Must. Have. Brains.

It's been a little bit quiet around these parts....

At the beginning of February, I started working again after being at stay at home mom for almost seven years. I really love my job at a local shoe boutique because the owner lets me work around being home for my kids, however this has left me very little time to craft and I haven't seemed to have found the balance just yet between work/family and of course hobby ;)

You are wondering where this is all going I'm assuming? Well, because I have been working during the hours that my kids are in school, I no longer have as much spare time to make as many fun things. Sooooo.... after much thought, I have decided that I need to pair back on some of my more recently joined design teams and that means that I will be saying goodbye for now to my friends at Stamping Bella, and goodbye to by friends at Stamper's Dream at the end of the month *sigh...sob*

I really had to think hard on this one and I had to put my family first until I can achieve the balance that I was looking for. As Spring is just around the corner and so are our many family camping trips I think that some extra family time will be very much appreciated from each member of my little family :D I have to admit that the thought of not making cards almost everyday is a little bit scary for me since I have been keeping that pace for quite sometime.

So with all of that said, I don't have much to show you today other than a cute little card that I made for Jessica to send out to one of her wholesalers :D This little grim reaper is from the Hauntingly Delightful set and I don't get to use these fun little images as much as I would like to. I water coloured the grim reaper with my tombows and a water brush and then cut him out and popped him up on my sponged background. I ended up keeping the layout simple and tested my sewing skill's on Corinna's Janome Mini while Angela and I were at her house earlier this month.:)

Thank you for joining the grim reaper and myself today :) I know that with me working that I may not have as many blog posts for you but please be rest assured that I will still be creating lovely things with both my Stamping Bella stamps and Stamper's Dream goodies, just not on a design team rotation but I will post when I can :D You will still be seeing some Stamper's Dream creations from me regularly until the beginning of April and can always see what's new with TSG when you come here :)

Thanks for being understanding and see you all when I can!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Hauntingly Delightful
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Black, Graphic 45, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Bermuda Blue, Navy, Olive, Pear
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Big Shot, MFT Fresh Cut Grass Die-namic, MFT Notebook Edge Die-namic, Sponges, Tombows, Water Brush, Dimentsionals, CTMH Brads, Corner Chomper, Clear Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders

Bellarific Little Miss Thang

Happy Bellarific Friday! I have a sweet little clean and simple card to show you today for our ink what you haven't used challenge. I used the "Is That a Cupcake On Your Head?" stamp and paired it with the "Little Miss Thang" stamp to create a simple little card to add to my rather depleted stash of kids birthday cards. You see, it's generally a given that I will forget that my kids have a birthday party to go to until the very last minute and then I will stay up all night the night before the party to create a card. So with all this said, I'm trying to get a wee bit ahead of the game :D

I kept this one fairly simple because I think that the little diva in the center kind of speaks for herself :) She's a balancing act queen and models her cupcakes instead of eating them :D She was water coloured with tombow markers and blended with a water brush and then I added some shading with a chalk pencil. To create the line around the perimeter or the sentiment, I used a fine line Micro Liner.

So who is ready for next week's challenge? This challenge is inspired by the colour Aquamarine and just perfect for the start of March! As always, don't forget to email Em (emily@stampingbella.com) by Thursday evening if you would like a chance to win some bella bucks :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Little Miss Thang and Is That a Cupcake on Your Head?
Paper: Black, Teal, Water Colour
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Micro Liner, Quickie Glue Pen, Glitter, Chalk Pencil

Blog Hopping with Stamper's Dream

Welcome to this month's edition of the Stamper's Dream blog hop! If you have arrived here from sweet Miss Cindy's blog then you are in the right place, if not, please hop, skip and jump back to Michelle's blog to start your journey with us :)

