Christmas in July for Elisabeth Bell's World

Oh, there's something refreshing about Christmas in July!  Just the thought of it kind of breaks up the year and gets me thinking about all the things I need to get done before the actual holiday gets here!  This challenge over at Elisabeth Bell's World is themed Christmas in July.  I love older things and decided to pull out one of my all time favorite Christmas paper and stamp to ink up.  Hope you enjoy them!

This is Star of Bethlehem from Belles n' Whistles and it's currently not available.  I hope these images can come back because they're just so enchanting and I loved every single one of them.  I fell in love with this stamp when it first came out.  It was for our first Christmas release and gosh, I just love the serenity and innocence here.

When I decided to use this one, I knew exactly the paper I wanted to use, an older paper pack from BasicGrey called Wassail.  I actually won this from my dear stamping idol, Suzanne Dean, and I am very fussy about when I use it!  These adorable baby dolls are colored with copics and I added some Stickles to the star, garland, and to the bear and gown of the youngest cutie pie. I did just a touch of Diamond Glaze on the ribbon in the oldest's hair.  The poinsettia and Christmas ball are from Prima and the ribbon and pearls are from Cloud 9.

Don't they look just too adorable parading the Star of Bethlehem around?

I think these are two of the prettiest babies that Ms. Bell has ever created!

Here's a couple more looks before I leave you.

I hope you'll come on over to Elisabeth Bell's World and join in on our challenge.  We love to see what you create and with the temperatures rising, I think everyone deserves to cool off with a little bit of holiday spirit!  Have a great day!

Sweet Love for Elisabeth Bell's World

There's just something about Valentine's Day. Whether you're in love or not, you can always find someone who is special enough to make you think sweetly and lovingly of them on February 14th! It's that time over at Elisabeth Bell's World to share a new challenge and some inspiration and how appropriate to work up a vintage valentine! I used "Sweet Love" that Elisabeth designed for Belles n' Whistles and while it's not available, it's still one of my all time favorites of her designs. This sweet couple is colored with copics and I cut out the hearts and distressed the edges of them. The papers are from an old K&Company paper pack. The flowers are from Recollections and I added lots of stickles all over so this sweet couple could shine on their special day! Make sure to stop over at our blog and see all the fabulous works of art that my designing sisters have come up to share with you all! Make sure to join in. There's always someone valentine worthy!

Stampin With Those New Clear Stamps

I thought I'd share a tutorial for those of you who are a bit leary of the new clear stamps. This is my way of stamping and hopefully it will put a different spin on the clear stamps for you.

Ingredients:

1 Belles N' Whistles stamp (the most important thing and I just love Wishes!)
Ink of your choice (I chose Memento Tuxedo Black)
Paper of your choice
Acrylic block to fit your stamp
1 9 x 12 sheet of craft foam (Yes, it's like the kind you can get at Joann's for like 10 for $1.00 when they're on sale!)



First I place my paper on top of the sheet of foam. This gives your stamp a great cushion in helping the ink cover the paper.



Then I peel off the protective covering from my acrylic block. I always cover my blocks with Tac N' Peel and love it!



Next I ink up my stamp. I like to pat my block on top of the ink pad but do it however works for you.



Then I place my block on the paper wherever I want to stamp. And then press down! Don't rock too much and try and place even pressure over the entire stamp.



Then just lift the stamp up and you've got a great, clear, crisp and clean image! I have been stamping like this for like a year and a half and I always get a great impression but these clear stamps are great to stamp with.



Some of you were worried about how detailed Elisabeth Bell's images would turn out and I picked Wishes from our new Spring and Summer Release because of the great detail and small lines used and it came out perfectly! I've stamps up all of the new clear Belles N' Whistles stamps and didn't get a bad image out of any of them.



So go get some cheap foam sheets, a great acrylic block and stamp away! I hope this clears up some of your misgivings about the quality of the image you'll get by using these clear stamps. I've got to tell you that not only was I not disappointed with them, but I loved how much space I saved with them! Quick, easy, clean stamping, Belles N' Whistles stamps! Enjoy!

Summer Time, Summer Time...

It's my day to host our blog post for the day and I thought I'd being a bit of sunshine and fun into your day! Don't you just love our new release? I simply am enchanted by them and thought I'd share one of my favorite activities with you - hanging out by the pool!



