhouette Cameo! I'd love to have my machine cut it out and save me a lot of time...

Look at the inside, so purrrdddy! I love it! A simple little gift for a happy birthday wish, which is our theme this week for Bellarific Friday. 

Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a great weekend!

Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Clarissa and Camille Have a Cafa' with matching sentiment, PTI tag sentiment
Ink: Adirondack
Papers: Hammermill for stamped image, PTI, Bazzill
Tools & Accessories: PTI ribbon, Nestabilities, Copics, Cheery Lynn Doily Die, old paintbrush, acrylic paint, Scor Pal

Fur Cones

Good morning folks, I've got just a minute to share another peek of the new animal stamps coming out at Lili of the Valley in a couple of weeks. These adorable little kitties are called 'Fur Cones'.

Guess how I colored them? No, not Copics this time, I used Distress inks. With a paint brush. A short stubby flat paintbrush and I dry brushed with NO water. Very cool, but time consuming. It's actually a great way to use your Distress Inks on DIGI images, because you're not using water, therefore there's no bleeding of printer lines. I just did it because I wanted to get painterly, lol.

The tree cutouts in the BG and the foreground are Silhouette cut files, dusted with Flower Soft. 

So what do you think of the upcoming LOTV release? Are you loving the fur babies? pssst....there's  a lot more!

Check out my DTmates blogs for more peeks! Find all the links on the Inspire blog. 

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley, 'Fur Cones' & 'Grungy Messages' (available 8/22)
Ink: Distress
Paper: October Afternoon, SU, Stardream silver metallic
Tools & Accessories: Paintbrushes, Flower Soft, taffeta ribbon, baker's twine, jingle bells

LOTV Christmas Release II

Hello dear blog friends, are you ready for some more Lili of the Valley sweetness?! There's a lot of new things happening so before I get onto my project for today, let me share some exciting news with you all! 

First let me mention there is a little contest going on the Inspire blog, create 'Anything but a Card' and enter it for a chance to win some LOTV gift certificates. I'm sure we would all love to win some cash to spend at LOTV, especially because there is a new release coming on 8/22/2012 and you're going to need all the help you can get! :-D

Second bit of news, and this I'm very excited about, LOTV will be releasing several 8" x 8" paper pads featuring designs from Nitwit Collections on the 15th! So if for some reason you can't print your  own papers, just love the pre-printed kind, or are like me and hoard patterned papers like a squirrel getting ready for winter, lol- this will make you very happy! 

There will be 6 paper pads coming out, 3 Christmas and 3 everyday patterns. More info on the Inspire blog. Another reason you will need some of that LOTV cash, so enter your project to win! I am so looking forward to getting these paper in my hot little hands, I'll blog about them as soon as I get some!

OK, finally, onto today's sneak peek:

Time for Christmas animals! Yes, this second release features all the adorable animals LOTV is famous for. I chose to use this adorable penguin 'Snow Cute' for my card today.

I made a little window card using a Spellbinders label that I stamped and embossed in pink embossing powder onto kraft cardstock. LOVE this color combo! I added lots of sparkly, crystal snowflakes to give it that icy feel, and added a soft, warm and fuzzy strip of wool felt to keep little penguin warm!

The inside of the card has one of the new grungy sentiments also being released on the 22nd. A whole sheet full of every possible Christmas saying you could ever need. Here's a closer look at the penguin, colored simply with Copics.

Hope you like what you see, what do you think of the new paper pads, are you excited to see them? 
Don't forget to enter the contest, it ends this Thursday, 8/16, so  you have plenty of time to make something.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley 'Snow Cute', 'Grungy Messages' (available 8/22/2012); Background paper stamped with WPLus9 set, Label stamped with Waltzingmouse Stamps
Ink: Fresh Ink, Versamark, Distress
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Hammermill color copy for stamped image
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Label/Circle Nesties, Rotary pinking cutter, wool felt, twill ribbon, German Glass Glitter, ZING embossing powder, Copics, Spica pen, Souffle pen, SU snowflake die, sewing machine

Abra-ca-dabra! It's Bellarifiic Friday Sketch 16

Hello everyone, isn't this terrible, I've only posted one card this week! I just could not get any more done after our little weekend get-away. I came back on Monday, caught up on all the chores and it was back to work on Tuesday. Not much more time left after all that, poo!

But anyway, I felt like a little Halloween and pulled out 'Monstah Bash' for this week's card. 

For some reason I wanted to water color these cute little monsters, so I pulled out my Tombows and water color paper and quickly brought these guys to life. 

The papers are last year's Basic Grey Halloween paper pad. The fancy frame is a free cut file from Shery K Designs. Her blog has tons of free files, they're wonderful! 

Hopefully I'll have some more things to share this weekend when I have a chance to get caught up, stop by and see me soon!
Thanks for visiting!

Bellarific Friday sum sUM SUMMERTIME!

Good morning friends! It's Friday, and I have a long weekend off from work! Me and Jimmy are heading up to do some R & R at a friend's lake cabin. Fishing, blueberry picking, and maybe some shooting lessons for me (maybe). I need a little rest and relaxation, so this can't come a moment too soon. 

Our theme this week for Bellarific Friday is all things SUMMER. Sweet Isabelle loves her Ice Cream was my choice for this card. Nothing says summer like ice cream, so that was an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy choice!

Pretty lady was colored up with Copics to match the pretty papers from My Mind's Eye paper pad. Those pastel stripes remind me of an ice cream parlor awning.

I traced the chair Isabelle is sitting on with a black Sakura Glaze pen, to make it look a little more like wrought iron. It has a bit of shine and dimension, which I really like!


You're all welcome to join us in our Bellarific Friday challenge, next week we have an awesome sketch to work with! Get all the details on the SB blog. You could win some Bella Bucks!

Well I'm off to do some relaxin', hope you all have a great weekend!


Stamps: Stamping Bella, Catslife Press sentiment seal
Ink: Adirondack, Fresh Ink
Paper: My Mind's Eye, PTI, Bazzill, Hammermill for stamped image
Tools & Accessories: Tonic corner rounder, grosgrain ribbon, EK Success tiny scallop punch, Copics, Spica pens, Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder