Red, White & Blue Bella

This week's challenge on the bella forum was a Red, White & Blue sketch challenge.

I found this old Chatterbox paper in my stash and thought it was perfect. I thought this little Appley bowl huggabugg would be too cute.

I colored her in with my copics and then added some crystal effects to the apples. I also used Frosted Lace stickles to her wings and the polka dots on her dress. She is just too cute & sparkly in person.


Stamps: Appley Bowl Huggabugg and sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, patterned paper from Chatterbox
Accessories: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Frosted Lace Stickles
Tools: Copics, Classic and Rectangle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Bellariffic Friday

It's Friday and that means it's time for another Bellariffic Challenge! This week's sketch is from Jen Del Muro and it was just perfect for these little owlies!

I found this paper in my stash the other night and thought it would be perfect for these owls. It's really old SEI paper from the Seasoned line. This sketch also gave me a chance to use the felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!'s holiday mini catalog last year.

I think that's about it. It's been a month now and I am still loving these challenges. :)

Stamps: branching out owlies and dare to be different sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up!, patterned paper from SEI
Accessories: felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals,
Tools: Copics, Classic and Scalloped Oval nestabilities from Spellbinders

This time, it's a girl!

I just found out on Sunday night that a former co-worker of mine and his wife just had a baby girl. They have a 3 year-old little boy too, hence my post's title.

I had colored a bunch of these little babies for the last baby card, so I decided to make a quick & cute card for this new little girl. I turned to the clean & simple blog for a fun layout and chose FTL43. I remembered having some really old patterned paper from Stampin' Up in pinks & yellows so I dug that out. I forgot how flimsy their patterned paper used to be. The newer stuff is so much nicer! To liven it up a little, I highlighted some of the designs in stickles. Cute & simple. I love it!

Stamps: Oh Baby from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White & Lemon Tart card stock, Candy retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Star dust Stickles, Dimensionals
Tools: Copics, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Oh Baby!

And now for something different... I have been on a Stamping Bella kick lately, but the need for a baby card reminded me that I have uninked Doodle Factory stamps sitting around. So, I had to switch gears and show them some lovin' too.

Friends of ours had a little boy last month and it's totally brought back memories of my little guy's first few weeks. They have decided to cloth diaper as well, so I wanted to give this little baby some cute printed cloth diapers. I love this truck paper from piggy tales. It has big cars on one side and smaller cars on the other. When I was looking for a contrasting piece for the strip behind the baby, I turned right back to this fun polka dot paper from Pebbles Inc.

As a finishing touch, I applied a little crystal effects to the baby's tears to make them look a little wetter.

For the layout, I used Lauren Meader's mytimess15 sketch.

Stamps: Oh Baby and Sentiments Baby! from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Wild Wassabi from Stampin' Up!, Tortoise & Hare collection patterned paper from piggy tales, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: Wasabi striped Grsograin ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals, crystal effects
Tools: Copics, Silver Zig Painty, Classic Circle and Pinked Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders, Treading Water punch from Fiskars

Bella's Show & Tell

The Stamping Bella forums on SCS have gotten a make-over and now have brand new challenges every week. Each week of the month will be a different type of challenge. You can read more about it here.

The first challenge is a show & tell. We were to make a card showing who you are as a woman, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a sister, a friend, a dreamer, a career woman, etc.-anything that defines you. Then we have to explain our interpretation of the theme.

So, I chose ipodabella because at my day job I write software that runs on smartphone devices like the iPhone, Google's Android operating system and Blackberry. I also own an iPhone which I love to pieces.

For this challenge, I used Lauren's Saturday sketch mytimess33 and I actually used it the same weekend it was posted! I think that is a first for me. ;) Of course, I did it from memory so I got a few things wrong. But, I still like my finished version.

I did a lot of stamping last night, so check back tomorrow for something a little different.

Stamps: ipodabella from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Marvelous Magenta, Ballet Blue from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: diamond ice baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, White Fun Flock, Black Polka Dot Organdy ribbon from May Arts
Tools: Copics, Cuttlebug Paisley embossing folder

Turtle Cutie

Wow! I am so late on this one. I didn't actually make the deadline to make it on Emily's blog, but I still wanted to post on Bellariffic Friday.

This week's challenge was a sketch from Karen Motz. The wavy flag was a fun element that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

I still had this patterned paper out from last week, so I figured I'd give it another whirl. My card was feeling a little flat though, so I added some icicle stickles to all of the dark orange dots & stripes on the paper in addition to the cake trim, candle flames and party hat. I think it added just enough sparkle to make this card shine.


Stamps: Turtle tots - birthday wishes from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore from Stampin' Up!, Party Time Boy Stripe, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: string of pearls baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, Icicle Stickles, Mini Glue Dots, Prima Flowers
Tools: Copics, Class Square and Label One nestabilities from Spellbinders

Happy Birthday Robot

It's another Bellariffic Friday! I'm really digging these challenges and loving the fact that it is getting me stamping. :)

This week we had another sketch from Nicky. I don't usually make square cards, so this was definitely a challenge! I really wanted to use my new cakey watt stamp. Isn't he the cutest little robot? I was going to color him in shades of gray, but I couldn't resist making him match this fun paper from Pebbles inc.

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but I covered Mr. Watt with crystal effects. I just got these new applicators from Gina K and they make it so much easier to control! I will definitely be using more crystal effects from now on. This was also my first time using the Build-a-brads from Stampin' Up! It was a fun way to pull in another piece of patterned paper and count as the larger circle embellishment from the sketch.


Stamps: cakey watt and happy birthday ms from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: White base weight Pure Luxury from Gina K, Regal Rose, Green Galore from Stampin' Up!, Party Time Boy Stripe, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: diamond ice baubles from Stamping Bella, Build a brad from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals, Icicle Stickles, Mini Glue Dots, Crystal Effects
Tools: Copics, Classic Rectangle and Small Labels nestabilities from Spellbinders

Bellariffic Friday

These Bellariffic Friday challenges are so fun! I have so many bella stamps and they are motivating me to pull them out and get stamping! I was so excited to win last week, so there will be more coming into my stamp room! Yay!

This week, the challenge was a sketch and it was a great one! I really wanted to use Altee 'tude and I thought this super cute cloud paper would look great with her. The only problem was the I didn't want it all to be covered up by the many layers of the sketch. So my solution was to make the wide horizontal band layer out of vellum. It looks pretty cool in real life, but it's hard to see in the picture.

I colored this girly in with my copic markers. I had trouble with the memento ink bleeding on the PTI Stamper's Select white cardstock if I didn't wait a while for it to dry, so I switched to Gina K's pure luxury layering weight. This was actually worse. Not only would the black ink bleed, but the copic ink spread outside the lines and the pink wouldn't push back in with the blender. I ended up having to cut the little girl out and pop her up on the cloud because I couldn't stop the bleeding. It ended up being a happy mistake, but I'm still frustrated with the paper. Maybe the thicker weight will be better? Anyone have any suggestions on this?

Stamps: Altee 'tude from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: White layering weight and black base weight Pure Luxury from Gina K, Regal Rose, Cool Carribean, Vellum Cardstock from Stampin' Up!, Howdy from American Crafts
Accessories: string of pearls baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, Frosted Lace Stickles, Mini Glue Dots
Tools: Copics, Square & Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Wedding Time Again

As we enter May, wedding season begins again! Our first wedding this year is for my step-sister's cousin this coming weekend, so I needed to whip up a card. I don't think I'm capable of using any other stamp these days for a wedding card. I just love this bella & fella so much!

Emily's challenge this week was to use gold & bling, so I figured it was the perfect challenge for a wedding card. My favorite color combo with gold is vanilla & white. It's so soft & classy looking to me.

I stamped the happy couple on PTI white cardstock with Memento ink and colored with my new copics. The tuxedo is shades of neutral gray, although on my computer screen is just looks black. I also highlighted his lapel, pocket and shoes with black stickles. Then for bella, I only colored in her sash with red for a little pop. Her veil & shoes are covered in icicle stickles and I highlighted all the roses with a clear gelly roll pen from Sakura to make them shine a little. The A Muse twinkle stickers were the perfect finishing touch to her dress.

Stamps: "hitchedabellafella" from Stamping Bella, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White, Brushed Gold, Neenah Cream
Accessories: Kraft taffeta ribbon, Latte Buttons, A Muse micro dot twinkle stickers, Dimensionals
Tools: Rectangle Nestabilities, Threading Water punch from Fiskars, Copic Markers, Icicle Stickles, Black Stickles, Sakura clear gelly roll pen

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! My hubby had to work today, so the little guy & I met up with my parents & my sister in Mystic, Connecticut. For Mother's Day I got my first Copic markers.

They came on Thursday and I used them on this card for my step-mom. It's from the little guy and I literally threw it together in 20 minutes this morning. I colored the front & he colored the inside with regular crayola crayons. I stamped his name with snap stamps on the inside, but since we're not posting his name on the Internet, I blurred it out.

When you ask him what an owl says, he says "Hoo" so I thought it was especially cute to use these owl images from Stamping Bella.

My step-mom loved the card and we had a great time in Mystic. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day too!

Stamps: "lady owly on her sign" & "cuddly owlies" from Stamping Bella, Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White, Confetti Tan, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: Largest Rectangle & Oval scalloped punches from Marvy, Copic Markers, Crayola Crayons

Thank You Part 2

So, I also needed a card to express my thanks to our Lactation Consultant. I figured I'd go for the gusto and also submit for Lauren's design team call. I love Lauren's sketches. They are so fresh and fun and are the perfect start for me to get creative! For this card, I used the older sketch mytimess10 from the call.

Anyway, I chose to use Billy since he kind of looks like my little guy (hence the blond hair). I colored him in with Koh-i-noor pencils, so the yellow is a little on the bright side.

Not much else to say, this one was quick & easy!

Stamps: Dress up Billy from Pink Cat Studio, Faux Ribbon from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Bold Brights Buttons, white embroidery floss, Dimensionals
Tools: Circle Nestabilities, Koh-i-noor pencils & baby oil

Babyhood's end

Last month (at 14 months old), my son decided to stop nursing. I wasn't quite prepared for that, but I am glad it was his decision to stop. We wouldn't have even gotten started if the wonderful Lactation consultant at the hospital hadn't worked with us so much. She has helped us through the rocky start, my return to work, and some other bumps along the way. Every third Tuesday of the month, she hosts a Nursing Moms group to lend support and let us ask questions. Tomorrow will be my last visit (at least until the next kid) and I wanted to give her something to show my appreciation.

That's where Lauren's My Timeless Template-For keep{sake} came in! I loved her idea to make it a tea dispenser. When she issued her First template challenge, it all fell into place! I used the Strawberry Lemonade bath wash as my inspiration. It's hard to see, but I stamped tea cups on the yellow oval.

Lily dressed up like a nurse (lactation consultant) perfectly and I thought this baby & "got milk" stamp fit my theme perfectly.

Stamps: Dress up Lily from Pink Cat Studio, Baby Love & Little Gal from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir, Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet
Paper: Papertrey White, Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush
Accessories: American Crafts Ribbon, My Timeless Template For {keep}sake, Dimensionals
Tools: Cuttlebug, Square Scalloped Nestabilities, Oval Nestabilities, Long Rectangle Nestabilities, 1" circle punch, Paper Snips

Easter bunny

So last week, I challenged the SSUS girls to pull out their contraband stamp sets (non-Stampin' Up!). Most of the girls are Stampin' Up! demonstrators so they don't have as many occasions to use their non-Stampin' Up! sets. I figured we'd get a pretty good turn-out and we totally did.

The challenge was to use your most recently purchased (non-Stampin' Up!) stamp set to make a card for your partner. I had just received an order from Cornish Heritage Farms for Kim Hughes' super cute new Easter set, so that was my choice.

The layout of my card is from this month's Verve Release Sketch. I love all of Julee's sketches.

The eggs were glittered which seems to be all the rage this Easter. Pottery Barn is selling sugared eggs and I think I saw them at Joanns as well. For the bunny, I added some gray highlights with my Koh-i-noor pencils and then flocked him with white flock. In real life, he's super fuzzy. His tail is from a piece of pom-pom ribbon I picked up last weekend at Ryco on the way home from Stamp New England when I was visiting my parents.

Stamps: Sweet Spring from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart
Paper: Whisper White, PaperTrey White, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket
Accessories: Green striped ribbon from May Arts, White pom-pom ribbon, White Flock, Icicle Stickles, Dimensionals
Tools: 1" square punch, Fiskars Threading Water punch

Trendy Trees

This week's challenge on SSUS was to use mytime's Saturday Sketch #19. I also needed to make 2 masculine birthday cards last weekend. So, I decided to save time and use the same design.

The birthday card I made is on the left. I just love this cute Trendy Trees stamp set. I love this version. The colors are funky and the design is clean and crisp.

In order to fit the SSUS challenge, I had to make a couple of tweaks. First, all supplies needed to be current and from Stampin' Up! So, I used one of the sentiments from the stamp set and changed the ribbon color since this green is retired. The other change is that the SSUS group requires all cards to have two full layers. So, I put the chocolate card front on a green galore card. This is maybe a bit too bright, but whisper white is too flimsy and I couldn't figure out a better option. Finally, I added a button from the Latte buttons in the new catalog. I just can't get enough of them!

So, which version do you like better?

Stamps: Trendy Trees from Stampin' Up!, birthday sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Green Galore, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore, Brocade Blue
Accessories: Dimensionals, Apple green grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin grosgrain ribbon, Latte Buttons, Linen Thread
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch

Gotta collect them all...

So today I became a Copic certified designer. Before the class, I had never touched a Copic marker and now? Now, I want the all! This is a problem, but I'm sure with enough time I can collect enough for my needs.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Stamp New England and I'm super excited about that! We were challenged to make a name tag for ourselves that matched our stamping style. I took the opportunity to use this little Kim Hughes bird that I colored today at the marker certification. Love it! I also threaded some taffeta ribbon through the cute flower button from the new Latte buttons from Stampin' Up!

See you on the other side!

Stamps: Mocha Chica from Cornish Heritage Farms, Small Polka Dot alphabet from A Muse Art stamps
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Chocolate Chip, Memento Black, Copic markers
Paper: PTI White, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Retired Stampin' Up! designer paper
Accessories: Dimensionals, Pink taffeta ribbon, Latte Buttons, Retired velvet ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Paper Snips, Threading Water Fiskars punch

Baptism card

Eric's baby cousin was baptized on Sunday and I needed to make a quick card. When I was searching on splitcoast, I saw a bunch of christening dress cards based on Lauren Meader's onesie tutorial. Perfect!

I started with a linen textured white cardstock and used my threading waters Fiskars punch to make the eyelet edging. Then I just tied some white taffeta ribbon through this cute flower button from Stampin' Up!

Easy peasy! Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

Paper: Linen White
Accessories: white taffeta ribbon, Button Latte from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Threading water punch from Fiskars, Stampin' Up! 1 3/8" circle punch & scallop circle punch

Etsy challenge

I love etsy, don't you. Sometimes I just browse through the stores looking for inspiration. One of my favorite stores to ogle is joom. Since I volunteered to lead the weekly challenges this week on the SSUS group, I figured a joom inspiration challenge was just right!

I asked my partner ahead of time if she wouldn't mind if I used a non-Stampin' Up! set. Luckily for me, Kim is awesome and agreed. I've wanted to use these PTI sets forever, and they are just perfect for joom's look.

As you can tell, I used the pillow on the right as my inspiration. The sentiment is embossed, but the bird and branch aren't because my brown embossing powder has gone bad.

I think I will be making more joom look-a-likes in the future.

The layout is from the clean & simple blog's Fall To Layout #31.

Stamps: Birds of a feather and Out on a limb from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Versamark
Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Dimensionals, chocolate taffeta ribbon, detail white embossing powder
Tools: Paper Snips, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Mystery Image Swap

It was time for another mystery image swap about a month ago. I am a little late in mailing and even later in posting my version.

This month's hostess was Ms. Technique Junkie herself, Pat Huntoon, and she sure picked a doozie for us. I bet there are tons of cool stamping techniques that you could do with this giraffe, but I came up blank and just colored him yellow. I did find this cool giraffe print paper in the All Boy DCWV stack which was on sale at Joanns. I thought the giraffe looked like he was laughing, so this sentiment from A Muse worked perfectly.

The layout is from Mojo Monday sketch #63.

Stamps: Mystery Giraffe, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Palette Burn Umber, So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust
Paper: PTI White, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, All Boy by DCWV
Accessories: Dimensionals, chocolate felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Paper Snips, Threading water punch from Fiskars, Stampin' Up! punches

Friends 'til the end

I couldn't resist participating in Nichole's challenge today, Friends 'til the end. She asked us to make a card for our best friend. Easy, peasy! My BF loves to garden, so I went with flowers.

I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by also using this weeks Card Positioning Systems sketch (CPS102) which is being sponsored by PTI! I just love the Gerber daisy from this new set and figured I'd double my chances to win it. :)

Stamps: Green Thumb & Garden of Life from Papertrey Ink, Mixed Bouquet from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tide, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise perfect match Palette Hybrid Inks, Certainly Celery, Garden Green
Paper: Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, White
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: Paper Snips

PTI In the Bag challenge

Have you been following PTI's second anniversary countdown? I'm getting pretty excited to see what they are coming out with! Today Nichole posted a challenge called It's in the Bag. We were to make or alter a bag with stamps and then post a link to the bag on her blog.

I decided to tackle a project I've been meaning to do for a while. Can you tell what it is? How about now? That's right, they are reusable produce bags. We stopped using plastic grocery bags about six months ago in favor of the reusable cloth ones that the store sells, but we would still get stuck with the plastic produce bags. Not anymore!

I cut 1 yard of organza into fat quarters, stamped with perfect match ink and then made little drawstring pouches out of each piece. Here's the tutorial that I followed. If you have a sewing machine, you can totally make these. It's just a few straight lines and they are super cute! Now I can't wait to go grocery shopping. :)








Stamps: Green Thumb from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado and Pure Poppy perfect match Palette Hybrid Inks
Fabric: 1 yard of organza
Accessories: Twine
Tools: Sewing machine