{A LOUD BABY CARD}

OK---sometimes, we just aren't crazy about a card we make, right? This is a good example of that, but, I decided to post it anyway---This card started about a birthday card---thus the loud, fun paper. When I pulled out my "ha-pea birthday" sentiment, it actually said, "ha-pea anniversary"----yep, it was in the "Ha-pea birthday" little bag and it said that on the front, but obviously it got put in the wrong bag. Well, I couldn't think of ANYONE that I could send this to as an anniversary card, so I just used the "sweet pea" sentiment and made it work--

I used Cosmo Cricket papers from the Snorkel line and some New Leaf cardstock. I'm still learning how to color, so it's a little darker green than I wanted, but practice, practice, practice is what I've been told! I made this for last week's CPS challenge, but I didn't get to post it---so, here it is---but it does follow the CPS sketch 124 if you want to see the sketch.

Short and sweet today---have a great day and thanks for stopping by~
Kathleen


Stamps: baby bella pea, sweet pea (Stamping Bella)
Paper: New Leaf (PTI), Boardwalk & Carbonation-Snorkel Line (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories/Tools: Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Oval nestability die, Labels Four die (Spellbinders), Oval punches, dimensionals, real red brads (SU!), Summer Sunrise, New leaf vintage button, rustic twine (PTI)

{A "Big" Birthday!}

I love birthdays!!! And I really love "BIG" birthdays---unless I'm having one!!! So, a friend of our's is having a "BIG" birthday, and I needed to make her a card. I used one of my favorite stamps---Leaning Tower of Stella from Stamping Bella---Emily draws the greatest characters! I LOVE this one---of course, it probably has something to do with the fact that I love cupcakes, but that's for another post!

I used Beate's sketch(WSC65) from last week. I hadn't gotten to it yet, but I really liked it. Here's the sketch: I turned it on it's side. I used the patterened paper as my inspiration---it's from the Basic Grey's Cupcake Pad. When I saw the swirls in the paper, I knew I had to use the swirl stamp in the Silent Night set by Papertrey. I love how this flourish took the embossing powder. I stamped it with a Versamark pad and then used clear embossing powder on it. The detail is so nice---I didn't know how it would actually come out, but I like it.

Anyway, I used Ripe Avocado for my background. I stamped Stella on PTI white cardstock and colored her in with my SU markers---and a little aquapainter here and there. I went a little crazy with the Dazzling Diamond's glitter! I just love that stuff---I don't use it very often, but when I do I always tell myself I should use it more. It's nice and fine and sticks well. I mounted Stella on Pure poppy cardstock. I added Crystal Effects on the cherry. I stamped and colored two more cupcakes and cut them out. I used one more for the accent on the card and one on the inside. I stamped Yummalicious on white cardstock and punched it out with the word window punch. I attached it to my card using an American Crafts brad.










I stamped the inside with one of my favorite sentiments from Stamping Bella. I made a matching bag but forgot to photograph it---I thought of it when she commented on it last night. It made me sad. Oh well, you can imagine it---

Well, I'm heading into my room to create something---I'm not sure what! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for looking~

Kathleen

Charlotte's Stella:
Stamps: Leaning Tower of Stella, Yummalicious, It's a Cupcake Thing (Stamping Bella), Silent Night (PTI)
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI) Cupcake 6x6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Palette Noir, Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom (SU!)
Accessories: Brocade Blue, Real Red, Summer Sun, Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Word Window Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Two Way Glue, Crystal Effects, Aquapainter (SU!), Cherry Medium Brad (American Crafts)

{Hannah's Birthday}

Hannah is 17 today! I can't believe it....they just grow up so fast. I have a few things that I'm doing for her birthday, and I'll show them to you in time. This is a picture of her somewhere in England this past summer. I'm not sure where, but if I had asked her, she wouldn't have wanted me to post anything!!! It may be C.S. Lewis's garden. She talked and talked about that when she came home!

