Happy Henrietta

The weather's so dreary here today with lots of rain and fog and I'm trying to brighten it up a little with some vibrant colours. Last time I checked the calendar it was still February so what's up with the rain? Hello...Mother Nature...it's still winter! We should be getting snow not rain!

But seriously...dreary day or not, can anyone resist the sweet innocent expression of Henrietta Lulu from Stamping Bella? I certainly couldn't resist her today so she's taking center stage.

I stamped Henrietta with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured her with copics. I added a little sparkle with orange and fuschia Spica glitter pens. I {heart} my Spica pens...they never 'take over' an image and always have just the perfect subtle sparkle. Then I glossed up her locks with my black Glaze pen...doesn't her hair look so healthy and shiny?!?

I chose my marker colours based on papers from the Basic Grey Indian Summer collection and I decided to layer with black to make it pop. I layered the patterned strip with white though to add a little softness. The base colour is SU melon mambo. A few Primas from my stash and a black button finish the card nicely and hide the edge of my sentiment banner.

This week's Bellarific Friday Challenge is a Winter/Winter Sports theme in celebration of the Winter Olympics. Email your submissions to Em by Thursday night to be incuded in the weekly round-up and for a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Beeday Huggabugg

When I sat down to stamp this morning I wasn't really sure what I wanted to stamp. I knew I wanted to make a birthday card to add to my stash, but that was about it. I looked for a sketch and nothing grabbed me so I went to my Stamping Bella images for inspiration. This sweet Bee-day Huggabugg spoke to me and this is the card I came up with.

I pulled out some fun, bright paper, Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday collection (I used Saturday and Sunday), and coloured my image to match. The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper, twice, so I could pop the presents for dimension. I added a little sparkle with my yellow and red Spica glitter pens then added two hyacinth Bonbons to the antennas.

The image is cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto Prism Intense Orange. I just love how that cute little bee on the patterned paper ended up at the perfect spot right beside my image...another happy accident!

So now for the layout...I'm not in love with it. I don't like the bottom part below the Blush Red Dark scallop border...hmph. I do like the pink colour but I wish I'd stamped the sentiment either over to one side or on a banner, or pretty much anywhere but where I put it. I had it all sewn and assembled though when I stamped the sentiment (gasp!!! WHY did I do that...I always do my stamping before assembling!) so what you see is what you get. I thought the Primas might make it a little better but I don't even really like them either. Oh well...if we don't make mistakes we'll never learn, right?  :)

This week's Bellarific Challenge is a sketch provided by Shannanabella and we hope you'll play along. Simply email your submission to Em by Thursday evening then check back to Bloggabella on Friday to see this week's creations. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Bellarific Lovey Dovey

Happy Bellarific Friday, and what a fabulous day it is with the new Valentine Release over at Stamping Bella. Woo Hoo!!! In celebration of today's release, this week's Bellarific Friday theme was Lovey Dovey. And guess what.....I have a brand new Valentine image to share with you today and she's full of cuteness!!!!

This new sweetie, Priscilla, is part of the Green Bean Baby line...fun!!! You'll be able to pick her up today along with plenty more fabulous additions to Stamping Bella. Be sure to pop over to Bloggabella to see all the new images as well as this week's Bellarific submissions.

I stamped Priscilla with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I used the Card Positioning System layout, CPS149, but I swapped out the rectangle for a circular main panel. I used my bright and cheery Basic Grey Sugar Rush 6x6 paper pack on this card...yum! Then I finished the image with some Primas and a few Bonbons.

Be sure to leave some love over on Bloggabella for a chance to win $50 Bella Bucks (Em lovingly increased the prize for this week from the usual ten Bella Bucks!!!), which will come in handy for your shopping from the new Valentine release!

Next week's Bellarific theme is Twinchies! We all know what inchies are, right? Well Twinchies are 2x2" squares. You'll find Twinchies pre-cut at Stamping Bella, or just cut your own panels to play along. Get working...we're giving you lots of notice this week and it's a long weekend in the US so there's no excuse not to stamp.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

You're never too old to play with dolls...

