Bright and Happy Hello

Here's another card! This one is for the Corrosive Challenge #103, a sketch. After making the thank you card, I decided I needed to play with some of my RAKed images. I heart my RAKed images so much and I realized that the best way to really love them is to use them instead of just oogling their cuteness, lol. I think sometimes I'm just afraid that I'll mess up coloring one and then I'll feel like I wasted it somehow, which I know is silly. So I took out this bella, since bellas are quick and easy to color ;) And I used this Sassafrass paper again, the fun eclectic print is the other side of the mini flowers. I think sassafrass papers are so fun and cute but I have a hard time using them since they are a different kind of style - another product in my stash I like to just oogle, lol. So here's to getting out of my box again and using stuff I love to look at in actual projects ;) Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely Sunday!

Cupcake Inspiration Guest Designer

This week I got to be a Guest Designer on Cupcake Inspirations! Here's the card I made for the challenge. I have to say, that site is dangerous! Everytime I visit, I end up wanting to bake some goodies, which really isn't good for my waistline ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy the card! Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards - Pink, Blue, and Red

I've been sewing like crazy trying to get the last minute gifties all whipped up. There's a lot of fun projects for decor and gifts that I wanted to make, but didn't have the time to this year. Luckily, I got a lot of the fabric for these projects 50% off or more so I can work on them during the next year for next Christmas ;) With even just this bit of sewing I've been doing though, I'm sure I'll be wanting to make spring and summer projects before long, lol.

As for the cards I'm hoping to better play along with card challenges this next year. I really want to rebuild my stash of on hand cards which is currently at nil. And since I don't really have any art classes (technically I have 2D Design but all I have to do is 4 more projects since my Design class this last semester covered all the rest of it), I won't have anything at school using up all my creativity ;) Anyhoo, thanks for visiting and have a happy Thursday!

Christmas Cards - Red and Pink

Hot cocoa is one of my favorite parts of winter and fall. It gets so hot here during the spring and summer, and well part of the fall here too, that most of the year I don't want to drink anything hot. No coffee or lattes, no tea or hot cocoa. For 8 months of the year I stick to iced chai lattes, ice tea, and icy water, so it's a welcome change when the weather gets cold and I crave the comfort of warm drinks and creamy soups.


My other favorite thing about the cooler weather is my fall/winter wardrobe. I always feel like it's so much cuter than my summer one, lol. I love layers and scarves and boots ;) And even though I like the cooler weather better than our super hot summers, I can't imagine living someplace that gets too much colder than it does here. I'd hate to shovel snow, drive in snow, or be stuck in snow, lol. Anyhoo, I hope you're all ready for Christmas ;) Our girls have been asking if it's Christmas yet every day since school got out, lol. Enjoy the cards and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Christmas Cards - Pink and Plaid

The BG Eskimo Kisses paperpack is probably one of my favorite Christmas lines ever - the colors are so festive and the patterns can be fun or gorgeous. This plaid has been hard for me to use simply because I like it so much. The first cut is always the hardest. I'm not sure why, the finished product is always so much better than the paper by its lonesome ;)

Both images are from Stamping Bella. I heart this one so much because it reminds me of my girls ;) This year the girls attended their first symphony concert. I was so excited. They got tired about half way through and A fell asleep in my arms, but C was really good and patiently watched the whole thing, we were there about 2 hours. She was really excited to see all the instruments and asked me all about them. Thankfully I can tell them all apart and explain what each did since I was such a band geek ;) The second to last piece was her favorite because we got to sing along and because the Deck the Halls was one of the songs. She loved singing out Falala lala lalalala! Anyway, enjoy the cards and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Cards - Red, Green, and Pink

I finally got my cards mailed out Saturday. I only had a handful of super simple cards I made throughout the year, like 6 lol, so I had a few more I needed to make. Lucky for me, I read about Sparkle's method of coloring many images at once. She picks her papers, chooses her colors to match, then colors the batch! Sounds easy enough ;) Thursday I spent a couple hours coloring some images while watching a flick with Paul and then Friday I put together the cards. So Saturday they were mailed. Hopefully they'll get to their destinations by Christmas. If not, they'll be a post Christmas treat! I'm seriously making the resolution to add Christmas card making/writing/sending to my Thanksgiving weekend Christmas decorating tradition.

