Another candle on your cake?

Well that's no cause to pout!

And that is exactly what Jill is two is doing...she's got a HUGE pout going on. It just makes me smile because my kids (although they are boys) were more like Jill than Toby. I don't recall them EVER throwing themselves on the ground and pitching a fit but they had that pout down to a fine art! Our challenge this week was to use uninked rubber! Well I have SOOO much of it so I decided to not only use rubber that has never seen ink, but to also use an image that has never seen rubber!


Okay...thinking of pouting, I'm gonna digress for a moment so just skip over if you aren't interested. I took the princess Bessie for a walk last night and I went a different route. Well, she decided she wanted to go down one road and I wanted to go down another so she put the brakes on. I stop, look back and she looks down the road she wants to travel and I say NOOOOO we are going this way and give her a little tug. So she sits down, and again looks down the road. I tell her again...NOOOOOOO....so she lays down right on the sidewalk! So there I am trying to reason with A DOG and a woman walking across the street is getting quite a chuckle out of it. Finally, I just decide to pick her up, walk her down the street a bit and then put her down. She was not at all impressed that I won the battle and walked all the way home in a pout! YES....that little dog KNOWS HOW TO POUT! She's a challenge I tell ya....but it is her spunk that I love best about her!

So that is my story of the day and a little peek into the everyday life of Linda (BTW...dead pede count is at 2!....at least the are DEAD!).

My card as ALWAYS, was stamped on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with copic markers. However, a good deal of the shading in her dress and tights were done with pencils and gamsol/OMS. I had a little bit of trouble trying to figure out exactly where the dress folds were supposed to be and finally decided not to obsess over it anymore and just added shading where I felt like it! I know, I know, I'm my own worse critic! No glitter or glaze pen, I kept it simple and that lush doily paper is October Afternoon that I picked up at the bella booth in Kitchener. I paired it up with some BoBunny that I also got at Stamping Bella a while ago but had been hoarding it!. You know, I need to convince myself that paper is like chocolate and should be consumed while it is still fresh!

Now for some serious BABE BIZNESS....next weeks challenge is.....drum roll please....MAY FLOWERS! The flower can be in your image, your paper, an embellishment....whatever! Just make sure there is a FLOWER on your card somewhere....OH, and be sure to use a stamping bella stamp!

Have fun!

There she goes!

She's got her little ladybug backpack on and I'll bet it is empty 'cause she is heading to the Barbie aisle in the local department store!



What do you think? Not that it really matters where she is going 'cause she's a sweetie. This is Bye Bye Girl, a Mo Manning image available in rubber at Stamping Bella. I don't dislike digi, I have quite a seletion of them myself, but there is something about rubber that just makes me happy! She was stamped with Brilliance ink on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with copic markers. On this image I only used pencil for grass and blue shading. Actually I coloured her to match some entirely different papers but didn't like it in the end so went with these, and had I chose these first, I would have coloured her jacket green. Oh well! You probably didn't even notice.

For those who got the heeby jeebies about my giant man eating centipede you'll be glad to know that we had the house fumigated on Monday! When I came home from work I was very concerned that there was NO smell and NO visible residue anywhere so I was worried that the place was not toxic enough. The next day I went on a hunt to find something dead...anything that would assure me that the toxins were working and finally success...a tiny little dead 'pede' in front of the crawl space door.

Just as I think things are getting better I had a trauma at work this morning. You have to realize that I am still a bit on edge and will pretty much jump at anything that moves right now. So I get to work, check my mail, pick up the phone to return a call and see something scurry in the cradle where the handset sits! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was that classic pede beige and moved FAST! I LEAP out of my chair, THROW the phone onto the desk and I do believe I wailed out a 4 letter word. Well, I work in a LARGE office...with pods and partitioned walls and as I'm standing there about to faint I can see all these heads popping up over the partitioned walls wondering WHAT was going on! It looked like the entire IT department was doing the wave! Oh geeze, I think I need counselling! Pod mate Matty-boy came to my rescue and shook the beast out of the phone and in the end it turned out to be a very fast moving spider disguised as a pede!

That was my excitement for today, let's hope that tomorrow is non-eventful!

Quit your whining!

Heard your having another birthday
You could at least pretend to like it

BWAHAHA! That was the sentiment I chose to go along with Toby is Two...a Mo Manning image in rubber available at Stamping Bella. Just wondering here...are you excited about the new Mo rubber images? Personally, if you haven't already guessed...I'm thrilled! I've noticed that I've had a few new subscribers to my little blog this week so if you are here for Mo...I hope not to disappoint you.


