Mixed Media Friday Frenzy

Hello folks, thought I share with you my last post before the holidays.  I have spend pretty much the whole day in paint.  I just finished tidying up the huge mess I made in my studio but I have to tell you I had so much fun making this 12 x 12 canvas.

I have recently came across this quote and simply fell in love with it and took it one step further by applying it on to my art work.

I really love the way this turned out, especially the colours. Hope this inspires you to paint your heart out. Well, everyone I am wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and the best 2012 evah sistah's !!

Mwahhh !!!!

Payton with a Bandana

Happy Tuesday everyone, and are you all counting down for  the holidays ?  Well my kids can't wait to be home over the Christmas break which means I have to come up with stuff to do to keep them entertained and busy.  

Today I wanted to share with you Payton and also a funny story that has to do with this image.  When I got this image I have to be honest with you I could not figure out her hair and I thought she was wearing a bandana.  So, I email Emily and asked her, " how the heck do you colour her head, is she wearing a bandana or is that her hair ".  I emailed her this image and she was such a sweetheart about it, she said she loved my take on the image with the bandana but her whole head is the hair.  Now come on please tell be if  she looks cute with the bandana.

Here is the second take on the same card but with no bandana.

Well I thought this was a cute story to share with you all, regardless I thing she looks very cool both ways but I seem to like her with the bandana...hehehe

Thats all for today folks, keep warm and happy crafting !!

Bellariffic Sketch

It's a cold and dreary day here in Toronto and I have made myself a lovely cup of Dark Chocolate and Truffle flavoured gourmet coffee, yummmmmy !!! The kids are off to school and I have a nice and quiet house to write up my Friday post.

This week was a lovely Sketch done by Robinabella and here is my creation.

I used another Mo image called Cupcake Princess Violet and you can get her in rubbah over at Stamping Bella. I coloured her up with my prisma pencil crayons and used a touch of Copic markers for the hair so it can stand out a bit more.  The DP I went with is called Salt Air from Cosmo Cricket.  I had this mini pack for quite sometime now but never had the chance to use it so I gave it a whirl with Princess Violet !!

This is the last Bellariffic Friday post for the year 2011 but that does not mean the bellas won't be sharing any more lovely cards with you so please do check back cause there is more to come.  

The year 2012 is going to be quite Sketchy, meaning half of the year will be filled with awesome sketches, and don't we all love them !! To give you all a head start, here is a look at our first Bellariffic Challenge for 2012 which will be due on January 12.  You have plenty of time so we sure hope you will participate !!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody and thanks for stopping by !!

Irma and Vieno

This week in Bella land the challenge was to create an all white card except the image itself.  I chose a stamp which had enough detail to colour up and really stand out against the beautiful and simple white background, and that's  why I went with Irma and Vieno.  This image is available in rubbah over at the Stamping  Bella store along with many more Mo Manning images.

On Wednesday my dear friend Paula who also is my ultimate idol and  mentor when it comes to colouring with prisma pencil crayons did the same image and you have got to go check it out cause it is drop dead GORGUSSS.  I sure have to go through many many set's of pencil crayons to reach just a quarter of this ladies talent.

Now lets get to the details in my card.  I stamped my two characters on  Bellas Bestest White paper with Memento black Ink and coloured up my image with Prisma Pencil Crayons.  As you can see I put in a lot of colouring detail and finished it off with fine glitter on the girls hats and coarse glitter for the snow. The background white paper was embossed with the cuddle bugs big circle embossing folder. 

Next weeks challenge is a Sketch done by our very talented Robinabella, so lets take a look at it shall we.

Don't you just love this sketch, she sure did an awesome job with it and can't wait to get busy and I hope you can play along with the rest of us babes and sistah's.  All you have to do is email your card to emily@stampingbella.com by next Thursday to have a chance to win not $ 20.00 but  $ 40.00 next week.  Know how is that for awesome !!!!

Thanls for stopping by everyone and have a wonderful weekend. 

Oh so Bright and Merry with Mavis

I love the month of December, full of festivities of the holidays, decorations and bright colours just warm up my heart.

This weeks challenge was a holiday card and I went with  Mavis wearing Holly. Rather then using the more traditional colours of red and green, I opted more with Green and Pinkish. I wanted Mavis to match with the DP so that's the reason she turned out with a Pink outfit.

The photo below is a closer look at Mavis where you can see more of the colouring detail.  I also have to mention that I love the banner die from Spell Binders Nestabilities. They are absolutely perfect for your sentiments and also adds that perfect finishing touch and even better,  Emily has it available in her store so check it out.

I stamped my image on bellas bestest white paper with Memento Black Ink. To bring her to life, I coloured Mavis using a combination of Copic Markers and Prisma pencil crayons.

Next weeks challenge is a white card, the only thing that can have colour is your image.  Be sure to email your card to Emily by Thursday evening.

Have a great weekend everyone !!

Gotta Love the Sketch Book Pro for the Ipad2

Aside from Sketching in my Moleskine Art Journal I am also addicted to digital sketching on the iPad.  Apple had an awesome deal on the SB Pro Application which I happened to purchase this weekend and here are a couple of sketches I whipped up on the iPad.  

I used my finger to sketch the coffee mug but the Girl below was done using a Stylus. Let me know what you think of the digital world of art.  I am currently looking into purchasing a Wacom Bamboo Create tablet.  There are a lot of products out there and making the right purchase takes many hours of reading and  research.  I will certain have more to show you in the near future.

That's all for today folks and thanks for dropping by !!

Theo Gives A Prezzie

I am so happy to announce Stamping Bella is the sponsor over at CPS this week and I just had to join in on the fun.  I could not resist to use another holiday image which happens to be Theo gives a Prezzie, and he is one of my favourite images to colour up.

The sketch was perfect  for a Holiday card and as always I used my Prisma Pencil Crayons to colour my image. I added some liquid appliqué around the gift box to give the effect of snow.  He looks like he is sitting outside in front of someones door waiting to be picked up, or at least thats what I imagine.

Well folks that's all for today and thanks for dropping by !!

Free Form Bellariffic Friday

This week is Free Form in Bella Land,  and let me tell you it is one of my favourite challenges because you are free to use any Bella image of your choice with any DP and layout your heart desires. Lets take a look at my card for this week.  

I used Florence the Flower Pot Girl and I stamped my image on bellas bestest White paper with Memento Black ink.  I brought my image to life with my favourite colouring medium which happens to be Prisma Pencil Crayons. A little bit of Pink pearls and some ribbon on the corners added the perfect finishing touch to my card.  If you are wondering about the large Scalloped Square behind my image, that is a Spellbinders Die called Lacey Sqaures.

Next weeks Bellariffic Challenge is a Christmas/ Holiday card.  With the big festive season approaching this is a good way to catch up on your cards to send to friends and family.  Also if you would like to participate in the AJ Monday, the theme is hearts. 

Thanks for dropping by everyone and have a wonderful weekend !!

Art Journal Monday

I have to be honest with you guys but I am finding it hard to make time for art journaling. Between the home, kids and other commitments I am pooped by the end of the day.  I truly commend those who have a full time job plus home and kids but still find the time to participate and create.

This weeks art journal Monday at Stamping Bella consisted of making girls.  If you know me, you will certainly know I LOVE drawing and painting them.  I do find it very difficult at times to draw but the more you practice the better you get. I made two girls this week, could not resist so here is a look.

The quote around my first girl is from Albert Einstein whom I admire greatly and here is what he said...

 " I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. "

My second girl has no quotes around her but she sure is styling with her neck scarf !!  Her sweater looks a little blotchy cause I tried to make it look fuzzy by adding flower soft to it but as you see it didn't turn out right, oh well I tried.

That's all I have for today's AJ Monday and hope you will come by again next week. 

Bellarific Friday Sketch Card

Hello fellow bloggers and crafters, today is another wonderful Bellariffic Friday Challenge, and this time it happens to be a sketch and lets take a look at my card shall we.

