THANKS - CARD

Here is yet another "thank you" card. The stamped image is from Penny black and is titled "Sweet Catch". Of course my Bellas are my first love, but the Penny Black hedge hogs sure come in a close second!! I used my Prisma pencils and Gamsol. Oh and I broke down and bought 4 of the Copic markers to play with this weekend. Did I mention they were a little on the expensive side? $6.50 a piece...YIKES!!! Which explains why I only bought four of them. I will let you all know how I like them after I play with them a little. If there is someone out there that knows a good video or can give me any tips, I'm all ears.

STAMP TREASURES FOUND

The girls and I spent Saturday afternoon antiquing in the Roseville area. We had a lot of fun and how cool is this find?!? I found these four House Mouse stamps for $3.00!! I am so excited. I love House Mouse and only owned two of them prior to purchasing these four. The coffee one cracks me up....check out their eyes...I think they need to consider switching to decaf. This one is my favorite. It is called "Sunflower Smooch". I can't wait to color them.

THANK YOU - CARD

I am really happy with how this one turned out. Though it looks pretty simple it took a little more time than the other thank you cards did. The white paper is handmade paper that I ran through the cuttlebug using the Birds and Swirls embossing folder. I then used my Prisma pencils to color the embossed details. Then I hand sewed the little flower sequins (I don't know who makes them. I bought them some time ago from my LSS for $1 and they came in a clear little baggie.) and the beads. That is where most of the time was spent....those silly little beads with holes too little for my needle to pass through...arghh! So I would thread the needle, run it through the sequin, take the needle off the thread and try to poke the ends of the thread through the seed bead. Then back on the needle goes and through my card to secure it all...for each and every flower. Now I remember why I don't do a lot of sewing on my cards or layouts...I am needle challenged.

THANK EWE - CARD

I love the color combination of black, white and red. The patterned paper for this card is from the DCWV Glitter Stack. The stamp (I don't own it but I do have it on my wish list, I believe it's item # 417 on my list..or something like that) is from Stampin' Up's "Pun Fun" set. Each and every single one of the stamps in this set is adorable! I used my Prismas and Gamsol and the Threading Water border punch from Fiskars....oh and stickles. My "no stamp" challenge has kind of gone out the window, but you all should be proud of me...you haven't seen one Bella..yet.

BEE THANKING YOU - CARD

Thank you card #3. Another very simple, not much to it card. The stamp is the "Bee Thankful" stamp from Stampendous. I love these bees, they are so stinking cute and quick and easy to color. I also used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and the Fiskars Threading Water border punch. Yep, you guessed it, stickles on the wings of the bee and the flowers. Yes, I am outta control.

THANK U - CARD

Here is a quick "thank you" card that I whipped up. I love the Changito Monkey stamps. They are so adorable. This stamp is "Changito Thank U" by Stampendous. I used my Prismas pencils and the Gamsol technique. I still really want to try the Copic Markers, I prefer the vibrancy of the markers over the pencils. I used one of the Cuttlebug "With Love" border embossing folders. I have had them for awhile but today was the first time I broke it out of the package. Staying true to form I added tons of sparkle with stickles.

THANKS SO MUCH - CARD

I will be in total "Thank You" card making mode for the next several days. Now that my Girl Scout troops are done with all of their site sales, I need to make thank you cards for the several stores that were generous enough to allow our girls to peddle cookies in front of their locations.

Here is a simple card that I just finished up. I did fall of the wagon a little with my no stamp challenge, but hey it's not a Bella right? I can not recall what company makes this gorgeous flourish stamp. I got it at Joann's and it was on clearance. The little flowers are Primas and the sentiment is a Studio G dollar stamp from Michael's. One down.....

SENIOR BALL - LO

I have a new obsession. It is hand stitching. After completing the card in my previous post and hand stitching on it, I have become hooked. I like the texture it adds without seeming overdone.

Here is a LO that I completed last night of Brittany's Senior Ball pics from last year. It took me this long to figure out how I wanted to scrap them. I wanted something pretty but not too cute. Something simple but elegant too. I recently purchased some Bazzill In Stitch'z templates for the first time and I LOVE them!! I will definitely be buying more.