The first card is using Sparkle's Rin with Snowman stamp. It's also my card for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge. The inspiration cake is an amazing Santa Cake, you should check it out! This image is so fun to color and this card ended up one of my favorites that I made! The second one uses a fun hot cocoa cup from Stamping Bella, such a cute image and it's really fast and easy to color in. I really liked making my cards this way, it was fun to color them freely and also to see what papers ended up working out with my images the best. Anyway, enjoy and have a wonderful Monday!

She's got the whole world...

. . . in her hands! When I saw this bella that's the song that got stuck in my head. In fact as I'm typing this it's still going on in my head, lol. I originally set aside this scrap (the stripe/flower double sided paper) for the little hippie Anya, but this gal was calling to me and I just loved the idea of her wearing a fun yellow top with jeans. I colored her using pencils and gamsol like usual except that I didn't gamsol her pants so they would look more like denim. I love the globe. With Earth day last week I'm still loving seeing that stuff around. And with globe and map art still so popular right now there's not a shortage of that eye candy ;) Anyway, thanks for popping by and have a fab Friday!

Supplies : Paper - October Afternoon; Cardstock - Bazzil; Flowers - Prima; Buttons - Doodlebug; Sentiment printed from computer; colored with pencils and gamsol; outlined with copic N0

Feeling Groovy

I'm feeling groovy about coloring ;) One because I've been having so much fun with it and two because these cards are using up more scraps! You'd think with all the scrappy projects I've been doing I'd have used them up by now but I still have about half of what I started with this year, which is quite a lot, lol. It's getting smaller though, bit by bit. I keep thinking if I can just find the time to make more kid projects to use them up on the pile will go down so much faster! Of course when I do get that time I end up using it to make other things like this card! My next kid's project is supposed to be big patchwork snakes. At least that's what Cait says. Audrey wants an apron and blankets for her dollies. All of which involve sewing, not paper. I'm sure the snake will need a fun box or cage to sleep in and the lollies could always use more furniture. But instead of any of that I've been coloring. Ah well, at least I'm having fun with it. I need some time to make grown up things as well, right? ;) Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Supplies : Paper - Scenic Route; Bazzil Cardstock; Flower by Prima; Candy Dots by Pebbles; Button by PTI; Sentiment printed from computer; Colored with pencils and gamsol;

Seize the Cupcake!

Supplies : Pattern Paper - Basic Grey; Cardstock - Bazzil; Flowers - Prima; Brads and markers by CTMH; Sentiment printed from my computer

This card was made for one of the challenges on the bella forums this weekend celebrating Em's birthday :D The challenge was to use 3 embellishments and 7 layers. It was crazy for me to use so many layers on the card but I did it, lol. When I finished though, I realized I had put 4 embellishments on instead of three. Since my card face was REALLY glued down to the card base I just pulled off the second flower since I knew I wouldn't be able to get the brad off without tearing something up. My coloring wasn't the greatest on this one, I think I should of used my pencils instead but oh well. She came out all right :D Anyway, enjoy the card and have a fantastic Tuesday!

Kinibellarific!!

Supplies : Kinibella by Stamping Bella; Cardstock, cocoa and vanilla creme markers, ocean ink, Friendship alpha, small white flowers and big red brad by CTMH; Paper by Creative Imaginations? and Pebbles; brads by Queen Co.; white flower by prima; other markers by sharpie; white gel pen; coluzzle mini oval;

Here's my card for this week's Bellarific Friday challenge which was another fabulous sketch though I did condense it a bit to fit to the standard size! I've been hunting down my summer RAK images to play with and she was perfect for the challenge. Kini made a wonderful mood card as I've been taking the girls out swimming. While I may not wear a bikini I still feel pretty cute when I take them to the pool in my sporty one piece and bright tote bag. Of course my little minis totally outshine me, lol, but I don't mind in the slightest :D Everyone have a great weekend and thanks for stopping on by!