This picture was taken this summer in Ephesus when she went there. What a world traveler she's been! Now, I know I'm her mom, but if you knew Hannah, you would love her! She's a thoughtful, kind, independent girl. She has known what she's wanted to do for years and unless the Lord changes things, I think she'll do it. She loves good literature and is a huge fan of British Literature---thus the trip to England this summer. She's in her Junior year, so all the insanity is looming in front of her...but she's ready for it (most of the time.) OK, I could go on for hours, but I'll save it for a note to her! Thanks for indulging this mama! Now onto the card!!

Hannah is a bookworm---seriously....so when I saw this Bookwormabella by Stamping Bella, I had to have it. I haven't even used it until now, but I bought it just for her, so now is a great time! I'll leave off the details today, but if you have any questions about any of these projects, please don't hesitate to e-mail me!

Hugs~
Kathleen

Bookwormabella for Hannah supplies:
Stamps: Bookwormabella (Stamping Bella), Mixed Messages (PTI)
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream (PTI), various from Urban Couture (Basic Grey), Old Olive (SU!)
Ink: Stazon, Blush Blossom, Old Olive, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Craft White (SU!)
Accessories: Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (PTI), Scor-Pal, Oval & Scallop Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (Provocraft)

{Weightwatchabella}

I made this card for a girl at church who has lost a lot of weight. You know how you'll see someone every week and then all of a sudden they look SOOOO much thinner? Well, I do see her most weeks, but I just happened to notice HOW GREAT SHE LOOKED last week, so I had to make a card to encourage her! As a person who has battled the weight, I really respect someone who "is a loser"---so to speak! I hadn't had a chance to ink up this great little stamp---Weightwatchabella from Stamping Bella. You have to be careful about sending her to people, you know---girls are testy about their weight!


I used Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #28 as the sketch. As I've mentioned before, I LOVE a good sketch and she always has a good one. I haven't been able to play for awhile, so I was so happy to be able to play today.



I was inspired by the patterned paper to choose the colors I did. I don't know if the recipient is a "girly girl", but I think Weightwatchabella looks great as one, don't you?



I used Papertrey Ink's Dark Chocolate as the card base (8 x 9.25) and then used two papers from the Basic Grey Sultry 6 x 6 pad. I colored the image with my trusty SU! markers and also used the aquapainter and some of my SU! ink for the skin and hair.

I pulled out my Designer Label punch and stamps---I'll bet I haven't used that stamp set in over a year---for the decoration and used "Enjoy the Moment" from Mixed Messages as the sentiment. I needed a "You go Girl" stamp, but I didn't have one, so I used this instead. Later I thought---"who enjoys the 'moment' of stepping on the scale?"---and then I thought---"someone who is losing weight"----yes, I know, it's scary, I talk to myself....I outlined Bella with the Prismacolor Warm Grey 20% Marker & put it all together. Anyway, I hope she likes it---

Thanks for stopping by~
Kathleen







Stuff I used:
Stamps: Weightwatchabella (Stamping Bella), Designer Labels (SU!), Mixed Messages (PTI)
Paper: Dark Chocolate & Stamper's Select White cardstock (PTI), Certainly Celery, Garden Green (SU!), Sultry 6 x 6 paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom
Accessories: 1" circle punch, Designer Label Punch, (SU!) Hero Arts Crystals & Flower Crystals, Certainly Celery 1/4" ribbon (SU!), Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (PTI), Prismacolor Warm Grey 20% marker, Aquapainter, Dimensionals (SU!)

{Cupcakes}

Hey guys~

I think I'll be back to regular postings now---I know you are waiting on the edge of your seat! Sit back---it's just not that exciting! Here's my card for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge this week (well, it was on Friday). I'm too late for the "competition", but I thought the card turned out pretty cute, so I'm posting it anyway! I know I used Stella a few weeks ago for this challenge, but my cupcake stamps are limited, so I used her again! She's pretty funny, don't you think?