If you know anything about me, you know I love the sun and fun and these two cuties from Splashing Good Time take me back to some of my favorite times. Can you remember the days when that little wading pool just felt so cool and refreshing on a hot day? I'm not a bit ashamed to say that I used to lay out in the sun smack in the middle of one of those wading pools! One of my good friends thought I was buying the pool for my nephews who used to come over all the time, but I certainly set her straight that it was MY pool, thank you very much! Oh, to be young and have the time to laze around out in the sun.

This cutie is colored with copics and I added some bright yellow Prima Flowers and spacers and pearls at the bottom because yellow flowers just mean hot weather to me. I love the waterfall Stickles and think it gives this water the perfect sparkles.

And here they are close up! Wouldn't you love to just jump in that pool with them?



Hope you enjoy this cute summery creation. It was so fun to put together and I hope it brings a bit of sunshine into your day! Thanks so much for stopping by!


Card Ingredients:

Splashing Good Times from Belles N' Whistles, copics, June Bug paper pack from BasicGrey, BasicGrey Bling, EK Success wave punch, MS leaf punch, spacers, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Prima flowers.

Roses on Paper Challenge - Punches!

I finally have a few minutes to participate in our Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge. It feels like I've been gone forever, but I've been so busy with work and family and my dog and major computer problems and my new activities here in Florida that it's been hard to concentrate and get a card done!

This week our oh, so talented Rosette, challenged us to use punches on our cards and what fun it was! I really had to pull out my box of punches from the back of my stamping things and I had a ball with them! The image I used was Belle Dusting Cuckoo from the new Belles N' Whistles release that we had the great pleasure of showing off on Friday. Hope you enjoy her because there's a story that goes with her.

When were were stationed in Sicily, my ex-husband went on a trip to Germany with his squadron and brought me back the most beautiful cuckoo clock and I absolutely loved it! The pinecones and tether that went back and forth keeping time always fascinated me. Well, when I moved and got my cat, Porthos, he would sit and just look at it with amazement. I think it was the constant motion that did it for him. After he got a bit older and bigger, he'd wait for the pinecones to get to where he could reach them and he'd bat them back and forth and try to get them off the chain and that poor clock almost lost it's life more times than I care to remember! Now my girls are fighting over who gets it when I'm too old to worry about it. Little do they know, I don't think I'll ever be that old!

Belle is colored with copics and I added just a bit of Stickles to her sweet apron. I used some half moon pearls on her and made a lacy doily type bank instead of ribbon. Hope you enjoy her because she sure was fun to play with and take a trip down memory lane with.

Make sure to stop by and join in on our challenge. We'd love to see how you use your punches!

Card Ingredients:

Belle Dusting Cuckoo by Belles N' Whistles, copics, Stickles, Cherry Pie paper pack by Cosmo Cricket, BasicGrey Bling, Scrapper's Floss, SU ticket punch, EK Success swirl punch, MS lace edger, MS branch punch, buttons, Jelly Roller clear glaze pen

Baby It's Cold Outside from Sentiment Salon and January Birthday Calendar Page

I've got a great project to share with you today, or tonight! Our every talented and thoughtfully sweet Iris at Belles N' Whistles Design Team came up with this great birthday calendar! I am forever forgetting birthdays and this year I want to try and be better about them. So Happy Birthday to my adopted baby girl, Kelly! Try and stay out of trouble!



I love this template because you can use it for birthdays, anniversaries, those special days, paydays, you name it and you can do it. Since it's January, I thought I'd use The Christmas Door from Belles N' Whistles, and color it in winter colors rather than Christmas ones. I think this baby doll is just so stinkin cute going to deliver her package. I made the balls on the trees and the wreath into fruit, oranges but you can call them pomegranates if you chose! I added Stickles and some Prima Flowers with spacers and pearls in the corner. Oh, and some the the Christmas stamps from our Belles N' Whistles Christmas Collection are now on sale! That's always as great thing this time of the year.



And don't you just love this sweet sentiment? My good friend, Deb, started a blog called Sentiment Salon and asked me to be on her design team and I was so excited! I can't wait to bring you some gorgeous and fun cards with sentiments on them! They're digis and so much fun! I love the idea of printing something out and sizing it how I want. Go over and take a look at the fabulous sayings she's got going on over there!



This was a good start for me because I'm wanting to get into scrap booking and I thought using all of a 6 x 6 piece of paper was a huge leap for me! I thought the Eskimo Kisses background was perfect for my winter scene! I had a blast on this one and I can't wait to put together my February calendar page.

I'll be back over the weekend but I just needed to take a couple of days off this past week but I hope you enjoy what I came back with. Have a great weekend everyone!

Card Ingredients:

The Christmas Door from Belles N' Whistles, Baby It's Cold Outside sentiment from Sentiment Salon, copics, Eskimo Kisses paper and brads from BasicGrey, Bling from BasicGrey, Prima flowers, Spacers, Stickles, nestabilities, Distress Inks from Tim Holtz,

Beary Big Hugs by Belles N' Whistles

Who can resist a teddy bear? Not I nor any little girl that I know! Beary Big Hugs is one of the new releases from the Sweet Things Collection from Belles N' Whistles illustrated by the talented Elisabeth Bell. I think they're such an adorable and versatile collection!



I colored her with copics and used some Diamond Glaze on her headband and ribbon. I fell in love with the gorgeous colors from the Honey Pie collection from Cosmo Cricket and thought they went perfectly with this sweet, soft image. I added a bit of dimension to the paper by using my textured cuttlebug folder. I tried to keep her simple and just added a hatpin, some ribbon, and Prima Flowers to the corner.



These faces are just pure joy and loved, don't you think? I know this is a bit of a change for me but I did hold back on the Stickles for this sweetie. Just a little on her top and the bear's sweet feet!



My favorite stuffed animal when I was growing up was my yellow tiger striped cat named Jenny. I still have her and she's here in Florida with me in my hope chest. I'd love to hear about what your favorite stuffed animal was while you were growing up! Let's revisit our childhood for just a bit. I hope it gives you the warm feeling that I have. If not, please take some of mine. We had a lot of love to go around.

Card Ingredients:

Beary Big Hugs by Belles N' Whistles, Honey Pie Paper Stack by Cosmo Cricket, Bling by BasicGrey, Stickles, Prima Flowers, ribbon, hatpin, Cuttlebug textured folder, corner rounder

Kitty Love

While I've been getting settled, my baby Hagrid has been staying with Tiffany and I miss him so very much! When I saw this sweet Kitty Love, one of the new images from the Sweet Things Collection from Belles N'Whistles, it so reminded me of my sweet Porthos who got mad at me when we moved and took off over 3 years ago.



I used to just cuddle and rub him behind his ears and he used to just curl up around my arm and just purr away. Oh, how much I miss him! I colored this cutie with copics and added just a touch of Stickles and a bit of Diamond Glaze. I added some cotton lace and pearls and buttons to keep it simple and not to overdone. I love this paper from Graphic 45 and these Kaisercraft flowers just match is perfectly.



The precious innocence and pure love for her new found friend are priceless to me, just like my little fur babies are to me. If you've got one, go give them a big hug and a smooch! They bring such joy to our lives and all they want from us is love and a bit of our time. Go give it to them!

Card Ingredients:

Kitty Love by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, copics, Graphic 45 paper, Kaisercraft flowers, Scrapper's floss, cotton lace, buttons, BasicGrey Bling half moon pearls, SU distresser tool, MS fancy lattice edger.

Happy New Year and Smiles from Belles N' Whistles!

Happy New Year! I'm so glad that you stopped by and I've got one of the new sweetie pies from the new Sweet Things Collection from Belles N' Whistles! Elisabeth Bell has really gone over the top with these cute things and I so hope you enjoy them! I'm going to share Smile with you and share a memory I have of a precious friend of mine, Marybeth, who passed away this week. She was an incredibly giving, sweet, warm, encouraging and talented woman. She and her husband and their kids camped next to us during the summers and we would go play Bingo every Saturday, have coffee every morning and share meals and time together. When I saw this sweet girl hanging on a tree branch, I instantly thought of Marybeth and my girls.



One weekend we were up closing up camp and it was cool and chilly by the lake so in the evening we built a campfire. We went through all of the wood we had on the site and the girls were sent over to Marybeth's site to gather some wood. Being funny, they came back with a small tree and thinking they were going to be hauling it back, thelook on their face was priceless when their dad put the entire tree on the fire! Nichole looked at her dad and said "Dad, we've gone too far and crossed over Mr. McCormack's line!" We all laughed so hard and it was one of those moments that you had to be at to really appreciate but Marybeth laughed so hard when she heard that story. It's times and people like that that make memories precious. Yes, Marybeth was precious to me and I shall miss her more than ever. She encouraged me to write and I think I may pick it back up. Yes, I'll miss her sweet spirit.



Look at this sweet face. I look in it and see my Allie when she lowers her head and her eyes look so big and sweet (or devilish!), I see my Tiffany's sweet cheeks that you could just eat up and I see the shy way our Jennifer has about her, my Nichole all dressed in pink, her favorite color, and my independent Emma. All of my girls and one of the best parts of my life all wrapped up in one image. Now that's a keeper!