Tube Time Bella

Supplies : PMSabella from Stampingbella; Sentiment by CHF; Paper by Making Memories; Cardstock, Markers, and Brads by CTMH; Flowers by Prima; White Gel Pen

A few days after making my bitty bloom card the craving to play with my bellas struck again so I got on the splitcoast forums to get some inspiration and picked up the #78 bella sketch challenge to play with. It seems like forever since I've paper pieced anything and I have to admit that even though a couple parts of the couch were a pain in the butt, it was fun. PMSabella was one of the first bellas I got though I always see her more as movienightabella or tubetimeabella. This has been me every other night after the girls go to sleep. Well, both Paul and I but they don't have a fella to match her. It seems like since we've had kids the only time we really get to spend together is after 9pm, lol. Anyway, we'll stay up to watch a show together, usually a netflixed series. Right now we've been alternating House and Battlestar. Other times we'll just watch a movie :D Enjoy and have a good Tuesday!

Sparkle's CCC #6

I know it's almost Monday, but I did get them done! I haven't made time to craft until this afternoon so the first thing I did was look for images to use for Sparkle's Christmas Card challenge. I love Tis-the-Seasonabella, she is so much fun! I used up the last of this holly paper from the Fruitcake line by Basic Grey and actually used my poor neglected sewing machine. The last time I really used it was 2006 when I made kid quilts for my girls and then all my nieces and nephews. Anyway, I had it out already for a test run to make sure it still worked and decided to go ahead and put some fun stitching on these cards. It's been so long since I've sewn on paper! My sewing machine did alright for the test run, so now it's just deciding if I really do want to make throw pillows for the couch, lol! Thanks for looking and make sure to check out Sparkle's blog for the challenge and links!

Sassy Savvy Sexy Sister

Sparkle is such a sweet blogging sister! She shared some of the bitty bella love by snail mailing me some of the address labels and these pre-stamped lovely ladies to play with. Thank you hun! So I had to play with the pre-stampies right away :D





The moment I saw these I thought about making a regular sized card with three of the images like she did a while ago. Then as I was getting them together and looking through some of my pattern scraps I thought they would make such a darling little set that I just had to do that instead! I used the Mwahbella words for their little sentiments. These bitty cards are so much fun to make and I can see how Sparkle got addicted to them!!! And for another S word to add to the bunch the paper is from the Sultry collection by Basic Grey. You can click on the image for a bigger view. I'm trying to remember to get that in there with my posts this year :D Enjoy and have a Sassy Thrusday!

Bella Challenges #58

Supplies: Tinkerbella from Stampingbella; Boomdiada paper, Cardstock, Markers, Hollyhock Ribbon, and Say it in Style stamp set from CTMH; Craft sparkles; Silver Stardust pen and White gel pen by Sakura

Are you tired of me using up this Boomdiada paper yet? lol This is the last one that will use it for now ^_~ I made the card for the #58 bella sketch challenge. At first I was going to put 'have a fairy happy birthday' for the sentiment on this card but I just couldn't find a place for it to fit nicely so this one I thought went well with lil' Tinkerbella :D

Supplies : Lattebella from Stampingbella; Scrap papers from My Minds Eye and Scenic Route; 2008 Holiday Tags by Papertrey Ink; Inks, Markers, and Ribbon by CTMH; White gel pen and Stardust pen by Sakura

Here is my card for the color challenge - favorite green and favorite red. Right now my favorite green is Sweet Leaf and Tulip has been my favorite red since it came out. I used some scrap papers to match the colors as closely as I could and then decked out lattebella for the holidays :D

And for some good news Cait's speech therapy got reapproved AND she's moving up to the next level class in the early intervention preschool after winter break! She'll be working at level 3A now. She started at 2C this year and Kindergarten readiness is 3D so we are really excited! It's kind of on a trial basis to see how she does in a bigger small group setting (4 kids to one teacher as opposed to 2 to 1 or 1 on 1), but her teacher is confident that she will do very well. Anyway, hope you enjoy the cards! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Bella-Riffic Fridays - Prezzies!!!

