Bring on the warm weather!

Are you ready for it? I am so ready! And to help bring it on I coloured up MAVIS in her KINI by Stamping Bella. Seriously, I wish I looked so good in a kini...Easter weekend cost me gravely at my WW meeting today and now I'm sulking even though I have NOBODY to blame but myself (and my love of keilbasa).

As always she was stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and I used the following copic markers, I'm pretty sure I used some pencils too, but I don't typically keep track of the ones I used.

BG0000, 000, 10, 01, 11, 72
E50, 51, 53, 55, 43, 44, 17
R20, 02, 01, 22, 14
G0000, 00, 02

Have you done up your card for Friday yet? Remember, make a card for your Mom, or any special person in your life and emai it to Emily by Thursday at 5pm. I DO NOT have mine done yet and it is stressing me out a bit, but no carding for this babe tonight....my neck/back/shoulders are KILLING me and I really need some couch time with my thermophore heating pad! That would also be the  reason for the short and sweet post today!

Later, Linda.

Life is making me happy today!

Fortunately I am not one of those people who can never be pleased and the littlest stupidest things can put me on a total happy high and today those things would be:

1. the new cord to plug my laptop into my kitchen tv so I can turn my laptop into a DVD player to watch my crimal minds or whatever else strikes my fancy on a bigger screen. That also gets the laptop off the table to give me more room to craft!
2. Christy Tomlinson's she art workshop...I'm in LOVE
3. my new mixed media products
4. a long weekend, even if is only three days
5. stamping bella's mesh stamp
6. and finally, my anything goes card

 

Aren't they JUST THE CUTEST THINGS EVER! And so perfect for Easter too, but that was just a coincidence.

Here is how I did it...I started with some very subtle background papers and one bold print. Papers are a mix of basic grey, kaiser craft and memory box. On the main focal background piece I stamped some of the mesh with distress ink tumbled glass, then with versa fine smokey grey. I didn't even put the stamp on a block, just held in in my hand and that assured me I would get a more random and subtle impression. (learned that trick from Emily!)

Then I stamped the largest of the eclectic birdies on the REVERSE side of the patterned paper and cut it out. I also stamped just the tail feather portion again on a coordinating paper and cut it out. The two smaller birds were stamped on the RIGHT side of some smaller print patterned paper in a light enough colour ink that would not cover the pattern entirely but be enough for me to see the edges to cut them out. Then I sponged the edges, drew around the edges with a fine black marker and accented with maisy KETTO'S POLKADOTS and more mesh. The eyes on the little birds were darkened with a marker, but the big mamma bird's eye is embellished with a button brad.

After gluing them down I drew in their legs with marker and added some grass with my pencils. Then I had to fill in the empty spaces above and after much deliberation I decided that I would part with some of my rubons....oh it was hard, but worth the sacrifice. I cut the sun freehand and added a bit of sponging but kept everything soft.

So what do you think? Personally I think it should be featured on cute overload dot com!

Next Week! With Mother's Day just around the corner our challenge next week is to celebrate a Mom in your life...it could be your mother, your sister, a friend, or heck, even yourself!

AND! Jess has taken control of our forum and has tons of new fun going on over there....you can upload your cards, check out the babarooni cards and even play in some challenges. Over the next little while I will be uploading many (if not ALL) of my blogged cards over to the gallery. That way if you remember you saw something and want to check it out again,  but don't want to scroll thru all the babble on my blog you can just hop on over there and have all my cards right there smack in your face to browse through. We are doing all we can to make things easier for you...and more fun! AFTER ALL...isn't it all about having fun! I have some helpful forum links down on my sidebar too so you may want to check it out.

Later, Linda

Back again with another class card!

Oh my! Blogging two days in a row...SHOCKING! I won't have anything to say because not that much exciting happens in my life in a 24 hour span! But I will say, I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday elbow deep in mixed media madness! I'm telling ya...I haven't enjoyed a class so much in AGES! New stuff to play with, fresh ideas...the entire thing has got my creative juices just rolling...and I will throw in, that my most fav stamp for my canvases is the mesh from the eclectic MINI BUBBLEWRAP MESH and FRENCH SCRIPT set...LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Okay, so I guess I did have something to say! Now I have something to show you...this is the second card for my upcoming pickle class on May 7th....peony BITTYBLOOM...she's a sweetie for sure!

