Thursday, March 31, 2011

Just Embossed

No iPad yet, but my lime green cover left China 2 days ago and arrived in Port Hope, ON this morning! Is there something sick about checking the status of my order several times a day? Well, I am waiting patiently, but in the meantime I am checking the store stock around here JUST to see if they have what I want in store.

In the meantime I am still busy creating around here and I did this one on the day I just felt like messing around. Don't get me wrong, I do like to colour, but sometimes I just need to play with other stuff so I don't get into a slump. Now this is an awful picture and I just couldn't get a photograph to capture how pretty it really is. (hmmm...maybe because my photography skills are somewhat lacking)


I used Stamping Bella's CURLY silhouette and curly LEAFY flourish which includes two different sizes. I stamped using VersaMark and embossed with a Sparkle N Sprinkle EP called Dust Storm. It is a blend of blue, cream and copper and much softer than the picture portrays. Then I stamped happy anniversary in the lower corner and put it all together. I can't find that particular stamp on the Bella site anymore but did find some others here.

That's it for today, back to colouring for tomorrows Polka Dot challenge.

Linda.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

How'd she do that?

Morning everybody! Lots to talk about today, so get comfy. Colleen, I dedicate this first paragraph to you and are you reading it on your new iPad2? LOL!!!!....I am pretty sure she is chuckling right now! Colleen is one of my old pod mates at work and reads my blog via Facebook, but she is not a crafty sort and fessed up to me that she only reads the first paragraph because that is where I usually give a general life update! (you might want to read the second paragraph too!)

Now speaking of the iPad 2, it was the hot topic between Colleen, myself and another friend Jenny last week, specifically...how and and when are we going to get our grubby hands on it? Are you gonna get up at 4am and order online, or God forbid, stand in line somewhere! Well, Colleen and Jenny got up at 4 and placed their order...clearly I did not want it that bad because when the hubs tried to wake me up TWICE, I just snored in his face and didn't order mine until 6am. Now Colleen wanted it SO badly that she placed her order as a back up then went and stood in line and was the proud owner of her iPad 2 by 5:30pm! Way to go! Hopefully when she cancelled her order, that bumped mine up in line and I'll have it within the next couple weeks.

Alrighty, life update is over and I'll move on to something crafty. This is hollyhock BITTYBLOOM from Stamping Bella, and isn't she a cutie! I'm totally smitten with those bittyblooms.


I paired her up with Basic Grey Kokeshi paper, stamped her on bella's BESTEST paper and used the following copic markers to colour her up:

E000, 00, 11, 33, 35, C1, 3
BG0000, 000, B000, 00
G0000, 000, G40, 21, V12, 15, 17

On to the how'd she do that portion of today's post. I actually have a little bit of a tutorial for you today! shocker I know! But I had a couple questions on how to pop that balloon out of the nestie so Kathy H., this is for you!
  
Step 1: place your nestie over the image and draw a line with pencil on the inside edge of the die
 
Step 2: it is also helpful if you draw a line on the outer edge of the die as well, that way you won't accidentally cut at an angle into the inner line. See on the right side, I have cut at an angle into the outer line, then I cut right along the balloon into the inner line. You don't wanna do what I did on the left side of the balloon! You'll see why.
 
Step 3: place your nestie back on the image and pull out the portion that you don't want cut.


Now you see that your balloon is popped right out of the die cut portion and you can see why it is important to cut only a single cut on that portion of the balloon that is between your two lines because then when you lay it back down you won't even tell there is a cut there. If you cut, and then trim you'll get a gap like I have on the left. And if you cut into the inside line at an angle and then cut along the edge of the balloon you would have a REALLY big gap! So that is why the line on the outside edge of the die is helpful. 
I know many of you know how to do this already, but for those who don't, I hope it has been helpful. Hope to see you at our polkadot challenge this Friday over at Blogabella. Have a wonderful day!

Later, Linda.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Celebrating another Birthday today!

