Paper Cuts

Happy Saturday!  Lots to share so let’s get started!

Time for this month’s Just for Fun challenge with Carole!   Once Carole’s ”mystery paper” was enroute, I chose Bikababeabella from  Stamping Bella for our challenge.  (The paper is ”Mischa” from the Hoodie Line by Luxe…love it!)  

Also my fellow stamper, Lynda Benden, who is a member of Our Creative Corner, asked me to be her guest this month.  (How fun!  Thanks so much, Lynda!)  Her challenge for me was to include bling of any kind on a card.  Yay…that’s easy! 

Dare to be Different

I used my Copic markers to color the image then I added some bling. The entire image is colored with some color of Spica glitter pen.

I used a scalloped square Nestability die to frame the image.  I cut two black scalloped squares, cut them apart and then pieced them back together, overlapping one of the scallops on the top and bottom to create a rectangle of the size I needed.  (I got this great tip from Susan Liles.  She’s one smart cookie.  I never would have thought to do that!)

I added Heidi Swapp bling in each scallop, a tiny Hero Arts adhesive crystal on the flower on the bike and the sentiment is embossed in black (for even more shine).

Don’t forget to check out Carole’s project!  It’s bound to be fabulous and, as always, I can’t wait to see it too!

WCMD Fun

Not long ago, Paper Crafts Magazine began World Card Making Day as a time to set aside for getting started on all of your holiday cards.  As one of the sponsors of this project, Cornish Heritage Farms has some fun challenges, chat and prizes to share today.  You can find ALL the details here!

Paper Crafts Magazine has provided to me two copies of their latest publication “Cards, Gifts & More” to share with my blog readers. So here’s what I’m going to do. 

One winner will receive a copy of the magazine. 

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A second winner will receive the magazine PLUS an SEI Poppy 12 x 12 paper pack, Bazzill In Stitches stitching templates, Basic Grey Journal Flourish clear stamps, Close to My Heart Library Cards clear stamps, an EK Success ready-made scrapbook album and a We R Memory Keepers double-sided tab dispenser w/refill.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post.  To keep it fair, only one comment per person please.  I will select two winners on the evening of Tuesday, October 7th, approximately 9 p.m. (est) via random number generator.  #1 gets the magazine, #2 gets the loot (and the magazine). 

Please visit the World Card Making Day website for lots of great ideas and ways you can  celebrate this holiday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great weekend! (”Say it Like it Is” Saturday will return next week!) 

Hi everyone!  I was so excited to receive an invitation from Shannan (a.k.a. Supreme-Bella-Enabler) to participate in a Bella hop!  What fun!  Our task was to create a holiday treat or gift using Stamping Bella holiday or winter images.

Happy Holidays from Polly

I paper-pieced Polly Packages, adding shading with a gray Copic.  I cut short pieces of white string and attached those to the ends of the scarf.  I didn’t have a Nestabilities die in the size I needed so I just layered Prism Natural cardstock onto the same.  (It’s a passable fake of an  embossed piece.)  Once I assembled Polly, I added three tiny red rhinestones as berries on her hat.

I began with plans to decorate a paint can but that turned into a bit of a nightmare so I went with something much simpler…a Boxi-bag.  The box itself is brown so I covered it with the patterned paper, adding a dot of Star Dust Stickles to the center of each snowflake. 

The Boxi-bags are perfect for Inchies, but I think a bigger focal point works just as well.  Since my image was the same width as the front of the box, I simply adhered the bottom portion to the box. 

The little streamers were made by twisting the thin strips of patterned paper around a thin paintbrush.

Isn’t she sweet?  I just love this image! 

I could only find fall/Halloween-ish candy so I bought dark chocolate M&M’s and picked out the yellow ones (and ate them). 

Be sure to check out these other gals who are participating in the hop! I’m sure their treats are FABULOUS and I can’t wait to see them!

Amy Rysavy
Carole Burrage
Debbie Olson
Jen del Muro
Lauren Meader
Shannan Teubner
Taylor Van Bruggen

The Bella Blog
Nicky Manel

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Polly Packages” and “Happy Holidays”  Ink:  Tsukinkeo Memento Tuxedo Black  Cardstock: Prism Natural Smooth  Patterned Paper:  Imaginisce “Snowy Jo”  Accessories:  Boxi-bag (Ellen Hutson LLC-but I think they are currently out of stock), Copic markers, A-Muse Creative Candy Twinkle Stickers, Ranger Star Dust Stickles, white string

Happy Friday!  I got new stamps!  WOOHOO!  :)  I’ve wanted Matilda Muffinbread from Stamping Bella for quite a while.  Well, Miss Shannon Teubner gave me a reason to place an order, so that was all I needed.  (By the way, she makes me buy a lot of my Stamping Bella images.)

