Chichiboulie Blog Hop

This weekend I decided to play along in the Splitcoast Stampers Chichiboulie blog hop. My chichi's have been just a wee bit neglected and since two of my all time fav Holiday images are in the chichi line up, what better excuse!

If you just happened to pop in, you might want to start at the beginning with Emily's blog, (I wouldn't want you to miss a BEAT!) and if the link got broken along the way, you can find the master list here. If you want to just skip over me, the next stop on your list will be Nancy. But if you DO decide to skip over me, you'd better leave a comment because there is a secret surprise along the way and NOBODY KNOWS where it is! Good Luck!



I used Polly Packages for my card and this now counts as another Christmas card done! Like, only about 50 more to go! YIKES. I so wish I had time to make 50 of these! She is so rustic with her chunky boots so I decided to mount her with some softly distressed DP...I think it is cosmo cricket, but not 100% sure. I coloured the main image with copics, but added shading with prisma pencils and OMS. Some paper piercing and a pretty Joannabella buttony bow finished her off, but still kept her uncluttered.

Copics used:
E000, 00, 11
Y000, 00, 11, 15
E30, 31, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44
G20, 21, 24, YG67
R20, 21, 24, 29
RV32, 34

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It is hubby's b'day tomorrow so I'll be going to the Lion's football game with him. (okay, so I HATE professional sports, but it IS his b'day after all and I'll have my iPhone all charged up to keep me entertained for a couple hours!....email me please and give me something to do!)

If you are still here, it's time to hop on over to see what Nancy has conjured up!
Linda.

Feeling Blue?

Well, I hope not! I'm not a blue fan myself, unless of course it is a nice soft blue and paired up with yellow or green. I'll admit, I have to FORCE myself to use blues or purples as the main color of my image. But sometimes you just gotta do it and surprise yourself at the results!


I couldn't be happier with how Ella turned out in her blue dress with green dots. This is the card I chose to do for our Bellarific Friday Cards for Kids challenge....and I must be a BIG kid because I seriously love this card! It is simple, cute and I just wanna give her a big ole' hug! What do ya think of that little valance I created with the Scraplines Scallopy Border? Pretty clever eh? I just stamped the smaller of the images on a scrap piece of paper, cut it out and added the ribbon. You have NO IDEA how long I wavered between adding ribbon or buttons, but ribbon won out! Maybe buttons next time, or MAYBE a Joannabella buttony bow, cause I think I'll be using this layout again soon! The Happy Birthday sentiment was stamped in versafine vintage sepia ink and quickly embossed with clear embossing powder. No glitter on this card, shocking I know, but I was happy with her as is so just added some clear glaze pen to the polka dots on her dress and hair bow. I thought it was a nice balance to the embossed sentiment.

If you wanna color this yourself, here are the copics that I used (note, the grass and yellow shading was done with pencils and gamsol)

E0000, 000, 00, R20
B0000, 41, 52
Yg03, G82, 94
YR31, 24, E35

Did you know that Emily is releasing these little yummies online today...so it's a double whammy! I think there are 11 lollipop images, some new lulu's and even a Bella for you Bella fans out there...have fun shopping...I know I'll be getting more to fill my arsenal!

If I had to choose!

This post is primarily for Diana who has asked me a couple times what would be the 12-18 most needed colors for the ABSOLUTE beginner! Well Diana, this post is for you!

Let me start by saying I have likely 300+ colors and only missing a few of the blues and the darker neutrals so it is REALLY HARD for me to narrow that list down to 12-18 because sooooo much depends on a) what colors YOU like, and b) what PAPER you are trying to match it to. The BG's for example have a WIDE range of values from very blue to lots of green so to pick a couple from that list is purely based on what I PERSONALLY would choose to start with, and I've included some very light E's in here because I almost always color faces so those colors would be essential for ME!

So here goes!