I colored her with my aquapainter---I'm getting better at it (LeAnne!). I did use watercolor paper and that makes it a little easier for me to use that painter. I paper pieced the icing with this yummy Basic Grey paper from the 6 x 6 Cupcake pad. I really love the papers in this pad! I used Diamond stickles on the crown and star and Crystal Effects on the cherry. I think you can see it pretty well in this picture. OK, the stickles didn't show up---but the cherry looks pretty cute, right?

I also used the Warm Grey 20% Prismacolor marker to outline my image. I have read about this from several blogs---most recently on Melanie Munchinger's here, so I finally bought one. When I first colored it I worried if it really looked funny, but after I looked back at it later I could see how it helps. Here's a close up that shows what I'm talking about. It just seems to give the image some depth. If you click on the picture below, you can see it closer to really make sense of what I'm talking about.

Well, Joshua has a friend over, so I need to run~Thanks so much for stopping by!

Kathleen



Recipe:
Stamps: leaning tower of stella, yummalicious (Stamping Bella)
Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Yo-Yo Yellow, (SU!) Watercolor Paper-Michael's, Basic Grey-Cupcake pad
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Real Red, Yo-yo Yellow, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Dimensionals, Aquapainter, 1/2" & 3/4' circle punches, Crystal Effects (SU!), Warm Grey 20% Prismacolor Marker, White Brads (Making Memories), Diamond Stickles, Cuttlebug, Scalloped Square Nestabilities, polka-dot ribbon (old piece from Wal-Mart)

{Stella}

I was in Atlanta when Taylor posted her Cupcake Challenge 21, but as soon as I got home I had to use her sketch! I made this little card. Taylor (from Taylored Expressions) always has a little drawing of all the people who use her sketch and gives them some little "candy". I missed out on that, but her sketch was so fun with that circle on the side that I had to try it.
I used my Creative Memories Circle Cutter (is that what that is called?) to make the circles. I have the Nestabilities Circles, but I didn't think they were big enough for this--so I just used the other.

Stella is from Stamping Bella and she's amazing. And, of course, she has a cupcake, so it was just fitting for me to use her on this Cupcake Challenge. (You don't have to use a cupcake, but like Taylor says, "if you have one, why don't you use it!") I used my Stampin' Up markers to color her dress and I used my aquapainter and SU! ink for the rest. She turned out OK---I'm going to try it all with watercolor paper next time and see if I can blend it with some water or alcohol in my aquapainter. Jody Morrow (aka TexasJodyLynn) has a tutorial on how to use alcohol in your aquapainter on her blog here . And Cambria Turnbow just did a tutorial this week using water in her aquapainter and SU markers. Now, don't get me wrong---I don't know these girls at all, so I'm not "dropping names"---I just read a LOT of blogs and I learn a lot from them---these are some things I'm going to try!

I used some more Basic Grey paper from the Romani paper pack. I LOVE that--I will be so sad when it's gone! I double coated the "icing" of the cupcake with Dazzling Diamonds glitter from SU! I was surprised at how thick it turned out. I put more glitter on the star and some Crystal Effects on the cherry--even though you can't see it. Well, I need to run~I hope you have a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Kathleen


Recipe:
Stamps: leaning tower of stella (Stamping Bella)
Paper: Real Red, Ballet Blue Cardstock (SU!), Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White CS (PTI), Basic Grey Romani
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, More Mustard, Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue, Blush Blossom (SU!)
Accessories: Large & Small Star Punches, Slot Punch (SU!), Circle Cutter (Creative Memories), Celery 5/8" ribbon, Bella Baubles (Stamping Bella)

{MWAH!}

MWAH! I recently sent this in a text message to my sister and she texted me back saying, "what's mwah?" She was thinking it was an acronym, and I was thinking "MWAH!"---it's a kiss---go ahead, say it aloud, MWAH!---Do you hear the kissing sound? Think DIVA giving a big FAKE kiss to her girlfriend---do you hear it now? See, it's kinda fun, huh? Now, I HAVE been called a diva a few (hundred) times in my life, so perhaps that's why I knew immediately what this was when I first saw it written on a note that my daughter had from a girlfriend in 7th grade---Anyway, I sign my kids stuff with this occasionally--

I made this card for my oldest, Caitlin who is coming home from 5 weeks in Turkey on Monday. I am SOOOO glad she's going to be home soon! I'm going to give her a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure and thought this was the perfect image to use for the card. She has a wedding to attend the weekend after she arrives and I know after roughing it in Turkey for 5 weeks, her feet will likely be a mess. AND, I just wanted to pamper her a little.