It’s a Cupcake Thing

I popped over to Taylor’s blog to see if her Cupcake Friday sketch would work for my ridiculously obsessive paper-pieced fairy and it did!  Fun!  And did you see her new stamp line?  Those little Halloween cupcake images are adorable.

I still plan to post my “Say it Like it Is” card tomorrow but it will be later in the day.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Stamps:  Stamping Bella   Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black   Cardstock:  Prism White (base), Super Smooth White   Patterned Paper:  Basic Grey Euphoria   Accessories:  Creative Memories Oval cutting system, Basic Grey Sultry brads. Card size 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

It’s time for another Just for Fun challenge with my friend, Carole.  This month I sent along a couple sheets from Daisy D’s Chloe Marie.  I actually sent Carole two different papers from the pack but you only see one here.  That’s because I wasted the other sheet.  So I used a dark blue cardstock in it’s place.  (Sorry about that, Carole.)   In honor of “Back to School,” Carole chose Stamping Bella’s Teachabella.

Oh Happy Day!

It seems the schools have made the move to wipe boards as opposed to black boards (around here, anyway).  I suppose black boards are a thing of the past?  And so in keeping with the times, I’ve decided the board in this image is white and not black.  On this board on the actual image are the letters “ABC” but I’ve used what I feel to be a more appropriate sentiment (from Classic Essential Expressions by Cornish Heritage Farms). 

Please do not misunderstand me, I love my children more than anything, but after a long summer (and you could say ours has been a bit stressful), it is time to go back to school.  I will not cry.  I will not do cartwheels on the way home from the bus stop (not that I’ve thought about that or anything), but I will come home and listen to the house fan I’ve missed for the past two and a half months.  (And I’ll worry about how they’re doing.)

Be sure to check out Carole’s project.  That’s what she likes to call her work… “projects.” ;)   I can’t wait to see it! Have a SUPER day! 

m.

Time for another “Just for Fun” challenge with my friend, Carole!  This is the challenge where one of us sends the other some patterned paper and once it’s in transit, the other picks the image (without having yet seen the paper).  This time I sent Carole this Magnolia paper by My Mind’s Eye and she chose Winobella by Stamping Bella. 

Here’s to You

As I often do, I chose to paper-piece this Bella’s outfit.  I like the perfect color match and sometimes I just can’t get that with a marker or ink.   And I love to pull pattern from the paper into my image.  Of course, this does not always work (i.e. some patterns just aren’t appropriate for such small areas), but for the most part, I love the result.

I used an old sketch challenge from SCS as inspiration for the layout.  I have a printout of most of the SCS sketch challenges (I’m a bit behind on updating this), but I often refer to them when nothing “comes to me” …which lately has been more often than not.    (Summer vacation is fun but it’s draining–of time, energy and creativity.) 

Another great spot for layout ideas is Card Positioning Systems.  They post new sketches weekly and always have fantastic samples with some amazing interpretation.  I love to see how others take a sketch and twist it around to make it their own.

Be sure to check out Carole’s blog to see what she did with the same paper and image!  I’m sure it’s fabulous and I look forward to our next challenge!!  By the way, did you know Carole is one of SCS’s newest Dirty Girls?  Yep, she’s dirty, dirty, dirty!  Big congrats, my friend!!  Here’s to you!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Cardstock: Prism Birchtone Dark, Natural Smooth   Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye Magnolia   Stamps:  Winobella by Stamping Bella; sentiment by Inkadinkado  Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black   Accessories:  Copic markers, Toasty Tin extra large eyelets by We R Memory Keepers, sewing machine, pop dots.  Card size 5” x 5”.

A while back, I asked my friend Carole (a.k.a. TruCarMa on Splitcoast) if she’d like to do a fun challenge with me.  YAY!  She said yes!  I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Carole’s blog or gallery (if you haven’t, you must), but she is moi-talented and uber-entertaining.  She certainly has a way with words and always makes me laugh.  Each month, we plan to pick an image and then one of us will send the other the patterned paper we are to use.  This month, we decided on Lattebella from Stamping Bella (since we’ve both had this stamp for a while and it had yet to see ink from either of us). 