E000, 00 (good for flesh, use R20 for cheeks)
R20, 22, 24 (nice coral reds)
G40, 82 94 (3 of my current fav greens, also really like the YG's)
YR31, 23 (nice golden yellow)
BG000, 01, 05 (because i'm not fond of pure blue!)
E30, 33, 35 (nice warm browns, good for hair!)
colorless blender and refill

Note that there are also no purples in there (V's or BV') but if I were to add those in it would be:
BV000, V12, V15 (these tend to be on the greyer side, because that is what I like)

I have also avoided pure yellows because they can be look too bright (to me!) so I opted for the YR's in my must have list. But, if I had to pick some yellows they would be:
Y00, 11, 15

Another good thing to know is that any of these combos could be lightened or darkened by adding pencil crayon so just because you don't have a full range, don't despair! Get some pencil crayons, and OMS (Gamsol, Sansodor, etc) and you can EASILY add depth and highlights right over your copics after the copic ink has dried. Also, these colors may not match the paper you want to use, so again, you can use those pencils to vary the shade of the copics. If my fav's are not your fav's, you should also check out the combinations that Flourishes has put together, because I think they have done a GREAT job and I LOVE the combinations they have come up with. You can find those here.

Experiment! It's only paper!

So that's it! Linda's choice (please don't make me choose between my children or my dog!...LOL!)

Snow Fight!

Now this isn't your down and dirty snow fight, like the grade school guys against the girls where the guys want to plaster the girls because, heaven forbit, they admit they actually LIKE girls! This is a cutie patootie snowfight, all soft, pastel and glittery!


Snow Fight, is one of Stamping Bella's Tiddly Ink images and another stamp that I picked up on a summer visit to Toronto with good intentions to start my Christmas cards in July! Like did that happen....ah....NO! Here I am again, with less than two months till Christmas and I have maybe a handful of cards in my arsenal. I do it every year! Why don't I learn!!!!!!

All I can say is that this one is very pretty and glittery and she will be going to someone real special.

Here are the details. She was stamped with Brilliance Graphite black on Bella's bestest paper and colored with copics. I cut her out with a square nestability and added Glamour dust glitter with a glue pen. The snowflakes are a spellbinders die and after cutting and embossing I again added glitter to the raised portions with that trusty glue pen. The crystal brads are Making Memories and DP is Basic Grey Eskimo kisses. Finally, I added some flower soft at her feet for a bit of texture. I LOVE texture on my cards!

If you want to give her a try, copics used are:
E0000, 000, 00, 11, 33, 35
R20, 22, RV10, 11, 32
C00, 0, 1, 3, T3
B60, 91
BG0000, 000, 11, 45

The blue shading around the image was done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

Another Christmas card done! So happy!

Finally, you've got one more day to play in this weeks Bellarific Friday. Theme this week is ANYTHING kids! How fun is that! Personally kids cards top my list of fav cards to make these days. Kids are always so excited to get a personal card and the look on their face is priceless when they open it. It makes me happy! So make a card for a kid this week and play along!

OH...I promise, this is REALLY the last thing!...I thought with the release of the lollipops coming I would post a little picture tutorial on SCS on how I color those faces with copic markers. You can find it here!

Stamping Bella class update

Yup the rumors are true, I will be at Stamping Bella on Saturday Nov 14th for two copic classes. Time permitting, each class will complete 3 images and will receive all the supplies to turn those images into three cards. The morning and afternoon class will use different images, but cover similar techniques so there is no beginner vs advanced class. You can sign up for both!

Each class will start out with a basic (but adorable!) image to get you going and refresh you on some of the basic techniques then we move on from there so there is no need to take a 'beginner' class first!

Since the holidays are QUICKLY approaching on us, each class will complete two holiday cards, and a general use card. (just maybe one of the stinkin' cute lollipops will be in there! hint, hint!) You are required to bring your own markers since the copic process really involves you working with those markers quickly to get the best results.

If you are interested in the images we will be using, or the list of markers required for each class please contact Stamping Bella since I just sent her that info LATE LAST NIGHT! For those who have taken a class, or classes, before, I've added a few new colors to the mix so you might want to check that out with Emily! Just a heads up though! I don't have pics of the 'finished' cards completed yet so if that is what you are looking for, give her a call a couple days before class ;)....okay, just kidding...i won't wait THAT LONG!

Can't wait to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones!

Lollipop Lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli...

Do you remember that dumb song! I do NOT know why or how I remember it because I was still in the womb when it was recorded. Maybe my mother listened to it or something and played it to me when I was a wee infant! I am sure I am revealing my age! No matter, I just keep reminding myself that the older I get, the closer I get to retirement! LOL!

