I'm BAAACK!!

What a nice little break from blogging, which has given me plenty of time to stock up on blog postings:) I had a hard time picking a favorite today so I had Gracie pick one out! Funny how she picked out the "Cosmo"bella...lol If the base of the card looks familiar, its back several posts with PTI strawberries on it! I had made up several of these months ago, with the intention of stocking up on thank-you cards, but never got around to it! I was thumbing thru all the pre-made cards I have folded and thought this went perfect with my bella. The set up is pretty simple, but it was a little difficult sewing around the edges this time. I made a little boo-boo in the upper left hand corner, but hey, it gives it "character" right?? Thats what I love about homemade cards...each is ONE of a kind:) I also thought the image looked a little plain, so I just traced it with my cool grey copic marker and it really makers her stand-out! I thought I'd try to get pretty close with the copic marker again, even after using Stazon ink(mind you the image was watercolored before I left and has been sitting for almost two weeks), and I still had no bleeding with the alcohol ink. Sooo, I'm assuming its just how it dries that prevents bleeding?? Copics are definitely a learning curve I'm not quite ready for as I'm only using my grey marker...lol

Fun Origami Boxes:)

Just a quick post on Turkey Day! I hope everyone is enjoying a nice Thanksgiving with their loved ones. And of course, always GIVE THANKS to our servicemembers who are away this holiday season...THANK YOU!

These boxes are very simple to make and you can get a wonderful video tutorial from Kwerner Designs(link is in previous post). You can put just about anything inside as I used these for my DD's preschool teachers and filled them with chex-mix. I have seen some really neat boxes made of vellum as well, although not as strong, they are very elegant.

Holiday Planners & Hittin' the Road:)

Holiday planners are a nice and conveient way to keep everything in one spot! I made one of these last year at a stamp camp, but with 2 sheets of 12x12 paper, which was too thin and the folds just didn't work well. I was much happier with these Pendaflex files. These are just the regular size files you use for you metal file cabniets. I'm thinking I got the luck of the draw and the whole package I bought had crooked cuts on the folders, but no fretting, I just trimmed them up on my paper trimmer and began folding:) I used all Basic Grey Fruitcake paper, with the exception of the Green Christmas tree pattern which is from AC Moore. I also used a Bazzill Cranberry and Olive for background matting. To add a little "aged" look to the folder, I just went around with my Color Box Topaz pad and rubbed around all the edges. Gives it a nice vintage look:) I have attached links(they will be highlighted in blue) for easy to follow instructions:) You can also click on any photo for a larger view:)
I took this photo just so you can see comparison size from both patterns. The larger one is a WHOLE folder, where as the smaller one is only half of the folder. Since these do have ribbon and embellishments they are probably not too practical to toss in and out of your purse, however, I just keep mine in a plastic sleeve and then you have no worries about ruining the pretty front:)This larger template came with instrucitons courtesy of Taylor VanBruggen
When sewing around corners, TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE PEDDLE! Now, I'm NOT yelling, its pure warning as I have learned this several times. I used to think when sewing on curves, if you just sew faster and "whip" it around the corners your good to go...DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME...lol I took my foot off the peddle and used the good ol' hand knob on the side to finish the corners. I also only sewed the 2 layers together, it is not sewn on to the folder itself.

I uploaded this template from Kwernerdesigns. If you haven't had a chance to visit her blog...YOU SHOULD!! She has some excellent video tutorials...try the easy-peasy Oragami Box, no taping, no gluing:)

We are heading out shortly for our Thanksgiving vacation...a long drive to GA, two kids, a dog, and don't forget the fish! Should be fun:) I'm looking forward to visiting my sister and her family, and enjoying peace of mind from this crazy city we live in!! I do have things to post, but I'm not making any promises that I will post during vacation...depends on if I can get out of all the crafting stores while I'm there...lol Happy Turkey Day to you all:))

Cupcakes anyone???

My girls and I made 2 dozen cupcakes for Daddy's birthday today so this post is very fitting! My dear friend sent me this cupcake paper and I was waiting for the right time to use it! The cupcakes are rather large and I didn't want to cover up too much of them so I grabbed my Karen Lockhart cupcake stamp and went to work. The cupcake image is colored with color pencils and SU! re-inkers. I covered the cupcake platter in silver gel pen then overcoated with my Stardust gel pen...very sparkly! I traced the image with my soft grey copic marker and added some Amuse Twinkle stickles to the tops. The ribbon is from May Arts and PP is Heidi Grace.

I haven't had too much trouble with these copic markers bleeding, even though I'm using Black Stazon ink. I have found that if your not tracing an outline DIRECTLY on the ink, then no bleeding occurs...just pull your marker brush tip out a little bit and VOILA!

SFYTT...Jen del Muro

So when you jump into this "blogging" adventure you find so many wonderful & talented papercrafters out there and Jen del Muro has not only incredible talent, but some fun sketches to play along with! Plus, HELLO, there is BOOMER SOONER blood in her family...couldn't be a BAD thing right??...lol Anyhoo, back to the card! I've been on this black & red kick lately and had some great cut out hearts to use up. I started with SU! black card base and sewed on the on the patterned paper(Me & My Big Ideas), which is cut in three even pieces. I then tied on the red ribbon(AC Moore) and added the heart and focal image. The heart was more of a primitive red color and I needed it to match the bright red ribbon...so after searching my embellisment bins, the Christmas Red Stickles were staring right at me! PERFECT! I did put it on really thick so it did have to dry overnight. The focal image is SU! Label Frames oval stamp. The "love" is SU! whimsical alpha and I had to squeeze all the letters in by just guessing where it was going to land...should get a stamp-a-ma-jig eh?? I also added more bling around the frame with Diamond stickles...this card really SPARKLES, although its hard to grasp from the photo!

Little tip: When making cards & using dark cs, simply cut a liner inside and adhere! I use thin computer paper so it doesn't add any more bulk to the card. This makes it easier for the recipient to read your ink and not everyone carries a white gel pen for dark paper:)

BIG NEWS!!!! LONG POST....lol!

I've been so excited to share this ALL week and I got the "green light!" I'm thrilled to be on my first ever Design Team and this group is filled with many talented women. You will soon be seeing some of my work featured at:

GLUE-Art & Paper Studio


Design Team: I don't have all their webpages, but can't wait to see their work!

Suzy Haghighi
Susan Liles
Becky Swaiden
Dawn Chau
Taylor VanBruggen
Kris Hankins

A little footnote on this new venture:) I started this blog not only as a creative outlet, but just a little place where I could showcase my work. I have been crafty since I was little(remember puffy paint??...lol) and love to create new things. My family and close friends know how much I enjoy this and although it may sound corny, this truly is a dream come true for me:) Even after going to school and getting certified in something waaay off base from papercrafting, this truly is my passion and I love to share it! I also just wanted to add in a Thank You to a fellow blogger with FANTABULOUS work, Sharon Harnist, she is an incredible artist and was gracious enough to put up a PUB call on her blog! You've got to see her work!These are some fun notebooks I did on request for holiday Teacher Gifts. These notebooks can be purchased at any office supply store and are really easy to alter. Just uncoil, add paper, embellishments, wrap, and you have a nice gift to give. I made about a dozen of these and put them together in an assembly line. This is much easier than putting each one together individually, which really helps out when you have to start and stop:) They are pretty straight forward on design, I just added a little sewing for a more depth. Last of the Bella Week! I made two separate cards because I made a mistake on this one! Can ya find it?!!! Well, its on the bottom...see those silly "ticket" punch corners?? I thought I had my "corner" rounder in hand and went to town! So you can't just have one corner and try to fix it, so I just did up all of them...lol I was about to start over and do a new card, but I like my "imperfections" just the way they are:)
This was the original Bella card I started off with, but I thought the off white watercoloring paper looked funny with the BRIGHT white of the card base. And then it looked like it was missing some ribbon(hence the previous photo), so I made up the two cards and I like the variations!

WHEW!!! This is the longest post EVER!!! I just had lots to share and I usually do my projects a few weeks ahead and then have it planned out when I want to post...so thats why alot is crammed into today! If you've read this far...your money is on its way...lol

Sweet Pea Swap....

These "Sweet Pea" ATC's are for a swap that I joined in with Taylor VanBruggen and they are also the first time I've taken a stab at them(I can see how they are ADDICTING!!). They are like little baseball cards you can refer to for inspiration. I actually turned these into a few cards after I made them up! They are very simple, quick, and easy. I used PTI Green Thumb set and matted the Sweet Pea on a Cirlce Nesitbility Die & Scalloped Die. These are totally cool because you can use them as a stencil as well! I kept the cut circle inside the Nestibility Die and rubbed my chalk ink over the middle circle. Once you remove the steel die it leaves a nice clean, white border around the edge! I also pulled out my sewing machine again:) Lovin' it!!! The ribbon is from May Arts and a recent share from Jody! Lastly, I added some twinkle stickers for bling and Crystal Effects over the little pink peas:)

Rub-A-Dub...

She sure looks comfy in that nice warm bubble bath...awwwww! These Bella stamps have become a favorite in my house and I generally buy them based on some part of my life...here I wish I had MORE time to take a relaxing bath, especially with two little ones tugging on me all day:) After I did this card, I realize I went overboard on the stitching, real AND faux...lol I see waaay too many lines when I look at it now! Anyhoo, she's still cute and I had fun with it! I started with a SU! Pixie Pink card base and matted some Prima paper. The prima paper is double sided, so I used the backside for the bottom half of the card. The Bella is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with SU! re-inkers and watercolor pencils. I used my new Grey Copic maker to add an outline to the Bella image and it really makes it "pop". I added some Diamond Stickles to the bath water and she really SPARKLES! I tucked some sage ribbon from Mike's around the middle and added Prima's with Amuse Twinkle Stickers. The sentiment on the bottom is done with my small and large Karen Foster Snap Stamps. I created the scalloped edge on the bottom with my SU! corner rounder...just take off the guide and VOILA!

This was the first card I tried out my new Copic markers on. I only purchased a soft grey and a skintone peach color, but I'm not too sure I like them. I dislike the fact that now I have to buy yet ANOTHER stamp pad to coincide with these inks. Using stazon ink and copics makes the black ink bleed out, although I learned if you don't get right on top of the image your ok?? Because these are alcohol based, they also have a very strong smell when working with them. As if I don't inhale enough of my Tim Holtz stamp cleaner...which also has a very "toxic" like smell, even though it says its "bubble-gum" flavor...lol Soooo, I'm not sure that I will purchase anymore of these markers...unless I'm able to take a class on them!

A Cool Discovery AND BIG NEWS!!!

I'm finally breaking open my PTI Holiday Treats set and discovered they are NOT JUST for using on the chocolate nuggets! I knew as soon as I saw this set that I was going to play with SU! Alpha Dots to see if it would fit inside...A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!!!! They fit perfectly!!! Just make sure when using the Alpha Dots that you get down low when stamping...I really hate when it goes outside the line...lol I tried my best to line up the 3 label stamps, stamped the Alpha dots, and added Crystal Effects to act as "page bubbles". It did the perfect trick:) I also added some Amuse Twinkle Stickers for a little bling:)

Stay tuned for tomorrow...another Bella card:)

BIG NEWS ALERT!!!! Oh, wait, I can't share it yet, but ITS COMING! I'm on pins and needles!!!! This is such a wonderful oppurtunity and I'm very excited about my new venture...stay tuned:)

New Bella Card and Mingmei Munchies Winner....

Angel Wilde:

I have to agree with Linda, I am probably most like jammybella. As soon as I feel it's kosher enough, I am in my jammies for the night! I don't own a single bella. I've played with the images of others though and would love to have a few more to play with!!! they are so fun!!!
November 3, 2007 12:05 PM

Thanks to everyone who left a comment:) I loved all the responses...lots of PMS bellas out there too eh??...lol Angel please send me your snail address @ madscrapper24@yahoo.com and I will get your goodies out ASAP:)

Here is my first card to kick off Bella Week on my blog. As soon as I saw this Karen Lockart, "Gardener's know the best dirt" sentiment stamp(Ellen Hutson), I knew she'd fit perfect with Veggiebella. Veggie reminds me alot of Brea Van De Kamp, just missing a basket of fresh bisquits...lol I started off by watercoloring Bella with my watercolor pencils and SU! re-inkers. This SU! watercoloring paper is heavy weight and works well for folks like myself who have no idea what they are doing! I tend to get too much water on the paper then have to go back and add color...and repeat the steps several times before I get it right! After I colored her in, I went over the whole image with my Stardust glitter pen and she's really sparkly! I matted my Bella on SU! Ballet Blue and Certainly Celery and then sewed her on! The PP is from K&CO(Addison line) and I matted again(same colors) and sewed(see a new trend here??) her on as well! For the sentiment I cut my PP just right to give the effect of a "picket fence", added the sentiment, prima's, and an adhesive pearl(Ellen Hutson) which I added Diamond Stickles to for added sparkle. The photo is a little dark, even after doing some photoshop, but you can click on it for a better view:)

I'm having oodles of fun sewing my cards this week. I generally reserve my sewing machine for fabric ONLY, but caved in to try it on CS. I've read several reviews about sewing on cards and getting the needle all sticky with tape etc. My solution for this problem: just put your tape in the center of your CS and not on the edges:) I learned after the first run thru that there had to be an easier way...PRESTO!

"Mingmei Munchies"...

And who doesn't love FREE BELLA'S???? I can't part with my pretty Bella stamps but I can share them:) I have another "theme" week coming up with all Bella's and thought it'd be a good way to celebrate the weekend. As you can also see I changed the name of my "blog candy" to something fun and this is for my oldest daughter who loooooves the book, "Monster Munchies!" We must read this book at least 10 times a week, she's even reading it back to me now! Soooo, all you have to do is leave a comment here and tell me what Bella best describes you???!!!! I have to say for me its probably the Veggiebella because we all have a little "Brea Van De Kamp" in all of us....teehee! I will draw a winner on Monday morning!
I made this cute coordinating envelope with several of my favorite Bella images. They are all stamped in Black Stazon on PTI select cs. This cs is a heavy weight so its also ideal for watercoloring:) Images include: Veggiebella, Bubblebella, Cosmobella, Beachabella, Blingabella, Cakeabella.

The best part about this envelope is you can keep the Bella's for yourself and recycle the envelope for a gift card or a new hand-made card. I made the slot large enough to accomodate a standard size A2 card. This is also my first time EVER to sew on a card...I kept a nice simple line around the PP...lots o' fun! I just love these colors together and that ribbon is super yummy!! Thanks Jody!!