Christmas in July

Ok, so I haven't been a good blogger lately. I've skipped all kinds of events (even my own birthday), but sometimes things get in the way of my being productive. Things like T.V., television, the tele, the boob tube... are you seeing a theme? Ha! Yes, I have a bad tv watching habit and I know it makes for a very unproductive girl. Oh well, c'est la vie.

One of my other problems is doing fun things instead of doing what I should be doing, so on a whim last night, rather than cleaning the house, doing laundry, giving the dog a bath... I decided to make a card for a challenge on the Stampingbella blog. She's in Eastern Canada, so I don't know if my submission made it there on time with the time difference and all, but I tried.

The theme this week was "Christmas In July" and this is what I came up with. My photo's not the best because I normally use my Mother-in-Law's camera, but she had to "borrow" (wink) it a couple weeks ago and I haven't gotten it back. I used my iPhone to take photos last night and just couldn't get a true color photo, but I just had to go with it. Here's the card I came up with.






















I used "gifty tree" from Stampingbella. I just love their stamps! I also used some of my Copic Sketch markers and Spica Glitter pens. I was trying to show the sparkle in the photo, but it didn't come thru as well as I'd like. You can check out her blogabella blog today and see what other folks came up with for their "Christmas in July" artwork. She's got some very talented people that play along each week. Well, off to work, at least I'm productive somewhere in my life, lol.

A bella card for a bella friend

It's been a long time since I've made a non-Close to My Heart card, so when my friend Alicia had her 40th birthday last weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to dig through my stash and create a special card for her.

I have many Stampingbella stamps, but have inked up only a few (can you say hoarder?). I recently purchased a few new Copic markers and wanted to give them a try as well. I have very little experience with those markers, but hope to use them a lot more in the future, they're so cool to color with - smooth like butta.

Anyhoo, back to the subject. This is the card I made for Alicia.




















Isn't she cute? This is "Flowahbella" from Stampingbella.com Like I said I used a couple of my new Copic markers to color her. I also used my Copic Spica glitter pens to color the flowers, her mouth and her shoes. I tried to show the glittery effect in this next photo. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them.



I also have several Stampingbella sentiments and I've never used this particular one, so I thought it might be an appropriate time to bring it out.




I love that quote!


One special thing I did with this card has to do with the paper used on it. It's actually vintage wallpaper. Years ago, back before kids, when we were able to just hang out and go places on a whim, Alicia and I found this great Estate sale. We found these matching rolls of vintage wallpaper and each got one. I know over the years Alicia has used it for wrapping gifts and various other things, as she is one to create a purpose for things and get them moving out of the house. Me on the other hand, this was the first time ever cutting into the roll, uh oh I see that word "hoarder" rearing it's ugly head again, lol. I wondered if she'd recognize the paper when she opened her card and she did, almost immediately. That's the fun thing about making your own cards, the personal touches. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Here's a card I made for Valentine's Day. I thought it turned out pretty cute. Have a wonderful day!!