a pseudo-tutorial and x-press it blending card!

well girls...this is NOT really a tutorial, but it may be helpful. The No.1 question I get asked is how much pencil do I add! Well, I'll tell you, to the image, not very much AT ALL! But all shading around the image, and the grounding is ALWAYS done exclusively with pencil. So I've decided to show you three images that we coloured up at Stamping Bella this past weekend and what the image looked like with just copics, and after I added the pencil. Hope this WOW's you cause it always WOW's me!

In these three examples the left image is just coloured with copics, and the right after adding some pencil. (you can click on all of them for an up close look) In all cases, I would have initially used 2, but probably 3 colors of copics but I don't get as much depth, contrast and texture as I would like so that is where the pencils come in. If I increased the number of copics used to say 5 instead of 3, I could certainly achieve the depth and contrast, but it still lacks the texture of pencils which I LOVE for the softer look. So that is why I went 'hybrid'!

When I add the pencil, I almost always use a stump with some gamsol to blend it out a bit. BUT...I'm careful not to blend it out over the entire area! You only want to blend it out over half to two thirds of your darkest copic you used! And I don't always blend it out, sometimes I like the way it looks just as is. Now be careful though! This is NOT the same as if you were gonna color your entire image with pencils, where you want a good heavy application of pencil down so you have enough pigment to spread over the entire area! We DON'T want to cover the entire area so a light hand here is all that's required.

Below are the three images and some examples of where I added pencils.

Izzy has a cake

After colouring the green icing with G20 and G21, I used some Kelp Green to deepen it up a bit. The stripes were done with YR0000, Y00, 11, 15, YR31, 23. Then I used mineral orange pencil to shade under the cake, the underside of the skirt and on the polkadot layer where the striped layer is shading it. If I don't think I have enough, I might have added some light umber here, but just a very thin line and not really pulling that out at all, but just softening the line with a stump that is on the 'dry' side.


Izzy has a cupcake

Most often I just choose a color of pencil that is darker, but in the same color family to deepen things up a bit. Here I used BG000, 11 and 72 for the dress. Then I added some aquamarine pencil and again, just a thin line of a deep french grey to create that 'pop'. And remember, don't blend that french grey out, just a sweep with the stump to soften the line is all that is required.


Jill is two

You know I love MO....this is where pencils really come in handy. I did not want to tackle all the folds and creases in those tights with markers, especially cause the tights are striped!!!... so I just coloured the stripes using two colors for each stripe. Then following the contours I added some light umber and blended it out with a stump and gamsol....staying away from the center because I wanted to keep that light. Then just a teeny tiny bit of dark umber under the bulge of her diaper got me the look I wanted!


So that's it...not to tough eh! Just so you know, I RARELY do anything with pencil on the hair...I like it the way it is with just copics.

Now speaking of just copics...I got my grubby fingers on some of the x-press it blending card. Let me just say....if you are a copic purist, this is THE HANDS DOWN THE BESTEST PAPER FOR YOU! It is brilliant white so your copic colors are not distorted in any way and ULTRA smooth....like silky smooth! The copics blend like a DREAM! i LOVE THIS STUFF!

BUT....(for me there is a but!)

if you are a hybrid gal like me and like to use pencils with your copics....don't use this paper. It is way too smooth for pencils, there is absolutely NO 'tooth' to it at all. that means there is nothing to 'grab' the pencil....it's like colouring with a pencil on glass! get my drift! and if you do manage to get pencil down on it, you can't get it to move and blend as smoothly (or at ALL) like you can on bella's bestest paper.

so for you hybrid gals....stick with the bella paper!

So my verdict, if you are a copic purist...go for it! You'll LOVE IT! I'd rate it a 10 out of 10! If there is a remote chance you may want to use pencils over or in addition to your copics, stick with the bella paper because i would rate it a 9 out of 10 with both mediums.

Don't forget our halloweenie challenge this weekend! There is still time to get your card to Emily by tomorrow! Just so you know, I coloured mine on the x-press it paper!

Christmas card of the week - it's a PEEP!

I'm home from Bellaland and had a wonderous two days there! Hung out with Em and Helen on Saturday and while Paula talked the ears off her students we did a bit of shopping. Nothing exciting...a kitchen supply store where I ONLY came out with a new instant read meat thermometer and DeSerres Art/Craft supply where I ONLY came out with a couple tiny stumps. Now I will say I did NOT show that much restraint at Stamping Bella! LOL!...I came home with every new stamp from the latest release and a few sheets of the Echo Park paper.

While I showed restraint in the kitchen supply store, Emily showed great restraint with her Jenny Craig commitment! I was sooooo proud of her and I don't know if I could have done it! While Paula and I were inhaling Greek food, Jim and Ryan enjoyed a pizza and Emily had this most delish looking meal of salad and steamed veggies topped with a Jenny Craig entre. I'm originally from Windsor, and it is a very multicultural city. One thing I learned there is that I think Greeks make better pizza than Italians! I soooo wanted a piece of that pizza! But that was where I showed my restraint, eat my chicken souvlaki and be satisfied being satisfied!

After dinner the 'boys' watched a movie with the volume too loud while us girls coloured, okay, I only coloured a 'little' bit, but spent a good chunk of time organizing Emily's markers! We found doubles, we found missmatched lids, we even found lids for colors of markers she doesn't even own! Like what's with that! I'm totally OCD about the organization of my markers! You can be certain that the next time I go I WILL be checking in on that basket of hers to see if it is still in order!

My classes were wonderful and I hope the students had as much fun as I did! I saw some old faces and met some new ones and the classes were a bit smaller this time which gave me lots of time to demo at each table and meet and greet everyone. I really had a good time and made it home safely while rocking to Dave on my 3 hour drive home! Gotta luv Dave!

On to my Christmas Card of the Week! I didn't work today and made it this afternoon after lunching with Paulineabella at our local almost-Thai restaurant, Rice and Noodle. The lack of multiculturalism in Chatham is what I miss most about Windsor...but moving on...beforeI get carried away. Meet the Christmas PEEPS! Because these peeps are so small, I kept the card really simple and paper pieced the tree with a piece of green from the new Basic Grey Oliver paper pad and use a sheet from the same pack for the background.


I stamped them on Bella's Bestest Paper and coloured with my copic markers. Not a lot of colouring on these little guys, but these are the markers I used:
E00, 11, B95, 97, R24, 27, Y19, CO, 1
E42, 43, 44, B0000, and a special blend of a colourless marker with several drops of B00 added to it...a VERY VERY light shade of 'B'.

To finish it off I added some shading to the tree with a Kelp green pencil....seriously....you should ALWAYS shade your paper piecing because it will look sooooo much better, bella dots for the ornaments, some liquid applique for grounding with glitter sprinkled on top and just a bit of machine stitching. I'm now thinking about the star...hmph...what was I thinking! Will add some glitter there too before this gem goes out in the mail this coming December.

Coming up this week! My verdict on X-Press IT Blending Card! Yes I have it, yes I tried it and you'll get my opinion of it later this week. Stay tuned!

I can't believe the weekend is here already!

Because I have lots of vacation left due to two months off on disability after the horrible accident I have been taking one vacation day a week! OMG! I WANT TO WORK FOUR DAY WEEKS FOR THE REST OF MY WORKING DAYS! I love it...and it sure does make the week fly by.

I do not have today off however, I am at work! But I'll be taking Monday off to catch up on chores that will go by the wayside while I am at the Bella Headquarters this weekend teaching my class on Sunday. Do you know that I am actually arriving on Saturday, and just gonna hang out at the store, smell the rubber, drool over the paper, pester Dena if she is there and pop in on Paula's class on and off just to harass a bit! I love to do that!!!! hehe!


This week our challenge was faux or sew! Can you guess? I sewed! I not only sewed, I even added some REAL lace trim to the card to make it look really sewed! now when I say REAL, it means I bought the trim at a fabric store and not a craft store, not that there is really any difference...except that i think they jack up the price when you buy it at a craft store...so don't discount the trim section in your local fabric store...you may find some real gems there!

As always, I stamped Prince Edward Island girl on Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured her with the following copic markers:
e0000, 000, 00, 11, 02
E30, 31, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44
R0000, 000, 00, 20, 21, 22
G40, 12, 21, 82 94
BG0000, 000, 00

I didn't write down the pencils I used, but likely some nectar to deepen the pinks, and maybe some white to add some highlights to the dress. I don't know about you, but me, I WANT that needlepoint bag of hers! So Ralph Lauren-ish! If I chould choose a 'look' for myself it would definitely be her! I love her and I think she is a picture of me when I was in my early 20's. ...that would be before I embrassed the 'Out of Africa' look! I'm such a victim of fashion trends! wait till i show you a pic of the new boots I picked up in Chicago! OMG! can you say HOT!!!!!!!

Now before I leave you I want to give you a heads up on next week's challenge....You know it is the 1st of October...and what is October know for.....HALLOWEEN!....and that is our challenge! Now I don't send halloween cards myself, but my mother ALWAYS gave our boys halloween cards! she would usually put 5 or 10 dollars in the card because she lives in a different city and couldn't indulge them with treats at her door. Now me, i would just buy extra bags of chocolate bars so the boys would have treats to indulge in at home...but now that they are off at school (YAY!) I just may send them a card with 5 or 10 dollars in it so they can buy their own treats.....ya....I'm a sucker mom!!!!!!

Till next time, enjoy the Halloween tradition!

Christmas card of the week, and do you remember when...

...Emily would sneak in new rubbah here and there, and you had to keep checking her blog or online store to see when new stuff would be there! I was one of those peeps and she is at it again! SPONTANEOUS RELEASES!

OMG....this is sooooooooooo fun! I would sometimes order online, or sometimes go into my local LSS Pickle and say did you see what Emily just released! I felt like I was a 'spy'....stalking out new images that they had to order for their store! LOL!!!! Well, we are all gonna have to start 'spying' again! YUP...no more monthly releases, she is just gonna dribble them in when the urge hits her! Personally, I think this is exciting cause I loved when she did that. It would draw me to her blog and read her crazy stories. I'm so happy that the 'old' Emily is back because I kinda missed her.

This spontaneity brings me to today's card....the choir with a star on top by Mo! Em sent this one to me and asked if I would have time to color it...I did NOT have a lot of prep time, just sayin'...when she says spontaneity she means it! But I didn't care, it was a Mo, it was rubbah and it was a Christmas image and I could use it for my Christmas card of the week so I quickly said YES!


My pod mate Kathy (who watched the Bessie girl last weekend) was the inspiration for this card. She does short term mission work and always comes home from her travels with the most INCREDIBLE photographs of children...she is a scrapbooker and photographer extraordinaire and her photos were my inspiration. I didn't have any experience with colouring various skin tones so I went to my go to site for all things copic, Copic Creations and remembered they did a challenge on Ethnic skin tones. So I checked out the post and read the links from the experts and used them as a guide. The only thing I strayed from was to add a bit of beige prismacolor pencil to add some highlights on the darker skin tones, I'm rather happy with my first time attempt and hope to be doing much more of this in the future! I love this image and the unity of cultures with the Joy to the World sentiment that comes with it just says it all!

What else can I say...but....peace out!

If I were a golfer...

I would be certainly enjoying the cooler temps we have had the last little while...and even though I don't golf, I'm still enjoying it! However, I'm NOT in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM ready for snow...not even a dusting...thinking of you Dana and hoping some better weather comes your way soon!

In honour of what I consider perfect golf weather I coloured up Mo's Big Guy Golfing. I'm gonna gush a bit here, I LOVE this card...the colors, the paper, the ribbon, it all came together perfectly for me and that always makes me happy.

This Big Guy was stamped with Memento Ink on Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following copic markers.
E50, 51, 53 (i always use these colors for flesh tones on my 'male' images)
E40, 41, 42, 43, 44
E13 for his little bit of hair
B0000, 000, 41
Y0000, 00, C00, 1, 3
W00, 1, N0, 1, 2

As always I added just a small amount of shading on the image with pencils, and all grass and hint of blue sky was also with pencils.

In case you were wondering where my usual Sunday morning post went...it was because hubby and I spent the weekend in Chicago. No, not a shopping and eating adventure (although I did manage to squeeze in some shopping)...we were there to see Dave...ya...Dave Matthews AGAIN...this time at Wrigley Field. I'll admit, seeing a concert at a sports venue is NOT my fav cause there are just wayyyyy too many peeps for my liking and the place is just too big...but on the other hand...to see so many fans in one place is pretty cool! So here are some pics...

Mark bought me a new scarf...and I was glad I had it because the temps were on the nippy side! Hmmm....shoulda photoshopped that zit off my forehead!

Wrigley Field....CA-RA-ZZZZY general admission fans!


And finally, this is so cute....Bessie had a little vacation of her own and spent the weekend with my friend Kathy, and her friend JD. The two were born within months and have know each other since they were pups. Kathy took this pic with her iPhone while they were out on a walk and sent it to me. JD is the laid back relaxed one on the right, and that is Bessie taking the lead (as always) on the left! Aren't they adorable!!!! Thanks Kath!!!!

Now don't forget about our challenge this week...FAUX or SEW...can't get any easier than that. And I also want to shout out a HUGE thanks for those who played in the sketch challenge last week...I took just a quick peek at the cards on the Bellablog last night and I've got to go back and take some closer looks because they were amazing!

That's it for today...I have the pleasure of a day off work so I'm gonna finish up my class stuff for this weekend and maybe get some colouring time in!

Who Me? Bellarific Friday and Christmas card of the week

I'll admit, when it is my turn to come up with a sketch, I usually have the card envisioned in my head and just translate that vision into a sketch so it is pretty easy when it comes to making my card. Unless, however, the vision in my head turns out to be garbage when I put it into practice!

Hopefully this time, you think all worked out well! I used Mo's Who Me image available in rubber from Stamping Bella. One nice thing about using rubber is that you don't have to try and guess how big or small to make the image and print out several samples before you decide cause that decision has already been made for ya so it is just stamp and go! There is something about rubber that I just LOVE!


Again I used Memento Ink and Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following copic markers. Lots of E's here! I didn't write down the pencils I used, but likely just some light and dark umber for shading on his clothes and maybe deco blue and mediterranean blue for the sky (i use those a lot!)
E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20
E41, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 53, 33
E13, 17, 19, W1, 3, 5, C0, 1

I finished it off with some Basic Grey paper, ribbon and charm from the stash and a cute little let it snow sentiment. For some reason I have this 'thing' that I like to have sentiments on the front of my Christmas cards....don't ask! I don't know!

One thing I do know is that Emily is offering 10% off your entire order for Tantalizing Toosday and the code is toosday0914...and you just might wanna go check out this post...she has some personal news to share!

For those who play along in our challenges and anybody else who wants to be part of our crazy group, get out that sewing machine or piercing tool cause next week it is FAUX OR SEW! Yup...easssssyyyyyyy...use actual or faux sewing on your card, submit to Emily by Thursday and you will be entered in Friday's challenge.

That's it for today folks! I'm writing this post Thursday night and I got this nasty annoying ringing in my ears going on and I just want to fall asleep so I don't hear it for a few hours! Any advice?????

Well here I go again...

...sneaking in a post before work...and I only have 10 minutes before the Today Show starts and I have to get ready so it is gonna be real short today.

Friday is my parents anniversary and I wanted to make them something real pretty and special so I chose Lulu's Heritage Tree...an appropriate name for a stamp to celebrate an anniversary don't you think?


This time I stamped it with Memento Ink on Bella's BESTEST Paper and have switched to Memento because I find I need to apply less pressure when I stamp and that is easier on my wrist. I started with B0000 to create the soft blue sky and took my colorless blender to smooth out the edges. It is very faint in this picture, but just the right amount when you see the card up close and personal.

Then I used E40, 42 and 43 on the tree trunk, shading with a bit of Light and Dark Umber prismacolor pencils. The leaves were done with G12, 24 and 94 and the grass was done with pencils. I used some Mediterranean Blue pencil to add some deeper shading closer to the tree and blended that out with my gamsol/OMS. The final touch was to add some flowersoft to create blossoms on the tree that have started to fall on the ground...pretty clever I thought! Especially with fall approaching and the odd leaf is starting to fly.

ohhhh...it is 7:10, better get moving....what was I thinking that I could have got this written in a mere 10 minutes.

Where did the weekend go?

I was such a busy sistah prepping for classes at Bella Central in a couple weeks I completely forgot about posting Alex's back to school card. I need MORE time!!!! And this morning I'm completely dragging my butt cause the dog got me up FOUR TIMES....barking at who knows what. Now she gets to sleep in and I have to drag myself out of bed and face the day.

Anyhooo...since I am squeezing this post in before I get ready for work I'm gonna keep it short and sweet.


This is another Jessica Rose image from Stamping Bella called pack your bags and inside I wrote Up, Up and Away! hehehe! We are always kidding the boys that they are good to go, but they know as much as we enjoy packing them up and sending them off, this will always be their home. (until I take over one of those rooms which I probably won't completely do until they have a house of their own!...ya, I'm a sucker mom!)

Again, to keep that soft look I only used a light base of copics on this card and the majority of it was done with pencils. The paper is from a 6x6 Kaiser Kraft pad, coincidentally called Up, Up and Away and those three little gems are Bella's dots but I'm not sure of the color cause I have mine all jumbled together.

Well, it's 7am and the Today Show just came on..that's my cue to get ready for work...don't forget to play along in our sketch this week! PALEEEEZE...it is my sketch, and easy peasy!

School Days

Do you know when us Babe's were brainstorming themes for September and I suggested Back to School I had a couple of whines...not gonna mention any names, but one sistah who is near and dear to my heart DOES NOT make back to school cards! LOL!!!! I'll fess up, either did I until last year when I became an empty nester (for a few months anyway) and was so happy that my boys were heading off to University that I decided to make them cards. They actually LIKE getting cards from their ole' mom! So I decided to keep up the tradition this year.


This is Derek's card and I chose it specifically because he is an avid reader. That kid is not a social animal, he is totally happy and content in his own company watching a movie on his laptop or reading a book in his room. In some ways he is a lot like me, but yet, in some ways soooooo different! I don't read! Like I have not a read a book since I was in school! I need to keep my hands moving and create! If I don't have something tangible to show for my time, it seems wasted to me.

I used Knowledge Speaks for this card. It is a Jessica Rose image and OMG...I love her stuff and I paired it up with Your book is Due (also a Jessica Rose image) Your book is due was stamped on ivory paper in versamagic sage ink and I also sponged the edges with the same ink so it is a very subtle look. The main image was stamped with Brilliance Ink on Bella's Bestest Paper. The designer paper is a 6x6 Kaiser Kraft pad called Up, Up and Away that I picked up at Pickle...they have a LOT of 6x6 pads in the store and that makes me happy 'cause I LOVE 6x6 paper pads.

I strayed from my normal colouring medium of choice on this card and used VERY little copics, and mostly pencils. I think that Jessica's images are softer and pair better with a pencil look rather than copics. So I used only one light shade of copic to get a solid base coat and everything else was done in pencil. Please don't ask what colors, because I have no clue! I'll just say LOTS!

I'm gonna make this a school days weekend and Sunday I'll be back to show you Alex's card...another Jessica Rose...can you guess what it is???? hehehe!

In the meantime, you can get working on next week's challenge! It's a sketch by yours truely and I hope you like it. It is nice and simple and all square (for us squares!) so I hope you get a chance to play. It is always so cool to see how a sketch is interpreted, especially when it is mine!!!!! So play along and humour me okay!
Till next time...Linda.

Christmas card of the week - I even love the box

...and I even found a new LOVE for paper piecing!

In case you didn't know, it takes me FOREVER to color a card...especially a Mo because they are larger images and filled with subtle details that I like to attempt to capture with my trusty markers and pencils. This is a rubber Mo available at Stamping Bella called I even LOVE the box and he is 3.23" square but even if you bought him digi from Mo, and made him any smaller it would be a nightmare to color. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining...just sayin' I take a long time to color them.....and there IS a point to all of this!

So, I've been coloring for maybe an hour or more and I have everything done but the wrapping paper...and i'm trying to decide what color to make it and I screwed up...like totally picked the wrong color and it was hurting my eyes it was soooooo wrong! OMG...so I pour another cup of coffee and mull over it for a while. Decide I'm gonna try to color over it with something else...well I made mud! So I reheat my coffee cause it cooled off while I was trying to fix my mistake and then thought PAPER PIECING! I can paper piece that wrapping paper and cover up the mud! So that is what I did! I took a subtle green patterned paper and paper pieced that sucker and the tag. Of course I added shading even over the DP because that makes your paper piecing look all the better! Whew...a Mo salvaged and my precious time wasn't wasted!


These are the copics I used:
E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20
R22, 24, E07, 09 (hat)
G20, 40, 12 (bow, shaded with kelp green pencil)
E40, 42, 43, 44 (box...some shading added with pencil)
YG91, 93, 95, E13, 17 (sleepers, shaded with kelp green)
COO, 0, 1 (fur on hat)
W00, 4 (misc? they were on the table! not sure where I used them!)
I used kelp green pencil and some espresso for shading the wrapping paper
and finally, shading around the image was done with varying shades of french grey.

