Bella Carta

Tilda Playing Hopscotch

2011-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hello cyber-friends!

I wanted to make a birthday card for a sweet friend of mine, Emily, so I decided on this darling image of Tilda Playing Hopscotch from the new Sweet Rainbow collection.

I have been oogling cards around the web that have used oms & colored pencils on kraft paper. I LOVE the look of that technique! Now, an artist I'm not, so don't get your hopes up! But this is my first attempt at coloring on kraft paper using oms & colored pencils...

I used SB's Deckled Rectangles to cut out the image and the Doohickey Swirl Die. I stuck a doily behind Tilda and added some Prima and WOC flowers. The ribbon was salvaged from something or another and I used a SU scallop punch for the panel behind Tilda.

A closer view of my mad coloring skills! hahaha

The inside sentiment "Happy Birthday" is from SU and the circular sentiment is from Lili of the Valley.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!!

Challenges:

Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog - Color Challenge

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Flower Power

Rylie's Recycled Valentine Card

2011-02-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

Our local newspaper, The Herald and News, has a contest going to use recycled material to make a Valentine's card (if you wanted to take a second to register and cast your vote for Rylie's card, that would be WONDERFUL!) ;o)

I thought it would be a fun project to do with my 5 year old daughter, Rylie, since she LOVES doing crafts with me (probably not as much as I enjoy the mommy/daughter time, though!) :o)

This is what we came up with...

The card "base" is a toilet paper roll, painted with left-over pink paint from Rylie's bedroom. The brown background paper is from a dog food bag (Rachel Ray's Nutrish). We cut the letters and flower picture out of a Family Circle magazine and the ribbon was salvaged from a birthday present (I got a lot of flak from my sweetheart for that! "Do you want to keep the tissue paper, too? Maybe you could iron it out..." Men! They just don't understand! hahaha Anyway, the netting is from some sort of packaging that I've been hoarding away because of its potential. Shhh don't tell - I would NEVER hear the end of that one! :o)

The inside.

All together the front says, "Love is" and the inside says, "U & me"

Of course, NO Valentine would be complete without a sweet Edwin and Tilda. The tags were cut from a Little Debbie's snack box with my favorite Magnolia Tag Die. They were too big to fit in the "card" so we had to do some improvising and trim them down a bit. I must admit that I cheated when I colored them up. Have you ever tried coloring on the inside of a snack box??? It doesn't work so great. We also painted the backs and edges of the tags with the bedroom paint.

There you have it! It was fun and for a good cause - all the entries are going to the Senior Center on Valentine's day.

:o)

Rylie :o)

ScrapGirl Angie's Amazing Candy!

2011-02-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

So, for anyone who is obsessed with Magnolia stamps (and who isn't, really?!) you know there are some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G card artists out there. And yes, they really do turn cardmaking into an art! Well, one of those very talented ladies is Angie Hunt. Another is Suzanne Dean.

Suzanne founded an online "class" that teaches people how to use Copic markers, Color Me Creative Classroom. Now, Angie is also teaching a class through CMCC for distress inks. If you have seen her work, I don't have to tell you it's beautiful! If you haven't, you're missing out (seriously, go check it out!) BUT lucky us!!! Angie is giving away 1 free membership to her distress inks class through CMCC. Yay!

So what are you waiting for?? Get on over to Angie's blog and enter to win this FABULOUS candy!!!

Edwin Kissing Tilda

2011-02-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hello and thanks for stopping by! Today, I have a card that, when I look at it, I think to myself, "Well, they can't all be winners!" :o( I don't know if it's the colors (pink isn't one of my faves to work with) or the layout, but whatever it is, I'm just not feeling it.

SO after that stellar introduction, here is the card in question...

A LOT of masking went into this little scene. I used Shy Tilda, Kissing Edwin, and a building background stamp that I can't find the name to - sorry! Anyway, they are all colored with SU reinkers and on the glass windows I used Smooch Pearlized Top Coat. The ribbon is from my stash. The flowers are Prima and WOC - except the pink rose, that's a no-name from Michael's wedding aisle. Again, I used the CB hearts die, which is a really fun little embellishment! I added the sentiment "Bliss" from a SU set.

Here's a fun little side view.

A close-up of the dreamy little couple.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a quick shot of the inside!

There you have it. My attempt at...well, something! Even though I'm not completely thrilled with this card, I'll still use it as an entry to a BUNCH of challenges. (I had NO idea there were so many challenge blogs out there! Geez, I must have been really sheltered before this little blog of mine opened up a whole new world to me!)

Now, I just need to figure out how to enter those challenges! Wish me luck!