I used Alice by Christy Croll and I think she turned out rather adorable with her huge tea cup.  Lot's of colour detail went into this image I tell ya. I coloured her with my prisma pencil crayons and also used a smidge of copic markers.  The detail on her cup was done with Sakura black glaze pen and finally finished her off with glitter. My sketch did not call for a sentiment but I couldn't resist to add You're tea-riffic on her, and this card already has a home it's going to and will certainly will be loved !!

I also want to mention once again about Paula-bellas giveaway so if you haven't read my previous post you have got to go over to da bella and see all the awesome goodies she is giving but in order to have a chance to win, you need to participate either with this week or next weeks challenge.

Next weeks challenge is "FREE FORM" and I absolutely love it.  This is where you do what ever your heart desires but of course you must use a Stamping Bella stamp of your choice.  Have fun with this one and hope you will participate with all the Bella.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and happy crafting !!

Carb Withdrawal, a Give away and a Card

OK, here is my story for today, I have been on a no wheat low carb diet for 3 weeks now and today I have started really feeling the strain.  I had watched a Dr. Oz  where he had said there are 2 deadly white addictions, one being Cocaine and the other being Carbs. Obviously my addition is Carbs, I love my breads and pastas and of course in time my body started showing extra bulges here and there. Now I have to try extra hard to get back into shape and shed some major pounds. At the moment my nervous system is shot cause my insulin level trying to get use to this major change.

Enough about me and my carb addiction, lets move on to some fun and exciting news.  My good friend Paula is having an awesome  giveaway on her blog just click here and this will take you over to her website where she explains how you can enter to win some bella-licious goodies. All you have to do is just play along in this weeks Sketch challenge or next weeks "Free form" challenge.  You don't have to submit in both challenges, but if you do, then your name will get entered twice. So, if you want to win just play along with us and submit your cards to Emily by Thursday November 17 and 24 at 5:00 EST. 

Before I say good-bye for today, here is my most recent creation. It's Noelle bearing Gifts, isn't she gorgeous and you can get her in rubbah over at Stamping Bella. If you take a really close look at the second picture you can see I used tiny micro beads for some detail and I think it turned out pretty neat what do you think ? I like to try new and different things to make my cards stand out so this is what I tried with this card.

Well everyone, thanks for dropping by and here is another peek at this weeks sketch. 

The Holiday Season is Slowly Approaching and...

I am so behind in creating my Christmas / Holiday cards for this year.  Thank goodness for this weeks Bellariffic challenge cause it has gotten me all pumped up to make more to send to friends.

Let me show you my card for this week, I used A Snowman and a Cardinal. This is such a wonderful image for the holiday season, and truly a treat to colour up.

I used some Copic markers but the majority was coloured with Prisma pencil crayons. Underneath the snowman, I used thick Martha Steward coarse sparkles to create the effect of a snow mound.  I also used laced ribbon, flowers and some bling to Jazz up this guy.

The designer paper is from the Basic Grey collection called Jovial, the 6 x 6 paper pad. 

Next weeks challenge is a really cute and simple Sketch designed by yours truly.  I sure hope you will participate. All you have to do is email Emily a photo of your card no later then Thursday November 17 at 5:00 EST and she will upload them onto the Bella Blog for everyone to see and also you have a chance to win some bella bucks if your card gets chosen.

Also just a quick reminder for all of you who want to get into Art journaling and want to  take part in next weeks AJ Monday, the theme is squares.  Don't forget to send them to Em no later then Sunday !!

Well, I'm off to see what all the Bella Babes have created. Take care everyone and have a wonderful creative weekend !!

Creativity Rules

Here is my AJ page for Stamping Bella this week. I used a variety of paints, pan pastels, water colours, stencils and rub-ons.

Next weeks challenge is Squares, so you can use frames, punches or just simply paint abstract squares all over your journal.  Thanks for stopping by and happy Journaling !!

Is there Snow at your House ??

Thankfully there is No snow at my house YET but I'm certain it's not to far away !! Arrrggg, I am not looking forward to another long cold winter season, are you ? Who knows, maybe I will win the lottery and fly off to Aruba, wouldn't that be a nice treat !!