This time it is my Mom...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! She is a proper lady so I'm not gonna give away her age, although I don't think she would mind. For mom's card I couldn't help myself and just HAD to make another card with Flower Garden...she loves flowers and I love colouring them so it's a perfect match.


This time I coloured them in deeper pinks and reds and of course stamped it on bella's BESTEST paper and used my copics. This is the third card I have made with this set, (not to mention my journal page) and each time I used different shades but I think this combo is my fav so far...so here you go, the secret recipe!

R20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 39
y00, 11, 15, 38, YR18,
G21, 24, 94

Now in other news...and fantastic news I might add...STAMPING BELLA STAMPS WILL BE COMING TO AN ARCHIVERS NEAR YOU SOON! Okay, I do not have an Archivers in my neighborhood...like as in Canada...but for all my lucky American friends you will now be able to get your favourite rubber locally.

Next up in big news is that we have two new Babes joining the lineup. Tammy Hershberger and Jessica Diedrich...they are both amazing and talented and when the babe's were chatting yesterday via email they proved to be fun too! So excited to be associated with them.

Now, don't forget, no challenge this week but start seeing spots and get working on the polka dot challenge for next week! And I promise...I WILL NOT use Flower Garden!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's 77th Birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! He is slowly recovering from his bypass surgery and still feeling quite weak. His doctor is pleased with his progress but I think Dad thinks it should be quicker.

For his card I turned to nature and kept it very soft, very calming and tactile.


For the focal image I started out with a piece of white paper and spread on some pan pastels. VERY messy, I had pastels everywhere! Then I gave it a spray of some workable fixative to 'set' it and not get any more on my fingers. Then I stamped the Fred Mullett reverse fern with versamark and embossed it in black. The DP behind the leaf is an old piece of Magenta paper that I have been hoarding for years...but Dad is worthy so I cut into it. The green paper in the background is from Hanko Designs and a Japanese imported paper. Another one that I hoard because I only have a few pieces left. It looks good in the pic, but even yummier in your hot little hands because it looks and feels like grasscloth. Finally, the piece of mesh is also Magenta, I think they call it nest and it comes in several colours and several styles. This loose one is my fav. All of this paper comes out of a folder that I label 'specialty paper'...I only dive into it for special occasions!

Well that's it...hoping Dad has a wonderful Birthday.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

No agenda

One of my most favourite things in the world is to wake up in the morning and have no agenda....and that is how I woke up this morning. It's a very free and liberating feeling. I typically like to write a post on a Sunday morning when I'm having my coffee but this morning I decided to do something different, remember no agenda!

I pulled out my Stamping Bella dictionary definition stamps, love, happiness and together and my current most fav stamp that I can't stop using, flower garden (I always wanna call it scribble poppies, I think Emily should really rename it just for me!). Then I wanted to just mess around with my caran d'ache watercolor pastels...this did bring on several minutes of frustration however, because I couldn't find the pastels. I think I have too much stuff and squirrel it away out of sight in different locations around the house. And I also felt the need to emboss...just because I have a kajillion different EP's and I do like to use them occasionally.

With all products out in front of me this is what I created in my art journal....I love it and am going to recreate the idea onto a card.


I started by staggering the three definitions onto one large 4x6 block and stamped it out twice with Distress Ink in pumice stone. LOVE the soft colour of that ink...thanks Tim! Then I stamped the poppies with versamark and embossed with patina gold. Then I scribbled in some pastels and loosened it up with a wet paint brush. Now I will admit it is difficult for me to do the loosey goosey thing and I prefer things to be a bit more controlled but I was really going after composition here and am pretty happy with the outcome.

Now I think I just may recreate this idea into a card.

Friday, March 18, 2011

It's a little sketchy

I'm not talking about my memory, although it would apply there too...I'm talking about my card today! It was a sketch challenge over at Bloggabella and a wonderful sketch it was!