Today I have two sweet little creations to show you and the first one is the card above. I must say that I adore this JustRite Stampers Birdhouses and Centers set so I have had a lot of fun playing with it! I paired up this stamp with some of this really pretty K&Co paper and die cut the leaves and hand made the ribbon flower to mimic some of the flowers in the stamp itself. The main image was water coloured with tombow markers and if you look really close then you will see that the flower centers have some rhinestone gems in them :)

The second project that I have to share is this cute little birdhouse that I made to coordinate with the card. This is a template that I printed from Nichole Heady's blog and fancied up with the JustRite Stampers You Inspire Me set. I added one of the filigree circles around the opening of the treat box and then embellished it with more rhinestones. I have added some Martha Stewart leaf punchies and some MFT rolled flower die cuts to add a little whimsy to this little goodie box.

Thanks so much for swinging by these parts today and now you are off to visit one of the newest members of the Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Team, Miss Theresa! Have fun and don't forget to leave a little lovin' on your travels :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite Birdhouses and Centers Set from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Espresso, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Plum
Accessories: Sewing Machine Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Dies, Ribbon, Twine, Buttons, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil, Sizzix Leaf Die, May Arts Silk Ribbon, SU Scallop Edge Punch, Rhinestone Gems, Corner Chomper, Sponges, Dimensionals

Bird House Box Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite You Inspire Me set from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Plum, Caramel
Ink: Plum, Chocolate, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Rose, Olive
Accessories: Bird House Template (Nichole Heady), MFT Rolled Flowers Die, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Tombow Mono, Rhinestone Gems, Spellbinders Dies

Good Times Flying By

Welcome back to the last day of the There She Goes release sneak peeks! If you have arrived here from Miss Julie's blog then you are in the right place, if not then please start back at the TSG Blog :D

Today I have two fabulous stamp sets to dazzle you with. The first one up to bat is called Flying By and is a 3X4 stamp set that includes a total of 5 stamps and will sell for $7. I have water coloured the image with tombow markers, sponged the background and have shaded it all with a chalk pencil. I put this card together to follow this month's sketch over at the Iheart2stamp blog for the SFYTT challenge :D

The second set I get to show you is called Good Times and it's a 4X6 stamp set that includes a total of 11 stamps and will sell for $15.

 

I have created a little tag to embellish my carrot treat box with by water colouring the bunny with tombow markers and using some spellbinders dies to create the shape of the tag. The fence was created with some sponged word window punchies and the grass was created with a die cut :)

 

For those of you interested, I found the template over at SCS and there is a link to it in the description below :D If you click on the picture of the box, you will notice that I tried to sponge some creases in the carrot with some rust ink and the greenery at the top of the box was cut with a craft knife and sponged with artichoke ink as well.

Would you like a chance to win the “Flying By” and "Good Times" stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their “Flying By/Good Times” Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own “Flying By” or "Good Times" stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (Feb 26th) during the Release Party Chat.


Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Flying By
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Espresso, Unknown DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Teal, Kiwi, Artichoke, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Top Note Die, Spellbinders Dies, Ribbon, Linen Thread, Button, Tombows, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil, Sponges, Cloud Stencil, Corner Chomper

Thanks for coming by today and now you are off to Miss Megan's blog :D

Carrot Box Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Good Times
Paper: Espresso, Durango, WaterColour
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Rust, Baja, Teal, Kiwi, Olive, Sand
Accessories: Craft Knife, Sponges, Ribbon, Button, Twine, Word Window Punch, Spellbinders Dies, Printable Template, Grass Die, Cloud Stencil, Dimensionals, Quickie Glue Pen, Glitter, Tombows, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil

Mojo179 Thank You

Hi everyone! I finally got a chance to participate in this week's Mojo179 sketch challenge and the layout was just perfect for the set that I had in mind. For the circle around the medallion, I used my You Inspire Me set from Stamper's Dream and also used the coordinating sentiment to balance out the medallion.

I managed to finally break open some old Stampin' Up! hardware that I think that I have had for the last year or so to add some interest to the center panel. I finished off the card with some rhinestone gems and embossed most of my designer papers for added texture.