OK, time for me to  stop day dreaming and talk about this weeks challenge.  I have to mention colouring the Lulu images always puts a smile on my face cause they are to darn cute and for my image I used Lulu's snowman from Stamping Bella. As always I stamped my image on Bellas Bestest White paper with Memento Black ink. To bring my image to life I coloured it with my Prisma Pencil crayons and I think they turned out rather cute.  I tried to match the ribbon to Lulu's coat so the card has a balanced look to it, I hope   it looks good cause I am a tad iffy with it. 

Here is a closer look at the colouring details, and  I'm happy with this colour combination.  One thing these photos did not pick up at all is the glitter I used on the front part of the hats and the pom poms and trust me there are plenty of sparkle happening on those hats :o)

Let's move on to next weeks challenge shall we, and it is HOLIDAY WISHES. With Christmas and New Years just around the corner we can never have to much of holiday cards. Start dusting off your Stamping Bella holiday stamps and get busy. Be sure to email your card to Emily no later then Thursday November 10 @ 5:00 EST and she will post it on the Bella Blog on Friday.  

Lastly, we want to hear from you regarding Themes for our Bellariffic Friday challenges for next year. What are some of your favourite challenges, please DO share and leave a comment !!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for dropping by !!

Très Chic Uptown Girls

I had been dying to use my Uptown Girls stamp for the longest time but did not have a chance until now.

For this weeks challenge I used Victoria and Juliette's Night Out with sentiment. Ok, I went a little bit wild with stripes but I think they look pretty Chic, Don't you ?

I did paper piecing on the girls dresses, some sewing and added a button with a ribbon.  For colouring my Uptown Girls, I went with Copic Markers this time but the shading was done with of course my Prisma Pencil crayons.  As always I stamped my image on Bellas Bestest white paper with Memento Back Ink.

Next weeks challenge, do you have Snow where you live ? add snow to your card and send it to Emily by next Thursday to have a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

I am off to see what Bella babes done with Stripes.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone !!

You're the Best

Welcome back for another Bellariffic Friday Challenge which was a Sketch done by yours truly.  Even though the background colours of the layout were a Halloween theme,  you certainly did not need to incorporate those into your card.  Here is my take on the sketch and I used the stamp called Scarlett the Teacup Girl from the Green Bean Baby Stamp Collection.

Please don't pay attention to my horrible sewing around the edges of my card.  I might have mentioned this before but I am not the greatest when it comes to sewing, I always find a way to mess it up. My colouring was done with prisma pencil crayons and I used bellas bestest white paper to stamp my image.  For the centres of the flowers I used a Sakura Black Glaze pen to make them really stand out.  As for the designer paper, I opted with My Mind's Eye Tickled Pink Collection.

Let's move onto next weeks challenge shall we, and it is Stripes. Use striped paper or embellishments on your card accompanied by of course a Stamping Bella image.  Be sure to email it to Emily so she can post it on the Bella blog.

Before I sign off for this week, I would like to announce a new Bella Babe that has just joined our awesome team of designers and her name is Regan D'agostino over at the Stampy McStamperson Blog. Be sure to check out her beautiful creations and leave her some lovin.  Well folks, that all for today, have a wonderful creative weekend !!

Jack and Ginger

I had a special request to make a card for my BF who was invited to attend a 50th year wedding Anniversary.  All I could say to her was " Wow, did you say 50 years ? " and she told me if they reach 60 years they get a special certificate from the Queen. Right away my husband and I calculated our ages if we ever make it to 60 years and we just simply laughed !!

Well, here is my card and I picked Jack and Ginger for the special occasion.

I Coloured my image with Prisma pencil crayons and added glitter for an extra special detail.

Just a reminder of this weeks Sketch Challenge, if you haven't done it yet you still have time.  Email it to Emily by tomorrow 5:00pm EST and she will post all entries to the Bella Blog.