Meet Annie...she comes in a neat little package along with Arthur and I coloured her with copic markers...no surprise there. I also stamped her on bella's BESTEST paper...no surprise there. But I coloured her hair blonde which is a bit of a surprise because I RARELY colour blondes.

These are the colours I used for that gorjus head of curly blonde hair:
YR31(-) (you can read about that in this post), YR20, 21, E21, 30, 33

Dress was done in BV31, 02, 04 and as always E0000, 000, 00, 11 for the face. I think I used a pencil for her rosy cheeks this time though.

We have no challenge this week so you have TWO weeks to come up with something spectacular for our POLKA DOT challenge. Who doesn't love polka dots! I would have a polka dot room if I could.

I'm outta here...we are expected to have another mild and sunny day today and I have to spend it in an office! Hope you find a better way to enjoy the wonderful weather around here.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Fair Haired Boy

My hubby has a little nephew who's hair is SOOOOO fair it is almost transparent! This little Stamping Bella's Arthur totally reminds me of him...except, if it was REALLY him, he would be sitting on my lap and we would be sharing a bowl of potato chips at Grandpa's house because Grammy KNOW's how much me and the boys love potato chips so she always has a stash of them!  It's what bond's me and the little guys!


I decided to get a little 'scrappy' on this layout which is SO NOT me! I find it really hard to get out of my perfectely horizontal and vertical aligned comfort zone but sometimes a girl just has to branch out!

Some things do stay the same however, and I stamped him with memento ink on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured him with the following copic markers, but in my typical fashion, I DID add some shading with pencils.....except for on his hair...I wanted to leave it 'transparent'....

E0000, 000, 00, 11 (flesh tones)
E40, 41, 42, 43 (for that fair hair)
E95, 97, 99, B41, 45, 34, C1, 3 (the rest of it)

All paper is from a Cosmo Cricket 8x8 set which included the letter stickers. Buttons are from my VAST stash! Ya, I'm a bit of a collector of 'stuff' and I'm trying to not get caught up in trends and use up the stuff I have....we'll see how long that lasts!

'till next time....Linda.


Sunday, March 13, 2011

Spring Forward

Our clocks moved ahead here overnight and I lost an hour of my precious weekend but I'll give it up for ANY sign that spring is just around the corner. I'm even growing tired of wearing my tall kick butt Michael Kors boots so that has got to mean I'm officially DONE with old man winter.

For this spring forward day I decided to celebrate with Stamping Bella's SCRIBBLE GARDEN. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for flower images and know this piece of rubber will be seeing a lot of love from this babe.


I didn't write down all the copics I used because there were a LOT, it seemed that half my basket was spread out on the table. It was overwhelming and wouldn't have been apparent where they were used anyhow so I didn't bother.

What I will tell you however, is that I started colouring this image with B0000 in the background BEFORE I started on any flowers. I went in between each flower and then used my blender to soften the outside edges. Then after colouring the flowers with copics I added just a bit of blue shading with a pencil here and there where I wanted some deeper colour. Then I added some tiny dots of liquid applique and glitter and that scalloped edge was created by cutting one edge of my paper in a large spellbinders die called Curved Rectangles. A little ribbon, a little stitching and we are good to go!

Don't forget about our Friday challenge....a nice easy sketch! And I haven't said this in a while, but when you play you do have a chance at winning some Bella Bucks...and if you comment, you could increase your winnings! The more you play, the more chances you have at winning and you can build up those bucks in your account until you are ready to SHOP!

Well, I'm outta here...it's a jammie day!

Friday, March 11, 2011

40 days and 40 nights....

Okay, it's only been raining here for about 40 hours and I didn't have to build an Ark or anything, but come on, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Bring on some good weather PALEEEZZZEEEE! I guess it could be worse, it could be the 'S' word....like as in SNOW! Hubby has been away for a couple days, home last night thankfully, and I DON'T SHOVEL! I think because my Grandfather suffered a fatal heart attack shovelling snow I have this 'thing in my head' that NOBODY over 50 should shovel snow! I've been unable to plant that seed in hubby's head but I assure you, this babe ain't gonna pick up a shovel! Just NOT gonna happen!

