Ink It Up with Leigh Penner: I Can't Even

The last two weeks are a blur.  My son Ben left for his mission yesterday and I miss him terribly.  Between his preparations and the house basement repair, not to mention plenty of other things, I feel completely depleted.  Drained.  Because Life.  Can I quit being an adult now?  HA!  Life keeps moving on.  In all the crazy, I forgot my Ink It Up post again.  So this stamp set by Stamping Bella immediately came to mind.  It's called the chicks who "couldn't even".  Seriously appropriate, because this is exactly how I feel right now.

Humor is the best medicine, right?  I'm also listening to Christmas music this morning.  Don't judge.  I bought the brand new Straight No Chaser and Gentri Christmas albums.  Music always makes me feel better.  My house feels very empty right now.  I'm counting down the days until my two oldest kids come home for their college break at the holidays.  Usually I wait until after Thanksgiving to listen to my vast Christmas music collection, but not this year.  I need a shot of happy.

I love the adorable chicks in this stamp set.  Who hasn't had days or weeks like this?  I bought it earlier this year and it's been sitting in my unused stash patiently waiting its turn.  Today is it!  It was very therapeutic to color this simple image with my Copic markers.  I mounted the panel on a white scalloped card base.

Simple and to the point.  This card makes me smile.  Inside, I stamped the chick lying flat on its back.  lol  But yes, I can do this.  Just give me a few days!   :)  Hop over to Leigh Penner's blog, To the Full, to see her Ink It Up card.

Stamps:  the chicks who "couldn't even" (Stamping Bella)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink)
Copic:  0, C1, C3, E08, E19, E42, E55, E99, Y11, Y15, Y17, Y26, Y35, YR15, W5
Misc:  Noted: Scalloped A1 die (Papertrey Ink)

Winter Bella

I felt like coloring yesterday so I pulled out this adorable Uptown Girls image by Stamping Bella.  I recently got a few new colors of Copic markers, including these pretty yellows.  It was fun to get them out and play with no predetermined result in mind.

I picked this pretty patterned paper from the Retro Fresh pack by Stampin' Up for my background.  I thought the color and pattern had a wintry feel, which was perfect for this girl.  After coloring, I carefully cut her out and glued a few scrap pieces of cardstock underneath to raise her up just slightly. (mainly to keep her level with her boots, but it also adds a tiny bit of dimension)

I glittered a piece of white cardstock that I cut with the In the Meadow die by Papertrey Ink.  Of course, I realized afterwards that I forgot to shade under the girls' boots.  Oops!  I stamped my sentiment on a white pierced fishtail flag and added a pretty rhinestone brad.  I removed the prongs before sticking it down with a glue dot.

I love how it turned out!  This wintry girl really makes me smile.

Stamps:  Uptown Girl Quinn in Her Boots (Stamping Bella); Fillable Frames #9 (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Retro Fresh dsp (Stampin' Up)
Copic:  0, C1, C3, C5, E00, E30, E42, E55, E57, E59, B91, B95, B97, B99, R20, Y00, Y02, Y06
Misc:  In the Meadow die (Papertrey Ink); Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX die (My Favorite Things); Crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart); crystal brad (Making Memories)

Workshop Tags: Reindeer

This is a cute little tag.  There were two of them originally, but I used one in a package sent to my missionary son. 

I think a die was used for the red piece, but I'm not sure since it was already cut for the workshop.  I stamped the reindeer from Color Me Christmas inside and colored him with markers.  Once home, I decided to add red glitter to his nose.  After all, Rudolph's nose is supposed to glow!  :)

Stamps:  Color Me Christmas, unknown sentiment (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up)
Markers:  Cherry Cobbler, unknown colors (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  natural/old olive two-tone trim (Stampin' Up); unknown die (Stampin' Up); Xmas Red Stickles

Bookwormabella with a touch of bling

This card is for another Love Fest challenge at Splitcoaststampers, this time sponsored by Stamping Bella.  I have several of their cute Bella stamps and have my eye on some of their Uptown Girls as well.  So adorable!  The challenge is to use bling in whatever form you like.  You can find the challenge here.  For my card, I also used Freshly Made Sketches #74.  Such a great, simple layout!  (found here)

As you can see, I used only small amounts of bling so it wouldn't overwhelm the card's simple design.  There is a small pink rhinestone in bookwormabella's hair and three larger rhinestones in the lower right corner.  If you click on the second picture, you will also see that I added glitter to her yellow top.  (one of my favorite ways to add sparkle!)

I cut a white layer with the Top Note die by Stampin' Up and then stamped/colored this adorable bookwormabella image.  I was thinking of my sister the whole time, since she is an avid book reader.  Thus the brunette hair.  I used Copic markers, of course.  Don't you just love the girly pink book she's holding?   :)

I cut a fishtail flag from Soft Stone cardstock and then stamped my sentiment from a My Favorite Things set called Clearly Sentimental About Books.  I even broke out the sewing machine to stitch it on!  I love how it looks, plus it balances the line of pink rhinestones at the bottom.  Inside the card, I stamped another sentiment from the same set.

Now to actually mail this to my sister!   :)

Stamps:  bookwormabella (Stamping Bella); Clearly Sentimental About Books (My Favorite Things)

Paper:  White, Lemon Tart, Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Copic:  0. T1, T4, E000, E00, E30, E55, E57, E59, R20, Y11, Y13, Y15, RV04, RV13, YG13, YG17, B41, B45, B37

Misc:  Top Note die (Stampin' Up); Fishtail Flags Layers STAX die (My Favorite Things); rhinestones (Marcella by K); Crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart)  

Love ya bunches

Here's another Bella card, this time with the second image I pulled out in my search for love-themed stamps. It's nice to finally ink these up!


I used some gorgeous decorative paper from Stampin' Up called Razzleberry Lemonade. (retired, unfortunately). It goes along with my favorite in-colors Stampin' Up has released so far. I didn't actually use my inkpads for this card, but I love the colors and patterns in this paper. I kept the layers simple and then used dies to make a sweet little flower to echo the flowers in the heart wreath.

Stamps: Loveybella (Stamping Bella); Love Ya Bunches (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Razzleberry Lemonade (Stampin' Up)
Copic: E000, E00, E30, E55, E57, E59, T1, T4, R20, R83, R85, Y11, Y13, Y15
Misc: Blossom die, Labels Five die (Spellbinders); pink brad (Stampin' Up)

Sending you a great big hug

Posting those old Valentine cards got me in the mood to dig out all my Valentine sets and images. The rubber sets are in a stack on my desk, but I haven't even touched all the clear sets. This might take a while! I pulled out two Bella images I have and made a card with one of them. It's called Balloonabella and since the balloons are heart-shaped, it fits the theme.


I did minimal coloring with Copics and paper-pieced the rest using decorative paper from Basic Grey. (love their paper!) Then I used strips of the same paper behind the main panel to add more punches of color. The sentiment is from a clear Changito set. That wasn't planned but it fits the space nicely and works perfectly with the cute Bella.

Stamps: Balloonabella (Stamping Bella); Changito Valentines (Stampendous)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Urban Prairie (Basic Grey)
Copic: T1, T4, E000, E00, E30, E55, E57, E49, R20, RV14
Misc: Labels Eighteen dies (Spellbinders), pop-dots

Colorful Halloween

Warning! Crazy Halloween card ahead! The patterns and colors are an eyeful and quite different from my last post. Ahem....I had fun with it as you can plainly see.

I used more digital paper from the same kit as before, and then repeatedly stamped the word BOO behind the witch. She's another Stamping Bella image from my collection. Too bad there's not one dressed up like a skeleton. It would look cute with this paper. Any excuse for a Bella, right? :)

Stamps: Witchybella (Stamping Bella); Spooky Sweets (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: True Black, Harvest Gold (Papertrey Ink); Spooky Treat digital kit (Betty Lynns Design)
Copic: E000, E00, E30, E42, R20, V06, E59, YG11, YG13, Y35, YR12, YR15, YR18
Misc: Labels Ten dies (Spellbinders)

A double helping of Bellas

I sat down yesterday to make a card for this month's SFYTT sketch. Yes, early in the month....I'm just as shocked as you are. ;) The June sponsor is Stamping Bella and I adore their Bella line of stamps. I've been a fan since the very beginning. :) Not an obsessed fan, mind you. I only have 29 of them so far, three of which I was lucky to find at the latest used stamp sale. If I were to be honest, however, I would have all of them if money were no object. The images are too cute! (okay, so maybe I am slightly obsessed...)

I used my Copic markers to color her (love those!) and added just a touch of Stickles to the cupcake. Every cupcake needs sparkle, right? I had someone in mind when I made this card so I went through my inventory book to find the perfect one. It's from a retired Stampin' Up set called Hattitude. I added a strip of paper to dress up the inside a bit. Now I just need to find the address so I can get this card in the mail! (yeah, I know....another shocker)

Stamps: Baykahbella (Stamping Bella); Hattitude (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink); Origins 6x6 dp (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Copic markers: 0, C1, T1, E000, E00, E30, E41, E42, E55, E57, E59, R20, R29, Y21, Y32, Y35, YG25, B91, B95, B97
Misc: ribbon

Here's the sketch I used. I was so glad to see a simple design! I'm still building up my creative confidence and some sketches can overwhelm this poor stamper. :) At least, these sketch challenges are getting me to stamp again!

I have another Bella card to share that I made a couple months ago. I didn't want to post it before my sister got it, but then I took forever to mail it (typical) and then I never got around to putting it on the blog. I don't remember all the details, but I'll give it a shot. :)


Stamps: Huggybella (Stamping Bella)
Paper: New Leaf, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink); Pocket full of Posies Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Punch: Scallop Diamond (EK Success)
Misc: Copic markers, Prima flowers, rhinestone brad