Thanks for coming by today and don't forget to scroll down the screen to the next post for my TSG sneak peek :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite You Inspire Me Set from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Gina K, K&Co DP, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Dies, Cuttlebug Dies, Rhinestone Gems, SU Hardware, SU Scallop Edge Punch, Corner Chomper, Sponges, Dimensionals

In all the world

Welcome back to the second day of the There She Goes sneak peeks! If you have arrived here from Miss Julie's blog then you are in the right place, if not then please start back at the TSG Blog :D


Today I get to tell you about two new sets, the first being one called In all the World and it's a 3x4" stamp set that includes a total of 7 stamps and will sell for $7.

And the second set that I get to tell you about is the newest "sentimental" set called "Sentimental Birthday". It's a 2x6" stamp set that includes a total of 7 stamps and will sell for $7. In my opinion, you can never have too many birthday sentiments and these ones add a touch of whimsy to your card :)

Would you like a chance to win the “In All the World” or a "Sentimental Birthday" stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their “In All the World/Sentimental Birthday” Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own “In All the World/Sentimental Birthday” stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (Feb 26th) during the Release Party Chat.

Thanks for coming by today and now you are off to the fabulous Megan's blog :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - In all the World
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Black, Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Baja, Teal, Olive, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Square Punches, Button, Twine, Sponges, Tombows, Water Brush, Decorative Scissors, Dimensionals, Brads

Under The Weather

Welcome to day 1 of the There She Goes sneak peek blog hop. If you have arrived here form Miss Julie's blog then you are exactly where you should be, if not then please start back at the TSG blog :)

Today I get the pleasure of introducing you to one of the newest illustrations called "Under The Weather”. It's a 4X8 stamp set that includes a total of 25 stamps and will sell for $18. I water coloured the little girl with tombow markers and a water brush and then used her to create this soft cover altered journal.

Would you like a chance to win the “Under The Weather” stamp set? Here’s what you need to do- go to each of the Trendsetter’s Blogs and leave a comment on their “Under The Weather” Blog Hop Challenge post. After you have finished checking out the eye candy and have left some love, return to the TSG Blog and add your name to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this Blog Hop Challenge post. A winner will be chosen randomly using a random number generator to receive their very own “Under The Weather” stamp set. The winner will be announced Saturday (Feb 26th) during the Release Party Chat.

Thanks for coming by today and now you are off to Melyssa's blog :)

Journal Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Under the Weather
Paper: Black, Water Colour, Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye
Ink: Black, Blue, Olive, Cocoa, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Journal, Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, MFT Cloud Dies, Spellbinders Dies, Brads, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil, Button, Twine, SU Designer Label Punch, Decorative Scissors, Glue Pen, Glitter, Cloud Stencil, Sponges, Dimensionals, Brads

Bellarific Mavis Journal

 

Happy Bellarific Friday everyone! Today's challenge was a sketch brought to you by Ebru and I took it and created a little altered soft covered journal. I used my Mavis has a daisy stamp and water coloured her with tombows, sponged the background with baja ink and then coloured the grass in with prisma pencils and gamsol.

I added some leaf punchies from my Martha Stewart punch and used the rolled flower die from MFT to create the little flower. I popped a pomegranate bella bauble into the center to tie in some of the red from the background and then used some twine from the twinery to finish off the corner adornment :)

Next week's challenge is to ink up what you haven't used! That's right ladies, dust 'em off, get 'em inky and take them for a test run! Pretty easy huh? :) As always don't forget to email Em (emily@stampingbella.com) by Thursday evening if you would like a chance to win some bella bucks :D

Journal Recipe:

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Mavis Has A Daisy
Paper: Pre-made Journal, Espresso, October Afternoon DP, Water Colour, CTMH DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Baja
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Labels Eleven Die, MFT Rolled Flower Die, Corner Chomper, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Twine, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil, Prismas and Gamsol, Brads, Score Tape, Dimensionals, Sponges, Pomegranate Bella Bauble

Rustic Pine Birdhouse

Good morning everyone! Did you get a chance to wake up to birds singing this morning? Me either....must have been a dream! I can tell you though, that I cannot wait to be able to lay in bed and listen to the little harmonies that come from our little birds that hang out under our bedroom window :D

Recently Michelle from Stamper's Dream mailed me the JustRite Birdhouses, Borders and Centers Set  so I sat down to play with it last night and came up with this creation for this month's Sketch For You To Try Challenge over at Jen's Iheart2stamp blog.

