paper possibilities

agnes ketto...

Here is my last official Ketto girl that I have to show you...sadly mine have not arrived just yet. It's ok, I quit crying about it a week or so ago...  

What to ya think of little Agnes here? I framed her because she is going to a lss, Scrappin' and Stampin'. I am doing my best to get the Bella's in Michigan and close to my house! {There is a method to my madness...} Agnes is colored  with my Lyra pencils and blended with gamsol. Hey, a big shout out to all the sistah's who have gotten a set of Lyra's for themselves!! Nicky was my enabler and I am happy to pass on the love! I sprinkled Agnes with some glitter and tied a pretty bow around her, don't ya love ribbon with wire in it? It lets you get the perfectest bows even when ya ain't no good at it...

Now, I don't want to be the nagging type, but have you made a card for friday's Bella-RIFIC challenge?  yellow, orange, pink and green... check here for details. 

meet carter...

Who's got the cutest little boy stamp on the block? I do, I do! Don't ya just wanna read him a book? 

He's all ready with his blanket and frog slippers! He's Cuddle Up Carter and he's My Favorite Things companion to Nite, nite, Ellie. Carter also happens to be the little boy to our very own Carole Burrage, and the inspiration behind this set. {I'll tell you a little more about this special set in a second}

I colored Carter up with my prismacolor pencils and blended him with gamsol.  

I popped up the little frogs heads and the train, maybe you can tell in this picture because I know you can't really tell in the larger photo.

Now, back to the reason this set is special... part of the proceeds from this set will be donated to Euro-Peds, which is right near where I live in Michigan. Carole's son Carter has CP and he comes to Euro-Peds for intensive treatment for two weeks at a time, a few times a year. Euro-Peds has been on the news and they do remarkable work for children who come from all over the world.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for our MFT Hop around the Block!! There are 4 sets getting released this month! see ya!

magnolia eggs...

Did ya think I was done showing ya all my Magnolia cards?  LOL, I'm not finished just yet... 

I fell in love with the egg images that I was sent and I colored them with eggs I ave seen on the cover of Martha or from Anna Wight's blog as my inspiration. I love the pale blue and aqua's that some of the eggs get 'painted' by their momma's.  

This second card is one I wasn't going to show off because it's not one I am totally happy with. When I got to coloring the eggs, I did them in  more tradional easter egg colors...big mistake because I couldn't decide on any paper I liked to pair it with. {will I never learn this lesson?} I can't help but be lured by some of the pretty purple shades in my pencil collection, but I always pay the price! lol  I used colored pencils and blended with gamsol for both of these images.

That's four cards down, and three more to show you. I also wanted to mention that when I sent these cards back to Sweden I included a note that I was stepping down from the Design Team. I was honored to be asked and while I enjoy coloring up the Magnolia images...I realized I can not keep up with how much time I put into them. I had to decide if I wanted to be able to make time for working in my yard this spring, and I do. Thanks Magnolia!

 

eva bloom...

Rain or shine, it's always a good day when you're happy with something you have created.  

Look at the pretty Easter egg that Eva Bloom is bringing you. When I was placing my order at Stamping Bella, I found this newest Chichiboulie and knew it was going into my basket. I colored Eva with my Lyra colored pencils, and blended the pencils with gamsol. I added lots of sparkle to her wings and flower dress, because who doesn't LOVE sparkle! I have been using my flesh tone copics for all of the skin I color. I really like using it because I really like the shade it turns out! It's a nice change, because while both Lyras & prismacolors are different in the skintones, I can't get this pale of a shade.

Well, I am off to finish up some laundry and color some more!

happy easter...

edited to add...I almost forgot to mention that Elzybells and her wonderful 'mum' Elizabeth are offering FREE WORLDwide shipping today {sat}  thru Monday! How great is that?? You can read her post here about some slight pricing increases and a few other changes. Increased prices don't go into effect until April 1st, so if you have been thinking about some new rubber then here is an opportunity to get it for FREE shipping!!

Ahhhhh, saturday, a day when a girl can relax and have the house to herself...can you hear that? nothing...no tv, no nothing, not even the dog barking outside...he's quiet for a change! lol

I wanna show you an Elzybell stamped image that I colored last week. 

Is this not just a sweet little Easter image, yet it ain't so little! The large Happy Easter was borrowed from my friend Mary and I have been itchin' to color it. I also had to color the words in purple, again...not having any paper in mind to pair it with and finally finding this piece in my scrap stash...oh, I was lucky on that find!  I used my prismacolor pencils and gamsol, and glitter and clear glaze pen to add a little texture and fun.

I am seeing my crocus starting to pop outta the ground and I thought...could snow be just a memory until december? ugggg, If I gotta touch that shovel again, except to put it away, I will sit and cry. Until then, keep thinking that spring is here!  :)  see ya tomorrow! 

cosmobella n' the weekend...

It's friday and I am soooooo happy!! It's even gonna rain this weekend, but it ain't snow!! Any big plans for you? Nah, myself I am going to do what I always do...make cards and maybe try and bath the dog and cut his hair, I don't look forward to that...almost as much as he doesn't! I sold old stamp sets at a lss, and I might pop into there and see the total and do some paper shopping, Scrappy Chic, LOVE it!

Remember that da Bella is giving us the week off to knock her sock off for the challenge next week? {and she wants mega cards to have to load on her blog too, so play...}  

Here is our bright, bloomin' with life inspiration... Make a card and send it to Emily by thursday the 2nd... with the date 'April 3, 2009' in the title, she'll take it from there. Leave a comment...2 chances at some 'Bella Bucks'!

I have not shown my challenge card from two weeks ago, so here is cosmobella, I swear one of my favs and the first one I colored...thanks to that Texas cutie Shannan !  :)  

This challenge was red/black/ivory {i used white!} and light blue... oh! and a button. My button is clear and has a rhinestone on top, kinda hiding, but I didn't have a button that looked like that, a girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do, eh? She's pretty and not ever gonna be stuffed into some envelope! That bow is made with wire edged ribbon and it would get smashed down.

I colored this Bella with my Lyras and blended her with gamsol. And I can't believe it but no, *gasp* glitter was added! Tiny little gems at her fancy flip-flops...

Enjoy your friday in whatever way you celebrate, maybe with a cosmotini, maybe with a big bouquet of sharpened pencils and re-runs of The OFFICE. Question...who will be celebrating friday like that? one guess is alllll you get kids.

henry celebrating mouse...

I have been feeling like I need to share a few cards besides the companies I design for. I love all the wonderful stamps I have and here is a little guy I just adore...borrowed from bff Mary C.  

When I saw this Whiff of Joy stamp...that face! I could not belive Mary had gotten him in the mail! I colored him with my prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol. The circles and pinking edge circle are my nestibilities, and the paper is Little Yellow Bicycle...baby safari. This is a cool line of paper! I am pretty sure the ribbon is from American Arts and found at my lss, Scrappy Chic. Oh, how I would love to keep this lil' pink cheeked mouse for myself but I know he will find a good home somewhere else!

I have not said thanks to all you great stampers and crafters out there who email me questions, and let me know you enjoy looking at my stuff. Going through my AWESOME google reader, I can get my dose of inspiration every day and check in on more of my favorite blogs. Thanks again!!  see ya soon!

lil lucy...

Today is tuesday, you know what that means....we're gonna have a special guest! Her name is Lucy and as you can see she is a Ketto, from Stamping Bella. She is just a doll and I am sending her to a new home in San Francisco...colored up just for Micki! {hi Emerson!}  

I picked out the piece of paper from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie collection and I thought of Micki.

Now do we need to do the details? because I bet you all know the drill...I colored this little girl with my lovely Lyras and blended with gamsol. I added some of the usual glitter I use, and some from Martha, in an orangy/red color. {that is on the dots, randomly in the background paper} Can you see her hair, on the right side? This is the Ketto that I used the black glaze pen on and left it a little sketchy over there to look like a highlight.

I also went to some sites looking for a fun sketch to try out and this one is from Taylored Expressions... 

I have added some new subscriptions to my google reader and I almost forgot Taylor's site. I have been following it for well, almost two years I think. I added the MoJo Monday and still need to add CPS site...Sometimes I just love trying a sketch.

Back to Bella business, da Bella blog is taking a break from a challenge this week and giving us 2 weeks to come up with something yummalicious...have you seen the inspiration? have a looky... 

 

yellow n' green n' pink n' ORANGE!! oh my

spring chick...

Better late than never is the phrase for me tonight! I was busy doing household things last night and time slipped away, and I slipped into bed, then I realized this morning I did not post my Magnolia card!! Sometimes I will post before I go to work, but 5:00 a.m. was really early today when I woke up with that tickle in my throat...I grabbed my alarm clock and lay on the couch until it went off at 5:25!  

Here is a Spring Background, large scene image from Magnolia that I loved and spent a long time coloring because I was gabbing with BFF's Janine & Mary that night! Anyhow, this card is colored with prismacolr pencils and blended with gamsol, a little glitter sparkles here and there in the blossoms that are blowing in the breeze. The dp was sent to me by Magnolia and it could not have made a more perfect sprintime match for this stamp, don't ya think? I did the rounded/squared mixed corners that I have seen on cards, I like the look but always too 'chicken' to try.

All these Magnolia cards are on their journey back to Sweden. I have like...5 more to show you still, hang tight Magnolia fans! Until tomorrow, keep on craftin', paula :) 

 

meet kenya ketto...

I would be screamin right now if I didn't have such a crappy headache! yuck... but, here is my first Ketto and she's pretttty and her name is Kenya! We all know these are living at Stamping Bella, right?

I am a little sad that I can't actually photograph her hair and the glittler I added to this little girl. As soon as I saw this Ketto stamp line I knew how I was going to do their black hair, with a black glaze pen...shiny, I like shiny! Because Kenya has so much going on with her outfit I wanted to not use the entire rainbow, I picked out my paper first. {{ in fact I picked out paper first for all 3 Ketto's that I colored }} I colored her with my Lyras and blended with gamsol, I even made her skin darker shaded and I think she is just a complete doll! I mean, Kenya is probably from African decent right? As always, I cut out with my nestibilities and a little sewing too.... ahhh my first Ketto!

I hope you guys are all loving this line because you will definatley be seeing it on my blog here.    :)   I told you I put my order in remember?   Now tomorrow is da Bella's challenge and I am looking forward to seeing what those crazy girls have in store for me! Check it out on her blog... Remember, play and ya get a chance at some Bella bucks, who doesn't love free "money", hey?

I am off to try and sell some stamps at a crafting 'yard sale' and do some more coloring as well. On a personal note, somehow I got all my subscriptions from Feedblitz taken away and now I check all blogs through Google Reader. I won't tell you how far behind I am in that department...let's just say it's a good thing I am done washing clothes because the rest of my evening will be spent catching up on all the other dt sisters!