Anyhoo....how about a sneak peek! I'd like to indtroduce you to the Lollipops. Sorry I don't have a link because Emily is keeping them under wraps until Oct 30th! ONLY because she has been so busy with the Creative Festival and Woman's Show! BUT, if you want to check out the artist, these are designed by Lori Boyd and she has some pretty cutie stuff on her blogo. Emily was pre-releasing these at the Festival and I picked up a few (okay, MOST) when I was doing make and takes at her booth.

Each character is individual and you can 'build' a family, couple, or use them individually! They are SUPER CUTE! For this card I paired up Ethan (aka Ricky) with Hannah and thought it would work so well with the Let's hang out sentiment, however I did not want to clutter up my card and put it on the front so I decided to stamp it inside instead. There are SEVERAL sentiments that would be appropriate for a couple so go check them out here. (I personally have MOST of them!)

My inspiration paper for this card is from the new Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line and for once I actually like the 12x12 papers better than the 6x6 pads. What's with that? I am a 6x6 pad junkie! Anyhow get out your E's because copics used on this card are:
E0000, 000, 00,11
E41, 42, 43, 44, 25, 27, 29
E51, 53, 33, 35, 93, 97, 07
Y11, 15, YR21
R12, 14, 17, 20

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek today!

ETA: see my grass...well, I learned how to do it from the super talented and gifted Paula...she has posted a tutorial on SCS with step by step pics on how she does grass and you can find it here!

Linda.

Flower Friday

Here we are again! After a week off we are back with another Bellarific Friday. It was an easy peasy Nature/Flower theme this week so I decided to make an easy peasy card to go with it.

I started by stamping the largest of the funky square shadows with Versamagic Pink Petunia chalk ink, then stamped the funky bamboo with Perfect Plumeria. Once it was dry I added a bit of deeper shading to the leaves with my prismacolor pencils and stamped the sentiment with versamark and embossed it in silver. After I had it mounted I added a couple layers of clear glaze pen to the leaves just because I couldn't help myself! Cut it out with my square nesties, and finished it off with a couple bella bonbons. Easy peasy and done! I think I completed the card in record time...but then of course I didn't spend an hour colouring either!

Don't forget to keep checking Emily's blog for the postings because she is still giving out Bella Bucks to someone who leaves a comment!

Yet, another Christmas Card!

ETA: The die cut behind Frosty is a spellbinders die called Fleur De Lis Pendant. I got mine at Pickle here in Chatham.

I hope I'm inspiring you with all these Christmas cards while I am building up my stash! This cutie guy is called Frosty and I picked him up on one of my summer trips to Stamping Bella. It is always fun to order online, but to be in the store surrounded by all that rubber is a stampers dream!



I coloured it with a mix of copics and pencils and I think the only part done in pure copics are the hat and scarf. Because I had pencils and markers all over the place I didn't manage to get a list down, but typically when I want a nice pure red I will use R22, 24 and 29. You can't really tell in the picture either, but I did add some white flock to the brim of his hat. I didn't go edge to edge, just down the center because i didn't want to lose the bit of shading on there. Lots of glitter and ranger glossy accents on the ornaments and he's done! I really do like the white, red and icy blue combo.

You still have a day to play along in this weeks challenge which is anything with a flower or nature theme. My card is all ready to go and it is a SUPER DUPER EASY card to do....it is very generic, could be done in a variety of colors and quickly mass produced. I think by changing the sentiment and colors, I could even turn it into a Chrismas Card! Are you getting the drift here that I have Chrismas cards on the brain these days...gosh only two months to go and I like to have all my cards done by the first week of December....better get a move on!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Baaaack!

I think I'll start off with my card, then save the Weekend Update for last so those who don't want to stick around can just quietly bow out! This is another one of my prototype Christmas cards. If you don't know, I have handmade all my Christmas cards since I started stamping, and also make them for my mother. Well, I've sort of set the bar and now everyone wants a hand coloured card! YIKES! And then that friend tells two more friends and then they want a card too so now I am making about 70 cards to meet the demand! That means I'm always looking for something that is not tooooo time consuming....remember I DO have a full time job!