Boo

Before I start on the details of my card I would like to share a couple of awesome news that has just hit bella land.  First and for most we have an original Bella Babe making a come back to the team and I am very excited to announce  it is Shannan Tuebner over at Pink Tulle with Feathers & Sequins, YEAH !!!!

Next news in line is Stamping Bella is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $ 55.00 until 11:59pm EST on Monday October 17.  If you haven't been over at the Bella blog lately I would highly suggest stop on over and see Emily's new mini release of some more Up Town Girls and wouldn't that free shipping be just perfect way to end your shopping !!!

Now let move on to our challenge shall we. This weeks theme was Halloween and I used Little Witchy that also comes with the Boo sentiment. I also use one of Julie Balzer's labels to stamp on my sentiment.

I used the traditional halloween colours fro the designer paper and also to colour her up.  The DP I used is from Recollections called Ravenhead Manor.  This paper pack is absolutely awesome for Halloween cards. I stamped my image on bellas bestest white paper with Memento black ink and coloured her up with Prisma pencil crayons.

OK, that covers all the news fro this week now let move onto next weeks challenge and it happens to be a sketch I have put together.  I used the halloween colours as an inspiration so lets see what you all come up with so be sure to send your cards to Emily by next Thursday.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone !!!

Intro to Mixed Media Art Journaling

Hello crafters, today I have a special video treat that I put together for those of you who want to get into mixed media journaling but really don't know where to start. I covered the basic requirements needed to get started and I will talk about each medium in more detail as I create and tutor my art pages.  If you go into youtube to watch this video, I have attached some product links to Stamping Bella as she carries most of the items I use.

I really hope you find this video informative and obviously there are a lot of other items to cover and explore with but it does get very expensive when you get deep into it.  You just have to experiment and find what medium and brand you enjoy working with the most, it really is all about trial and error.  I feel like I am in a science lab sometimes cause I mix so many different paints to come up with the effect I want. 

I don't want to ramble on to much here, but if you have any questions at all please leave me a comment or send me an email and I will do my best answer you with the information you need.

If you want to share your art journals or want to join challenges,  Emily over at the Stamping Bella blog host  one every week.  She gives us different themes to explore weekly and it's really nice to see what everyone comes up with. I hope you will give it a try !!

My Red Carpet Art Journal Page

I absolutely love to indulge into Mixed Media Art Journaling.  Your imagination is truly a wonderful place to be as it takes you into a journey only you can travel.  Emily's Challenge this week was to use just one  colour to create your page and I used my favourite colour,  RED. I mixed a little bit of white to lighten up my Red and also used black to darken it.  To me the colour Red represent fashion, style, beauty, elegance just like the Red carpet at the Oscar's. 

I let the Oscars be my main theme and focal point of my page.  The only twist is, the actresses are little Fairies. The images were cut out from a fashion magazine and luckily the colours were bang on with the theme. This page turned out to be more beautiful then what I had anticipated.  I hand drew the wings and coloured it in with Gesso and a little bit of red paint and in the centres of each wing, I added mini pink pearls.  

I hope you have enjoyed Mondays  Journal page and I will have more to share with you later on this week. 

Thank you for dropping by and have a lovely week.

Fall Colour Challenge

What I love most and really the only thing about fall is it's colours.  Mother nature has a way with every season but the colours produced in fall are truly amazing. Every year my husband and I take the kids for a drive up North to see all the lovely trees that have changed it's colour to reflect the chilly days to come. Sometimes, I stroll around the local park and watch each tree transform into it's beautiful rustic tones as if welcoming Fall with open arms.  

With the challenge this week I chose to use the stamp called Rustic Window Box by Mo Manning. I thought this stamp would be the most convenient to reflect the change of colours.  I coloured each flower and leaves in the beautiful tones of Red, Orange, Yellow and Green.  In the centres of all the flowers I dropped a small little dot of Liquid pearl to add interest and dimension.

My image was stamped on bellas bestest white paper with Memento Black Ink. I also used Copic markers and prisma pencil crayons for the colours tones.