Supplies : Tis-the-seasonabella by Stampingbella; Tis the Season sentiment by Hanna Stamps; Boomdiada paper, cardstock, creme brulee ribbon, markers, and brads all by CTMH; white gel pen and silver stardust pen by Sakura

Another fun Bella-Riffic Friday!! This last week's theme was Prezzies and I battled between using Prezzie Bella or this bella. The Christmasy bella won out and I used her with some non-traditional Christmas colors. I love using different colors for Christmas! Don't forget to check out the Bella-Riffic Friday Blog to see all the cards and to find out what this next week's theme is! Have a Fantastic Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Bella's Favorite Stamper Challenge #2

Supplies: Teapot Daisies by Stampingbella; CS, Boomdiada paper and creative basics paper, brads, markers, and Say it in Style stamp set by CTMH; White gel pen by Sakura

For December we are to case a card from Jessica's Awesome Gallery! She had so many fun cards it was hard to choose, but I finally settled on this one. Her card is SO much cuter than mine, probably because it is grumpabella and I lovey her, lol. That sentiment totally cracks me up too!! I changed up the stamp and sentiment and then used different papers. I kept with her card design as much as I could and carried out the same double matting on all the panels like she did. A very fun challenge! I hope you are all having a fabulous week! Only 15 more days til Christmas ^_~ Are ya'll done shopping yet?!

Bellaversary Bash!!!

Supplies : Wreathabella from stampingbella; green pattern paper from my minds eye; pink glittle dot paper from making memories; cardstock, inks, markers, and brads from CTMH; Holiday Tags stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Ribbon Unknow; white gelly roll pen by Sakura


I only got to stay for the first 15 minutes of the bash before I had to leave but even that was really fun! Jamie had a fun add lib going on and the ones I got to read were pretty funny! Anyway, Saturday I was able to play a little and do the challenges for the bash. This card was for the first challenge I did, which was the Bella Signature Colors Challenge to use light green and pinks. So I took out wreathabella to do a totally Bella Christmas card ^_~

Supplies: Tistheseasonabella by stampingbella; Tis the season sentiment by Hanna Stamps; Fruitcake paper by Basic Grey; Cardstock, markers, and button nail heads by CTMH; Silver stardust pen by Sakura

This card was for the Bellaversary sketch challenge. I had a couple of these images RAKed to me and just had to use her for at least one of the challenges. The sentiment is just darling and I was going to use it on my first card but didn't have a spot big enough for it. Which was fine because it fit perfectly with this sketch ^_~

Supplies: Balloonabella by stampingbella; Pattern Paper by My Minds Eye; Baby Pink cardstock, brads, ink, markers, and say it in style stamp set by CTMH; Textured CS by Bazzil; White gel pen by Sakura; Ribbon Unknown

And this was the last card I did for the theme challenge. The theme was 2 since it's Bella's second anniversary. So I picked balloonabella because she had 2 balloons, gave her 2 mats, used 2 shades of pink cs, used 2 pattern papers, added 2 ribbons and tied 2 bows, used 2 brads and my sentiment has 2 words.