Now that I got that foul weather rant out in the open I can move on to Bellarific Friday! YAY! I decided I wanted to colour an Easter image that I have never done before so I pulled out EGGY with a BUTTERFLY ON TOP by Stamping Bella. But for some reason I had a tough time colouring it with copics. I think because the yellow-orange colours end up being too bright for me so I trashed my first version and did this one entirely in pencils.


I used Basic Grey Kioshi paper as my inspiration and added some Quickutz flourish dies to finish it off...oh ya...used LOTS of glitter too! I've had those flourish dies for several years and at the time they were a limited release so I don't know if they are available anymore.

NOW, I'm gonna spill a secret! Alright....I'm being silly, it's not really a secret, it is our challenge next week and for all you sketch challenged card makers you'll be glad to know it is a SKETCH! This one is brought to us by our fellow babe Dana. Do you know that Dana is our babe 'leader' ....she keeps us all organized with upcoming challenges and who is next at the plate to contribute! I just wanna give a shout out to her here because we would not be the amazing team we are without her! Thanks Dana for keeping us in line and on a personal note, can I hire you to organize MY life????

later, Linda.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Florence the FLOWER POT girl

I really wanted to make something bright and springy, so I pulled out Stamping Bella's Florence the FLOWER POT girl. But with the cold and unexpected SNOW we got this past weekend I decided to colour her up in nice warm cozy shades and wrap her in Basic Grey Pyrus paper. I love the colours in this series, but I'm hoping that I won't have to use them again until October, although I have heard we are supposed to have a long cold spring.


As always I stamped her on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured her with the following copic markers:

E0000, 000, 00, 02, 11, R20
E30, 31, 33, 35, V12, 15, 17
YG23, 25, 67, R22, 24, 27, 29
YR20, 12, 21, 23, 14, Y11

Don't forget about our Easter card challenge this Friday over at Blogabella. I don't have my card done yet and that is causing me a little bit of angst because me no likey to colour in the evenings! We'll see what I come up with.

later, Linda.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Is there a Westie in the house?

My friend Bev has a Westie named Tulah and a Scottie named Dugan and Friday night she invited me and Bessie over for dinner. How cute is that! I was totally spoiled, Bev made a fantastic dinner and wouldn't let me lift a finger! Living with a hubby that doesn't cook, this was a total treat for me so I thought I'd send her a thank you card and what better stamp to use but Butch and Mimi. That would be Bessie on the left, the scruffier one, she is a bit of a tom boy and full of 'tude. Tulah would be the sweet and innocent one on the right, seriously, that dog could be a therapy dog she is so friendly.


Paper is Basic Grey, and I think it might be from the Sugared 6x6 pad but I'm not sure. Punch is EK Success (love those punches!) and these little sweeties were stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following markers:

COO, 0, 1, 2, 3, W1, 6
RV00, 10, 11, 13, V01, 12, 15, 17

I used my Caran d'Ache pencils for the blue shading and grass, stiched it up, added some ribbon and they are good to go!

Don't forget...this Friday our challenge is Easter!


Friday, March 4, 2011

Sometimes it seems like it will NEVER come, sometimes they are here before you know it!

I would be talking about Fridays! Ever have one of those weeks when it seems like Friday will NEVER get here, and yet other weeks, that 'F' day is here before you know it! Well, this week for me was the latter, I have NO IDEA where the time went and now it is gone and lost forever.

On a good note, we did get Dad home from the hospital on Tuesday! It was quite the orchestrated event...my brother drove him from London to my place in Chatham, we had dinner here then I took him and my mom home to Windsor! He got in the door and plopped himself on the first chair in sight, he looked so tired, but at the same time, overwhelmingly happy to finally be home. You have to remember, we are talking about a man who has NEVER been hospitalized....NEVER been under the knife....and possibly NEVER been under an anesthetic! That in itself is kind of amazing since he is going to be 77 years old in a few weeks. That reminds me....hmmmm....better get thinking about a card!

