Bellarific Friday Rerun!

Since Emily was over flowing with trade shows for the last two weekends we gave her a break and extended our sketch challenge to a two week event. I certainly HOPE that means we are gonna have a HUGE turnout this week to snag in all those who couldn't make it the first time around.

So, I DON'T have another sketch card for this week, but I do have something that uses a circle for the main focus. This is one of the cards I made up when I first got the cast off  my arm several weeks ago and was just getting back in the groove. It is not one of my fav's so I haven't posted it until now, when I don't have anything else to share. So you are kinda getting one of my dud's this week! LOL! Now, I don't think that cheffa huggabug is a dud, but I really am not all the fussy on the layout as a whole. Can't win 'em all I guess!

My vision was to keep it very white and sterile, sort of germ free like I would want a bakery to be, but the end result was not my vision so I have been keeping the card under wraps, until now, because under such short notice I had no time to come up with something else to fit the sketch.

If you are wondering what I do all week I'll be happy to tell ya!

When I am not at the day job, or colouring stuff for the blog, I taught a class at Pickle Wednesday night and had my usual regulars (hugs to all of you) and also a couple newcomers....from out of town none the less! Yup, that would be Bernice from Windsor and Maria from Sarnia. Them, with many other 'country folk' regulars made the trek through high winds to get to class. So happy to meet the 'newbies' and THANK YOU Bernice for the lovely cards you gave me. They are surely inspiring and I MUST get my hands on that hero arts ornament stamp for my mom this year. She will LOVE it and I think I can make 30 of them in a reasonable amount of time!

Before I leave you, I should remind you of next weeks Bellarific 1-2-3 challenge! That is ONE image, TWO designer papers and THREE embellishments! If you are a regular reader you should already have a head start! For new readers, you have until next Thursday at 5pm EST to sent your submission to Emily. All entries get a chance at bella bucks, and if you leave a comment, that will get you MORE \bucks! Pretty decent@

Christmas card of the week - minty coffee

Hiya everyone!

I'm a little more chatty today so you might want to take a seat. I'm running a little late with my post today because I feel like everything is running a bit behind! Mark and I went to Toronto last weekend to visit son #2 Derek in Hamilton and see the play Wicked. Have you seen it? I loved it!

That, and my back is still giving me issues, actually it is not really my back anymore but my arm and hand...ya...THAT hand! The spasm ended up pinching a nerve somewhere in my neck and is causing significant pain in my elbow and hand and numbness in my first and middle finger. And sometimes if I am in the wrong position it feels like someone is sticking a needle in my finger. On top of that I had the hardware removed from my wrist last week so that has caused my thumb to go numb again. There is a nerve that runs right over the break and I don't think that nerve likes to be messed with! The numbness is getting better, but the area is 'hypersensitive', which means my skin hurts to touch it. Been there, done that and it means the nerves are regenerating so it doesn't really concern me and I know it is just a matter of time. It might have been due to these various inconveniences that I was really not in the mood to chat the other night!

The good news is that it hasn't stopped me from colouring...slowed me down a bit, but not stopped me! This is Minty Coffee and I paired it up again with that Basic Grey jovial paper that I LOVE so much.



I stamped it on Bella's bestest paper and after colouring with markers and pencils I used my versamark pen and went over the steam and added some embossing powder to it. I think it is a Jelly Roll powder that is supposed to smell like coffee but the scent only lasted for a moment or two. Too Bad!

LOTS of glitter (for Brenda!) around the steam and on the leaves, plus some glossy accents on the holly finished it off. It was a pretty quick card to colour so I may be making a few more for my xmas stash.

I'm off to Pickle tonight because I have a copic class...if you are reading ladies before class...remember....I gotta be home by 9 to watch Criminal Minds!

Newsbreak!

I'm quitting the day job and gonna tour around the Country and teach everyone how to colour with copics and shade with pencils! GOTCHA!

We can dream about that day but for now....I lifted this ENTIRELY off of Danabella's blog...

as you all know Em was at the Creativ Festival in Toronto on the weekend & she is still trying to recover; which meant no Bellariffic Fridays last week on Bloggabella SOOOO we are repeating the sketch for this week too! Email Em your cards by Thursday to be included on Friday


For those of you who have your 1,2,3 cards made hang onto them - they're our theme for Nov 4- you'll be way ahead of me!!

In case you need a reminder...here is your sketch again...

Lottie and Gussie Gabalot

It is funny that I should be posting Lottie and Gussie Gabalot today because I'm really at a loss for words. Yup, not too much to say today so for those of you who don't read by blabber anyway it won't really matter!


Friday night I was flipping thru my NINE bella binders because my new rubber was looking for a good home and came upon my Chichi's...my beloved chichi's. Those little pixie faces of theirs just melt my heart. So I pulled out Lottie and Gussie and got to colouring with no particular paper in mind but new if I stuck with soft pink and green I would find something to match. And so I did with Basic Grey's Lemonade.

I also knew that I wanted to keep the colours soft so I started with a light wash of copics and did the rest using pencils. I'm rather smitten with how my chichi card turned out today and I think it is perfect to send to someone for no particular reason in mind except to maybe put a smile on their face.

Thanks for dropping by today.

Bellarific Friday and Christmas card of the week

This was another card that came together with total ease! Of course it always helps when you have a sketch to start with! And when the sketch is nice and simple without much clutter (the way I like them!) I get to pull out some pretty paper and really use it to it's potential. When I am not coveting my basic grey 6x6 pads, I am reaching for Memory Box...this one comes from the Mistletoe collection and I am IN LOVE!


I also got to use my new Spellbinders scallopped circle which I am also loving! It was funny because this time I chose my paper before the image but I think I had it in my head that I wanted to use snowman circle for this card. There are three Winter circle images over at Stamping Bella including polar bear circle and reindeer circle and like last year, I plan on using all three of them again this year! If you want another peek...this is my polar bear circle card from last year and it is one of my all time fav cards....hmmm...gonna have to work hard on topping that one this year.

The other great thing about these circle images is that there is not a lot of colouring involved so you can whip them up rather quickly. I used copics on the snowman then coloured the entire background with G0000, then I added some jade green pencil to deepen it up just a bit. To finish it off, I added glitter...of course...and dots of cream pearl pen for the snowflakes and some light blue pearl pen for the snow on the ground which was also douced in glitter! Christmas just isn't Christmas without glitter.

Our challenge next week is a little different and Kimabella came up with a 1-2-3 idea! She is not only talented, she is pretty clever too and I CANNOT wait to see what she does with it. So here is your challenge....ONE image, TWO papers and THREE embellishments!

Something different again

When I was in Novi at the stamp show I watched someone demonstrating Pan Pastels. I was intrigued so I picked up a few. Then a few weeks later in Chicago I picked up a few more, and last week I saw Curry's Canadian Art Supply Online store was selling them for even cheaper than I paid for them in the States. So I bought a few more.

Wondering what they are? Well they are rich creamy pastels that come in a little pan, rather than a stick and you apply them with various shapes and sizes of sponges. Now I am in NO WAY a pastel artist...no sir...I can't do that loosey goosey thing that I've watched them do. But I was able to use them in the same manner that I used to use chalks. And these are MUCH nicer and the colours are WAY richer than chalks. This is what they look like. Pretty yummy aren't they!

And this is what I created with them!


I wasn't too sure which paper to use and wanted something with a tooth to it so I experimented on some hot press watercolor paper and added a few different colours with my sponge blending them together. Then I stamped Bella's Dandelion Wisps in versamark and very lightly added pastels over the image. The versamark grabs the pastels like MAGIC and this is another great way to use those solid image stamps. I sprayed a bit of Krylon Matte Finish over it so it would not rub away and then cut it down to size and added a couple different glitters. Then I embossed the Happy Anniversary in gold and chose to frame it on a mirrored gold paper and a nice rich handmade paper....this is a PERFECT card for my mom's stash and I just may make a couple more in some different colours.

Happy creating! And don't forget the sketch challenge over at bloggabella...there is STILL TIME!

Kraftin' Kimmie October Release Blog Hop

Today Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps is releasing their new Sweet Holiday October stamps! As you’ve seen over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks, Annie Rodrigue has created some amazing festive characters this month! There are six images in the complete set and they are Christmas Clara, Nick, Noelle, Merry, Willard and Virginia and each one comes with it’s own matching accessory stamp and a bonus coordinating sentiment!

And Steven Leary is back with Miles the Mouse and his pals, having some jolly winter fun! You’ll get to check them all out in today’s October release day KRAFTY HOP!! You’ll meet Miles and Maisie Claus, Squirrel’s Gift, Mistletoe Miles and Maisie, Stocking Miles and Frosty the Snowmouse!

Here is Mistletoe Miles and Maisie, OMG they are sooooo cute!

If you've come from Michele's blog, you came from the right place. If you want to start from the beginning, just head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie Challenge Blog! As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of stamps from the new release!! And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available! Next up is the AMAZINGLY talented Annie.

Also, you’ve been enjoying the ‘Gimme Kimmie’s Kits’ so much, that we’re doing it again!! For those of you who just HAVE to have all the new images, we’ve got the perfect thing for you! It’s called the ‘Gimme Kimmies Kit’!!! Instead of clicking on each image that you’d like, you only have to click once to pick up a Gimme Kimmies Kit AND it’s at a discounted price!! What could be better???

Happy Hopping!

Kraftin' Kimmie Sneak Peek

Kimmie invited me to join her this month with some sneak peek's of the October release and well, since they were Christmas images I had trouble saying no.


This is Stocking Miles and will be available at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps on Tuesday. I am so SO loving the Basic Grey jovial paper and this card came together for me in a jiffy. The entire thing feels very vintage and nostalgic and makes me happy!

As always, I coloured him up with copic markers and kept the colours very rich to go along with my paper:
E40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 25, 27, 29
R14, 20, 24, 27, E09
C00, 0, 1, N2

Now don't go toooo far because tomorrow I'll be back for the Release Hop!

I dedicate this card to.....

...Emily!

Consider Hoping my little nudge at keeping the Jenny Craig momentum going! YOU GO GIRL! I think I'll pop it in the mail to her with some encouraging words.


My two fav things to do with copics are hair and fluffy stuff like this towel. Lots of colours and lots of dots is all it takes to get that cushy cosy look. These are the colours I used:

E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20
E21, 25, 27, 29 (hair)
BG0000, 000, 10, 11, 32, 72, 75 (towel)
but after I did that and it was all mounted up I threw in some yellow greens
CO, T3 (for some shading on the scale)

I used Seashell Pink and Peach Beige to shade around the image and Sandbar Brown and Chocolate for the ground.

My back is feeling much better, it is now tolerably uncomfortable but at least I was able to colour yesterday and boy did that feel good! I even got my card done for Bellarific Friday, and I must admit, it is pretty darn cute! It's a nice easy sketch with lots of possibility and you still have plenty of time to get in the game.

Thanks for stopping by...catch ya later!

It's a bird, it's a plane...

no, it's ketto's SOLID tree!

Pretty corney eh, must be those muscle relaxants starting to mush my brain! I haven't been able to colour all week, I have just started to migrate off the sofa and I'm getting a little antsy I tell ya! Whined to the hubs last night that I had not been creative in 5 days and it was starting to take a hit on my balance in life!


Many people have trouble knowing what to do with solid stamps, but truth is, they can be really easy to use. I stamped this one with versacolor bisque pigment ink on Bella's BESTEST paper and let it dry. Then using my prismacolor pencils I added some blue shading, and some shading on the solid image. Some glitter and my trusty Ranger glossy accents was all I added to it. I spent just a few minutes going thru my papers but then decided I wanted to keep it simple and just took a cuttlebug embossing folder to the cardstock for the background.

I made this card last Saturday, just about the time my back was starting to give out so didn't spend a lot of time going thru my stash of embossing folders and picked one that just happened to be sitting on the desk. Now that I look at it, I think it is a holly border! Oh my! My eyesight must have been starting to go too!

Next week, for us sketch challenged peeps...we have a sketch! I know you all love sketch challenges and this one is compliments of our own Elainabella. Did I tell you that I saw some of Elaine's cards up close and personal when I was at Stamping bella a few weeks ago! Let me just say, and we've all said it before, but pictures DO NOT do those cards justice! They are absolutely STUNNING!!!!!

Now you have the entire weekend, so go get busy stamping and colouring, me, I'm off to take a shower and make another visit to my chiropractor!

Another new release, and another Christmas Card

Meet Bismark. He is another new Mo Manning image available in rubber over at Stamping Bella. I wanted to use some non-traditional colours on this little schnauzer so paired him up with the Basic Grey paper and dressed him up in a soft blue hat and scarf.


Lots of greys used on this little guy, and when you are colouring animals like this using feathery strokes, the more colours you use, the more realistic your fur will look.

W00 thru W9, Black
E40, 41, c00, 0, 1, 3, T0
BG72, 75, 78, B0000, 41, 52, 32 95, 97
Prismacolor French Grey 20% for shading around him
and French Grey 30 and 70% for the grounding

Gonna keep this real short and sweet tonight cause I am once again writing this from the sofa with the laptop on my belly. Apparantly, I have a pinched nerve in my neck which is the source of my pain! Today my chiropractor told me it should start to settle down in about 4-5 days! I don't know if I can wait that long!

Thankfully, I did get my ketto card done before the back seized up so I'll be back tomorrow for Bellarific Friday! See ya then!

Christmas card of the week - it's a sneak peek

I have to keep this REALLY short and sweet today...remember that aching back from the other day, well it ended up in a pinched nerve in my neck. We are talking OMG PAIN here! Let me just say that it ranks as #2 on the list of most painful things I have ever lived through. And natural childbirth with no drugs was NOT #1! After a VERY long weekend of pain and discomfort I saw my doctor and chiropractor today and with drugs for pain and the miracles of my chiropractor I hope to be mobile again in a couple days.

To keep things short, I can't stand or sit comfortably for more than like 60 seconds, but I can lay on the couch with my chin tucked in my neck and my knees up with the laptop on my belly so it is from this position that I write my post today.

This is a sneak peek of the release that Stamping Bella has planned for Scrapfest this weekend. It's a Mo, and if you are a fan of Mo rubber, I think you will be a happy stamper this month...don't know for sure, but just saying {wink}.


I'm not sure of the 'offical' name of this stamp because it is not online yet, but as soon as it is there I'll be linking it up. For now, let's call it rustic door with a wreath! It was stamped on Bella's BESTEST paper with memento ink and coloured with copic markers. I only used pencils for the reddish shading around the door and the rest was done with the following copic markers.

WOO, COO, E41, 41, 42, w1, 3
G40, 82, 94, 99
T0, 1, 2, 3, 5
C0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9

That's it for now....I'm writing this post Tuesday evening and I'm now going to ditch the laptop and focus my attention back to CNN and the anticipation of rescuing the Chilean minors.

something different

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and readers! Are you all doped up on turkey yet? Me, I'm a little doped up on muscle relaxants because my poor back decided to remind me it was there and spasmed out on Saturday. It hasn't caused me problems for a few years so why it decided to pick the long weekend I'll never know!

Usually it is my lower back that gives out, but this time it is my shoulder and neck which has radiated into my right arm. YA, that arm! So I'm gonna keep the typing to a minimum.

Today, I'm gonna show you one of the cards I made for my mom's stash. It is an Impression Obsession stamp that I bought in Novi and is probably meant for Valentine's Day, but works equally well for anniversaries I think.


Kimabella's GORJUS cards inspired me to pull out my Tombow markers for this one. I used them a lot when I first started stamping but they have gone to the wayside now. Gosh I wish I had all the time in the world just to use everything I have in my arsenal!

I stamped this with versamark on watercolor paper and embossed with gold EP. I then coloured with the markers and blended it out a bit with a wet paintbrush. Clearly I'm a bit rusty with the tombows and forgot some of my lessons learned from the past which caused some of reds to bleed out. Oh well...I'll pretend it was intentional!

Did you know that Emily is gonna be at Scrapfest in Oshawa this weekend with a new release in tow and I was lucky enough to colour a couple of them up! I'll have sneak peeks for you Wednesday and Thursday, then back again on Friday with my Ketto challenge card. Wait till you see that one! It's gonna be another something different and I was fortunate enough to get it done just before the shoulder and arm gave out!

Before I go, this is the sympathy I got from my Bessie girl yesterday! I get all my pillows set up on the sofa and turn around to get the heating pad and in a split second she was on there clearly thinking I did this for her!

She's such a funny girl!

Are we there yet?

I decided to dedicate my Fall Colours Stamping Bella challenge card to all those campers and cottagers out there who might be enjoying the last weekend of cottage/camping bliss. Now we don't camp...no siree...holiday inn express is Mark's idea of roughing it. And seriously, those city slicker Michael Kors babies are not exactly made for the woods!

I wish we did like to camp though because I love the 'idea' of being one with nature, but with my squeamishness around bugs, and Mark's lack of talent with an axe it just ain't gonna happen. Now, I should give poor Mark a break...he might just be able to wield an axe, it's just that I've never seen him use one so I'm making an assumption here.

So for you campers and cottagers who may be packing up the trailer this weekend I give you Charlie. How cute is he in his little bucket with a frog on his head! Reminds me of when I would bring frogs home as pets from the cottage when I was a child. FYI....I was a minor, and my dad loved to cottage so I really had no say in it. Plus, frogs were cheaper than souvenirs and catching them kept me entertained during the day.


I know! I know! Paula JUST posted the same image this past weekend but seriously, I had mine coloured first but she didn't know it! It was NOT her way of trying to take away my thunder...LOL! Paula used her new pencils, but I used my beloved copics with a bit of shading with some pencils. I didn't keep track of the pencils, but just remember, pick a shade that is darker than the copic you used. For example, I likely used terra cotta and dark umber pencils on that burnt orange pail.

E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20, 22, 37
E40, 41, 42, 43,44
YR00, E93, 95, 97, 99
YG00, 11, 45
G121, 20, 24, 82, 40, 85

I finished it off with some glossy accents on the pail handle (ya, just like Paula), black glaze pen on his eyes, clear glaze pen on the frog 'warts', brown flock on the pussy willows (got ya there Paula!) and finally some green flower soft and ultra fine flower soft in a colour called Sand below the pail! So lots of tiny little subtle details to catch your eye! Paper is Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride (perfect for my fall camping theme) and a little tag with my oval spellbinders and Stamping Bella's Your So Cool sentiment from Dylan Lollipop was the perfect addition. Come on, kids who catch frogs are definitely cool in my books!

Whew! That's it for the card and a little birdie told me that Ebru has a special bellarific friday video this week! I've had a peek of it, and it is AMAZING! I hope Emily doesn't get mad at me for saying that it brought a tear to her eye!I don't know about you, but I am LOVING these video's!

Next week our challenge will be.....drum roll please.....Ketto's....yup, they have not have much love lately and we want to bring those little gems out of hiding. So dust them off, get 'em inked and create something! It is cheaper than therapy and you will feel wonderful when it's finished!

It was definitely NOT a WW friendly meal today!

As promised, Mom and Dad came over today and I traded her 4 cards for a Mom-cooked meal...BUT, when Mom cooks it is SO NOT a WW friendly meal. Baked Tilapia, her special home made rice pilaf and steamed green beans with mushrooms....sounds pretty decent...EXCEPT...I think she used a quarter pound of butter! OH MY! Top that off with the fact that I had a dinner to attend on Monday night to get inducted into the 2nd quarter club at work. A dinner to honour those who have worked at the company for 25+ years. This was my first year so I decided to celebrate by not counting points! What the heck, one good indulgence can't hurt! Well it cost me 2lbs at the weigh in, now I have this butter-rich meal doing a number on me AND thanksgiving weekend is approaching for us Canadians. I think I may call in sick for my next weigh in!

Lulu's Slice O' Cake was NOT one of the cards that was in my stash to give her, but when she saw it on the desk she fell in love and asked if she could have that one too! Why not! That tilapia floating in butter had to be worth it!


Sadly again, I do not have the markers used on this project because a) I was just messing around, and b) I used so many pencils over the markers you'd never have a true representation if I listed them. What I will tell you though, is that I added some liquid applique to create an oozing of some butter cream filling and then after I took this pic, and the liquid applique was good and dry, I took the heat gun to it to puff it up a bit. So it now looks like whipped cream/butter cream filling! I know you sweet tooth's out there are probably salivating by now! Me, not so much! I'd take a hunk of good home smoked kielbasa over cake any day!

To move on to something different, I leave you with a couple things...first and most importantly did you see we have TWO NEW BABES....NO, not the contest winners, some ADDITIONAL babes! First we have the uber super talented fellow Canadian Kim Teasdale. She uses primarily (maybe exclusively) tombow markers on her images and they have a deep rich watercolor glow to them that CANNOT be imitated (and I've tried). Our second new babe is Ebru Vatansever our new videographer AND also fellow Canadian who is creating a Bellarific Youtube Channel! OMG....you MUST go check out her blog and her video's. Especially if you want to 'meet' the 'real' Emily. I personally know Emily, and let me say, this video is uncut, and unsensored! It's the REAL DEAL!

Finally, for you fashion forward followers...remember 'the boots' that I raved about! Those Michael Kors babies that I bought at Nordstrom's in Chicago! Well here they are! In all their glory! I decided that I would wear them to the 2nd Quarter Club dinner on Monday. Heck, when you have been working somewhere for 25 years it is evident you are likely getting up in years, unless you started working at the ripe old age of 5! And I wasn't ready to look old yet so 'the boots' were the way to go, no doubt about it! I love my new boots!

Now, it is still early on Wednesday night so you still have time to sneak in a card for our FALL COLOUR challenge! Get your card to Emily by tomorrow at 5pm and you'll not only see your creation up in lights, but you could win yourself some bella bucks!

oh how I love Mondays when...

I have the day off and get to sit here at my kitchen table sip on tea and watch the squirrels go CA-RA-ZZZY in my yard. They are sooooo active right now and making my little Bessie-girl go nuts! She wants those little rodents OUT of her yard! Well, actually I think she really wants to get her teeth into one of them and snap it's little neck....she's all terrier that one!

I had a very bizzy weekend colouring and making cards...some for Emily's upcoming Creative Festival show this weekend in Toronto and FOUR, yes FOUR various b'day and anniversary cards for my mother. Since they are going to different people I was able to duplicate a couple of them which was a big time saver for me. Her and my dad are coming over on Wednesday for supper and I needed to have them done. It's a trade off, she makes dinner for me, I make 4 cards for her! Pretty sweet deal!

When I sent Heritage Tree for their anniversary last month my mom told me that Aunt June LOVES trees! Perfect, cause I had Lulu's Cherry Blossom that had never seen ink yet and I needed a card for her birthday. Because I was not intending to use pencils here except for the bit of grass, I stamped it with memento ink on x-press it blending paper. Did I tell you HOW MUCH I LOVE this paper for copics? I think I did! And a little birdie told me that Stamping Bella should have it in the shop any day now!

These are the colors I used here, starting with B000 and B0000 for the sky in behind the tree and blended the edge heavily with a colorless blender to soften the edge.
B0000, 000, E41, 43, 44
R32, 35, 43, 85, Y11, YG67, G99

I paired it up with some Basic Grey porcelain paper and finished it off with tiny dots of of glitter in the center of the flowers, flower soft again on the ground and sponged the edge with VersaMagic Sea Breeze chalk ink. It matched the paper perfectly, and oh how smoothly does it blend on that x-press it paper!

That's it for today...off to the drawing board again cause I have ONE more card to do for my mom. Got to decide If it's gonna be another duplicate, or something different. If I can't make up my mind in the next 30 minutes then a duplicate it will be!

bellarific friday is HERE!

...AND SO IS THE WEEKEND!

oh man, after the week i've had at the day job i think for the first time EVAH I'm more excited about the weekend than I am about Bellarific Friday! I plan on spending the next 2 days (and hopefully 3) decompressing! For a change we have NO plans, NO dave, NO travel anywhere and I don't plan on leaving my dwelling for anything....like if they drop a bomb on my house and I am warned it's gonna happen I totally plan on going down with the ship!

Am I weird? do you peeps who have a day job feel the same way about the weekends as I do? Don't get me wrong, I ADORE seeing my friends, travelling to different cities, rocking with Dave....but if I do that too many weekends in a row, I need down time....to putz, to cook, to colour and to just wind down! This weekend, I plan to just wind down...and putz and cook and COLOUR! And spend some time with the hubby who has been in Houston all week! I think he'll be looking forward to some home cooked meals.

So all of this had absolutely NOTHING to do with my card this week...the challenge was to make a halloween card!


Now, I said last week I don't really do those so I turned my halloween card into a general purpose card and used Stella's Chariot pairing it up with a Stampers Anonymous sentiment that I picked up YEARS ago at a stamp show in Novi. I have no clue if they even sell it anymore!

I also have NO clue what colours I used on this card because I worked on it while at Emily's last weekend and was more interested in experimenting with the x-press it paper. YES, this was coloured on x-press it! It was that evening when I took my pencils to it and realized it is way to smooth for pencils. If you missed my last post, I'll repeat myself...if you are a copic purist, this paper is THE BEST I'VE EVER USED...but not enough 'bite' if you like pencils too. So it all comes down to what you like....the purists should really try this paper, and us hybrids should stick with the bella's BESTEST paper cause it works REALLLLLLY well with both! And don't think for a minute that I came up with this layout myself, it is this sketch from Taylor!

For next week's challenge we are moving away from Halloween just a little bit! Use fall colours! Yup, it can be any image, any sketch of your choosing, but use a bella image and pull in those reds, oranges and blacks or browns, or whatever colors that speak 'fall' to you and create something extraordinary! Send it to Emily by next Thursday to be entered into the weekly draw!

That's it for now, my weekend starts in 8 hours!