Next week happens to be one of my favourite challenges of the year and it is Halloween. Get out your favourite scary cute Bella image and have some fun.  I really do hope you will play along with all the bella babes and the sistahs.  I also want to remind you of the Art Journal page for Monday, you still have time to get out your one favourite colour and get busy making you journal page.  Be sure to submit your card and AJ pages to Emily over at Stamping Bella. 

I am off to see what the rest of the Bella Babes have done with Fall colours, be sure to check them out as well and leave them some lovin. That's all for this week but be sure to check back on Monday for my Art Journal post.  Have a great weekend all !!

Thinking of you - Bellariffic Friday

I love playing along with the Bellariffic Friday Challenges every week and what makes it even more exciting and fun is seeing all the awesome entries made by all you peeps. This weeks challenge was to use dimension on your image or use buttons or bows, anything that pops up from your card.  You all know I love Mo Manning images, so for this challenge I used the stamp called Sorry Shanna available at Stamping Bella.

As you can see I used foam dots on the boots to pop them up, but unfortunately you can't see that from the first photo. To finish up my card I added a Satin Silver ribbon and I think it turned out rather cute.

The designer paper is from October Afternoons Modern Home Maker.  As always I stamped my image on bellas bestest paper with Memento Black Ink and gave it life with Prisma Pencil Crayons.

Let's move onto next week which happens to be a Colour Challenge. Use beautiful Fall colours on your card and submit it to Emily no later then Thursday October 6. Can't wait to see what you all come up with.

I just want to leave you with a little inspiration of fall colours so get cracking :o)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by !!

Vintage Lady In My Mixed Media Art

It's time to reveal my favourite mixed media art page to all of you and TA DA !!!

This page had a lot of different kinds of paints.  I used Acrylic, water colour and Pan Pastels. Also added to the background are two different designs of napkins and various background stamps and stencils.  My main image of the vintage women was printed onto a book page, then I lightly coloured her with my Prisma pencil crayons to give more detail to her and allow her to become the focal point my entire page.

I f you haven't already seen or heard of the Graphics Fairy blog, I  would highly suggest you check it out cause there are hundreds of gorgeous vintage images you can download to your computer for FREE. The image of the vintage lady was found on this blog.

I hope this page inspires you to get your creative juices flowing !!

Thanks for stopping by !!

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert First.

Don't you just love that saying, well if you have a sweet tooth like me I think you would very much agree with this quote by Ernestine Ulmer.  Life is so unpredictable and full of surprises cause you never know what is going to happen tomorrow,  so with that being said go do something wild and fun or simply do something you always wanted to do but never had the time.

OK, back to business friends, even though Pauline's Sketch did not call for a  sentiment I could not resist to add this onto my card. For my image this week I went with a Mo Manning image called What's Cookin available in rubbah at Staming Bella and the sentiment is from Lulu's Two pies.  I brought my image to life with my Prisma pencil crayon and used the Designer paper from Basic Grey called hello luscious.

Next weeks challenge is pop it up, meaning add dimension to your image by using foam dots. The rules are simple, just use a Stamping Bella Stamp and email your creation to Emily by Thursday September 29th.

Well folks, that's it from me today.  Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful weekend.  Now I'm off to see what master pieces the Bella Babes have done !! Mwah

Our very First Bake Sale...

was this past Saturday morning and it was a flop.  I spent two days baking and preparing not to mention buying lots on the ingredients required.  The reason why  I mentioned that was because I actually spent more then what I made.  We were hoping it would be successful as there were tons of delicious sweets that were put together and presented so professionally. Oh well, it was an experience  and no doubt our approach will be a little different next time, if there is going to be a next time !!

Here are some photos of what I put together. I made some cute tags to put on my packaging.

Below is a photo of Spritz cookies and Sugar Cookies.

I also made 10 mini loafs of delicious vanilla cakes, ranging from berry to walnut flavours.

These are pictures of the Bake Sale.

As you an see the kids really enjoyed it !! 

I have to say it was a blast just getting together with our friends and enjoying each others treats and coffee's.  We ended up sharing what we all made and brought a whole bunch of delicious goodies home for the rest of the family to enjoy.