Monday, November 29, 2010

I've been a victim...

...OF IDENTITY THEFT!

YES...ME...seriously I work in the industry, I'm AWARE, I should KNOW better! But it still happened! It started Saturday night while I was sitting in my kitchen/studio (ya I have NO studio...just a kitchen) colouring away and the laptop spoke to me saying "you've got mail"...so I pop over and look to see if it was Pauline, Paula or Emily but NO...it was an email confirming my password change on ebay! HUH! I didn't request that. So I immediately change my ebay password, and my paypal, just to be safe.

So today while I am cooking dinner, I get another password change email, then a few seconds later I get an email change confirmation! AND THEN I get a truckload of nondeliverable email notifications. Something is WRONG! So I try to sign on to my ebay account and can't get in! YIKES...so I get on their security help chat and after a series of security checks I get a phone call from ebay! John informs me that in the last couple of months there has been a rash of web based email passwords that have been hacked and I am victim! He gets me set up again after verifying that I have changed my email, paypal, and ebay passwords. SO...word to the wise....if you have a password that hasn't been changed in a couple years, you just might want to do it now! The sad thing is, I have just been pondering changing my password over the last few weeks, but haven't found time to do it! DON'T ponder! JUST DO IT! Fortunately I caught it early and no transactions had taken place in my ebay or paypal accounts.

Okay...now that I have that out of my system I'll get on to the fun stuff....like a card! You ready? It is a Stamping Bella and this little sweetie is Mavis wearing holly. Purrrrrrrrrr! I just want to pick her up and give her kisses all over her head! Although if she is anything like Paula's cat Pebbles, she will be hiding under a chair and taking a swat at your leg as you walk by! LOL!!!! Now some people would hate a cat like that, but me, I kinda got a chuckle out of it! Gotta luv a sassy cat!



I started out by stamping her on bella's BESTEST paper and colouring her with copic markers, lots of small dots just like I did with teddy, but didn't want to do her entire body like that. So I just did my dots heavily around the perimeter and lightened up towards the center. Then I covered up my dots with prismacolor pencils to soften those dots some more and got just the look I was after! So pleased when it all works out for me!

Now the layout is another story! It didn't work out as planned and I actually had to rip it off carefully to salvage my image and start over! Hmph....it was NOT a good day! Thank god for wine!

Linda.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

NOT!

Seriously, I think snow belongs on the Swiss Alps, not here in Chatham! However, I did buy a new pair of boots in Charlottesville which are very nice (not HOT, like the black babies) but functional, yet fashionable! I think I need some type of Nordic sweater to wear with them. Hmmmmm....

This is Stamping Bella's swirly hills with trees. It was stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured primarily with pencils. There really isn't a lot of colouring here which is what I think makes it so elegant, and perfect to put on my all white card.


Lots of glitter, some white pearl pen and glossy accents on the trees bling it up, and of course I had to use ribbon....white of course! I ADORE white cards and CANNOT wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Keeping our white theme going....and to get you moving on your Christmas cards our challenge next week is to use snow on your card. COME ON! It almost doesn't get any easier.

Hope all my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and didn't overdue it too much on the turkey and trimmings. Me, well hubs and I with our friends went to the Lion's football game....if you know anything about football it may shock you to know that hubby and his buddy REALLY ARE DIE HARD LION's fans despite the fact that they did not win a SINGLE game last season. I can't help but chuckle over it! We even dressed for the event all wearing jerseys and beads! I'm not a football fan AT ALL and I only go for the pretzel, just wanted to make that clear.

Today I'll be heading over the river again to spend a couple days with Emily and Paula! WHOOOHOOOO! I've got to head out early and I hope the traffic won't be too bad being Black Friday and all. Not sure what it is like where you live, but the Detroit area residents go wild around here! Personally I won't be partaking in any Black Friday deals...unless they are crafty related!

One final note, I removed the c-box again because it seems I get more spam than anything else. Drop me a line if you have a question.

Thanks for stopping in! Later!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Back Again!

Three days in a row! Okay...for you 'die hard' card people, just two days in a row.

Wanna know what I did today....well I'm gonna tell you anyway...we bought a new mattress and box spring that was supposed to be delivered between 8am and 1pm...no biggie. I've got lots of vacation left so i take the day off. I'll colour in the morning, get the mattress set up and run some errands in the afternoon. WELL....you wanna know what time that delivery got here....4PM...yes 4PM! How awful is that? You know why it happened...I'll tell ya, it's because they CONTRACT out their deliveries!!!! When are companies gonna realize that they should NEVER contract out services that are essential to their business and customer satisfaction. But in the end, do they REALLY care? Probably not because it is all money to them...they PRETEND to care about the customers time but if they really cared, they would have made every attempt to have that delivery here on time. I hope I get a survey!

WHEW! Now that I got that vent out of my system I'll get to the real reason you are here. It is a simple card today, gotta throw some of those in there from time to time. This Stamping Bella image is appropriately called hat and MITTS. It is an older image, but new to me and I just acquired it recently.


I stamped it with memento black ink on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured primarily with pencils but used a base of copic markers in BOOOO, OOO first. Lots of glitter and some dots of silver pearl pen spruced it up. Not to mention what looks like a dark border, is actually silver foiled paper...hard to capture on camera but really pops in person and looks oh so crisp! I always try to avoid the traditional Christmas green and red and I just LOVE the contemporary combo of silver, white and soft blue.

Well, that's it for today. Let's hope I have a WONDERFUL night's sleep on my new mattress and all my aches and pains will miraculously be gone in the morning!

Linda

Snow Fight

Now that I got all my personal stuff out of me I can get back to business and a card. Yes, it is a Holiday card because I'm still far away from my quota and I lost an entire weekend of colouring so I'm feeling a bit behind.

BUT...hoping to turn that around today because I have the day off (ya, I know..you are probably thinking...she was JUST off) But today I am sitting at home waiting for my new orthopedic posturpedic mattress to be delivered. New mattress, water pillows, I am hoping to wake up as a new well rested person tomorrow! 20 years younger and 10lbs thinner would be nice too but I'm not gonna push it.

On to my card...isn't she the CUTEST! This is Snowfight by Stamping Bella.


I haven't said this in a while so I think it is time to repeat it. I stamped her with black memento ink on bella's BESTEST paper. As I always say though, she was coloured with copic markers and shaded a bit with prismacolor pencils. Here are the copics I used to match up with the Basic Grey paper:

E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20
BG10, 11, 32, 34, 72
YG03, 25, 17, 67
YR12, 14, E31, 25, 59
C00, 0, 1, 3, W2, 3, 4, 5, 6

That's about it for today. The temps are dropping outside so I think I just may make a pot of soup today too. My own personal weight watcher 1 point soup! If you are interested in the recipe I posted it here in the forum. I'm not kidding, but when I make this soup and eat it every day for lunch I lose at least 1 pound in a week! Give it a try!

Linda.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Take these chances....

Place them in a box until a quieter time,
Lights down, you up and die

{sniff} That is the final verse of a Dave Matthews Band song called Ants Marching and was the final song of the bands tour this year, and the final concert until 2012, according to the band. This may not sound like a big deal to most, but for a band that has toured EVERY summer for 20 years, to NOT play a concert for an entire year IS A BIG DEAL! And a HUGE deal for us devoted fans. Equate it to people who go down south every year and suddenly 'down south' is gone!


I'll tell ya now, this is NOT a card related post, it is totally personal, so if you are here for a card, you might want to exit now and come back tomorrow.

You may or may not know, that hubs and I are TOTAL HUGE fans of the Dave Matthews Band. For the past few years we have travelled around the US and Canada taking in as many concerts as time and money would permit. Some think it is strange, but for us, every trip is an adventure and takes us to cities and places we would never otherwise venture to. These little jaunts are how we vacation. Early in the year we had our 6 concerts planned which included Toronto, Michigan, Cleveland, Scranton and two in NYC. We were happy, 6 concerts is our typical quota. THEN, they announce the band won't tour in 2011 and the last concert of the summer tour will be in Chicago! So, of course, we get tickets for two shows there. THEN, they announce a final tour finishing up in Charlottesville Virginia (Dave's home town) and OMG.....how could we resist! Plus we love the mountains! So C'ville is where we have been for the last 5 days!

Although we usually fly by the seat of our pants on these trips we were pretty organized this time cause there was lots we wanted to see. Day 1, Blenheim Vineyards (owned by DAVE!). There was only us and a couple of other ladies in there so we had an amazing time chatting and when the staff found out we were Dave-heads they shared some cute stories and showed us Dave's original sketch of how he wanted the winery to look. Actually, she called him David! {melt} We wanted to get one of the 2009 limited edition bottles with the label sketched by Dave, but it was not being released until the next day...and 2008 was sold old....sadness....a reason to go back!

Then we headed to Miller's, the place where it all began. For any Dave-head, no trip to C'ville would be complete without a stop at Miller's. It is kind of a dive bar-restaurant type place, but the food was really good and our waitress was exceptional! That was pretty much it for Day 1 and we crashed about 9pm in our hotel room.


Day 2 was our guided semi-private wine tour of the region. Mark, myself and another couple toured 4 wineries guided by Chris of Arcady Vineyards. Chris and his wife run a B&B and conduct wine tours in the region. Mark found them on Trip Advisor and it was AMAZING! Chris was SO knowledgeable and completely NOT a wine snob (which is what I was afraid of)! Just passionate and so eager to teach and share his knowledge. If you are ever in the region and looking for a tour, I HIGHLY recommend them!

A great dinner of calamari and seared scallops at a place called Bizou before we head to the DMB pre-concert party at the Jefferson Theater to watch Tim Reynolds band, TR3...although Tim is not an 'official' member of DMB he has been touring with them for a couple or so years now. I'm not a total Tim lover, but Mark was a happy guy and snapped some great pictures. I particularily like this one. Me, I spent a lot of time sipping wine, playing with my phone and chatting about Dave with other patrons!


Day 3 we head to Monticello for a guided tour of the home of Thomas Jefferson. An amazing piece of architectural splendour and another great tour guide. After the guided tour we walked thru the tunnels under the house then took a stroll to his grave site. I think all ancestors of TJ can be burried there and we saw some as recent as 1997. Pretty cool! Since Monticello is just down the road from Dave's winery we decide to go get a bottle of the 2009 limited edition. We have decided not to crack it open until Dave and the band tour again! Kinda like keeping the top of your wedding cake for you first anniversary!

That evening we head to the first concert at the John Paul Jones arena on the campus of UVA. A smaller venue, built for basketball I think and OH SO STEEP! Like I think the upper bowl is directly above the lower bowl so you aren't any further away, just higher up! We are in the upper bowl, but fairly close to the stage. I'm happy.


Now the real fun begins! After the concert we head back to the Jefferson for the DMB after party to see Trombone Shorty, the band that opened for Dave this same evening. He is amazing!!!!!! We are standing there watching the show and Mark whispers to me, Jeff Coffin is standing RIGHT behind you! LIKE OMG! Jeff plays sax in Dave's band! So do I faint, ask for a pic, an autograph, I don't know! I'm in shock! He is so close to me I can almost feel him breathing down my neck! A couple peeps get their pic taken with him and I ask Mark if we should ask...he says, don't bug him...but I'm like OMG it is JEFF COFFIN...i MUST say something! So I turn around and say we saw the show tonight, it was great, and we'll be back tomorrow! Then he just starts chatting it up...asking where we are from etc, regular small talk...so I cave and ask for a picture! I got a couple, but this one of Mark and Jeff is my fav! Look close, Jeff has his arm on Mark's shoulder!


It was pretty exciting and when we finally got back to our room WELL after 2am I was so pumped I could hardly sleep! So I posted the couple pics on facebook!

Day 4 we decide to take in the scenery and drive up to Shenandoah National Park and take in the views along the Skyline Drive. Mark insisted on stopping at EVERY outlook so I'll NEVER ask him to stop at another outlook again! Sort of a private joke, we often drive to Myrtle Beach thru the mountains and every time we do I ask him to stop for me to get pics, but he flatly refuses cause he just wants to get to where he is going, plop himself on a lounge chair and read a book. Sadly we missed the peak of colour by about a week! But I didn't care...it was SO quiet and peaceful up there and I could have just perched myself on one of those outlooks and coloured all day. Almost made me wish I was a tree hugger who loved to camp...but that thought swiftly passed and I enjoyed my couple hours. This is my fav pic I took along the drive!


We talked to lots of Dave fans over the last few days and have heard everything from:
  • they are never going to tour again
  • yes, they will back in 2012
  • he wants to pursue other interests
  • he won't make it through the year, they'll be back
I can't even speculate what to believe! But even if they never tour again, I'm happy knowing I saw the last concert they performed as a band!

Lights down, you up and die!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Bellarific Friday is here, and video clarification

I'm gonna start by addressing a couple comments I had on my video debut! I spoke of E-4-zero in the face and that is E0000, then I spoke of E-4-zero again in the hair, but that is E40....you might call it Linda-speak! For those who left a comment, I thank you...I'm kinda camera shy, especially in front of a video cam and kinda shy and quiet generally but sort of crazy...I know, I can't explain it either! You really have to know me to love me. Close friends always remind my hubby (in a VERY sarcastic way) that he is the LUCKIEST guy in the world!

Okay...on to business....Bellarific Friday business that is and this week we had an awesome sketch by one of our newest Babes Cathabella! I deviated just a bit from the sketch because the image I chose fit into a square rather than an elongated rectangle, but I call that artistic freedom. Really, a sketch is just a jumping point to inspire you, it is not a criminal offense if you don't follow it to every dimension. So just remember that for next time!


I now give to you Joyful Village by Stamping Bella, another image I bought last year but never got around to inking it. In an effort to not repeat my images TOOOO many times, I thought the timing was right to get this one coloured and I had bright and cheery in mind so coloured those little houses in shades of pink and red with the following copic markers
B0000, 000, 52, YG01, 03, 17, 97
R22, 24, 37, 85, RV02, 11, 19. 32. 34. 69
N0, 2, T3, 5, E42, 44, W7

As always, I shaded around the image with prismacolor pencils blended with gamsol, but no pencils were used on the houses. And of course I had to bling it up by applying some pearl pen to the snow on the rooftops and the ground which I dumped with glitter while still wet, then some glitter around the smoke stacks and glossy accents on the windows. To balance it off, I stamped Merry Christmas in the upper left corner. Gotta have balance! Do you know that Stamping Bella has a boat load of tiny super affordable sentiments perfect for fitting into small spaces like this....check them out here.

All pretty and blingy ready to be sent to someone special this Christmas. Our challenge next week was the brainstorm of Kim Teasdale and is one of MY FAV THINGS TO DO! That is an ALL WHITE card except for the image that has colour. Now, remember, this is just INSPIRATION, so don't go all nuts thinking you have to strictly adhere to the idea. It is a JUMPING point....so think white, maybe a paper that is shades of white, or just use all white cardstock, or maybe you NEED to border your image with a standout colour. THAT IS ALL OKAY! just get inspired because that is what Bellarific Friday is all about!

See ya soon!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Back in the Christmas Card swing!

Before I get to the card I have a NEWSFLASH!!!! Emily is up to her old tricks again and gave us an early Christmas prezzie, this was even a surprise to us babes!! Some sneak-it-in while the heat is on Christmas Lulu's....OH SO PRETTY! AND a sale! CHECK IT OUT HERE! (then come back and check out my card...okay!)

Now back to my regularly scheduled blog.....Okay....to be honest, I haven't really been out of the Christmas swing...the Diva from Monday was coloured a few weeks ago but have been saving it for Cathy's birthday. Now this past weekend I was one busy colouring Babe trying to get those Christmas images done! I RARELY do anything on Friday nights unless it involves dinner out and a few glasses of wine, but this past weekend I decided to make pizza (crust and all!) and spend the evening cooking, colouring (and drinking wine). So I got a couple done Friday night and worked my little arthritic arm to the bone and got FOUR more coloured on Saturday. Now don't all excited yet! They are NO WHERE near to being a finished card yet. You see, I LOVE to colour, but making cards out of them is where I struggle...I am TOTALLY layout challenged!

But being layout challenged is not so bad if you have 5 billion sheets of patterned paper to choose from and that is where I try to focus my energy. If the image is pretty, and the paper works with it, no one will EVEN notice the lack of creativity in the layout! Whether this is true or not, I'm gonna go with it, and believe in it, otherwise I'd have to give up this gig altogether cause fussy layouts will NEVER be my trademark.


Having said all that, I have a simple little card with a pretty image and paper that (I think) works well to show it off. This is envie full of cheer from Stamping Bella and is an older image that I have always loved, but just bought it this year! Now I wonder why I didn't get it sooner!

It was a snap to colour up and I am LOVING IT! The image was stamped on Bella's BESTEST paper and these are the copics I used (keep in mind, the shading around and below the image was done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol):
C00, 0, 1, G40, 82, 94
R22, 24, 59, E43, 44, Y26, 28

In the interest of time, there is NO stitching on this card...SHOCKING....but I'm okay with it. The glitter, glossy accents, and edging with a  krylon gold pen, not to mention the pretty image,  hopefully distract from the lack of sewing.

Now for the pillow update! Since the back flared up sleep has been difficult, and sometimes non-existent! I've spent several nights just sitting on the sofa and I dare say hubby probably hasn't missed me snoring next to him! But I'm tired of sleeping or just sitting on the couch all night with my heating pad so I decided to try a new pillow! I have a Tempur cervical pillow which I bought a few years ago, but with the latest back issue I just couldn't lay that flat. (hence, many nights sitting on the sofa!). Now that things have settled enough that I can sleep in the bed I have been putting the Tempur pillow on top of my down pillow and sleeping sitting slightly elevated. Not bad, but not perfect. So I decided to get a water pillow. It has a bladder which you fill with water to a soft, medium or firm pressure. OMG...if you are someone (like me) who would wake up several times a night to re-fluff your pillow...those days are GONE! This thing just rolls with you...you move...it moves with you...no more fussing to adjust the pillow to get comfortable because it is comfortable ALL THE TIME! I'm in LOVE with my new pillow!

Thanks for stopping in...don't forget our Bellarific Friday....it is a sketch and I know you all LOVE sketches so hoping for lots of contributions to induldge one of our newest babes Cath with her first sketch submission!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Lots to talk about today!

But I'm gonna start with my card so for those who don't want to listen to my babble can just move on quickly!

You may remember my LONG LOST BFF Cathy who I hooked up with last year. Well it was her birthday on Friday and she is a true DIVA! Always looking hot, trendy, getting her fingers and toes all looking pretty....hair and makeup perfect! So NOT me! I'll admit, I am a little obsessive about my hair, but nailpolish, NOT...and makeup...OMG....ONLY if I don't want to scare anyone. Do you know that the vast majority of people in my office work long hours for 9 days straight to get every other Friday off....me...not so much...I work 5 day a week, every week but every Friday since there is hardly anyone in the office I use it as an excuse to ditch half of my makeup routine because I probably won't see anyone anyway! LOL!!!!!


Sorry, see, I digress already! Back to the card. This is a Mo Manning image called Diva available in rubber at Stamping Bella. She was stamped with memento ink on Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with a combo of copics and prisma pencils. These are the copics I used:

E0000, 000, 00, 11, R20, RV11
R0000, 000, 00, 01, 21, 30, 32, 34, 85
E40, 41, 42, 43, 21, 13, 15, 44
E31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 59, N0, 2, 5

WOW! I hope nobody asks me where I used the colours, because honestly, I coloured this image several weeks ago and I no longer have a clue! Which is one of the reasons why I often hesitate to list the colours used for fear someone will ask me specifics that I no longer recollect. (it's probably an age thing, but I'll call it artistic freedom cause it sounds better!)

Did you all enjoy the video last week? OMG! I HATE the sound of my voice but I think everyone who hears themselves says that. I can't thank Ebru enough for putting that together!

On a personal note, remember the back of mine that went out a few weeks ago! Well...massage, chiropractic treatment, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory, pain killers, x-rays, and a lot of whining has uncovered my problem....again...an age thing! I have significant disk degeneration between C5-6 prominent on the right side which is pinching the nerve that runs down my arm and into my hand (YUP...THAT arm)....aka....arthritis in the neck! I kinda wanna scream ENOUGH ALREADY....but I am a patient person, and will wait this out just like I did with my broken wrist and with therapy (and drugs) I am told I will be pain free in a FEW MONTHS! ....ya, you heard that right....in a FEW MONTHS! The good news is that prior to having the spasm in my back I had NO pain at all in my arm or hand, so once this settles I have been told that it will bother me from time to time but that is about the worst of it! I should be back to my normal 51-yr-old self in no time!

Next post....I'll tell you about my new pillow!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It's that time of the week again!

...and where oh where does the time go! This week has just FLOWN by...but that means the weekend comes sooner! For you local Babes, I should let you know that Pickle is having their Christmas Open House on Sunday and myself and Paulineabella will be there between 1 and 3pm to chat it up, answer your questions, eat Kell's marvelous baked goods, drink up some yummy hot apple cider and demo up a storm! It is ALWAYS a fun event so hope you can stop in.

On to the reason why I am here...and that would be our Bellarific Friday Christmas/Holiday theme card challenge. Now really, it could NOT have gotten easier than that. Like make a Christmas card 6 weeks before Christmas? Who couldn't use one of those?...me, I need about 45 of them and this one is #19 I think. I got a LONG way to go! But I plan on getting 11 more done over the next three weeks and then blitz 15 of them with some simple stamping that won't involve an hour or two of colouring per card. This year my goal is to have them in the mail by December 12th! (I'll let you know how that goes, okay)


Like my last ornament card, this Stamping Bella cutsey ornament one was coloured with mostly pencils, those new Caran d'Ache, but I started with a solid base coat of copic. This is a LARGE card too, I broke from my traditional 5.5" square card and went with a 5x7 this time. Based on the oooh's and ahhh's I got from my Mom when she saw it, I think I'll be sending this one to my folks this year. The paper is Basic Grey and the image is mounted on heavy gold foil paper so it screams elegant, glitzy and glam!

All the green areas were covered in Ranger Glossy Accents and the little white 'pearls' were created with my trusty Viva Decor Pearl Pen. And of course there is glitter! No Christmas card is ever complete without glitter!

Next week our challenge will be a sketch provided by our very own Cathabella....YAY! That will surely take some stress off me because I always struggle with layouts. You also must have guessed by now that I WILL be putting this sketch to use in another Christmas card! How 'bout you do the same, you just might win some bella bucks and can get yourself an early Christmas prezzie!!!

See you all soon!

Don't faint! It's a video tutorial!

Yup....this may be the ONE AND ONLY video tutorial you will EVER see of me, unless of course I happen to be at bella headquarters again and Ebru arrives with her video cam in hand! Yes, this piece of work was put together by our video babe Ebru...here you'll see how I do a face, hair, and add pencils to shade my copic colouring! Plus if you watch the entire thing you will see me hiding a zit on my forehead and trying to look sultry and gorjus! LOL! And if you plan on leaving a comment, PALEEEEZE tell me that I don't look as old as my voice sounds! EEEEEEK!



Now if you are still with me, you may want to check out Paula's claim to fame...and that would be GARASSSS! YUP....she demonstrates how she does grass...her old and new technique. And....if you omit the GARASSSS blades it is a good demo of 'all purpose' grounding!



ENJOY!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The heat is on!

Yup....we are a third of the way into November and my Christmas card blitz is in full swing now! I am starting to feel a bit behind with maybe only a third of my required cards finished. But thanks to Bernice in Windsor, I have inspiration for my mom's card this year....I think I could get 30 of them done in a day if I stay focused. So what does all this mean? Well...for the next three weeks it's gonna be a Christmas card extravaganza here on the blog!


Today I used Stamping Bella's Ornament with Holly and paired it up with Basic Grey paper. This is an AWFUL picture...I may try to retake it later on, but for now this will have to do. I stamped on Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with copic markers. The shading was done with my new Caran d'Ache pablo pencils....ya....after listening to Paula go on about them I caved, and I'm glad I did because I LOVE THEM!!! They won't replace my prisma's but these have just given me a wider range of colours to play with and I'm a girl who likes to have lots of options!

This past weekend I made a trip to Toronto to pair up with Danabella and a whole whack of other Babes at Stamping Bella. We coloured (well, some of us did!), we ate, we took pictures and we just sat around and had a great day. Here we are, in the back we have Cath, Dana, yours truely (I was feeling REALLY short next to Dana), Pauline and up front, mammabella Emily, Ebru and Paula.


For all you readers who have asked for video tutorials Ebru was a busy babe pushing her hand to the limit to hold up that camera and take all kinds of videos so you may just get your wish and see some of us in action. Oh ya, I must also say that Ebru is like a total sweetheart and came with little gifts and a card for all of us! I'm still overwhelmed and that reminds me, I must send her an email!

That's it for me today...time to get ready for the day job!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A new Bellarific Friday and I DO have a card!

Sorry to all you die hard card makers for my art journalling post on Wednesday, but sometimes a girl just has to branch out and try other things! I have SO many interests the list is daunting. If I had more free time on my hands the first thing I would do is use my beloved Bernina to sew more than paper and finish the THREE unfinished quilts in my house and the westie cross stitch pin cushion I started many years ago. Oh...and don't get me started on the vast quantities of wool in my basket when I was on my knitted hat kick, or the unfinished afgan that I started to crochet! Or the fabric that has been sitting in my drawer for two years that is intended to make a blind for my kitchen window. I'm not going to go on, but let me say, this is NOT the end of the list!

Alright, I'll get back on track! Our challenge this week was the brainstorm of the amazing Kim Teasdale and she challenged us to use 1 image, 2 designer papers and 3 embellishments and I used Stamping Bella's THEO gives a prezzie.


Isn't he cute? I used losts and lots of dots with my copic markers to get that fluffy look going on. He reminds me of the GUND teddies that the boys had as infants. These are the colours I used:
E40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 55
E50, 51, 53, G12, 24, 82. 85
R20, 22, 24, E07, 09, C00, 1

Shading around the image was done with Ginger Root and Beige Sienna pencils and the grounding with French Grey 30, 50 and 70.

Now here is how my 1-2-3 came in:
1 image - Theo
2 designer papers - from Memory box
3 embellishments - glitter, making memories holly leaf and brads, and look real close cause there is liquid pearls on the holly on the bear

Get ready cause our challenge next week is a Christmas or Holiday card! Seriously folks, can it get any easier than this, especially with Christmas just around the corner! A good excuse to get another one done and in your stash!

Till next time....and it WILL be a card!

Linda.

oh ya...fyi...my post is early because i accidentally hit the wrong key!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Totally NOT a card today! I'm talking Art Journalling 101 today!

Because I was off work most of the summer with my broken wrist, I thankfully have lots of vacation that MUST be used before year end or I'll lose it. And with 25yrs under my belt, that adds up to a diaper load of vacation! I do plan on taking a fews days off mid November for a trip to Virginia, plus a couple days for the American Thanksgiving (although I AM proudly Canadian, I am indulding the hubs again with a Lions Thanksgiving Day game...he owes me!!!!) But even with all that, and a couple weeks in December, I am able to take every Monday off from now to the end of the year! And I have been pretty much working 4 day weeks since my return to the day job so let me just say....January ain't gonna be pretty when I go back to a 5 day week! Oooooh! Ouch!

On my Monday off this week, after getting all my DT work done, and a doctor and a chiropractor visit under my belt, I had the afternoon to JUST PLAY! Oh my, how I love to PLAY! So I pulled out my art journal book (all Emily's fault) and my papersoft products (again, Emily's fault) and my viva decor inka gold (ya, Emily) and some of my fav Stamping Bella stamps including Dandelion Wisps, "I am" script, and Fluffy Flower Head.  These are all larger stamps, and although they lend themselves to Journalling, they could still be incorporated into cards.

Anyhow, here is my page. I started with the papersoft and applied three different colours of green. Then applied the papersoft with the sponge dauber to the script and fluffy flower stamp and stamped that over what I had just applied. Not totally happy because they came out too dark so I used the sponge dauber to soften off the fluffy flower. I did this SEVERAL TIMES, probably too many times, but remember, this is just an experiment!


When I decided enough was enough I started collaging pieces of text from a book I bought solely for this purpose. Coccoina is one of my FAV glues for stuff like this. Then I applied more papersoft over the text to age it a bit. One thing about the papersoft is that it dries very slowely. Good when you want to change your mind and 'rub out' what you've done, but bad if you are happy and want to build over what you've done. So if you want to build, you can always use a heat gun. Which I did, and then stamped the dandelion with versafine. I was getting really happy now!

Now I started adding Buzz and Bloom chipboard embellishments that were covered with Inka Gold. I added some, took some away and moved them around until I was happy. I did have some trouble gluing them down and found that Ranger Glossy accents worked best.

For you die-hard card makers, you may not love this. But boy oh boy did I have fun just playing around. I even perched it on the table opposite my sofa so I could gaze at it a bit! Ya I'm kinda weird that way!


Friday I'll be back with a card again!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Yup, it is the hubsters b'day today...a mere 49, yes I am a couple years older than him, but I don't think two years makes me a cougar or anything! LOL!

Being the good soul mate that I am I endured a Lions football game yesterday. Not on TV folks, like the real deal, we are talking LIVE....5th row, 10 yard line! Mark has seasons tickets with his buddy and I go to two games a year...his b'day, and American Thanksgiving. We have the tickets with our friends we travelled to Vegas with so Colleen is the ONLY reason I go, although she does wear lions 'gear' and beads and stuff...but I try to overlook it. The remainder of the games our son Alex goes with Mark, he's a football junkie even worse than his dad!

Back to the card, if you are new to the blog you may not know that Mark and I are (hate to say it)...GROUPIES! Yes, we follow the Dave Matthews Band around on tour and go to as many concerts as time and money permits. Dave has sort of an eclectic following that includes a mix from a young university/college crowd to aging hippies...since we are WAY beyond the university age group we sort of fall into the hippy group and we are often kidded by friends that we need to invest in a VW Van to fit our lifestyle. Ain't gonna happen! Just Saying!


The closest Mark will ever get to a VW hippy van is this Peace VW that was stamped on Bella's BESTEST paper and coloured by yours truly! Of course, I was quite impressed that the first thing he noticed was that I personalized the license plate! For curious minds, NO, I did NOT do this myself....I used my trusty teeny tiny Karen Foster snap alphabets and was so grateful that it fit perfectly. I really think he needs to put this on his desk at work next to all his other DMB stuff!

I started with copic markers, but as always, finished it off with pencils. And note the browning grass under that van, that would represent us tailgaiting in some dry browned grass parking area with all the other groupies!

Y0000, 00, 11, BG0000, 72, 75, 78
G40, YG01, 03, W0, 1
C00, 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8

And if you are wondering, it was the Basic Grey Oliver paper that gave me the inspiration for the colours and I LOVE them!

Now it is only Monday so you still have PLENTY of time to join in on our 1-2-3 challenge, ONE image, TWO designer papers and THREE embellishments! Mine is done and guess what....ya, it is a Christmas card! But before then, I'll be popping back in with something TOTALLY different, and in my own opinion, TOTALLY spectacular! I'll give you a hint...I dappled in Art Journalling!

Till next time....Linda!

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