So last night I didn't get to stay because I was going out on a date with my hubby. We went to a dance concert which was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!!! I loved it! And the only thing bad was that there were so many people in there TEXTING during the performance. I so wish someone would have come in and kicked them out! It was a college performance and I know a bunch of the people were there because it's an assignment to go to one of the concerts and write a short essay, but really is it so hard to not open your cell phone for an hour and a half? Sorry about my little rant. It didn't ruin the concert at all, it was just annoying how rude people can be (and they do this at movies too!). Anyway, the dancers did a fantastic job! I found myself getting favorites even after the 3rd performance, lol. Afterwards we went to dinner, just to Applebee's since we couldn't really decide what we wanted to eat, lol. It was a great night ^_~ Anyway, I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Bella Challenges #57

Supplies: Partybella from stampingbella; Paper by My Minds Eye; CS by Bazzil; Ribbon, Brads, Acrylic Flowers by American Crafts; Markers, ink, and Say it in Style stamp set by CTMH; White Gel pen by Sakura

This was a tough sketch for me. Circles always challenge me though, lol. I had the bottom right circle be on top of the image instead of behind it not just for the sentiment but because both the circles get so lost behind this image since it is a bigger bella stamp. I love these colors for summer and have been working on so many Christmas/Winter projects of late that is was so much fun to change it up.

Supplies: Bookwormabella from stampingbella; Paper, CS, Inks, Markers, Brad, Say it in Style stamp set by CTMH; white gel pen by Sakura; flower by Prima

And I thought the color challenge was going to be hard but once I started coloring in bookwormabella, it all just fell together. I love it when cards do that! I used the CTMH colors Dutch Blue, Clover Meadow, and Sorbet. Tomorrow I'll post my projects for the Bellaversary challenge. Have a Snappy Saturday!!

Bella-Riffic Fridays - It's time to CELEBRATE!

Last Friday's challenge theme was Celebrate in honor of Stampingbellas 2nd Anniversary! So I had to pick out bella's faves - pinks and green - to create my It's a Party card for the theme!! Don't forget that the Bellaversary Bash is happenin' tonight on the Bella Forums as well! Here's my card:



Supplies: Stamping Bellas from stampingbella (RAKed image ^_~); Paper by My Minds Eye; CS, It's a Party stamp, ink, and markers by CTMH; Flowers by Prima; Brads by American Crafts; Ribbon Unknown; White Gel Pen by Sakura

Don't you just love these girls!! They are so darling! I wish I looked half as fashionable while stamping. For me it's usually pajamas and socks, lol!! And yes I have even gone to crops in pjs ^_~ Anyway, lol, don't forget to visit the Bellariffic Friday Blog to see all the cards created for the theme challenge and have a great weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!

More Gamsol Magic Practice

Supplies: Teapot Daisies by Stampingbella; Pattern Paper by My Minds Eye; CS by Bazzil; Ribbon, Brads, Say it in Style stamp set by CTMH; Crayola and Roseart Colored Pencils; Odorless Paint Thinner

Another card I made to practice a little more with the Gamsol Magic Technique. I messed up less on this one, though I'm not sure if my own changes in the way I colored made much of a difference or if they even made it easier for me. You are supposed to do each shade separate(starting from lightest then to darkest) and blend before adding the next layer. In this one I added all of my colors first and then blended them all at once to see if it changed it at all. I'm still experimenting a little with it. Either way I think I do well enough to play with the images I've been wanting to use this technique on ^_~ They are RAK images so I wanted to make sure I did okay before using them up.

So now that Thanksgiving is pretty much over, what do you miss about your Thanksgivings while growing up? When I was little we used to go to the huge family get together that my mom's side has on that Saturday. She's the 10th out of 11 kids, but two of the brothers are still in the Philippines. Anyway, most of my aunts and uncles have big families and everyone always brought tons of food. There was always so much Filipino food (I miss it and I am not good at cooking it, lol) so I definitely miss having that. I also miss being a part of such a huge gathering. I can't stand crowds and don't care for big parties, but when I think back to when I was ages 7-11, I really loved having so many cousins to hang out with in a overly stuffed house, lol! Anyway, I hope everyone had a safe and fun Black Friday! Have a fun lazy Saturday (or maybe a busy one wrapping up all those gifts ^_~)!!