Stamping Bella's Holly in a Jar is one of my 'definite maybe' cards for this year. I love it....it is simple, yet festive and has just a bit of bling. All required elements! I will certainly be making a few of these for my eclectic stash this year! I coloured it with copics and added some glitter, clear glaze pen on the berries and a couple rows of ranger glossy accents to highlight the rims of the jar. The holly leaves and brad is from MM and I bought the package a couple years ago. I likely won't be able to find them again so may have to substitute a leafy punch for my stash cards but who's gonna look at those anyway ;)!

Now for the Weekend Update...just like SNL! Yup, I'm back from my whirlwind weekend in Toronto. Drove up Friday after work (well, i did wangle a deal with my boss to let me leave early) and met Paula at the Hilton. Surprisingly, I found out she was also stuck in the same traffic as I was on the QEW and only about 10 cars behind me. We got our room, changed, walked around a bit and landed ourselves at Red Lobster for dinner. Paula ACTUALLY coloured when we got back to our room, not me, I flopped on the bed and let the work week silently leak outta me. It is my Friday night ritual....do nothing but chill out and let myself detox from the work week.

Got up early the next day to head to the festival. Paula tried to tap into a couple of free wireless sites with her iTouch on the way, but me....I was in my glory with my new iPhone with anywhere anytime access! SO HAPPY! We met Emily and Ryan just outside the entrance and I got my 'exhibitors' tag and headed to our booth. It was a small cozy booth and I saw some familiar faces (you know who you are...love you ladies!) and met some new ones! The booth was all pretty in white and pink with many samples (including many from yours truly) hanging around. Paula and I took turns at the demo table and walked the show when we were not at the table. Just way tooooo much fun. I came home with some new rubber too so by next week I should have some previews of the new release to show you! All I can say is they are soooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!! Along with the new release I also spotted some new Lulu's and even a new Bella! And can you believe I forgot to snatch my fav Lulu of the bunch!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know what that means? It means i must place an order! Oh so sad....NOT!

After the show we went for some dinner then I met Mark at hotel #2 because he was running the Toronto Good Life Marathon Sunday morning. Usually I see him off at the start, but for this race the runners were bused up to North York and they ran their way almost down to the lake and then back up to Queens Park so I was only able to see him at the finish. Now the good wife that I am, did get up at some weird early hour to take a pic of our Chatham group before they left the hotel. From left to right is Mark, Heather, Jenni and Mike. I wished them all luck and said I'd see them at the finish. That left me with a good chunk of the morning to chill and relax some more, but before heading to the finish line I got myself a car charger for the iPhone anticipating catching up on blogs on the way home. No such luck, Mark's leg cramped up pretty bad so I was stuck driving home! He still came in at 4 hours, even with injury so that was pretty impressive! Now me, I don't even walk the stairs to my second floor office! The only exercise this bod sees is in my right hand when I'm colorin'...LOL!

So that's it folks, my weekend in a long drawn out nutshell! If you are still with me, don't forget to play along in this weeks challenge....anything flowers or nature and oh my, I have so many ideas but so little time! There are sooooooooooo many stamps that can be worked into this challenge there is no excuse not to play!

You deserve to be queen for the day!

This is THE perfect sentiment to go along with Felicity Whitelace. Isn't she all pretty in pink with the little bluebirds holding up her veil! Now that I look at it again I think I should have coloured that veil more translucent so it actually looks more like a veil instead of an attachment of her dress! Oh well, next time, but now you've got more ideas!

Actually, she is kinda reminiscent of me on my wedding day....LOL!...now i did NOT have bluebirds of happiness holding up my veil, but i did wear a very tailored but full skirted dress and I remember the photographer sitting me on a chair in my parents house and draping my dress over the arms of the chair to take a photograph. I seriously felt like a princess and to this day I still absolutely love my wedding gown and bouquet of fresh white roses, orchids and freshia. It was the late 80's, just after Diana married Prince Charles and I wanted a huge kick-butt bouquet that trailed to the floor just like hers! I still remember it being very heavy, GORJUS and fragrant! Ah, the memories!

Anyhow, I finished this card by cutting her out with my nesties and mounting her on some Memory Box paper. I added glitter and liquid pearls to her dress (to represent pearls!) but I wanted MORE glitter so used the curly leafy flourish stamped in an essential glue pad and sprinkled with glitter. She was coloured with prismacolor pencils and gamsol because I wanted a soft open airly look to her dress that I find difficult to do with copics.