This set allowed me to pull out some rustic elements like my last wooden button, some unloved raffia and some lovely earthy colours to pull together something with a lot of charm. All of theses things remind me of one of my favourite places to go - my parents vacation property on Quadra Island. We go camping there and it's so woodsy, with loads of moss and the colour green. Some parts of it come complete with charming little bird houses hanging from nondescript areas as well as some lurking gnomes hidden in the underbrush ;)

Thanks for popping by today to reminisce with me over a sweet little birdhouse and the memories that it brings :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite Birdhouses, Borders and Centers Set from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Black, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Baja, Teal
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Classic Ovals and Deckled Edge Classic Ovals Dies, MFT Notebook Edge Di-namic, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Sponges, Wooden Button, Raffia, Martha Stewart Branch Punch, Brads, Dimensionals

CAS106 - Moonlight Bird

Ever have one of those days where you have a ton of stuff that you need to be working on and then get sidetracked with a fun challenge that just begs to be played with? It happens to me on occasion and the Bella image that I was water colouring got set aside so that I could play along with yesterday's Clean and Simple challenge over at SCS - CAS106. Normally clean and simple cards are very hard for me to create but when I stumbled upon this challenge, the vision of the card that I wanted to make just popped into my head and away I went with it :D

I have had the Branch with Birdie set for quite some time and it sat on my shelf all lonely like and un-inked *horrors*. I pulled it down, dusted it off and attacked it with black versafine ink to create my silhouettes. I added some sponging with various shades of blue for the sky and then sahara sand and saffron for the moon. The card was meant to be simple, so I added some stitching and a bow to finish it off with a tag sentiment from the Billboardabella Words Only set.

Hope you like my card and now I'm off to finish up the image that I was originally working on...guess you will all just have to see that one for my Bellarific Friday post ;) Toodles for now :D

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stamping Bella - Branch With Birdie, Billboardabella Words Only Sentiments
Paper: Black, Water Colour, Soft Sky, Imanginece
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Saffron, Baja, Pacific, Navy, Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Sponges, Button, Ribbon, Rhinestone, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Cuttlebug Tag Die, Linen Thread, Spellbinders Standard Circle Die

TSG94 - Crochet Thoughts

Hi everyone and welcome to this week's TSG Challenge TSG94 - Kraft, Pink and Ivory. This challenge is perfect for Valentine's Day but in my case it's a Thank You card that I chose to make :) I used the brand new There She Goes set called Sentimental Thank You  and combined it with a crochet flower handmade by Miss Danielle Lounds :)

As I mentioned about that the challenge a colour challenge and I picked my rosey shades of pink to match the gorgeous flower from Danielle. I paired them with some more textural items like felt, dry embossing and some more crochet in lace form :)

Want to play along with the Trendsetters? All you need to do to be eligible for the giveaway, is to create a card that utilizes the previously mentioned color combo, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (Feb 21st). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the look out to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

 You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG94 so we can check out your beautiful work!

 Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Sentimental Thank You
Paper: Gina K, Kraft, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, MFT Jumbo Scallop Die-namic, PTI Leaf Die, Pearls, Clear Embossing Powder, Crochet Flower, Button, Linen Thread, Ribbon, Felt, Crochet Lace

Bellarific Circles

Happy Bellarific Friday! This week we are going around the bend and creating Circle cards :) These are always fun to make for something a little bit different. I used the cute Curly Ewe stamp from Stamping Bella to create this sweet circle and I was aiming for Easter-ish but I think that it ended up more like a mocking Valentine ;)

I used up some scraps for this card and combined some old SU paper with some My Mind's Eye polka dots. The Ewe was water coloured with Tombow Markers and a Water brush and shaded with my super fave chalk pencil.

 

So are you ready for next week's challenge? It's a sketch by Ebru and it's perfect for those tall images that you have been itching to use :) Don't forget to email your creation to Emily (emily@stampingbella.com) before Thursday evening to get in to win a chance at some bella bucks! Have fun and thanks for coming by today :D

Card Recipe:
 
Stamps: Stamping Bella - Curly Ewe
Paper: Espresso, Water Colour, Gina K, SU and My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Pink, Rose
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Standard Circle Dies and Lacey Circle Dies, Clear Embossing Powder, Maya Road Heart Pins, Silk Ribbon, Button, Twine, Tombow Markers, Water Brush

Get Well Quilt

Did you all happen to see this week's tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers on Quilt Cards by Jenna Barber? If not then you seriously have to check it out! Long before I started paper crafting, I was a quilter. I got into paper crafting for the instant gratification of my projects, so this kind of card is right up my alley! I seriously squealed when I saw it. I mean, who woulda thunk it? :D

As I was creating my "star of the west" paper quilt block I was thinking of sentiments to add to my card. The "Get well soon" sentiment is from the JustRite Fancy Tags Cling set from Stamper's Dream and worked out perfectly for the card. I know that when I'm feeling sick, I'm usually in bed curled up with a quilt so, I just knew that these two had to be paired together.

Because of the genius idea of the Quilt Card, I can see a set of these babies in the future for me! This is the ideal backdrop for a home spun look and a warm and fuzzy card to feature sentiments of all kinds. Hmmm, the wheels are spinning in my head....

Thank you so much Jenna, for the fabby tutorial! You can bet to be seeing some more of these on my blog :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite Fancy Tags Cling Set from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Gina K, Espresso, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Classic Scallop Squares Dies, Ruler, Craft Knife, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Pins, Button, Linen Thread, SU Decorative Label Punch, Corner Chomper, Dimensionals

Kilo Watt

Happy half-way-through-the-week day! I'm back with this cute little robot called Kilo Watt from Stamping Bella. When I was away last week in Washington State, I managed to get some images coloured up and this little sweetie was one of them. The funny part of me colouring up images in advance is that none of the images that I did fit any of this week's sketch challenges in blog land, nor did I remember to cut a coordinating mat for the oval because I was borrowing someone else's dies. Bad luck on my part, but that just meant that I had to create my own layout and that I got to sit in my chair a little longer to play with some shapes ;)

Kilo Watt was water coloured with my tombows and a water brush and then shaded with a chalk pencil. I water coloured the background and sponged it with some pumpkin ink and then added some tiny dots of glue with a quickie glue pen and finished it off with some warm white glitter.

Just a reminder that this week's Bellarific Challenge is to make a circle card. You all have until Thursday evening to email you purdy pictures to Em (emily@stampingbella.com) to be entered to win some Bella Bucks and to see your card proudly displayed on Bloggabella. Hope to see you there :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Kilo Watt
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Espresso, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pumpkin, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinder's Standard and Scallop Circle Dies, Spellbinders Mega Oval Dies, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Chalk Pencil, Ribbon, Brads, Sponges, Dimensionals, Quickie Glue Pen, Glitter Ritz Warm White Glitter, Corner Chomper, Crystal Effects

TSG93 - 1,2,3 Challenge

Hi everyone! I just got back from my insane weekend with some of the Trendsetters (Jessica Knutsen, Angela Thomas, Corinna McGregor and Danielle Lounds) and I even got to meet the fabulous Sparkle Smith :) Let's just say that I survived the weekend with many new laugh lines! These girls totally rock and Corinna was a phenomenal hostess!

