Stella CAN cook!

Lot's to say today so you might want to sit back and relax.

First things first...don't forget that this Friday is Bellarific Friday on Emily's blog. You have until 5pm Thursday to enter and get in on a chance to win $10.00 in bella bucks! Who does not LOVE getting bella bucks!

For today's card, despite her name, Stella thinks she can cook, if she is like me, she CAN cook! I LOVEEE to cook! After our kitchen reno last year I got rid of a ton of old cook books because I felt they were outdated and put all the 'must keep' books in a spot over the desk. I did leave room for growth, but that only lasted a short while until the Pickle girls hooked me on to Cuisine at Home magazine. Make more space! I LOVE that publication. THE most fantastic recipes....and most ingredients you can even find in a small city like Chatham, plus everything turns out FANTASTIC.

So a few weeks ago I cooked Chicken with Artichokes in a white wine/honey reduction with Parmesan orzo on the side and I asked the fam what they thought...the 'hubs' said...WOW...this is 'almost' as good as a restaurant. Hmph!...ALMOST! Seriously, why do I bother. Anyhow, when I saw Stella with her wooden spoon I knew I had to have her! I'll just keep her tucked away in my stash until a deserving moment when I feel the need to give it to the hubs. Or better yet, I'll give it to my boys in September when they go off to University and must live off of cafeteria food for a while! One day I'll be appreciated!

So Stella was coloured with copics, and even shaded with copics this time. Sometimes I use Copics, sometimes pencils...no magic to my decision, it's just what I feel like at the time. I added glitter to her dress and wand with Glamour Dust and the paper can also be found on Stamping Bella, It is the backside of this Imaginese Twitterpated CRITTER CHATER paper. I even used up some scraps to 'decorate' the inside of my card! Don't you love it! I think it is a nice substitution for a liner.

So many people ask how I shade backgrounds with my copics so I thought I'd give you a tip.

Start with your lightest colour and draw a fairly heavy line alone 'one' side of your image. Run your colourless blender along the outer edge of that line to soften out that edge. Add a darker shade of the same colour closer to the image, but not as wide as your lighter colour. Run the lighter colour over it to lighten the darker colour and blend the two. Continue in this manner, with your lighter and darker colours plus colourless blender until you get a nice smooth shading. I used C0 and C1 on this image.

Now go get yourself a wooden spoon in hand and cook something that will make your family thankful!