I used the Bazzill In Stitch'z Formal Flourish template. The white paper flowers are Flora Doodles by Petaloo and the yellow "bling" are Gemstones from Hero Arts. You really can't tell from the pic but the stitches are a pale yellow that matches the color of her dress.

FLOWERY BIRTHDAY - CARD

I am a creature of habit and I admit that when I know I have a card to make the first thing I do is reach for my stamps....usually the Bellas...which is not a bad thing...but when someone opens a card from me they say...."another new Bella huh"? I have recently decided to challenge myself to make the next several cards (I say several but we will see how long it lasts) without the use of stamps (including my dear sweet Bellas...sniff sniff) as the main decorative element.

So here is another very simple card. I scrapjacked this card idea from Paper Crafts Card Creations magazine. I have to say I am not a big fan of the whole sewing on the card thing, but only because I do not know the first thing about threading Caitlin's sewing machine and let's not even talk about whether or not I can sew a straight line, but I have to admit hand stitching is not that bad. I really like the look of it too. I guess I need to break down and have someone give me a lesson on sewing on cards, someone not related to me, because as far as I am concerned a relative trying to teach me to thread this dang sewing machine is like hubby trying to teach me how to drive and I do not have the time to type out what drama THAT was.

Okay back to the card. The flowers were cut with the Walk in My Garden Cricut cartridge at 2". They were cut 2 times each and then layered. The sentiment is a mini MARK rub on from American Crafts. I threw on some random buttons I had laying around and hand cut some easy leaves and presto a card completed without the use of stamps.

SIMPLE PINWHEEL - CARD

I know this card is not much and pretty simple (I struggle with making cards for men) but I have been wanting to try a pinwheel ever since I saw a few of them in various card magazines. It turned out okay, but like I said simple and not much to brag about. I'm thinking that someone out there needs to publish a "man card magazine", something titled along the lines of "REAL MEN LIKE SPARKLES AND BLING AND HOMEMADE ANYTHING....OH, AND BELLAS TOO!". (wink wink) I know I would definitely be in line buying it.

MINI EASTER BASKET

I saw this project on Amy's blog and knew I had to try making one. If you haven't checked out her blog before you are in for a treat. I check her blog almost daily to see what new card or project she has added. Does that make me a stalker? :) Her talent is amazing and she has the best coloring skills I have ever seen. She makes me want to run out and put myself in debt purchasing Copic markers. The only thing besides price that is stopping me (they are quite expensive I have heard) is that I have the coloring skills of a 2 year old and I don't think even Copics can cure that.


The round top box is a template from the SU site. Amy provides a link on her blog to download your own. Here it is: http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/files/round-top-box.pdf

I printed the pattern, traced it twice on cardstock (it will fit 2 times, so you can get one project out of one piece of cardstock) and glued the backs of both boxes together to form the basket. The bunny is cut from the Doodle Charms Cricut cartridge at 3" and of course I used stardust Stickles to outline the bunny.

I strongly suggest you check Amy's blog out (there's a link on the right hand side of my blog) I guarantee you will become a stalker too!

THE CUTEST STAMPS EVER!!

I just have to show off the cutest stamps ever. I bought these a few weeks ago when Stamping Bella was offering free shipping. I usually stick to the "Bellas" but these cute little animals just had me at hello...the free shipping might have had a little something to do with it also. I encourage you all to check out the website. You can find the link to the right. They have the most adorable stamps!!

I WOULD NEVER FORGET YOUR BIRTHDAY - CARD

Isn't the elephant on this card just the cutest!! This is one of the new Bella stamps that I bought a few weeks ago when they had their free shipping. I have mentioned before how much I LOVE Bella stamps right? I'm sure I have. Anyways, this is a quick birthday card I made for a girl that used to be in my Girl Scout troop. The stamp is called "ellie-phant" and it included the sentiment.

FOR THE LOVEBIRDS - CARD

So here is a quick little card that I whipped up for my neighbor's anniversary tomorrow. I used my new Storybook Cricut Cartridge that I received at Christmas time. I am so in love with this cart!! The lovebirds were cut at 2 1/4 " and the scalloped heart was cut from the Doodlecharms cart at 2 1/2". I threw on some heart buttons that I got on clearance at Beverly's and used a dollar stamp from Michael's for the sentiment.