Well, that's my opinion anyway. So for today's card I decided to play with my Ketto's Dolly image from Stamping Bella. Isn't she just simply adorable?

There's a mini version of Ketto's Dolly in the Ketto's Dolly and Bib Set. After my card was all done I thought that I should have used the mini image and made it look like she was holding it in her hand. Oh well, there's always next time!

First thing I did was decide on my layout and for that I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try. Then I chose my papers and then I started working on the image. I stamped Ketto's Dolly with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I used my clear Glaze pen on the hearts to give them a bit of shine. Then I cut out the image with rectangle Nestabilities and used my E41 copic to shade all around the image, leaving just the edge white to create a border.

The card base is ivory and a layered some Prism Rose Red onto the base before stitching on the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned paper. The image is layered onto a scallop of blue bayou and I added a strip of blue bayou stitched ribbon to the card base before layering some Primas. I really liked the circle element I did on this card using Bonbons so I repeated the same thing here for the half circle and added another baby blue Bonbon to the flowers.

Doesn't this bring you back to your childhood? I had plenty of dolls to play with growin up, and being the only girl with three brothers they never wanted to play with my toys! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Hoppin' with Lulu

Welcome to the Lulu Blog Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! You can start at the beginning on Bloggabella so you don't miss any of these sweet images.

If you're not familiar with Lulus, they're just one of the adorable collections of characters available at Stamping Bella.

I decided to use Gertie Lulu for my card today and I used this week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for the layout, SC247. I have to be honest, I didn't love the Lulus at first but they've really grown on me. I was worried that there was too much black on the images, but I think that's what I love most about them now, because it makes them super quick to colour! LOL! Sometimes images with solid areas like these can be tricky to stamp but I find I get the best impression if I ensure my ink pad is well inked and I stamp on a hard surface like my wood table. I stamped Gertie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I cut her out with rectangle Nestabilities and layered her onto a scallop rectangle of Prism Classic Purple. I stamped her a second time so I could cut out the two butterflies in her hair and pop them for dimension. I gave her glossy black locks with my black Glaze pen.

The patterned paper is from my Basic Grey Wisteria 6x6 pack. I just love all the purples, although I wouldn't call myself a purple girl, but I do love colouring with purples...they seem to blend soooooooo nicely and they look so rich! I layered some Prism Classic Purple and So Saffron onto the white card base before adhering the patterned paper. Then I ran some Orchid Opulence through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and added some sheer black polka dot ribbon. I finished the card with a purple Prima and two sizes of Medium Lilac Glitter Dots.

And it wouldn't be a Stamping Bella blog hop without a prize, right? So in addition to all the fabulous eye candy there's a prize hidden somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! So be sure to leave some love as you hop around. The winner will be announced on Monday in the Splitcoast forum.

Next you're off to see Gaby's fabulous creation. Have fun on the hop!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Memories of the green vacuum...

Happy Bellarific Friday!

I regressed a little to my childhood on this card. I can remember my mom's vacuum...an olive green Electrolux canister vacuum that she'd trail around the house. That thing seemed to run for-EVER. Needless to say, when I decided to use Suck It Up Stella from Stamping Bella I knew I'd be colouring the vacuum green! :)

This week's sketch was brought to us by Meahni...our South African Bella Babe...and what a fun sketch it was!

I stamped Stella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured her with copics. I cut her out with long rectangle Nestabilities then drew in the wood floor to occupy the white space under the image.

The sentiment totally cracks me up, and it's included with the image. I stamped it onto old olive and cut it out with a Spellbinder ribbon tag. The rest of the card is super simple...no complicated stitching or piercing on this one. The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday and I layered them onto Prism Island Mist Dark. I added some blue bayou ribbon and finished it with some layered Primas and a red Bella bonbon.

Don't forget to pop over to Bloggabella and check out this week's submissions. If you leave a comment while you're there you'll have a chance to win some Bella Bucks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen