A Bookworm Thank You

This is the other card I made for my nephews to give to their teachers. I thought Spencer the Bookworm from Stamping Bella was perfect for a teacher card.

This fun layout is last week's sketch challenge from my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenge blog. I thought the layout was perfect to showcase all these fun paper from October Afternoon's Report Card 8x8 pad. I stamped Spencer with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Cream paper and coloured him with copics. I gave the lenses on his glasses a coat of my clear Glaze pen then cut out the image with rectangle Nestabilities.

I used my circle Nestabilities for the fun accent papers then punched a big green star and added an orange corduroy brad. The sentiment is half of the merci buckets sentiment. My nephews are in french school so I thought it was perfect...I only wish I'd thought of it for the other card I made...oh well.

Don't forget about this week's Bellarific Friday sketch challenge. Email your submission to Em by Thursday evening to be included in the Friday round-up. Oh, and you just might win some Bella Bucks for playing along! Here's the sketch...

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Mmmmm...turkey!!!

Gobble Gobble...Happy Thanksgiving Day Canada!!!! Now that we live in the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November, but it still feels kinda weird not to have yummy turkey and apple pie in October! So, yesterday I baked an apple caramel pie...Yum-o!!!! (did you notice I said baked and not made...LOL!). It was our little way of getting in on the Thanksgiving celebration without going into a turkey coma. :)

So I simply had to use my Chefabella image from Stamping Bella on my card today. Could she be any more perfect to celebrate Thanksgiving with?!?

It's been way too long since I played in one of my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenges, so I used her October sketch challenge for this card. Thanks for a fab layout Janet! I just love how quickly this card came together.

I started by stamping Chefabella with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bella's Bestest Paper then coloured her with copics. I used my octagon Nestabilities to cut her out then layered her onto a scalloped octagon of Prism Blush Red Dark.

The patterned paper is an old one from my stash, Imaginisce Out on a Whim. I really liked the little red dots...perfect for Canadian Thanksgiving!!! I added some brown felt ribbon then finished the card with six dark cocoa Glitter Dots.

Don't forget to check Bloggabella for this week's Bellarific Friday challenge. Hmmm...I wonder what fun stamping challenge Em has up her sleeve this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bright and Happy #1

It's been quite a while since I played with one of my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenges so when I saw this week is a sketch challenge I just had to play along.

And the best part...I was planning on using You're my number one-abella from Stamping Bella and the sketch worked beautifully with the image. I love it when a plan comes together! :)

I started by stamping #1-aBella with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Bella's Bestest Paper then cut her out with rectangle Nestabilities. Then I coloured the image with copics and added some shimmer with both pink and yellow Spica glitter pens.

This is my first card using the new in-colours from SU...they're preeeeetty bright! I do really like how happy this card is though. I ran some Melon Mambo through my swiss dots Cuttlebug folder then layered it onto the white card base. The patterned paper is from Razzleberry Lemonade and I added Razzleberry polka dot ribbon. The image is layered onto Razzleberry and so is the "you're". I finished the card with some purple Primas and a Fuschia Bella Bonbon in the center.

Don't forget to check Bloggabella for this week's Bellarific sketch challenge and play along for a chance to win Bella bucks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Have Fun!

I combined two challenges on this card, Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #74 and the Corrosive Challenge #20 (all about dogs).

I haven't used a Poochie image in a loooooong time and this was a perfect opportunity to dig out one of these little cuties! I decided on Poochie Frankie from The Cat's Pajamas and paired it with a sentiment from American Art Stamps (LOVE that sentiment!!!).

I started by stamping Poochie with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White then I coloured him with copics. I honestly thought I'd only use a few markers because there's so much black from the solid image stamp...hmmm...I seem to have gotten a little carried away with shading. Oh well...that's why I have the markers, right? Although that one Ciao marker in my collection drives me crazy when it's time to photograph my colours...I may have to replace it with a Sketch. And those who know me know I'm not kidding. ;)

After he was all coloured I cut him out with square Nestabilities and layered him onto Prism Intense Teal. I slipped the sentiment circle under the image panel before stitching around the image. Then I added a little glitter to the water and use my new clear glaze pen on his shades. A few people have been raving about this glaze pen so I just had to try it for myself, and I LOVE it! You get essentially the same look as crystal effects with a waaaaaaaaay shorter drying time.

I loved how Taylor used punched out stars on her sample for this sketch so I shamelessly cased her idea and used buttons in the same manner. The purple ones are from my button bin and the green and teal ones are from the Whirligig Bag-O-Buttons. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Penny Lane line and I layered it onto Prism Frosted Kiwi before stitching the edges and adhering it to the white card base.

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Wave Your Hands in the Air...

...because we finally had two full days of sunshine here in New England! Woo Hoo!!! A big thank you to everyone who sent sunshine my way! It couldn't have come at a better time either with all the 4th of July celebrations this weekend. We were at a friend's house on Saturday for a BBQ and fireworks, then I went to our town parade today with my neighbour and her kids...my very first 4th of July parade I might add and it was a lot of fun. It's awesome to see everyone proudly wearing red, white and blue and waving flags all along the parade route.

In honour of our days of precious sunshine I just had to use my Cruiseabella image from Stamping Bella, cause this has been me...driving around with the top down soaking up the sun and warm weather. And this image also qualifies for the Corrosive Challenge #19, to stamp something with a summer fun theme. This fresh-air Bella is stamped with Memento Tuxedo black and coloured with copics. My convertible is black but I thought she'd look fabulicious (that's an Em bella-ism!) in a blue convertible. I added crystal effects to the headlights and windshield. The image is cut out with long rectangle Nestabilities and layered onto chocolate.

The white card base is 5.25 inches square. I used some Prism cardstock for my solid colours (Blush Red Medium and Vibrant Teal) because they matched perfectly with the circle of patterned paper I chose from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line. I'm totally getting into the Prism colours...they're all a little different than SU colours and fill a really nice void between shades. I ran the teal square through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder then stitched around the edges with chocolate thread. The finishing touch is a couple of Prima flowers topped with an olive Bella Bonbon.

I'm keeping my fingers (and toes, and arms and legs) crossed that this nice weather holds out for a few more days. I'm almost afraid to check the weather forecast because I just don't want to know if there's more rain on the way.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Manhattan Elegance

I don't know why, but I can't wrap my head around the fact that this stamp set is called Fifth Avenue Floral...I keep calling it Manhattan Flower and I've even labelled it that way on my shelf, otherwise I'd never find it! LOL!!!

I was blurfing a couple of evenings ago and came across this stunning technique. I watched the video tutorial on Patty Bennett's blog and was just amazed with how easy this was. And it truly was easy...toughest part was waiting for the paper to dry, and the flower just got more beautiful as it dried. 

The shimmer white paper adds a very pretty sparkle to the rose and it catches the light beautifully. I attached the flower with dimensionals to some regal rose which I cut out with my Labels 3 Nestabilities. 

The card base is white, followed by a layer of Rose Red. Next I ran So Saffron through the Big Shot with the 'friends' texturz embossing template then I pierced around the edge for more detail. Three circles of Pink Pirouette complete the layout, which is for the Corrosive Challenge #11. I added the ribbon in place of the sentiment because of the words in the background. 

I used the same colours for the flower, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron. I whipped up six flowers in no time flat...now, what shall I do with the rest of them??!!?? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Bloomin' Beautiful

I really should have brought a bigger variety of stamps with me...LOL...but luckily my SIL has a fair sized collection so I borrowed her Stampin' Up Bloomin' Beautiful set to use with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 15. Ha, I just thought of something...this card is a collaboration of Karens...I'm a Karen, the sketch challenge is done by a Karen and my SIL is a Karen too!  :)

I started by stamping the flower with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and colouring it with copics. I stamped it again three times, cut out the leaves and different petals and popped them on dimensionals. In total the flower has four layers...very pretty IRL (and I can leave this one behind for my Mom when I leave so I didn't need to worry about mailing it). The image was cut out with my Petite Oval Nestabilities. I just recently learned that in addition to having a smaller scallop around the edge, the Petite Ovals are a narrower oval shape than the classic oval Nestabilities...who knew (well, probably all of you knew that, but it was news to me)!

I started with a white card base then layered some Pink Pirouette. Next I ran some Artichoke through my Textile Cuttlebug folder and cut it into four strips. I wrapped Pink Pirouette ribbon around the base and secured it with a large white brad. My intention was to add a tag with a "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment, but wanted to use a clear tag and I left those back home, so I had to settle for stamping the sentiment on the inside of the card because using a cardstock tag made the element seem too 'heavy'. I did add a small punched flower though and a Moss coloured Glass Pearl from Stamping Bella. 

Because of the Mother's Day sentiment, this card also qualifies for my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenge #9. This is the first card I've done in a while that doesn't use any patterned paper...likely because I didn't have one with me that worked with the image and colours I chose. But hey, it's good to get out of your groove once in a while...right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Sketchy Bittybloom

With so many wonderful new images lately from Stamping Bella, I've been somewhat neglecting my BittyBlooms, so I decided with it being Easter time I needed to ink up my adorable Hydrangea BittyBloom. The Corrosive Challenge Blog has a sketch challenge this week that's just perfect for my image, plus there's a prize for one lucky participant.   :)

I started by stamping Hydrangea BittyBloom with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with copics. I stamped her a second time, coloured the leaves and flower skirt, cut them out and popped them for dimension. For a little bling, I added a dot of Glamour Dust glitter to the center of each flower using my Quickie Glue Pen.

The card base is Baja Blue and I chose patterned papers from Bo Bunny. I really like the colours and the black paper has a gorgeous blue scroll running through it...it's perfectly feminine for the sweet BittyBloom image. 

I added some white ribbon around the card and a pink hydrangea Prima. The flower center and three accents are String of Pearls Baubles from Stamping Bella. 

Em's Bellarific Friday challenge is still going on for this week. Click here to see the inspiration piece. You have until 5pm Thursday, April 16th to email your submission to Em for a chance to win some Bella Bucks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

The Challenge Cracked Me Up!

The Corrosive Challenge this week is to create something with a spring/Easter feel...fitting for this week of course! My adorable Cracked Up Huggabugg from Stamping Bella had yet to see ink, so I pulled it out for this challenge. Did you know the sentiment is included with this image...Thanks Em!

I stamped the Huggabugg with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with copics. I stamped the small eggs a second time and mounted them on dimensionals so they'd "pop". Some Stardust Stickles on the wings adds a perfect shimmer. The sentiment is one long saying, but I wanted it to fit in the circle so I inked the two halves separately and used my stamp-a-majig to position the words under each other. 

I used last week's Mojo #80 sketch for the layout and patterned papers from Imaginisce, the For Peep's Sake line. The solid colours are bashful blue, so saffron and pink pirouette. A little white taffeta ribbon, lots of paper piercing, some fabulous 5mm Platinum Bella Glitter Dots and voila...one completed card! 

So pop over to the Corrosive Challenge blog, take a peek at this week's challenge and play along. You have all week to play and Janet has a wonderful prize for one lucky participant!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Chillin'

My friend Janet's visiting this week so there's no way I was going to get out of playing along with her weekly challenge...really though, I would have played along whether she was here or not. :)

This week's challenge is Under the Sea (I've stretched it to About the Sea, but Janet gave me the a-ok for it!). This darling penguin stamp is a Snag 'em Stamp that I've had for quite some time. I stamped him with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Gina K pure luxury white and coloured him with copics. I know, I know...I used a mitt full of copics on this little guy, but I'm really loving the depth of colour I get when I use several shades. 

I just recently picked up some white flocking at my LSS Right At Home Scrapbooking, so I used it on his tummy. It doesn't really show in the photo, but it's super cute in real life! He's cut out with circle Nestabilities and layered onto baja breeze then chocolate chip. 

The patterned paper coordinates with the stamp and I've had it for just as long...never quite knowing what to do with it til now. I ran a piece of baja blue through the D'vine Swirls cuttlebug folder then tied some ribbon I picked up at the Paper Source this week (the shade is called Lake). Last but not least...I added some bling with two 7mm Baby Blue Bella Bonbons. 

Stay cool!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Wish Big Cupcake!

It's so much fun to be stamping with my BFF Dana! We're having a fabulous time together here in Calgary.  :)

This is the card I created today. It combines two challenges: Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #58 and the inspiration piece on my friend Janet's Corrosive Challenge blog from Challenge #2, which just went up today. 

The cupcake image is from the SU hostess set Darling Dots. It's stamped with Pink Pirouette ink onto white. The center image was stamped onto pink pirouette cardstock. For the center cupcake I stamped it twice, once with Rose Red and once with Kiwi Kiss, then cut it out and popped it. I used the ticket corner punch on four of the squares and added some green rhinestones to the corners. I finished off the center image with a pink rhinestone. 

The sentiment is from Short and Sweet. I combined some punches, did a little piercing and layered it onto Kiwi satin ribbon. I love how quickly this card came together...grids are always fun to work with!

Don't forget I still have  a blog candy contest on til 8PM EST today on this post. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Miss You

My friend Janet has started a new blog that's all about challenges. I love challenges so of course I jumped at the chance to participate and share my creation on her very first official weekly challenge. It was a sketch challenge this time, so be sure to pop over to Corrosive Challenges to see the sketch and play along. She'll be posting a new challenge every Sunday...can't wait to see what's next!

Here's the card I came up with for her layout. I decided to use my Nice View image from Stamping Bella...it's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I paper pieced the curtains then coloured the rest with copics. I used the turquoise and yellow Atyou Spica glitter pens on the heart and the flower pot, for just a little bling.  The sentiment is from this fabulous little set of Mini Words, actually it's not so little...I just counted and there are 29 sentiments for under ten dollars! I thought the window image and 'miss you' were a good combination. 

The image is cut out with Labels Two nestabilities and layered onto night of navy. The patterned papers are from October Afternoon. Seems like I have a never ending supply...but I'm actually trying to use it up...this card was done with scraps, but I do have some larger pieces left so you'll probably see it again. I added a row of small and large Blue Jean Bella Glitter Dots down the left side...I just love how they catch the light and shimmer. I finished off with lots of paper piercing. 

There are quite a few people that came to mind when I was making this card...I seem to be missing friends and family right now. Lucky for me I'll be getting a good dose of both over the next several weeks.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen