Bellariffic Friday - Ebru's sketch

It's time for another Bellariffic Friday.  This week it's a cute sketch from BellaBabe Ebru and I really 'tweaked' it!  I used the mirror image and rotated it once - that way my snowflake was in the perfect position for the little circle thing-a-ma-jig on Ebru's sketch!

I stamped Peeptini from Stamping Bella , coloured her with copics and added just a touch of sparkle to her dress.

The pattern paper is MME 12 Days of Christmas and the solid cardstock is SU Real Red and Garden Green.  I used some wide red grosgrain ribbon with a couple of strands of red baker's twine on top.  I love the swiss dots embossing folder for a subtle background.  The swizzle stick needed a festive touch so I covered the olive with a tiny red snowflake and red Bonbon.  Now the drink was supposed to be Blue Curacao but when I added a layer of crystal effects it turned into Creme de Menthe :)

And that's another Christmas card done - thanks for the great sketch Ebru!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Bellariffic Friday - Halloween

It's Bellariffic Friday!  I'll confess, I almost didn't make it this week (which is shocking as I LOVE Halloween) but my friend Dana "encouraged" me and I turned it into a timed challenge for myself!  I only had one hour before bedtime and here's what I made.

I stamped Stella and her Broomstick in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with copics.  There really wasn't much to colour but I sure used a lot of copics!

The paper is Echo Park Happy Halloween from an old TE Key Ingredients Kit.  I used Martha Stewart's spiderweb punch for the border and some Tiny Twinkles beside the sentiment BOO!  The BOO sentiment is outlined with my black glaze pen to give it a bit more pop.  I used one of my "go to" favs when I'm in a hurry for the layout.  I cut out an extra broom and paper pieced it so it hung over the edge.  A few coats of black glaze pen on her hat and some glitter on her collar and hem, 'cause even witches have to have a bit of bling.  I did a little paper piercing in the bottom corners.  Some shiny lipstick courtesy of my clear glaze pen and she's ready to go, although she doesn't really look like she's in any hurry, does she?!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is out enjoying this glorious weather - it's like summer again and for that I'm very thankful!  Today's card is one I made at Mary Jane's cottage last month.

Every September, six of us head up to her cottage for a weekend.  There is lots of stamping, LOTS of food and lots of laughs!  In the past years, I have planned all the stamping projects but this year her two daughters, Lindsay Anne and Sarah Jane designed some of the projects and was great to have help.  Here is a card designed by Sarah Jane - she made it a step up card which was cool because I've seen lots of them but never made one.  The image is called Pumpkins on the Vine and it's by There She Goes stamps.  The pattern paper is MME and the solid paper is from SU as is the Kiwi Kiss ribbon.  I stamped it with Tuxedo Memento Black ink and coloured it with copics.  I did a little 'faux' shine on her shoes and then gave them a coat of black glaze pen.

I am thankful for many things today - Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Cheerio.....Leslie

The Sweet Sunday that almost wasn't!

This week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge SSSC137 was easy for me.  I knew immediately I'd flip the sketch horizontally and started working on my image.  It all went downhill from there!  Seriously, this card had so many mistakes I almost gave up...but...a true crafter perseveres and here's what I ended up with.

This adorable image is from There She Goes and the set is called Wonderful Winter Wishes.  I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with copics.

I coloured the big girl's mitten red but smeared it a bit on her sleeve.  No problem, I'll use my 0 copic to 'erase' it.  Nope, not working, made it worse.  No problem.  I'll paper piece her coat.  Nope, cut off her hand by mistake.  No problem, I'll stamp another set of hands and paper piece them on.  Easier said than done - I should have taken a photo of the underneath of those girls!  Thankfully the rest of the card came together very easily.  The cardstock is SU Garden Green, Real Red and some retired SU pattern paper.  The circles and lacey circle are Nestabilities and I used the Perfect Polkadots embossing folder from SU on the white circle and sponged the edges.  MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics finished off the bottom border.

It took much longer than I thought to make this card because of all my "problems" but it seems to have turned out okay in the end :)

Cheerio.....Leslie

Bellariffic Friday - Popped Up

Hollyhock Bittybloom's balloon was perfect for this week's Bellariffic Friday theme "pop it up/add dimension to your card".  Earlier this year Lindabella taught a class at Stamping Bella on colouring/shading techniques.  I immediately signed up because I am in awe of Linda's colouring.  I thought some of her greatness might rub off on me if I took her class and I'm a little excited to say I think it might have! 

