Blog Candy!!!

Not from me though...

Check out this awesome blog candy from Carri D - Wouldn't it be so much fun to play with?

Bella and Stella!

I spent a little bit of time today making some cards. I'm all finished with swaps for the year, so I sat down to stamp and make cards just for the heck of it. It was nice! I certainly enjoy swapping, but it was nice to be able to just sit and do whatever -- and not have any due dates looming overhead.

Here's what I came up with:

Here's a card I made for a swap on Card Cafe. The theme of the swap was Cocktail Time. I went looking for the entire collection of the Creative Imaginations line, but this martini paper was all I could find. I bought it, but wasn't really thrilled about it. Then, after I got home, I was going through my box of stamped images and found Stella With an Olive on Top (by the way, thanks for the images, Cindy!). Then, I realized that the sentiment I planned to use had an olive above the "cheers" - I couldn't believe how well it was all coming together. I guess it wasn't so bad that I couldn't find anything other than the martini paper afterall!

Supplies Used:

Wreathabella Card

Stamp: Wreathabella (from Stamping Bella)

Patterned Paper: Deja Views (Flurries & Frost Collection)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up

Markers: Bic, Prisma

Additional Supplies: Chestnut Roan Color Box Chalk, Crystal Stickles

Stella Card

Stamp: Stella With an Olive on Top, Studio G (sentiment)

Patterned Paper: Creative Imaginations

Cardstock: Bazzill, Stampin' Up

Markers: Bic, Prisma

Additional Supplies: Brads, Red embossing powder, Glaze pens

Another Card

I found another card to share! I made this card for the Tri-fold Swap on Card Cafe. You can find a tutorial for these cards here. I really had fun making these cards - it's nice to do things a little different sometimes, huh?


Here's the outside of the card:

And here it is opened up:



















I used my Creative Memories Custom Cutting System to cut out the circles, including the "frame" on the front of the card. The frame was actually just regular Stampin' Up cardstock. I thought it needed something, so I pressed my VersaMark pad on it, sprinkled some Hologram Highlights embossing powder on top, then heat set it. I liked what it did to the outside of the card... Just gave it a little "pop" I thought. I also added some Stickles to the bird's wing and tail feathers.


I bet you thought I only stamped with Bellas, huh? ;-)



Supplies Used:
Stamp: Autumn Leaves
Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants - Sublime from the Kewl Papers Line
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!
Markers: Bic
Additional Supplies: Ribbon (probably Offray), Crystal Stickles, Hologram Highlights embossing powder (Stampin' Up!) OH! and the little slot punch from Stampin' Up! too - the little half circle one.

I'm B-A-D!

I am a bad, bad blogger! I've been making cards like crazy, but haven't been sharing them here. I have a couple cards I can share, and I've got more to post as soon as a swap is over...


Here is a Lattebella card I made for one of the 2 for 2 swaps on Card Cafe:
























Stamp: Lattebella by Stamping Bella
Patterned paper: My Mind's eye
Cream cardstock: Stampin' Up!
Brown cardstock: Bazzill
Brads: Making Memories - Copper
Markers: Stampin' Up! and Bic



Here's another card I made. This one is for a Masculine themed card swap on Idaho Scrappers:



















Image Stamp: Docafella by Stamping Bella
Sentiment Stamp: Stampin' Up (I'll have to look to see which set it's from...)
Patterned Paper: Chatterbox
Cardstock: Bazzill (both Navy and Brown)
Brads: Making Memories - Copper
Markers: Stampin' Up! and Bic
Inks: White Signo Gel Pen


That's it for right now, but I'll definitely share more again soon! Hold me to it, okay? : D

My Bella Organization Project...

I don't know about you, but there are times when I want (or need) to stamp some images but I can't quite remember where abouts in my Bella container a certain stamp is located. When I started buying the Bellas, I decided I'd "track" them with a number on the back of the little baggies they come in. Then, when I bought my first Fella stamp, I decided to do the same with them starting at one... Same with my Fella with His Bella stamps... I didn't really have a reason for doing it at the time, but it's been nice for those few times when I don't put a stamp back right away and it ends up hiding somewhere else... The stamps don't stay "lost" for too long after I figure out what it is I'm looking for! ;-)

About 4 or 5 months ago, I decided to buy one of the 7 Gypsies ATC spinners. I really had no clue what I wanted to use it for, but a month or two ago it hit me! I decided to use it for my Bellas! I decided to make an ATC for every single Bella I own. Then, I decided to take it further and put the ATC's on the spinner in alphabetical order. It didn't stop there, though... I then decided I'd put a little tag on the back of each card with the name of the stamp, the number it was in my Bella container -- and what size paper it's best to stamp images on to! (Yes, I'm a little sick in the head, but I thought it'd be a nice reference when I let friends stamp images.)


Anyway, I thought I'd share pics of my project here, so here they are:





Here is the spinner - I figured that, since my stamps are stored by Bella, Fella, etc, I'd put the ATC's on the spinner that way too.























Let's say I want to stamp some images of Snowbunnybella. I'd just flip through my spinner and find her...

...I'd see that Snowbunnybella is #17 in my Bella container.




























So, I'd pull out my Bella container...



























and flip to #17 to find said stamp!




























I'm hoping this will help me out when I want to stamp lots of images at once. Flipping through the container seems harmless enough, but trying to remember which stamps I bought a particular stamp with can be kind of tough - especially when I'm trying to do it quickly!

Let me know what you think of my system!

I'm Here! I'm Here!

Holy cow! Has it really been a month since I shared last?!?! Where has the time gone?

I've been making cards - I've just been horrible about getting them put up on the blog... I should try to be better about taking a pic right away and putting it up... I'll try that out! Anyway, here are some cards I've made in the last couple of weeks.








Halobella - She went out to a friend who was in between jobs. I just wanted to let her know that I was thinking of her and that "someone" was looking out for her. I was so happy she liked the card - and even happier to hear that she found a new job!
















Golfafella - Just a quick "man" card. I made this for my FIL for his birthday. Actually I made two of them and think I might try to give the second card to my DH for his birthday... It's almost two weeks away, so maybe he won't notice if he and his dad got the same birthday card? Okay, okay... I'll try to make a "fresh" card for him - just to make him feel special! ;-)















Teeoffabella - I made this card for a lady I was sending images to. I hope she likes it! I decided to leave the card fairly "blank" so that she could re-use it if she wanted to, and make it her own. I thought she might like to add a sentiment or something to the front...













I-wish-I-looked-so-good-on-a-bike-abella - I made two of these cards just because I wanted to. I had stamped some images for some friends and made it a point to stamp a few extras so I could play a little. She was pretty fun to color, and I just love her little pooch in the basket. Almost makes me want a little lap dog... almost...









Globetrottabella - I made two of these cards for a couple friends. I was going to put "You mean the world to me" but didn't - in case they want to re-use the cards for something else. I almost never write inside my cards anymore. I write on a post-it note and stick it inside the cards. This way, the recipients do get a note from me, but can pass the cards along if they choose to do so. Oh, and I used a sketch I found over on Courtney's blog for these cards. I saw it, liked it, and wanted to try it.


Again, all the patterned paper I used for these cards came out of my scrap-paper tote. It definitely feels good to be using it up instead of just adding to the pile, but I have to wonder if, at this rate, I'll ever need to go shopping for pretty papers again. ;-)

Yogabella and Ohsoprettybella

I decided to sit down and make some cards Saturday night - DH was working (I really hate night shifts!), my oldest kiddo was gone, middle kiddo was sleeping (she was worn out from a sleepover the night before) so it was just the little monkey and me. He decided he wanted to watch movies, so as I "watched" with him, I chatted with some friends online and made cards.

I hadn't used Yogabella to make a card yet - I had only used her to stamp images for friends and for an image swap on the Bella group. I had fun coloring this one - it was pretty easy! Sometimes it's nice having a not-so-detailed image, huh? Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Next, I decided to ink up Ohsoprettybella - another one I'd stamped images of for friends, but hadn't taken the time to make a card with. I actually saw this card over on Splitcoaststampers and couldn't help but CASE it. Here's my take:

I shopped in my scrap tote for the patterned papers before I colored the images - all the patterned paper I used came from that tote! I'm really loving using up my scraps lately! The cardstock all had to be cut from full sheets, with the exception of the blue on the Yogabella card... that was from my scraps too.

I made two of each of these cards - have plans for both the Yogabella ones, but the Ohsoprettybella ones will go in with the rest of my stash o' Bella cards for now. I also made 2 more cards, but I can't share it until after they've been mailed out.

Thanks for looking - hope you like the cards!