I hope you like her!

Our challenge this week over at Stamping Bella is another theme....flowers/nature....oh! I have so many ideas and so little time! And if you are gonna be at the Creative Festival on Saturday I'll see ya there! FOUR MORE SLEEPS!

It's a girl thing

Seriously folks, could you ever see a couple of guys doing this? LOL! Not in my house that's for sure. Aren't they the sweetest!

I love the Lulu's and these dolls are called Ruby and Rose. When I first saw them my initial reaction was that there was a LOT of black and how am I gonna color them. But now that I have done a couple my entire view has changed. They are super easy to color and I enhance the black areas with my black copic marker. It gives a nice velvety finish and the perfect alternative if you don't want to use the black glaze pen. I also like to use nice deep rich colors on them and that makes them the perfect image for copic markers.

colors used:
E0000,000, 00, 11
R01, 22, 32, 81, 83, 85, 89, 35, 37
Y00, 15, E27, BLACK

IF I were to part with this card (LOL!) I'd have to hand deliver it or put it in a bubble mailer because I incorporated two of my fav things that I lifted off two of my fav stampers. The button with bow is somewhat of a trademark on Joanne's cards and I'm always admiring her gigantic bows, and the sentiment on the cardstock ribbon can often be seen on Paula's cards. I tell ya, our Bellarific Babes are the best and all of them are my go-to gals when I need some inspiration.

Now for some personal updates...yesterday I finally caved and got an iPhone 3GS...OMG, can you actually be in love with a piece of hardware! Well, I can...I'm a bit of a gadget freak and if it's out there and if it's hot I gotta have it. I have been pining over these since they came out but I could not justify the price in Canada. I've had an iTouch since they were introduced and do love it, but to get to the net or email I was always in search of some wireless network to tap into! NOT ANY MORE! With my phone I am ALWAYS connected! Soo excited! Yesterday we were playing with it and I can create a voice recorded message and then email it....hahahaha....I told the boys I was gonna regularly send them a message saying "this is your mother! this is your mother! stay out of trouble!"....hahaha!

Finally, if you have not read Emily's blog lately, Paula and I will be at the Creative Festival in Toronto on Saturday. I'm a long time fan of this show and have been attending on and off for almost 20 years. There is something for everyone and covers every craft imaginable. Stamping Bella is setting up a booth and Paula and I will be there all day Saturday doing make and takes and answering any and all of your questions! AND...if the sheer presence of Paula and I isn't enough to temp you (LOL!!!!!) Emily will be selling a pre-release of her new line!!! Now THAT has to be a good reason to come. I'm soooo excited!

It is Bellarific Saturday!

It is a good day today folks....I am well on the mend and feeling much better and thanks for all your well wishes! I don't get sick like this too often so I like to take the opportunity to whine about it when it hits me! LOL! I still have a good cough and lingering head cold but the worst is thankfully behind me!

The other good thing going on is that my boys are home from school for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend! WHOOOHOOO! For my American friends, the Canadian Thanksgiving is a MUCH lower key event than what goes on in my neighboring country. There are no big deal football games and no pre-Christmas sales or anything like that. It generally involves just a turkey or ham dinner with family and/or friends. This weekend, because of a whole lot of travel getting the boys home and back, the family dinner will consist of just the four of us. That's okay though, after not seeing them for a month I am looking forward to some quiet family time just to catch up on what has been going on and 'pry' into how school is going. (Ya, I'm a snoop) And even though I did not shed tears when they left does not mean I am not happy to have them home, but just for a FEW days...LOL!


Okay, now that illness and holidays are out of the way I'll get on to this weeks Bellarific 'Saturday'. Our theme this week was anything baby! Oh BABY, I've had this idea in my head ever since the ketto clothes line was introduced and I'm so glad I kept it under wraps so I could use it today. Let me tell ya, I created SEVERAL ketto clothes lines with various articles on it until I came up with this one. Folks, the possibilities are ENDLESS! I decided to go with pink! Having raised two boys I always look forward to making something pink so on this card I used two of the images from Ketto's babylingerie set. Then I created a 'sign' with the think pink sentiment using one of my long rectangular nesties and a scrap piece of paper for the stick.

But it didn't stop there! I thought what about making some thank you cards! What a nice gift this would be for a new mom to give her a cutie patootie card with some co-ordinating thank you cards she could use! These are super fast and easy to do up! I stamped an image from the Ketto Babyfood and Bottles set on an inchie and colored them with copics. The copics work FABULOUSLY on the inchies! Then I simply mounted them with some co-ordinating scraps of paper onto a 4" square card and done! They were fast and easy and you could whip up a dozen or so in no time at all. AND, if you did not know this, Stamping Bella sells envelopes to fit a 4" square card here!

Gosh, if only my friends were still in the baby making years of their life I would SOOOO be making these for them...oh well, too late for them, but maybe grandkids! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!! NOT YET!!!!!!!!!!! We aren't QUITE that old....or I AM not that old!

Have a nice weekend everyone....for me, tomorrow I'm cooking a turkey!

More Christmas!

It's a good think I had this one coloured up, otherwise I might have been MIA for a while. I have been one sick babe these past couple days...i think I've slept 40 of the last 48 hours. I'm not a pretty sight right now! My parents were over yesterday and my mom brought me some potato soup as well as a greek spinach pie and a lasagna so I don't have to worry about cooking for the next few days. As much as I hate being sick, I am relishing in the extra rest.


This is an image that some of the ladies in the Toronto class may have gotten a sneak peek of on Saturday. I was having a copic block one night last week so I pulled out my pencils to bring Stella needs a prezzie to life. I love my copics with their rich bright color, but I also love my pencils to get the soft glow that you can't do with copics. I finished her up the other day, fortunately before I got too sick, and added some stitching, glitter and clear glaze pen to the stripes on the presents. It is amazing what a bit of glitter will do! I coloured her to match a sheet from the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golley collection. I think that is what gave me the copic meltdown....the cosmo cricket paper is very soft and muted and it takes some work to achieve that soft muted look with copics.....lots of greys would have been needed and I guess I wasn't in the mood. I also used the happy holidays sentiment and mounted BOTH the sentiment and image on the block before stamping. If your block is big enough, it is much easier to get both lined up evenly that way.

Well ladies, that's it for today....I'm heading back to the sofa under the blanket. It is a clear indication that I am sick when I cancel my hair appointment! YIKES! I may have to stay home for a few more days until she is able to squeeze me in.

Now don't forget to play along in this weeks challenge over at the Stamping Bella Blog. We have been given some creative freedom with no sketch and have to make a card with a baby theme! I LOVE making baby cards so we'll see ya Friday with what I come up with.

WOWZER...what a day!

In all my excitement about my classes at Bella Central I almost forgot about my regularly scheduled Sunday post! I do have something coloured up, really I do, but I just haven't found time to mount it yet. I should get to that by Wednesday though so don't go too far!

Toronto was a blast....that little store was just BURSTING at the seams....I saw some returning faces and got to meet some new ones and came home with a big bag of goodies. I caved and bought the Bella Bindah's. After seeing Paula's here, I was just like a kid and HAD to have them too. Seriously, if you have not seen these in real life, you don't know what you are missing...they are STUNNING, the page fillers are nice heavy super clear plastic and those flaps keep everything nice and tidy. I like tidy, and I like my stuff organized. I'm not saying it always IS organized, but one day I'd like it that way.

Tonight I'm gonna show you one of the cards we did in class and it is another one of the new releases from the Green Bean Baby line. Those little (or big!) faces are a dream to color for someone like me who loves to color faces. Little Coco with her cupcake is as cute as can be. Because this was a class card I kept the copics to a minimum so this is a nice easy project for those who want to get started, or don't want to spend a zillion hours coloring like I usually do! LOL! Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining...the time I spend colouring is a true labor of love.

The paper I used here is October Afternoon from the Roadmap collection and I really like the red and turqoise combo with the crisp white paper, not to mention the polka dots and stripes! Gosh, I left this card at the boo-tique but I may have to color up another one just for me.

Copics used:
E0000, 000, 00, 11
R20, 24, 29
E30, 41, 43, C0, 1
Y000, BG01, 05

Have a nice evening, what's left of it. Me, I'll be hitting the pillow very soon!