How ya bean?

I am a huge, HUGE fan of the latte.  There’s a Starbucks about two miles from my house and I stop by pretty much every day.  Do they know me?  Um….yes.  The basics of my order stay the same (i.e. Grande, skim, extra-hot, light whip…I know, slightly “Frazier-ish”) so all they need to know when I walk up is what flavor I want.  Lately I’ve been on a Caramel Macchiato binge.  Anyway, I love my lattes so when I saw Lattebella I had to get her.  (There was another I had to have, but we’ll save that one for next month.)

I used Copic markers to color the image, pulling the colors from this fun patterned paper Carole sent to me.  When trimming the image, I decided to let her foot hang just a tad past the border (just because I like to do that).  And it’s a bit hard to see here, but I used a coffee bean background stamp (from Lizzie Anne Designs) on the “Razzleberry” paper.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and be sure to check out Carole’s card! I can’t wait to see it!  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Prism Razzleberry Dark and Super Smooth White; Stampin’ Up! Gable Green   Patterned Paper:  Flair Designs “Tahiti Graffiti”   Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Lattebella;” sentiment A Muse Artstamps; Lizzie Anne Designs “Coffee Beans”   Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black and Watermelon   Accessories:  Copic markers, white gel pen, American Crafts eyelets, sewing machine.  Card size: 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

Hi!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  The weather was SO nice here on Saturday…and yesterday we were wearing coats.  By the end of the week it will be back in the 70’s and everyone will be sick.  (Well, let’s hope not!)

Miss You!

I took a bit of time to play with one of those Stamping Bella images Shannon made me buy. ;)  I *love* this image of Eloise from the Chichiboulie line.  I have a little list of a few more I’d like to eventually get.  I think they’re so cute.

I stamped Eloise onto the white cardstock, then I stamped her skirt onto the paisley pattern and the flower and her wings onto another, lighter pattern from Basic Grey Sultry (LOVE that paper).  Her skin, dress and scarf were colored with Copic markers.   After the pieces were assembled, I used gray Copics (one light and one dark) to add shading.  I used the lightest gray all the way around the image, then used the colorless blender pen to “smooth” the lines by going over them in tiny circles.  In the spots where I wanted a darker shadow (like on the paisley part of her skirt), I used both grays, again smoothing out the edges with the blender pen.  I try to use it a bit more sparingly when on patterned paper. 

The center piece of the flower is the only part that is popped up.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check back tomorrow!  I’ll have samples from Anna’s NEWEST Whipper Snapper release!   :)   Have a great day!

Cardstock:  SU Chocolate Chip, Papertrey Ink (white)   Patterned Paper:  Basic Gray Sultry paper pad   Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Eloise;” sentiment from “Billboardabella”   Ink:  Stazon Jet Black   Accessories:  Copic markers, SU black and Chocolate Chip markers, ribbon, pop dots, piercing template/needle.   Card size 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

Today’s Ways to Use It challenge at Splitcoast is to use rub-ons.  I’m embarassed to say I have so many I cannot fit them all onto the bottom of a Clip-it-Up (and those things hold a lot).  Rub-ons are great…if they work.  (Most do, but is it ever aggravating when they don’t!)  I used two of my favorite brands here…Doodlebug (stitches) and 7gypsies (Thelma & Louise from “Friends” rub-ons).

Not long ago, I was working on a little Stamping Bella order.  It was really quite small….then I saw Carole use this image…and Shannon used an adorable fairy image from the Chichiboulie line. (Matilda Muffinbread is next on my hit list!)  Then Emily released a Lattebella.  And of course I had to have Winobella.  Before I  knew it, my list had really grown. But that’s ok.  I love Stamping Bella.  (Now I just need time to use them all!)  I also added to my cart a couple of these adorable little flowers!  I thought they were paper, like Primas, but they’re actually a hard little plastic with a hole in the center for a brad or whatnot.  They are SO cute!  I only got pink and purple, but I’ll get more when I order Matilda. 

The patterned paper is Daisy D’s “Sweet Baby Jane.”  You can find it at Jacksonbelle Embellishments.  (Very sweet patterns!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Have a great Thursday!  