I used the mwahbella for Jen's Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT). I really didn't know how to color this image, so I found some of my favorite paper from the Basic Grey Romani line and went from there. The green here looks like Green Galore, but it's actually Certainly Celery---I just layered it a few times and it turned out darker---I used my aquapainter some, but still added some marker as well. By the time I finished coloring, the celery ribbon just wouldn't do, so I used green galore. I had a close up of the image, but when I uploaded it it just looked AWFUL, so just the one picture today! This sketch was a lot of fun--I hope to try it again soon. Well, I'm off the mow the lawn! Yeah, I hate that, but it's about 60 degrees out there this morning, so I can't really complain!!

Thanks for looking~have a wonderful day--
MWAH!
Kathleen

Recipe:
Stamps: mwahbella with words (Stamping Bella) Borders & Corners Monogram Edition (PTI)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Blush Blossom (SU!)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Basic Black, Blush Blossom (SU!) Stampers Select White (PTI), Romani line
(Basic Grey)
Accessories: Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Creamy Caramel Markers, (SU!), Aquapainter (SU!) Glue dots, String of pearls baubles (Stamping Bella), Dimensionals, Crystal Effects (on the heart--you just can't see it in the pictures), Fiskars Paper Cutter/Scoring tool, Cuttlebug, Embossing folder, Circle Punch, Yellow Marvy Scalloped Circle Punch

{Bella Birthday}

Here's my take on Taylor's sketch challenge. Taylor had a birthday this week, but I didn't really get this ready for her virtual surprise birthday party---oh well, this is typical for me! I hope it was a happy one! I had a lovely Saturday---I stamped all day long. I made some gifts for some friends and a few other cards. It was a great day!!! It's been forever since I've just stamped all day....

As I began coloring this bella I really wished I had some Copic markers, but I just don't think I can justify the cost, so I color with my SU! markers. I tried to use my aquapainter, but I'm just awful at it----I recently had a Stampin' Up party and asked my demonstrator to use my aquapainter to make sure nothing was wrong with it....and just as I suspected, it was fine....it's just user error!!! I think I need to just keep practicing. As I'm looking at this card on my blog, I think I'll change the little tag---it's too busy with that stamping on it. I think I'll just get a tag and stamp the writing on it---but not the little swirlies. (Again with a made-up word---can 'swirly' be plural?!) What do you think? Is it too busy?

Anyway--I had intended to use this card to fulfill another challenge besides Taylor's. It was from Sharon Johnson's blog....No Time to Stamp. The challenge this week was to use BOLD colors----and this, I did. But when I realized that the title was Stamp Simply, I realized that it didn't really fit the challenge....this is not a simple card...not that it's difficult, but it took some time, so it didn't work for her challenge....all of this to say, this is why I had the BOLD colors on this card today. It's much busier than I really like, but I do love this paper.

So, short and sweet today---Happy Belated Birthday, Taylor! Thanks for the lovely challenge.

Have a great Monday!!!

Kathleen

Recipe:

Stamps: Cuppacakeabella (Stamping Bella), It's a Celebration (PTI)

Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Stamper's Select White (PTI), Basic Grey-Romani DP

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Vintage Brads, Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds, Two Way Glue, Bella Baubles, 5/8" red ribbon, Tag---Cuttlebug die cut, Linen Thread, Markers: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Close to Cocoa, Pixie Pink, Blush Blossom