Are you Kimmie Reid?

I'm Lindabella!

LOL! That is how I met Kimmie at the Stamping Expo in Novi Michigan this past summer. I thought if I said I was Linda Heavens, she would think....ya so...whatever! But throwing that 'bella' at the end of my name solidified my identity! HaHa! Well, we chatted, we gazed at some of Paula's cards and she was really sweet and so easy talk to even for a quiet gal like me. Yes, I am kinda quiet and shy around peeps I don't know too well.

Well, after our initial meeting I emailed her and said we were having a stamping day at my place with Paula and the Michigan gals and a couple local gals and she was more than welcome to join in since as luck would have it, she only lives about an hour away. Well, she not only came but she came with RUBBAH! HER OWN RUBBAH! Yes, Kimmie is now the proud owner of Kraftin Kimmie Stamps and I am thrilled to be part of her PREMIER BLOG HOP!

Check out that look in her eyes! Isn't she saying...why are you dressing me like this when I could be playing with my frogs! Okay...gonna digress!....beware, it's a story coming!...I LOVED frogs as a child and i remember when we went up north as a family when I was young and I would catch a frog.....like a BIG one to bring home....i would make a little house for it, nurture it, feed it bugs and stroke it like it was my own child. Well, one morning I went outside to check on my frog and it was gone. I was horrified! My parents tried to console me, but then a few days later I found my frog....it committed suicide on a rose bush and it was all dried out hanging from its lower jowl.....OMG....the tears that flowed on that day! Lesson learned.......nevah take an animal from its natural habitat! I nevah caught a frog and brought it home after that day. (but I would catch tadpoles, bring them home, watch them turn into baby frogs and then release them back into the creek where i found them!)

Sorry for the digression, just had to share (be nice to frogs)...back to the card!



This little cutie is named Lillith and the frog sitting at her feet is a separate image that comes along with her. I stamped the frog first, masked it, then stamped Lillith. She was colored with the following copic markers:
E0000, 000, 00, 11
BG0000, 000, 01, 13, 15, 93, 96
RV10, 11, 29, 32, 34, R20
Y000, 11, YG05, 11, 17
E41, 43, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37
N3, 4

If you want to see more of Kimmie`s images and start from the beginning, start here on Kimmie's blog, and if you are just hopping along you will want to head on over to see what Elaine has in store for ya next.

Best of luck in your new venture Kimmie, there can never be enough rubber in this world!

Good Morning Sistahs

I really wanted to say GOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!!!!!....but I thought maybe not...especially because I live in Canada and it is highly unlikely I have any readers in Vietnam.

Alright, its a little early and I don't think I have totally waken up yet. It is an exciting Bellarific Friday today because we have a new babe....and she is PHENOMINAL! Her name is Jeanie Witmer, otherwise know as The Spotted Chick. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her cards and I know you will to.


The Bellarific challenge this week was to make a card with a Halloween of Fall theme. Since I recently used my only two Halloween images I pulled out Chefabella cooking her Turkey and Apple Pie. I love the Basic Grey Indian Summer paper and couldn't resist using it here. Do you all know that it is Thanksgiving here in Canada next week. Our boys will be coming home for the weekend...geeze I think I'd better do groceries....I don't think we have been to the grocery store since they left!

I colored her with my copics, added a bit of shading around her with my prismacolor pencils and blended it out with gamsol. I left the nestie in place and sponged the edge with some Versacolor Bisque ink (another one of my favs!). You'll also notice I attempted some stitching again. I seem to learn a lesson on paper stitching every time I try it. On this card it was 1) don't use my edging foot on tight curves....it doesn't do very well on the curves and I'd be better off using a foot that allows me to see the line I want to stitch on (do you know I have about 40 different feet for my Bernina!), and 2) if you really make a mess on one curve, it will dictate where you put the bow! LOL!

Copics used on this card:
E000, 00, 11, 31, 33, 35
E44, 47, 49, 50, 51
E42, 43, RV11, 32, 34, 69

Finally, ONE MORE SLEEP! and I'll be at Bella Central tomorrow....CANNOT WAIT to see everyone again. It is really the happiest place on earth!