This is one of three cards we made.  Hollyhock Bittybloom was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with copics and then we used pencils with gamsol.  I can totally see now that using copics and then a little extra shading with the pencils really finishes the shading.  By no means is my card anything like Lindas :) but I'm very happy with mine.  Linda was a great teacher and I learned where to shade darker and lighter and the all important shading around the image with a very light blue.  I was a bit heavy handed with the blue and so decided to cut out my image and mount it again.  I'm kind of glad I did this because then I thought I could pop up the balloon and then I thought I could put some crystal effects on it and then I thought I could put some glitter on her little dress flowers and then I thought STOP! :)

So, thanks again Lindabella for a wonderful class and if you do another, I'll be there!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Making a List - MFTWSC39

This week's MFTWSC39 was tough for me.  My first attempt was a dud - trust me!  I wanted to try a card with the sentiment as the focal point but it just wasn't working so I went with what I love best - a PI girl!

I stamped the sweet, Making a List, PI girl in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, coloured her with copics and paper pieced her dress.  The pattern paper is Imaginisce Fairest of Them All, SU Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery.  The MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics was perfect as a base for the sentiment.  I put two TE Crystal Twinkles on her shoes and a few coats of clear glaze pen made them shine.  Sorry there is no copic picture - I forgot to take one and yes, that IS sewing you see around the edges :)

This is my very loose interpretation of this week's sketch - but that's the beauty of a sketch, right?

Cheerio.....Leslie

Bellariffic Friday - Pauline's Sketch

Soooo happy it's Friday - that means the weekend AND Bellariffic Friday!  Today we have a wonderful sketch from Paulineabella and you know how I love a sketch!  I used Turtle Tots-Picking Posies and I'm not sure if it's a he or a she turtle but it really doesn't matter does it?  It's cute and that's all that matters :)

I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with copics.

I was surprised at how many copics I used being as it's just a green turtle but I'm trying to improve my shading skills.  The pattern paper is from an old TE Project Pantry kit called "Summertime".  In fact everything on the card is from that kit - the cardstock, the ribbon, the gems, even the Tiny Twinkles.  I used my Classic Square nesties to cut the turtle out.  This card is for my niece, Karen, who loves all animals....Happy Birthday sweetie!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Pretty Payton

I went a bit crazy with the new release from Stamping Bella and Payton was just too cute to pass up.  I think it was her hair that did it for me!  I loved this card that Jody made and copied her layout.

I stamped Payton in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with copics.

The pattern paper is retired SU and the rest is SU Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal and Regal Rose.  I knew I wanted to paper piece her dress and hair bow but when I did it looked a bit too plain so I ran it through the BigShot with my Swiss Dots embossing folder.  I managed to keep a fairly straight line when sewing and added some brown brads in the corners and a couple of prima flowers.  I'm really pleased with how her hair turned out - if only my hair had such beautiful highlights!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Home Sweet Home

I came across these odd shape note cards I'd bought in England a few years ago and instantly knew the image and paper I was going to use for my card!

Karen had given me some new MME Lime Twist papers and I remembered seeing a cloud sheet in the package "Out of the Blue".  I mounted it on a piece of SU Not Quite Navy.  The hardest part of this card was cutting that piece to match....talk about angles!  I stamped the birdhouse  from Home Tweet Home by Gina K in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with copics.

Then I stamped it again and popped it up for some dimension.  I added a few coats of clear glaze pen to the roof.  It was lacking some "oomph" so I consulted with Dana and she suggested a TE Tiny Twinkle on the "perch" and a bit of glitter on the clouds....perfect!  The Picket Fence Border die is from Taylored Expressions.

This card is one of the fastest I've made.  Good thing, because I need two more! :)

Cheerio.....Leslie

Bellariffic Friday - Animals

It's been a full week of Christmas here!  This week's theme for Bellariffic Friday was "Animals", in the image, the paper or an embellishment.  I haven't inked up Merry Christmas Branch with Birdies in a while and need to keep plodding on with my Christmas cards.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with copics.

The pattern paper is by 3 Bugs in a Rug, Candy Stripe and I paired it with some SU Real Red that I ran through my Polka Dots embossing folder.  I added some crystal effects to the words - a very generous amount of crystal effects thanks to the larger than life hole in the applicator tip!  A bit of SU Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, my Stardust glitter pen on the little dots and I was done.  I got the layout from my "Wishes" book (Pg 18) by Jeanette R. Lynton - an excellent book!  This really was a very easy and fast card to make and would be perfect for all my overseas friends as there are no bulky embellishments to add extra postage!  Have a great weekend.

Cheerio.....Leslie