Speaking of cards, let's get on with the reason why many of you are here....MY BELLARIFIC FRIDAY CARD!....

The inspiration this week was a colour challenge in shades of Aquamarine and the lovely picture was brought to us by our video babe, Ebru. Oh ya, have you seen Emily's video tutorials! You must check them out and the links are on her blog. Okay, I digress....I chose chatty CATHY for my image and as much as I LOVE these colours I found myself challenged to find papers that worked! What's with that? I love the colour, shouldn't I have a truck load of papers in my stash that match? No worries...I found some papers in the Basic Grey 6x6 pad of lime rickey that screamed aquamarine.



So what do ya think? Should I win a prize for staying so close to the colour inspiration? I think I should...I'm all about prizes...AND winning them! LOL!!!

She was stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and although I did not write down the specific copic colours I used you might guess that it was a WIDE range of the BG's. I used no pencils on the image and kept those strictly to the grounding and shading around the image with some aquamarine.

I hope you enjoyed this week's challenge and I HOPE to feast my eyes on a sea of aquamarine on Em's blog later today! Our challenge next week is keeping with the holiday of the month and that would be Easter! I'm sure many of us in Canada equate that with spring so how 'bout we 'cheat' a bit...if you don't celebrate Easter, just 'cheat' and make something 'spring like' instead and warm the hearts of us Canadians (and some Americans) who have seen WAY too much snow this year!

'till next time...Linda




Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Thanks SO much!

For all the well wishes for my Dad!

When I saw him on Sunday I told him that all my blogging and facebook friends were pulling for him and he got a great big grin on! I'm sure one of the first things he will do when he 'breaks out' is to catch up on my blog! Albiet, there won't be much to read since there has not been much blogging for the last couple weeks, but I'm pretty sure he will go searching to see his card up in lights in cyberspace!

Speaking of 'break out' he MAY be heading home today, we should know about 9am! After almost three weeks in the hospital I'm sure he is ready for some fresh air! He's an outdoorsy kinda guy...likes to fish and putz around in his yard. Although he doesn't have a vegetable garden I'll bet he would if their yard was big enough. So I have another card to dedicate to him...this is the BIG GUY'S garden by Mo Manning available in rubber at Stamping Bella.

I really enjoyed colouring him and if I didn't dedicate it to my Dad, I would be dedicating it to my next door neighbor who has a garden that any urban farmer would die for! He often goes out into his yard and fills a basket of tomatoes and hands it to us over the fence! I LOVE my neighbors! He grows the BEST tomatoes I have EVER eaten!

I coloured the image with no particular paper in mind knowing I wanted the overalls a grungy blue with a light brown work shirt and well, you can't really mess with mother nature when it comes to colouring the tomato plant! Going through my 6x6 pads I decided on Basic Grey Marrakech but sponged the edges of the paper with Frayed Burlap Distress ink to tone done the bold blues. And I even used a more neutral colour thread for sewing to keep up with the distress look.


What do ya think? I was pretty pleased! I stamped him on bella's BESTEST paper and used the following copics:
E50, 51, 53,
B41, 21, 32, 34 (shading with E41, 42) for the overalls
E40, 41, 42, 43, 44 (shirt)
E74 (hair) W2, 4, 6, 7 (basket)
R24, 37, 39, Y00 (tomatoes)
YG63, 67 (tomato plant)

I rarely do this, and please don't ask me to make it a habit, but I even jotted down the pencils I used (probably because there were few so the list was manageable!)...these are prismacolor...
sandbar brown, chocolate and sepia for the 'dirt'
light cerrulean blue and true blue for the blue shading

didn't use any pencils on the main image.

that's it...quoting a chinese proverb...

if you would be happy all your life...
plant a garden

till next time, Linda.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails