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

Kiss a froggie

Here's a quick card for the May SFYTT sketch challenge. I used a fun set I picked up at a used stamp sale earlier this month. Love those! Actually, at least half of my stamp collection are previously owned. :) It's a great way to diversify my stamps without spending too much. Of course, my DH might say my collection is diverse enough! lol But honey, my sister-in-law likes frogs and the set has a cute castle and lips and a crown..... ;)

Thankfully the sketch was pretty straightforward, since I did this card in a bit of a hurry. I would do a couple things different if I were to redo the card, but it's still perfectly fine the way it is. Not every card has to be a masterpiece! :)

Stamps: Princess (Close to My Heart)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink); Sultry 6x6 dp pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Copic markers: 0, C1, Y21, YG23, YG25
Misc: Standard Circles (Spellbinders Nestabilities); ribbon

Love Owl-ways

Today's card is based on the MFT sketch from last week. My dad collects owls so I chose to use the cute image from Owls & Bluebells and a sentiment from An Owl for All Seasons, both of which were illustrated by Stephanie Fizer. Now I actually have one Father's Day card done an entire month early!

Last Saturday was (inter)National Scrapbooking Day and it's quite a big deal online, especially in the digital scrapbooking community. I admit to having a teensy addiction to saving digital freebies, especially cute paper designs, and I had printed out this particular paper ages ago to use in a card for my dad. The hoopla surrounding iNSD reminded me that I hadn't used it yet! lol It wasn't easy to find colored cardstock on hand that looked good with it, so I ended up choosing grays.

For the heart embellishment, I crumbled it up to distress it and pressed it on my inkpad to add texture. Then I added some color with my copic markers to bring out the color of the patterned paper and the flowers in the main image.

Stamps: Owls & Bluebells, An Owl for All Seasons (My Favorite Things); Linen (Stampin' Up); wood? (All Night Media)
Paper: Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Going Gray (Stampin' Up); digital owl DP (Grandma's Owl by Giggly Polkadots)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Going Gray (Stampin' Up)
Copic markers: 0, C1, T1, E57, E59, Y32, Y35, Y38, YR15, YR18, V95, V99, YG13, YG17

Soft spring flowers

I played around with the scraps left out from my last couple of cards and made a card based on the Viva La Verve! May week 1 sketch. I tend to reach for bolder colors, so this card is a bit softer in tone than I usually make.

I had the perfect size scrap of stamped flower paper for this sketch! Everything else kind of built from there. I dug in my ribbon scraps and loved how the gold-edged sheer ribbon looked layered on top of the flowers. I added the brads (not on the sketch) because the card just needed a little something. Then I added the gold Stickles because the main image wasn't standing out enough. That extra touch of gold on the flowers balanced with the ribbon and brads nicely. This sweet little card was the result.

I sponged the main flower square to mute the colors so it would match better with the stamped strip left from a previous card. Here's the sketch I used:


Stamps: Miracles Blossom (Verve Stamps); Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Delicate Dots DP (Stampin' Up); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), white
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up); True Black, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Misc: Golden Rod Stickles, brads, ribbon

Mojo Monday week 189 sketch challenge

I made another card! I've had this color combo pulled out for a while now. I originally planned it for a Papertrey blog hop card and just never got anywhere with it. I decided to use it for this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge instead. It uses two Verve sets that haven't seen much ink up until now.

I like how it turned out, but I think I would do less sponging on the front panel if I were to do it over. I'm trying to be less of a perfectionist and just enjoy the process despite mistakes. :) It's hard though! lol Here's the sketch I used:
Stamps: Floral Whimsy, Grateful Elegance (Verve Stamps)
Paper: White, Spring Rain, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink), Delicate Dots DP (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Copic markers: B41, B45
Misc: Scallop border punch (Stampin' Up), Oval punch, 1-1/2" Circle punch (EK Success), Petite Scallop Circle Large, Standard Circle (Spellbinders Nestabilities), black DMC floss

April SFYTT card

Well, here we are a month later and I'm doing the same thing - posting my sketch challenge card at the very last possible minute. I've been so busy rehearsing a show on top of the normal stuff that I just never sat down and stamped. You should have seen me scrambling this morning trying to get the card finished and photographed before I had to leave for a matinee performance, not to mention getting my kids where they needed to be. Whew!! I really need to plan ahead a bit better for these things.


Obviously, I took a few liberties with the sketch and replaced the center square with a layered flower. It's a bit bulky for mailing, of course, but the card is just bursting with cheery springiness. (is that even a word? lol) Well, I am one tired chick after two back-to-back performances today, so I'll just leave you with the card ingredients. Oh, the flower-stamped panel is sponged with the Vintage Cream ink in case that isn't obvious at first glance.

Stamps: Garden of Life, Friends Til the End (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: True Black, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up), white, unknown green
Misc: Blossoms Two (Spellbinders Nestabilities), Black and Harvest Gold buttons (Papertrey Ink), pop-dots

March SFYTT sketch card

Whew, talk about getting down to the wire with this card. I have a goal to participate in this sketch challenge every month and today's the last day! Here's the current SFYTT sketch:

And here's my card! Obviously, I turned the sketch sideways. :)

Since the sponsor this month is Amber Ink, I chose to use one of the stamp sets she illustrated for Hanna Stamps. (ahem....I have quite a few of them...love those adorable girls) I've got my eye on some of the new Amber Ink sets. I much prefer actual stamps over digital images given a choice, but they are so cute! Hostess with the Mostess and Grow Green are just calling me. lol Anyway, I digress.

My mojo deserted me over the last month. I still stamped every day because I'm working on my inventory book goal, but I haven't actually MADE anything. It's been so frustrating! I sat down to attempt this sketch several times, but got nowhere with it. Since today was the last day of the challenge, I tried once again and managed to get past the block. Maybe it was the frantic I-have-to-leave-in-an-hour deadline or maybe it was the I-have-to-make-something-at-least letting go of perfectionism, but either way I finally made a card. (and yes, I know I colored outside of the lines but I was in a major hurry) I really like the colors. Normally I wouldn't have put them together, but I pulled the color combo from the patterned paper.

Stamps: Perfect Package (Hanna Stamps), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, White (Papertrey Ink); Pocket Full of Posies Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Misc: Copic markers (E000, E00, E30, R20, E55, E57, E59, R24, R29, R59, B41, B45, B37)