Cardstock:  SU Perfect Plum, Papertrey Ink (white)   Patterned Paper:  Daisy D’s “Sweet Baby Jane 8 x 8 paper pad   Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Best Friends Forevah”   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Rub-ons (Doodlebug Design, Inc. Sew Easy Black stitches; sentiment from 7gypsies “Friends”), Copic markers, black SU marker, “Lilac Daisy” from Stamping Bella, Queen & Co. white sprinkle brad, American Crafts eyelets, Crop-a-dile, pop dots.  Card size 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

“You stuffeth, you puffeth”…don’t we all know it!!!  I’ve had Pmsabella for a while and am just now getting her inky.  I think she’s one of my favorites!  (Who am I kidding? I love so many of them!)  And I couldn’t pass on this sentiment to go along with all the junk!

This month’s challenge for SCS’s Dirty Dozen (both current and alumni) was to use a girl image (Bella), include something sweet (she’s snacking on a chocolate bar and bon-bons…among other things) and no standard A2-size cards (mine is 5″ x 5″).

I did a lot of paper-piecing using Daisy D’s Maybe Baby Valentine 8″ x 8″ paper pad.  As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I always look at the layers before beginning.  I first stamped the whole image onto the white cardstock.  I stamped the chair portion onto the paisley print, cut it out and adhered it to the white.  Next I stamped the head/neck portion and the feet onto vanilla cardstock.  I colored them, cut them out (the feet were cut out as one piece leaving some connecting cardstock above since it would be covered by the pants; this way I wasn’t dealing with little individual foot pieces), and adhered them to the chair.  Next I stamped the pants and shirt, cut out and adhered them. For the last of the piecing, I used the bowl of (caramel ) popcorn from the image I had stamped on the vanilla cardstock, colored that, cut and adhered atop the pants and shirt.  The junk food and soda were colored with Copics.

To see more of the Dirty Dozen challenge creations, click here. I can’t wait to see the others!  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you’re all having a super weekend!

Time for another Take Two challenge between Lindsey, Trudee, Julia and myself!  It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these!  The challenge this time is to make a pink and brown Valentine card. 

I chose this cute little pig from one of C.C. Designs newest releases, “Love Ya Lots” available now from All That Scraps.  I love the cute images and little sayings in Christine’s two new sets! 

I colored the pig with Copics and doodled in that curly-tail border with a black marker.

Cardstock:  SU Chocolate Chip; Papertrey Ink white   Patterned Paper:  Paper Salon Smitten “Polka Hearts”   Stamps:  C.C. Designs “Love Ya Lots”   Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers (RV02, RV06, C3), black SU marker, Spare Parts heart brads. Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.

Also, today is Lindsey’s birthday!!  Happy Birthday, my friend!! 

Here is the card I made for her.  (I added a subtle bit of personalization. LOL.)

I paper-pieced Cakebella’s  pants, apron and the cake, and I thought I’d share a few things I do when I use this technique. 

Before I begin, I look at the different “layers” of the image.   Here, the cake is in the front and the apron hangs over the pants. 

I started by stamping Bella onto the vanilla cardstock.  I colored in her skin, boots and hair.  Then I stamped the pants onto the rust paper.  When I cut them out, I cut above the apron line, then adhered that piece to the stamped image.  Next I stamped the apron onto the patterned paper.  I cut it out as one piece, cutting along an imaginary waistline, then I adhered that piece to the Bella image.  (The apron overlaps the pants.)  I stamped the cake on the rust paper, adhered it to the Bella image (over the apron), stamped the cake again onto ivory patterned paper, cut out the icing and added that atop the cake. 

In summary, if you layer the pieces when paper-piecing, you don’t have cut lines to match (and it’s just easier).  Plus that gives more of a dimensional look to the assembled pieces.  Sometimes the layering isn’t possible, but most of the time it works! 

Lastly, I added some sparkle and a bit more interest to the cake by coloring in the candle and the dots along the bottom with a copper glitter pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Be sure to check out Lindsey, Trudee and Julia’s cards!  (I can’t wait to see what they’ve done!)  And don’t forget to wish Lindsey a happy, happy birthday!!!

Cardstock:  SU Really Rust, Very Vanilla   Patterned Paper:  Flair Designs “Autumn Harvest” and “Fall Traditions”   Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Cakeabella;” Inkadinkado sentiment and bat   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black, SU Creamy Caramel   Accessories:  Copic markers, Wild Asparagus ribbon, copper Sakura glitter pen. Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.