 
Here is the supply list for this class:
 
copics:
YR30, 20, 31, 14
E000, 00, 11,50, 51, 53, 33, 35
R20, 22, G40, 21

pencils:
pumpkin orange, kelp green, white, lt cerrulean blue
limepeel, kelly green, kelp green, grass green

other:
rounded corner punch and border punch, EK success
stickles

Well that was pretty short and sweet, but before I go I want to give a bit shout out to Jessabella who has got our Stamping Bella forum cleaned up and ready to go....there will be MANY exciting things going on over there so you just may want to get in on it....since I am not one to reinvent the wheel, I plucked this right off of Jessabella's blog....

"There is a TON of fun stuff going on right now at Stamping Bella! Did you know that we have our VERY OWN FORUM? Be sure to register and stay tuned for a new challenge, ways to win some fun prizes, lots of ideas and tutorials, and more!

We also have our own GALLERY where you can load your Bella-rific creations for all to see! And make sure you "like" us on Facebook... because well, we're like-able! ;) "



How's that for something exciting! Be sure to keep checking Jess's blog for up and coming forum news.

That's it for today, Linda

Sunday morning coffee...and class sneak peek

Actually I've been up since 6:30 and it feels more like a late morning coffee....where did the last three+ hours go? Well....mostly I've been reorganizing my marker storage....NOT the beloved copic storage, that is still working for me, but my mixed media marker storage...those new faber-castell pitt pens, paint brushes new and old and even some resurrected ranger Adirondack markers and Sakura glaze pens that have found a new use on canvas got dusted off.

Yesterday Paulineabella and I spent the day with Paulabella and her BFF Mary.....OH it's been a while since we just got to get together like that with no agenda except to do a bit of shopping and then PLAY...Pauline coloured while Paula and I got inky on canvas. OMG...you should see what she was working on...it was AMAZING...so bright and cheery, while mine had a much darker background....and apparantly, according to Paula, I make much more of a mess than she does....however....I do clean up my stencils (and hers) while she just lets them build up with inky love. I don't know if I'm quite there yet in the process of letting totally loose.

On to the real reason why you stopped by....for the local gals, if you don't know by now I'm teaching at Pickle on May 7th from 1-3pm....a Saturday, remember...I have a day job! Now Kim told me there was amazing response and you (even I) didn't even know what I was gonna colour yet...thanks for the faith. So here is sneak peek no.1....Kissy by Mo Manning, available in rubber at Stamping Bella and locally at Pickle.

Start collecting your markers and pencils because this is what we will be using for this image:

copics:
E0000, 000, 00, 11, 33, 35
R20, 22, Y15
RV63, 55, 66 *NEW COLOURS
G82, YG67
CO, 1, 3

pencils:
dark purple, dark umber, burnt ochre, lt cerrulean blue
french grey 30% and 70%, white

*if you don't have the new colours you can substitue R81, 83, 85 but your dress will be much pinker

other products I used:
versamagic wheat, pixie dust perfect plumeria
punch is martha stewart...any punch can be used
liquid applique
glitter

Now don't forget about our challenge this Friday over at Blogabella... ANYTHING GOES, just use a bella image. Oh ya...I see that I got a few new subscribers in the last couple days....where have you ladies been all this time! LOL!. just kidding....I hope you and everyone else can find inspiration here! Thanks for dropping by.

Later, Linda (off to Walmart!...hope I don't get blown into a corn field on the way there...it is WINDY!)

Exploring

After my little mixed media make and take at the Stamping Bella booth last weekend and completing week 1 of Christy Tomlinson's She Art Workshop that is running again I was feeling a little "out of the box" this week. With that overwhelming creative energy building up inside of me I decide to go all out on what I would consider a collage type card. I've always loved them, but at the same time, I'm afraid of trying them....fear of not adding enough, or maybe too much. Now that I look at this one again, I think I should have added more...maybe some lightly stamped script or crackle on the oval background. But it is done, and it is what is and the little things I learned will not go to waste.

I bought the Tim Holtz sewing room die at the Bella booth at scrapfest...I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and really felt I scored when I picked up the last one. This card is large...5x7...to accommodate the die because I wanted to use it all. These are the other products I used:

Julie's words to live by
Script from eclectic mini BUBBLE, MESH and FRENCH SCRIPT (on the butterfly)
crackle from the checker, music and crackle set (on the wooden portions of the dress dummy and on the background script paper)
Border punch is EK success
oval background is SPELLBINDERS
Birdcage is quickutz
Butterfly is magenta chipboard
Tim Holtz distress ink, tattered rose, antique linen, brushed corduroy and walnut stain

The meaning to the words I used can apply to many projects but this one is geared to sewing an outfit...you start, you stop, (because you're frustrated!) you carry on until you finally get to wear it! Then...there is that feeling of accomplishment and life is good!

Next week our challenge is free form...that means you get to do anything you want as long as you incorporate stamping Bella stamps into your project! Now I'm off to watch week 2 of my she art workshop so who knows where the free form challenge may take me! But for you colouring addicts out there, no fear, I'll be back with a couple more of those in the next day or two!

Later, Linda

The Make and Take of the Year Award

There was so much personal excitement on Saturday at Scrapfest it has taken me two days to calm down. Paulineabella and I drove up to meet fellow babes Cath, Ebru, Robin and Paula. Cath brought along her sweetie mom and Paula brought her BFF Mary. We huddled at the booth for a while and I signed up for the make and take...there was NO way I was gonna leave that building without doing one. I picked up new rubber and dropped another wad at some goodies that caught my eye.

Then I hit the floor meeting up with some other familiar faces, Regan and Deanna (love you girls)...and Jackie congrats on the new baby, I won't forget about you! I also made a pit stop at Kraftin Kimmie's booth to say hi to all the krafty girls there. When I wasn't meeting and greeting I was helping out the economy!

Then it was time for my make and take. Typically I don't do them because I don't want to wait, but this was SO worth the wait. Emily and her new super talented artist Isabelle were there with Isabelle doing demos on how to use her new stamp line and Emily instructing us on how to do mixed media on canvas. This is what I made!

It's not perfect, but a pretty good effort for 45 minutes. There are things I would change, and things I would do differently and it was amazing how much I learned in that short amount of time and I was pretty pleased with my result.

Here are the products I used:
eclectic MINI BUBBLEWRAP MESH and FRENCH SCRIPT set, flower garden (my fav stamp of all time) and, julie's SPRING BUTTERFLIES. Claudine Hellmuth paints, Ranger Adirondak color wash, stencils, rubons, tissue paper and gel pens. WHEW!

Let me just say it was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again...so what did I do...bought more stuff! Don't worry, I'll never give up my markers but sometimes a girl just has to branch out!

Later, Linda

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus

I'm writing this post Thursday evening in my fav spot at the kitchen table and for the first time from the keyboard of my beloved iPad 2...actually i would normally use my laptop here but ive got criminal minds playing on there at the moment so now i can watch my fav show while i blog! It doesn't get much better than this. I also want to mention that my friend Jenny got her new iPad yesterday and the first thing she did when she left the store was to text me that she got it...well I didn't hear the text because the phone was in another room so she called me! It was pretty exciting to share her immediate joy!

While I'm thinking about Jenny a funny thing happened at work the other day. As I was bouncing with joy coming back from her office telling her about the Royal Wedding app I downloaded that morning a group of guys were all huddled in the pod next to mine looking very excited about something. So I make a pitt stop to see what's going on and it is a DS 3D...I'm like I thought you may have been all excited about the royal wedding app and one of them pipes up and says "Linda, you are SO in the wrong pod" ...It just goes to show you that it is so true... men are from mars, women are from Venus!

With life updates out of the way I'll get on with my card. This is from Stamping Bells's latest release and YAY it's a Mo and this sweetie's name is sorry Shanna by Mo Manning.

For our monochromatic challenge I decided to keep with soft pinks except for greenery, flesh and hair where I strayed. Did I break the rules? Heck no...we are pretty flexible on this challenge blog and the ONLY rule is that you use a Bella image.

I stamped her on Bella"s BESTEST paper and colored her with the following copic markers...don't you JUST LOVE the E30 on her hair? Talk about blonde!

E0000, 000, O0, 11, 21
YR30, 20, E41, 53 (hair)
R0000, 000, 00, 01, 20, 21, 22
R12, 14. RV11, YG23, 63
E40, 41, 42, 43

Next week our challenge is a sketch and it one of MINE! I plucked it from one of my cards and it is my go-to sketch and I use it often. Do you recognize it from any of my cards?

I hope it becomes one of your fav's too!

And don't forget if you are in the area head on over to Scrapfest in Kitchener! Emily will be there and babes will be swarming around everywhere!

It is finally TOOSDAY!

So put your shades and sunscreen on! You don't want to be blinded!

Why...well because Stamping Bella is letting loose of her Scrapfest release today! I don't know about you, but this BABE is uber excited! Little hints have lead me to believe that she is 'mixing it up a bit' and might be throwing in some images that I can only 'dream' will be suitable for journalling, mixed media, or artsy fartsy cards! Yes, although I love to colour, I also enjoy the process of creating something that is just artsy fartsy and fun. It allows me to release my pent up creative frustrations.

SO...I hope you have your shades on 'cause this babe is soaking in the sun! This is a Mo Manning image available in rubber at Stamping Bella called Little Umbrella. Does she look like someone you know?

Only in my dreams, and probably not even there, would I have enough guts to wear that on the beach! My weight has always fluctuated within maybe 20lbs at most of my ideal weight, but even when I am wafer thin I still don't have the guts to wear something like that. Call me conservative, call me shy, call me whatever, but I prefer to keep my body under wraps. A LOT of wraps!

Basic Grey hello luscious was my inspiration and stamped her on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following copic markers:

E0000, 000, 00, 11, 21, 23, 25, 27
BG10, 11, 01, E30, 31, 40, 41, 42
R20, 21, 81, 83, 85, 22, 24, C5
G40, 12, 82, YG21, 03, W5, 7, 9

She reminds me of the old saying amongst us girls...."things could be worse, we could be trying on bathing suits"

MWAH to the sistahs who don't have inhibitions!

Now...go get stalking Stamping Bella and wait for the new release to come online! And I dare you to beat me to the order finish line!

Later, Linda

Happy Birthday Fella's

OMG...today my baby boys turn 21 years old and for as long as I can remember we called them fella's...as in "fella's, dinner is ready", or "fella's it's time to go"...it has always been "fellas" since the day they were born. I often wonder what our 'calling' would have been if we had girls, or a boy and a girl...but "fellas" has stuck till this day. I can't believe where the years have gone....does this mean I'm officially old? I'm not mentally ready to be old yet but some days my body tells me otherwise.

So in typical twin fashion, I have two cards to show you today and I'll start with Derek. This is a Mo Manning image that I purchased digitally. Mo is my definite go to gal when I need something for a guy and this fella's name is Paul typing, but in all honesty, it looks EXACTLY like Derek, right down to the bright blue laptop. We took a drive to Hamilton on Saturday and took Derek out to the Keg for dinner, which he was most appreciative of since he has been living on a student diet since September.

So here's to you Derek, happy 21st!

Next up is Alex, actually he was known as Baby A and made it to the finish line a whole 6 minutes ahead of Derek. In their early days, Alex was quite proud of the fact that he was 'first born'...but in my mind, they are totally equal. Alex enjoys the 'good life' and I think he takes after his mother a bit there! I asked him if he wanted to go to Hamilton for dinner on Saturday and he 'kinda' had plans! I can only imagine what those plans were so in my most  motherly fashion I gently reminded him of the dangers of binge drinking and then made hime a card that I hope will be a lasting reminder...here goes... this is the front of the card which is an Art Impressions image which was intended to be a root beer float! Well, I strategically omitted the straws and turned it into a mug of beer! Pretty clever eh!

I added some liquid applique for the 'foam' and over heated it to give it the caramel tinge and some deep drips of glossy accents gavr some dimension to the mug.

My cleverness did not end there however! The inside of my card was made with some quickutz dies as a gentle reinforcement to keep the drinking under control. Do I seem like a freak? Well maybe, but as much as I trust my boys to be responsible, it never hurts to gently remind them from time to time... and if they get a chuckle out of my reminder, I've scored twice! Reminder, AND a chuclke!

Happy Birtthday guys!...We love you.

Mom.

Are you ready for TOOOOSDAY?

It seems like FOREVER since we have had some new bella rubber and I have a sneaky suspicion it will be well worth the wait.

Before I move on to my sneak peek (okay you can scroll down, but come back okay!) I have to say I feel totally HORRIBLE about not giving a big shout out and warm welcome to our newest babes! I was still reeling over the excitement over my iPad 2 and I can only deal with one exciting thing at a time or else I may faint! These babes are hot I tell you and if you have not followed them before you are in for a real treat because they are amazing. I've had the pleasure of meeting Robin last year when she took my class at bellaland and not only is she talented...she is cute as cute can get! So let me give a warm welcome and cyber hugs to

 Robin McKinley

Tammy Hershberger

Jessica Diedrich

NOW I'll show you my card! I am not sure of her official name so let me call her Christy Croll's Pixie Bouquet and when Emily puts the images up at Stamping Bella on TOOSDAY I'll link it up.

I stamped her on bella BESTEST paper and coloured her with a mix of copic markers and Caran D'ache pencils. That empty space in the lower right corner left me with the perfect spot to the stamp happy birthday sentiment and I have to say, I love when it works out that way. Again, I can't find that specific sentiment on the website so it might now be part of a set. hmmmmmm????? Don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what else will be released and will be stalking the rest of the babes blogs to see what else might be sneaking out over the next few days.

In other news, Scrapfest is in Kitchener ONT this weekend and da Bella herself will have her pretty pink and white booth set up. I won't be three in an 'official' capacity, but I will spend a good part of my day there, just hanging out and chatting it up. Rumor tells me that other babes will be there too so keep an eye out for Paulabella, Paulineabella, Cathabella and Robinabella. Ebru is a local gal too but I haven't heard if she will be there...hmmmm....maybe we could coax her to come along!  It's gonna be a babefest! 

See you in a couple days with another sneak peek!

Again I am sneaking this in before the day job because last night the iPad 2 was in da house! Yup, I got it...but I cancelled my Apple delivery and lucked out and got it locally. Which meant I only got the 16GB and not the 32 I originally wanted, but in all honestly, I do not need 32GB to surf the net and write the occassional blog post on the road. But I still got the 3G and after seeing the white one, I opted for black. So I think I'll buy some jewellery with the hundred bucks I saved!

For our challenge this week we were to use polka dots! It wasn't a toughie for me, because I LOVE them and my favourite place to use them is in baby cards.

I pulled out Stamping Bella's my beary best friend and some Kaiser craft paper and got going. I stamped him on bella's BESTEST paper and this time coloured him entirely with the following copic markers, yup NO pencil!

E000, 00, 01, 11 (hand)
E40, 41, 42, 43, 44 (bear)
E11, 13, 17, 09 (paw pads)
E07, 13 (HEARD)
BG10, 11, 13 and colorless blender, shaded with E41, 42, 43 for the background

Next week our challenge is to make a monochromatic card. Now don't stress over it! To me monochromatic means use different shades of one colour family and if you are using DP, keep it in the same shades as well. To me, it doesn't mean colour a blue face! LOL!

That's it for today, later...Linda