With Hugs and Kisses

It's a lovely Monday morning, I got my cup of Java beside me and in the background music by Michael Buble, life is good :o) not to mention my parents are flying in from Calgary this afternoon.  I gotta pick up the kiddies early from school cause they wanted to come to the airport to pick up grandma and grandpa.  We are having a feast tonight, I was slaving over the stove all day yesterday to prepare for tonight.  Ok, lets move on over to my card for the day, what do you think of her ? isn't she so cute !!!
Her name is Kissy by Mo manning and she is a rubbah stamp from Stampingbella. 

I stamped her on bella's bestest paper with memento black ink and of course colored her with prisma pencil crayons.  I also used green flock on the leaves of the flowers, but you probably can't notice it.  I also used two different colored ribbon to give more detail and interest.  Normally I don't distress the edges of my paper, I like a nice clean card but this time I felt like ruffing up around my paper.  Also what is a card without glittah, gotta have glittah so I gave her some sparkle.

Don't forget about this weeks Bellarific challenge, make a card with Snow !!! and submit it to Emily by Thursday. Can't wait to see what you all have created, I need some inspiration. Have fun creating and thanks again for stopping by...

Digital or Rubber That is the Question

Have you ever been intimated to make a digi purchase of an image ? well for the longest time I was.  I asked the question over and over again as to why I did not want to buy digitial images and the answer I came up with was the image quality when printed.  Well, I had to put my mind at ease and venture into the digi world.  I made my first purchase just to see what it was going to be like and compare stamping vs digital. Here are the pro's and cons for digital printing.


Pro's:
- You can manipulate your image to any desired size. ( I love this feature )
- Storage saver
- Cheaper then a regular rubber or clear stamp

Con's:
- Image is not as intense as a stamped image.  It has a light greyish tint to it.
- if you do not back up your image or save it to a CD, and your computer crashes you will lose everything. So make sure to burn your images to a disk.

I guess the next question is will I continue to purchase digital images and the answer is "Yes".  I like the fact that it's economical and a space saver. But, I will never stop buying my rubbah stamps either cause the stamped image quality does not compare with a print out.  Knowing I have the physical stamp gives me comfort and I don't have to worry if my system goes down.  The bottom line is the choice is yours either way has it's pros and con's.

Here is my first digital card from Maurie J Manning also known as Mo.  The name of the digi is Penelopes Party wagon.

Bellarific Friday Challenge - White Card

Well bloggers, today is that time again and thanks for dropping by.  First off before I go ahead with my bellarific Friday card, I  hope you all had a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving.  Just want to also say that I am so jealous of you guys having the Black Friday, maybe one year I will take a trip just on this day so I can shop till I drop...LOL

Ok, know to our Bellarific Friday challenge for this week.  I must say that I really liked this weeks challenge cause it was just creating a white card and the only thing that had color was your stamped image.
This is where your coloring skills comes to play cause that's what's going to do all the talking.  I used the image from Emily November surprise release of Mommy and Mimi LuLu playing in the snow.

I stamped my image on bella's bestest paper and used Memento Black ink.  The coloring was done with my prisma pencil crayons.  I have some awesome news to share with all of you, I have caved and ordered the 120 Caran D'ache Pablo pencil crayons.  I can't wait to get them so I can play play play and play all day in rich colors... LOL !!!

Know for the video tutorial of my card.  I am playing my all time favorite Christmas song from Nat King Cole Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Filre so I hope you sit through it all and enjoy it.  OK, for next weeks Bellarific Challenge is SNOW, simply use a stamped image that has snow or simply create your own snow.  I hope you will play along with all of us and also you have a chance to win some Bella bucks.

One more awesome news before I sign off for today.  Our sweet Emily is having a Black Friday Sale !!!   for EVERY order OVER $50 you will receive 5 free stamps (we choose) included in your order!!  The retail value can be up to $50!  all for FREEEE!
The sale last until Monday night!!  so head on over to Stamping Bella and dont miss out on the sale.


Have a wonderful weekend all !!

Mavis Wearing Holy

Hi bloggers, I am back with a very cute card of Mavis wearing Holy from stampingbella. 
I used some snowflakes, pearls and oval nestabilities to create her.  The background paper  is from Graphic 45.

Bronte and Louis

I am back with another post and this time I will be sharing with you an image from Mo Manning called Bronte and Louis, and isn't he the cutest evah with his cookie.  You can either get this image as a Digi or as Rubbah, from Stampingbella for those of you who love to stamp and smell that ink !!!