I gotta say, I was pretty pleased with the result and no one will EVER know that I covered up a mistake cause that paper piecing is COMPLETELY glued down with my Coccoina Adhesive Glue Stick. Do you have that stuff...OMG...it smells so good you will want to eat it. Every time I pull it out I trott it around the house and make everyone take a sniff...except the dog of course, cause she would probably lick it! Ya, my family thinks I am pretty weird but they put up with me cause I cook them supper every day.

Till next time ladies! Don't forget...it is a school days theme this week (or happy dance works too) and there is still time to play!

Pooped out!

or as Alex would say...I'm spent!

I was on vacation this past week but it wasn't all rest and relaxation for this sistah! Wednesday we moved Derek to Hamilton and yesterday moved Alex to London. They were both in residence last year and this year they are renting houses with friends (ah...alex's place already looks like a scene from Animal House!). The day after Derek left I got the vacuum, a pail and my beloved Enjo multipurpose cleaning mitt and tackled the room from ceiling to floor! Then I rearranged furniture a bit and tried to make it look more airy, homey and welcoming...a stark contrast from the clutter that was in there before. Next up is Alex's room, but with all the moving, lifting, vacuuming and washing walls my wrist needs a bit of a rest. I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day because I'd really like to go back to work on Tuesday knowing both these rooms are clean, neat and tidy!

After these few days, if I had a puppy large enough, and I was small enough!...I would so love to just sack out on top of my dog just like Buds-girl is doing! Honestly, that looks soooooo comfortable!


Buds-girl was stamped on Bella's bestest paper, coloured copic markers, and shading aound and below the image was with prismapencils and gamsol/OMS. I used just a tiny bit of pencil on the main image and mostly on the little girl's outfit because I didn't want to too dark. And I also didn't want my yellow too bright or her cute tiny bottom would have looked like a big lemon!

And what do you think of those ribbon rose buds! OMG...they did NOT photograph well, the color kept looking blue, but they are actually a bright teal. I got them at Pickle the other day and they are called Bloomers by Websters Pages. They are sooooo pretty and soft i want to make a pillow out of them and squish my face in them. I couldn't decide what color to get, so what the heck...got one of each! What is really nice about them is that you can put them on a card and they look all fluffy, but if you squish them flat (like when in an envelope) they pop back into shape and they are way less bulky than they look when squished down. I love these things. They come as a ribbon and you just cut off what you want! I was stalking Marcie's blog the other day (another local gal) and I see she was using them too....gotta get that dreamy ivory color she used!

Okay...so these are the markers I used
E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20
E30, 31, 33, 35, 50, 51, 53
E40, 41, 43, 44
G000, 00, 20, 12 (darker shading was added with Aquamarine pencil, and just a teeny bit of a medium grey)
YR0000, Y0000, 000, 00 (a base of YR0000 tones down the yellow a bit)
w00, 1, 2, 6, c00, 1

Now to answer a couple questions...

Gauk...I sew VERY slowly and use a foot that is open in the front so I can see where I am going. This is especially important when doing ovals! And when I am going around the tight ends of the oval I will sometimes do just one or two stitches at a time, stopping with my needle down and SLOWLY turning the paper bit by bit between stitches.

Sylvia...MOST of the shading on the main image is done with copics. I will typically use 3-4 colors of the same color family in an area. On the choir card I did not use any pencils on the animals at all, it was all done with copic because they are so small. Typically if the area to color is larger, like the dog in this post, that is where I will go in and add pencil. I may add a light layer in a shade similar to the copic to mask any blending with my copics that didn't come out too smooth, or more likely just because I like the textured look that pencls give. Most often, I will just add a bit of a deep shade (just a bit) to add some darker shadows.

Hope this helps ladies, stop back later this week for my Christmas Card of the Week! And don't forget our Friday challenge is School Days...hmmmmm....maybe I should make a card of me doing the happy dance around the house!

Going Animal!

Since animals was the challenge this week I took it as opportunity to make ANOTHER Christmas Card! How are you liking this early Christmas blitz anyhow? I'm hoping to post a xmas card a week for the next three months...what do ya think? yes? no?....not that it matters cause I really need to get a head start on these cards so my post a week plan will allow me to get 'em done, and also give you a jump start if you see something you like so you can get yourself some bella goodness before the rush is on. Personally, I think it is a win win for everyone!

So today I bring you The Choir, an image from the uber talented Christy Croll Tidly Ink series and paired it up with Basic Grey Wassail in a 6x6 pad that I picked up in Novi. I don't know about you, but I seriously LOVE 6x6 pads of paper for cards! The scale is perfect! Give me Basic Grey, KaiserCraft or Memory Box and I think I could be satisfied! Oh, don't let me forget Cosmo Cricket....LOVE them too! Wish all my fav companies would make 6x6 pads for us card makers.


As always, (wish I had a disclaimer for this)...the choir was stamped on bella's bestest paper with Brilliance ink, coloured with copic markers with shading done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. For this image the animals were done completely with markers and I only used pencils for shading around the image and the grounding. There are VERY tiny spaces in here and I always find the tiny areas easier to do with markers alone.

These are the markers I used, and there are LOTS of colours but don't be discouraged...there are just lots of animals in this image!

B41, 52, 14, G40, 82, 94,
BG93, 96, 99
R20, 22, 24, 27, E07, 09
Y32, 38, 26, 28 YR65, 68
E50, 51, 53, 31, 41, 42, 43, 44, 49
C00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9
W0, 1, 3, 5

Now did ya all give a big warm welcome to our new Babes! I can't wait to see what they post today and I think I'm gonna do that right now...well after I tell you about next weeks challenge...It's all about back to school and whatever back to school means to you. For those with kidlets at home they should be heading back to school next week and that means mamma has plenty more time to stamp right? Are you doing the happy dance? I know I am!

Till next time...Linda.

Happy Birthday Maxine!

I know you are on FB, so I hope you don't see this card out there before you get your hands on it, but I make NO promises....I'll admit...i can make 'em, but I'm ALWAYS late sending them out!

Hehehe....Max is my long lost BFF from high school and after too many years apart we rekindled our friendship last year at a high school reunion! how cool is that! I had two inseparable friends thru high school and even if I don't see or talk to them for years, they will always remain close to me and I think of them often! So for your b'day Max, cheers to you! Have a burnt weenie sundae on me...k!


Alrighty, I'm a couple days early for Maxine's b'day cause it really isn't till Friday, but my challenge animal card wouldn't have fit in well with her b'day cause it is no where near a b'day card unless your b'day falls on a holiday. just hinting! {grin} For Max's card I chose Ida Lulu with the Hot Stuff sentiment cause Max is HOT just like Ida, although the the striking difference between the two of them is Max is a natural blonde. hehehehe! oh well...they are both still hot!

I paired up Ida with Basic Grey origins paper, stamped her with brilliance ink on Bella's bestest paper and used the following copic markers...but as always I 'cheated' a bit and added shading with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. And be sure to click on the image to get an up close look at her specs....the frames were coloured over with a pink atyou spica pen and the lenses covered with glossy accents! I wish I still had the card in front of me so I could have one last look!

E0000, 000, 00, 11
R20, 22, 35, YG0000, 00, 21, 23
G20, 40, 12, 82, BG11, 13, 18

Now that my personal business is out of the way, I have some exciting Babe news...have you seen Emily's post?....Our newest babes are...drumroll paleeze......

• Paulineabella
• Cathy Grodenabella (LOL!) and
• Wendy Bondabella (another LOL...love the name of her blog...Bond Girl Bliss, seriously who could ever forget that!)

Don't you just love how you can create new words and names just by adding 'abella' to the end! LOLOLOLOL!!!! It was sooooooo hard picking every week, you have no idea how stressful it was. I don't know the final tally's, but I do know that it was very close....i wonder if other babes had the same idea as me and picked different people every week! .....there was NO clear fav and it was SO MUCH FUN to see all the bella love pouring in. So, my advice gals is keep it up....keep sending us that bella love every week because for me, it makes my Friday work day go that much quicker checking in every so often to see if Em has the posts up yet! Kudo's to everyone who played along and never ever give up!!!

That's it for now, we are moving Derek to Hamilton today...one down and one to go and then I'll take a well deserved month off of cooking! Know any good restaurants in the Windsor/Chatham/London area?