These are the ones I'm going to try to enter:

Magnolia-licious Highlites - hearts, pink, silver, & white

Wild Orchid Challenge - love is

Just Magnolia - anything goes with the option of ribbon

Paper Take Weekly - anything goes with the option of flowers

7 Kids Challenge Blog - I {heart} you

Simon Says Stamps Challenge - love is in the air

All That Scraps Blog - queen of hearts

Oh and for those of you who don't have enough in your "stash," I came across a couple sales during my "someday" browsing... ohmycrafts.com will take 10% off your order by entering lds10 at checkout (I don't know how long this special goes, though) and Dick at pbstamps.com has a good deal going on Nestabilities (if you can manage his site without going crazy!) Yes, I'm an enabler. I know. Happy shopping!

:o)

P.S. To all those who take your time to leave me your precious comments - Thank You!!! I love reading them and appreciate each and every one of them!

Teacher Gift Set

2011-02-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Good evening all my blogging buddies! I received an email today from my nearest and dearest friend, Jennifer, ~~demanding~~ requesting that I add another post to my somewhat neglected new blog. Then she proceeded to send me pictures she had taken of cards I have made. How, umm, thoughtful?

So here is a gift set I made for my son's teacher at the beginning of the school year.

I used Tilda with Curls colored with SU reinkers. The ribbon is from my stash and the pearl brad is American Crafts Elements. I cut apart a Prima Pearls and Swirls for the bling.

I'm not sure why Tilda looks so washed out but I did use a flesh tone to color her! I also used Stickles and Crystal Effects for her shoes and roses.

The flowers are Prima with a die from SU for the leaves. The red rose was white but it didn't match very well so I used my SU reinkers to color it. I dry embossed all the dps for a little more texture...and because it's just a fun effect!

I finished off the inside of my card with the saying, "A teacher effects eternity, he can never know where his influence stops" ~Henry Adams. (And yes, Jennifer obviously took the pictures AFTER we signed the card. How embarrassing!) :o)

The gift box I decorated for the card.

The inside of the box with the card wrapped up all nice and pretty!

Last but not least, the altered tin I made and filled with all sorts of yummy chocolates for my son's AMAZING teacher!

I apologize for the ridiculously long post. Thanks for sticking it out! Until next time...

:o)

Cassy

Tilda With Flowing Hair

2011-01-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog had a color challenge to use the combination of orange and green. WHAT??? Eew! Was kind of my first reaction. But I am happy to report that it wasn't that bad. I actually kinda like what I came up with. My darling didn't have my blog up in time for me to enter the challenge but that's ok, I love him anyway! :o)

This cutie is Tilda with Flowing Hair, colored with SU reinkers. The dp is K & Co., the raffia is something I've had in my stash f-o-r-e-v-e-r! The pretty flowers are WOC and Prima. I cut the leaves using a die I got from SU. The rhinestones are also SU.

I really love this Tilda image but then again, what Tilda don't I love? (As my BFF, Jennifer, rolls her eyes in agreement). hahaha

I have a difficult time with the whole "halo" thing around my images. Maybe I'll need to invest in some background stamps. Any suggestions would be more than welcome!

And to finish it out - the inside! And that, my friends, is my first (almost) entry into a challenge! hahaha

Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate your comments. I know (believe me, I know) how much easier and quicker it is just to check out a card without leaving a comment.

:o)

Heartbreaker Edwin Valentine

2011-01-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

My very first blog post! I'm so excited...and nervous. This is WAY out of my comfort zone. Normally, I just share my creations with my family and close friends but now, here I am sharing it with the world...or the few people who may happen to stumble across my blog. :o)

So this is it, I decided to try my hand at this super-cute "Tag" card I saw on the amazing Cheryl's blog who saw one on the uber-talented Claudia's blog who got the tutorial from...well, you get the picture!

For this card, I used Heartbreaker Edwin from Magnolia stamps. I used Stampin' Up! and K & Co. dp. The hearts are cut using a super cute CB die (thanks Kylie!), the ribbons are from my stash, the rhinestones and jumbo eyelet are SU, and the doily was a gift from my BFF and card making cohort, Jennifer. :o)

I colored Edwin using SU re-inkers. I would really love to get some distress inks to try my hand at BUT since I have every single color of re-inker (and In Color) I might as well use what I have!

The sentiment is from a dollar bin at Joann's and the pretty roses are from WOC.

A little peek at the inside with my FAVE tag die from Magnolia.

So there you have it. My very first post! I hope this is the beginning of a very long blogging, card making, and crafting journey that you would like to join me on!