Well,  Mo is having a DT call and given I absolutely love her illustrations I wanted to see if my designs are good enough to make her design team.  I know I will be up against some awesome talents but I guess I will never know if I don't try. 

I colored my image using prisma pencil crayons and used designer paper from Basic Grey called Lime Rickey.  I stamped this image on bella bestest paper and used memento black ink.

I hope you enjoyed todays card and join me again for my next weeks entry. Bye for now...

Not today Maybe tomorrow...

I don't know about all of you out there but this card hits home with me.  I have always struggled with my weight and tried every diet that ever existed, but to be honest with you none of these diets work. It's a life style change and obviously eat in moderation. If you asked me which diet or program I prefer, I would have to say Weight Watcher wins hands down,  it's slow but it's good.

Right now my friend and I are on a downward slump and are pretty depressed and are thinking when we should start watching our food intake and count our points.  I made this card for her as a little motivation to not worry if not today Maybe tomorrow...

I used the stamp Hoping from Mo Manning and used bella's bestest paper and memento black ink.  I also colored her with prisma pencil crayons and used Martha Stewart Designer paper.  Here is my video tutorial hope you enjoy it.  Don't forget to enter next weeks challenge cause it's a good one, it's an all white card, just color your image and layer it on white.



Have a wonderful weekend all and happy crafting !!!

LuLu's Snowman Card

OK I could not resist, the minute I got home with my new goodies from Stampingbella I made this really cute card using the newly released stamp LuLu's Snowman. Doesn't she look adorable, I absolutely love this stamp and I am so happy I got it.  I used Basic Grey Jovial paper as my main background design and the rest is all white with white ribbon and a couple of white snowflakes.

I kept the card very simple cause sometimes simplicity is the best way to go, just let the image do the talking.  I must say I am not too happy with my coloring but you know what they say, practice makes perfect and I have a lot to practice. 

Tomorrow is dedicated to filming my card for the Bellarfic Friday challenge.  My image has been picked and colored and same goes to my designer paper.  All I have to do is layer, sew, glue and Voila. Be sure to check back here on Friday to watch my video tutorial.

Headline news- New LuLu's are in bellaland

Hi everyone, this just in.  Emily has done a surprise release on three awesome new LuLu's and are they evah so perfect for the holidays so be sure to check them out. Also Em has the new October afternoon Series called Modern home Maker and this paper is really cute altogether.

Next in line is my card I made for a friend who has purchased a new home.  This stamp is also a new release from stampingbella called Artsy House by Christy Croll and here is what I created with this image. The designer paper is from Crate Paper, Restoration collection.

That's all I have to share with you today, thanks for dropping by and have a splendid craftful day !!!

Daintybella

I was at a Bachelorette party Friday evening and made this card for the bride to be. I used the Daintybella from Stampingbella and used the purple tones as my color theme. I had no idea purple was her favorite color so it worked out perfectly.

Saturday my little guy had a play date with his buddy Adam and his little brother Charlie.  They are the most adorable and cute little kids you can image but when you have three boys in the house watch out.  But I have to say they behaved perfectly.  After  the play date, I headed to my BFF's house for some quiet me time and enjoyed several cups of tea and amazing Turkish pastry's and desserts,  yummmmmmy !!!

Sunday was a do nothing day, just lazied around the house and prepared my next tutorial for the Stampingbella's channel on youtube.  If you haven't made your Sketch challenge by the ever so talented  Cathabella yet, you still have more time, gotta get it in to Emily by Thursday evening to have a chance to win some bella buckaroonies.

Well that all I have for you bloggers for Monday but be sure to stop by again tomorrow for another awesome card I made with a newly released Bella stamp.

Holiday Card with Bismarck- Another video Tutorial

Oh how I love this stamp called Bismarck, doesn't he just make a gorgeous Christmas card !!!  I had a blast bring him to life with my prisma pencil crayons and a couple of my copics and I think he turned out pretty good.  As alway, I stamped my image on bellas bestest paper and used Memento black Ink for best results. I initially saw Bismarck on Linda Heavens blog and fell in love with it right away, to see her superb creation click here.

Here is a tutorial of how I created this card, I hope you will find it inspiring.