As always...I stamped my image on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with copic markers. I used prismacolor pencils and gamsol for the grounding, blue shading around the image, and just a bit of dark umber to add some extra shading on his little overalls. For my recent subscribers, I like to add pencil over my copics to either 1) add another dimension of color, 2) add some depth, or 3) to add some highlights. It is also very effective to create a large area of shading over multiple colors of copics. In this image, I used only copics for the stripes in his overalls, but used a pencil to create the shading over the stripes. It is much easier and quicker than trying to shade each stripe individually and have it look consistent.

Finally, on a personal note, my friend Mary is a member of Soldiers' Angels and has some incredible blog candy to give away....all you have to do to help her out is send her a handmade card which will be sent to a soldier or one of their family members. If you want to learn more, you can read all about it here.

And don't forget, our challenge over at Stamping Bella this week is to use a bella stamp that has never been inked before...hmmmm....i have SO MANY...will I use something old, or something new? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Fuschias for Mother's Day

Good morning everyone! Did you find time to play along in our Mother's Day card challenge. Last weeks gallery over on Emily's blog was AMAZING and I can't wait to see what you all came up with this week.


I chose Fuschias for Lulu for my Mothers Day card because my mom ALWAYS has a hanging basket overflowing with them on her front porch during the summer months. I have tried, but alas, I'm just not disciplined enough to water them three times a day in the hot days of summer and they always end up drying out and then they are dead by July.

Speaking of dead...I have to tell ya why I'm a little late posting today. You see I was gonna write it this morning and sat down at my desk to get started. Bessie girl...four-legged fur baby wanted to go outside so I got up and let her out....WELL...heading back to my chair I noticed a GIANT FREAKING CENTIPEDE under my desk!!!!!!!!! OMG....had I continued to sit there it might have decided to crawl up on me! I can barely even type about it cause I'm still SO FREAKED! Mark came to the rescue and THANKFULLY it is DEAD! blllllaaagh....i just gave myself the willies! Mark PROMISED that he will call the pest control people today and deal with the situation. You see, this is the SECOND siting this week of pedes taking over my house. One a year, I can almost handle...two in a week...and i'm packing my bags!

That's it for today! (oooh...i did manage to make another paper doll card though...will post later!) Our challenge next week will be NO challenge for me! Go thru you bella binders, or bag of new rubber and pull out something that has NEVER SEEN INK! If you are like me this is NOT gonna be difficult.

Can't win 'em all!

I coloured this card up on the weekend...and I thought I looked a little bla...so i decided that I would 'decorate' it with my liquid applique. Well, I messed it up. Then I tried to cover it up and in my own personal opinion, I made a bigger mess. Thank goodness I photographed at this point because the next day I thought I'd try to puff the applique with my heat gun! I figured it might look like fluffy icing....NOT...it looked worse!


Oh well....can't win 'em all! (thank goodness I have my paper dolls to play with!)

Before I messed this up, I stamped Lulu's Birthday cake on bella's bestest paper and coloured it with copics. (ya...should have just stopped there!) I think I'm gonna have to tackle this one again soon because I love the image and Mom will be needing a lot of b'day cards soon.

Speaking of Mom's...don't forget our theme this week over at Blogabella is Mother's Day....you still have time to get your submission to Emily by tomorrow for a chance to win some of those golden bella bucks!

Finally, a little scrappy announcement. Did you know I was a scrapbooker before I started making cards? I still LOVE scrapbooking but sadly, I just don't have time to do it with the day job, the colouring, and now the paper dolls! LOL! But I still love to stalk scrapbooking blogs from time to time. Now I have one more to stalk because the uber talented Denabella (yes THE Dena who loving packs all our bella goodness) has started her own little blog...it is called a little scrap of time and I'll be visiting often.

'till next time! Linda.

Tabitha the Teacup Girl

Is she a stunner or what! Those little Greenbean Baby teacup girls just make my heart melt and little Tabitha is no exception. Actually, I think she is my fav so far. And I love the smooth sleek 'do' on this one!


As always, she was stamped on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with copic markers. Some pencil was used to shade the cup and to create the shading and grounding around the image. I stamped the teacup a second time and coloured it to pop it out on the final image. I LOVE the dimension! The little bow in her hair was also popped up. To finish it off I added some liquid applique to the 'stars' on the cup and black glaze pen to her eyes and a glass pearl to her bow. She is a cutie, that's for sure!

Were you at Scrapfest on the weekend? I had soooooooooooo much fun meeting and greeting other bloggers and peeps who dropped in to say hi, or that they read my blog...and CraftyCath who introduced herself...thank you! I love to meet those mystery people who ALWAYS leave the sweetest comments!

AND...I came home sooooooo broke! In an impulse (yes I have an issue with that) I purchased a Lifestyle crafts Letterpress. It will be shipped and I cannot wait to start playing with it. I have read mixed reviews on it, but I always figure if at least half the people can get it working, and the other half can't...that 'other half' must be doing something wrong....and i'm not the type of person who allows myself to be beaten by a craft tool so I have faith! Besides, that 'other' half might be wanting to print hundreds of invitations or something and come on...it IS just a craft tool and likely not meant to stand up to hard repeated use. The other thing that intriques me is that I have found a couple places on the net that will make custom plates! NOW, if only I could find time to learn how to make them that could be really fun! ...drat that day job! ...i don't think I've said it recently so it was due time.

My other really FUN purchase (besides all the bella rubber I came home with) was the Quickutz paper doll and accessory set. I almost FAINTED when I saw the cards on display. These are just FUN... plain old FUN!...like project runway on paper and makes you feel like a kid playing with those sticker books, or paper dolls and turning them into something useful.


These are the couple I put together yesterday while I was playing around with it. OMG...I want to make a MILLION OF THEM cause there are so many more accessories in the kits that I didn't use and want to, but I again, I have soooooooooo much paper and sooooooooooo little time! DRAT that day job!

Tonight I'll be working on my submission for Bellarific Friday...remember Mother's Day is our theme and with such a FANTASTIC release now is the time to try and get lucky with some extra bella bucks in your account. Make a card AND leave a comment and might get lucky and win twice!

Anything Goes!

And when you have the most PHENOMOLISHOUS selection to choose from ANYTHING would have been spectacular!

Have you seen it yet? The April Stamping Bella release...could you DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I could DIE! Not only are there BEEEEutiful mo's, there are bella's...have you seen Jodibella's execubella! I think she looks like me at work!....except i am NOT an exec...and my desk is NOT that clean!..so why do i think it's me????? who knows! Maybe because it is because I wanna look that HOT behind my desk! LOL!

Okie dokie...on to the card...do you LOVE IT? Did you get my hint? Mom will love it because obviously after needing a wedding shower card, she is gonna most definitely need a wedding card AND it is a cake, so it's yummy! This little gem is Lulu's Wedding Cake. My cake was coloured with copic markers and I used a dark brown marker to accent the lines to look like chocolate! Then I added clear glaze pen over those brown lines to look like glistening chocolate...THEN...liquid applique on all the little dots of 'pearls'. It is totally elegant, but still fun for a young couple starting their lives together.

Actually, I brought it to work yesterday and my young pod mate Matt said WOW, I would love to get a card like that for my wedding....so I punched him in the arm and said..."I DID MAKE YOU A CARD FOR YOUR WEDDING....DON'T YOU REMEMBER!"...hmph...guys!, I'm sure his wife Tanya remembers! Then he dug himself into a deeper hole and said ...Tanya has all our wedding cards stored away in a box, I told her to throw them out....after I punched him in the other arm I told him that I have been married for 22 years and STILL have all my wedding cards! Again...hmph.....guys!

I can only hope that Lindsey (the eventual recipient of this card) will NOT throw it away and in 22 years she will pull out that shoe box and be reminded of the most memorable day of her life!

Now...next week's challenge is Mother's Day! Make a card for your mom, or for any mom for that matter....let's celebrate the Mom's we all know and love!

Giant Stack of Fancy Prezzies!

Are you ready for more Stamping Bella goodness? Well I am BUSTING to show ya!


These are Prezzies for Lulu and WOWZER, they ARE FANCY and I LOVE them! I coloured this one up on Saturday night while I was skyping with Paula. I held it up to show her to ask what color she thought I could use...she suggested purples and blues, which would also be a GORJUS combo but I had this older piece of My Minds Eye paper in front of me and decided to go with the green and yellow green combo. As always, it was stamped on Bella's Bestest paper coloured with copic markers but I used a dark pencil to get the shading in there.

I wish you all could see this up close and personal because it glows with glitter and clear glaze pen, not to mention the glittered paper. But wait...I'll have it with me this Saturday at Scrapfest so you CAN see it up close if you stop by the Stamping Bella booth and say hi because Paula and I will be running the show at the make and take table! So fun!!!!!!!!

As with any new release I am saving my fav for last. I'll give you a hint...I am pretty sure my mom is gonna be needing this card and it is yummy!

Remember, there is still time to play along in this week's Anything Goes (as long as it is Bella!) Challenge over at Bloggabella and believe you me...from the little I've seen of this release you are gonna want any extra bucks you can get your hands on!