So um....I just had to let you all know how this card came about. Did you know that people from Washington State have some very interesting lawn ornaments? This one is modeled after the TSG Tastes Like Chicken set and you could say that it's in "a room with a view" *giggle*

 

 This is what greeted us as we drove into Corinna's driveway! :D That girl has one heck of a sense of humour :D Bless her heart! LOL 

Ahh, so in between our many giggle sessions I actually did manage to create a card or two and this one just happened to be a thank you to our incredible hostess card using the TSG93 1,2,3 Challenge. It required 3 designer papers, 2 buttons and one sparkly element. My designer papers were from Close to My Heart, the buttons are PTI and the sparkly element is the glitter on the rose.

So how would you all like to play along with us? To be eligible for the TSG giveaway, you are to create a card that utilizes the previous supplies, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (Feb 14th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the look out to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: There She Goes - Tastes Like Chicken
Paper: Gina K, Water Colour, Black, CTMH DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Saffron, Mustard, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, PTI Tag and Leaf Dies, MFT Rolled Rose Dienamic, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Chalk, Glossy Accents, Glitter, PTI Buttons, Corner Chomper, Twine

Bellarific Valentines

Happy Bellarific Friday!  This week's challenge was to use any Stamping Bella stamp and create a Valentine card and I took on the challenge in a rather small form...a lunch box Valentine for my daughter :)

I combined the Little Peep's Heart stamp with the largest of my Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Rectangle dies to create this mini, almost artist trading card sized top fold card. I water coloured the background with some re-inkers, and then used my tombows and water brush for the little girl. I paper pieced the heart with some My Mind's Eye polka dot paper and then sponged it with some rose ink for the shading. To finish it off,  I added a rolled flower and popped a lemonade bella bauble into the center and combined the flower with some Martha Stewart leaf punchies.

Thank for coming by today and for those of you who want to play along in next week's Bellarific Challenge here is your challenge: Circle Shaped Cards. That means any Stamping Bella images, colours and sketches welcome...really anything your heart desires :D Please remember to email Emily (emily@stamingbella.com) your creation by Thursday for a chance to win some bella bucks and for your card to appear over at Bloggabella :D
Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Little Peep's Heart
Paper: Black, Water Colour, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Pink, Rose
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Clear Embossing Powder, Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Rectangle and Classic Rectangle Dies, MFT Die-namics Rolled Flower Die, Lemonade Bella Baubles, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Chalk Pencil, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Stickles

Distressed Daffodils

Hi everyone! As you are reading this I am off to a crop in Washington State with a few of my TSG peeps but I wanted to leave something for you to look at so here it is :) I know that a lot of you are buried deep in the "Snowmagedon" that has hit the eastern part of the States so I thought that I could brighten your day with a little daffodil sunshine :)

I pulled out The Greatest Joy JustRite set from Stamper's Dream and used the daffodils on my distressed card. Not too long ago, I picked up some of this sweet crate paper and was dying to use it and the daffodil fit right in with the bright yellow paper. They were water coloured with tombow markers and a water brush and then shaded with a chalk pencil.

To created the distressed designer papers, I sponged them with some Ranger Distress Vintage Photo ink, ran them through my cuttlebug with various folders and then used a distressing tool to rough up the edges before sewing them to the espresso card stock. If you look closely then you will notice that I did a very poor take of a blanket stitch down one side of the panels too ;) To finish off the card, I dusted off on of my many tins of SU Hodgepodge Hardware in copper to add the photo anchors and ribbon slider to the orange ribbon.

Thanks for coming by and I will see you tomorrow with my Bellarific Friday post :D

Card Recipe:

Stamps: JustRite - The Greatest Joy from Stamper's Dream
Paper: Gina K, Espresso, Water Colour, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper, Bo Bunny
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Baja, Bordering Blue
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Labels Four Dies, Clear Embossing Powder, Hodgepodge Hardware, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Linen Thread, Ribbon, Distress Tool