Christmas Doily Card

Hello bloggers, thanks for stopping by for this weeks Bellarific Friday challenge. I decided to incorporate my Cricut machine for the base of my card which happens to be the Doily card on the Wild card Cartridge . I try to make my cards as different and as interesting as possible to show you the many possibilities of creating.  The image I used to create my card was Not even a Mouse from Mo Manning and the paper was from the Graphic 45  Christmas past and Carol of Bells collection. I fell in love with this image when I first saw it on Paula's website and you can view her stunning work by clicking here.

I stamped this image on bella's bestest paper and also used Memento black Ink.  Be sure to check out the bella blog to see what the other awesome bella babes have created and also don't forget to enter next weeks challenge which happens to be a sketch done by Cathabella.

Here is my video tutorial for your viewing pleasure.  If you have not subscribed to the Stampingbella TV all you have to do is create a youtube account and subscribing by clicking here.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone and keep on creating.

Videobabe hard at Work

It has truly been a very busy week for me so far.  I have been locked up in my Craft Studio creating the videos of the awesome babes when they came to visit last Saturday.  First of all I want to mention what a day it was for me, to be around such unbelievably talented ladies.  When Emily asked me to stop recording and join them for some fun time coloring I thought to myself there is no way I'm going to show my beginner level coloring around these pro's.

When I arrived at Stampingbella, all the babes were already their sitting around the table coloring and chatting away and I had a sudden rush of excitement run through me. I had met Linda and Paula  before when I took Paula's prisma coloring tutorial back in September.  I have created in total of 4 videos of Saturdays get together for all the sistah's to enjoy.  We even have a grass coloring tutorial from Paula and Copics tutorial from Linda that you can enjoy over and over again on youtube. Dana was so sweet to come all the way from Calgary,  Cath from Michigan and, Pauline from Chatham just for a few hours of bella fun and meet everyone and lets not forget some shopping as well.

I just want to say to all the babes, it was truly a pleasure to meet all of you and hope one day I can meet Elaine, Jeanie, Kim and Wendy as well.

I am leaving you today with two video tutorials of Linda and Paula, so enjoy !!!! and don't forget to enter your cards for this weeks Bellarific Friday challenge and the theme was Christmas or Holiday card.

Crisscross Card Tutorial

Do you ever get tired of making the standard A2 card ? well to be honest with you I sometimes get bored with the usual and look for something that tickles my fancy.   In this weeks bellarific challenge I decided to do a tutorial on how to make a crisscross card while incorporating the rule of 1-2-3 and here is what I came up with.

I stamped the percolator image on bella's bestest paper using memento black ink. The designer paper is from K & Company, Amy Butler design.  The crisscross card is one of the most versatile cards that you can make where  the insert can act as a recipe card, shower invitation, birthday invitation etc.  Just by changing the designer paper you can turn this card into a Christmas card and in the insert you can add a recipe of a gingerbread cookie, the possibilities are really limitless.  I hope you enjoy this weeks tutorial and please join me again next week where the Bellarific Friday Challenge is a Christmas/ Holiday Card.

Before I sign off for today, I just want to share my excitement about this Saturday where I get to meet some of the awesome Bella babes for the first time and they are  Cathybella, Danabella, Lindabella, Paulabella and Paulinebella.  I have actually met Linda and Paula once and I am looking forward to seeing them once again.  I will be bringing along my video camera to capture the party at bellaland !!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and be sure to enter next weeks bellarific challenge for a chance to win bella buckaroonies.  Mwah for now !!!

Lets Get together for some Java

I was going through my binder of Stamping bella stamps and looked for one that needed some lovin.  I had not used Javabellas in such a long time so I decided to make a card using this stamp.

As you can see I kept it very simple with no designer paper but just colored card stock and tulle. I stamped the image with Memento black Ink and used Bellas bestest white paper. This would make a great card for a friend you haven't seen in a long time and would like to catch up over a nice cup of Java.

Off topic, how was everybody's Halloween last night.  We had so many kids, I must had gavin out over 350 Reeses peanut butter cups.  What I love seeing the most are the little tiny boys and girls in there princess or animal costumes.  I double up the candy for them and the one's with no costumes get no sympathy from me so they get only one :o) It was rather pretty chilly last night cause when my husband and kids came home they were all red in the face and ears.  My husband said he had enough and next year it's my turn to take the kids out.  Well we'll just see about that when the time come...

That's all I have for today everyone. Have a wonderful week and don't forget to enter this weeks Bellarific challenge which is the rule of 1-2-3, 1 image, 2 designer paper and 3 embellishments.  Happy crafting.