I hope you'll take some time to check out the rest of my DT sister's fabulous cards and projects for you! They're all fabulous and you'll be running over to Belles N' Whistles to scoop up these Sweet Things! Here they are:

Anki, Iris, Jacque, Jodi,
Kathrin, Lillian, Rosette, & Lynda!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I hope you all have a very Happy New Year full of health, happiness, and lots of creating! I'm going to try and spend more time with the people who are important to me and let them encourage and inspire me. I hope you find something wonderful waiting for you in this upcoming year.

Card Ingredients:

Smile from Belles N' Whistles, Lemonade Paper Pack from BasicGrey, copics, Stickles, Kaisercraft Flowers, Spacers, pearls, ribbon, MS branch punch, SU ticket punch and distressor tool.

Day 2 of the Advent - Belle's Carol

I am so excited and glad that you've come to celebrate the Advent with us at Belles N' Whistles! Summer has some wonderful surprises for you so make sure to come back and visit every day. My Design Team sisters have the most wonderful traditions and memories of this precious and wonderful holiday to share with all of you.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the music. I love the older, traditional songs as well as the newer, contemporary tunes. When I saw "Belle's Carols", my mind started filling up with the wonderful sounds of the holidays. I remember being a little girl and right after Thanksgiving, Mommy and Daddy would pull out the Christmas decorations and and packed away would be the cutest little paper Hymn books from our church that would have Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, and all of those hymns we grew up on. I would take that book and just look over it again and again and would day dream about seeing myself up on a stage singing to all the world in the most angelic voice anyone had ever heard. Well, if you've ever heard my voice, you'd tell me it's a good thing I can color! I would just sit and practice my stage act on my dolls and sing to the top of my lungs - in my head! I could lip sync like no one's business and I always knew my dolls thought I was the most dazzling of entertainers!



I would love to hear what your favorite holiday carol is so, please share that with us. Oh, Happy Holidays and let the fun begin!

Much love,

Susan

Card Ingredients:

Belle's Carols from Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses Paper from BasicGrey, Stickles, copics, Prima Flowers, BasicGrey Bling half moon pearls, Peppermint Forest paper from DCWV.

Jingle Bells and Reindeer Feed for Belles N' Whistles!

There's a quick and sweet project that I used to make with my girls for the holidays. It's called Reindeer Feed and you put it down on Christmas Eve to lure the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh to your house.




I adore Jingle Bells by Belles N' Whistles. I just love Elisabeth Bell's illustrations and these Christmas Collections are just adorable and magical to me. I could just color and color all day long!




It's so easy to make. All you need is one cup of oats, one cup of sugar and mix in some glitter or some colored sugar or crystals. Some birds don't digest the glitter very well!




I just love this reindeer's sweet face and look at this sweet elf. Have you seen anything cuter?



So I hope you enjoy this quick project for the kids. It only takes a few minutes and gives you lots of sweet memories in return. I know it did for us!

Card Ingredients:

Jingle Bells by Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey, stickles, copics, fine glitter by MS, nestabilities, SU topnote die, oatmeal, sugar, glitter

Christmas Hearth for Belles N' Whistles Blog Hop!

First off, Happy Birthday to my gorgeous daughter, Nichole! I sure do love and am so proud of you! Now, on to the blog hop for our second Christmas Release from Belles N' Whistles! This blog hop is really important to me since I was moving and not able to participate in the first Christmas blog hop from Belles N' Whistles. I love Christmas and my favorite stamps are Christmas stamps and to have them designed by Elisabeth Bell, well, that makes them all the more special! If you've come to my blog from Kathy's, (who is one of our fabulously talented Guest Designers!) then you're on the right track. If not, go to the ever so talented and sweet Kathrin's and start at the beginning! I'd hate for you to miss out on seeing any of the creations from my so talented Design Team Sisters!

I remember waiting up as late as I could with my sister and just dying to hear those sleigh bells or the sound of hoofs on the roof. My girls went through the same thing and to lay in bed and hear them scurring around the house and hearing them whisper in excitement brought back such sweet, warm memories for me. Now I've got two granddaughters to pass the magic of Christmas on to and get excited for all the wonderful memories that my girls will start making with their own families. I know deep down that they all still believe. I know I do!



Our theme for this blog hop was to create a bag, container, wrapping paper, something that a gift could go into so I decided to alter a lunch box type tin and thought this could be a great gift for my daughter Nichole to hold all of her pens, tapes, and gift tags. I've never seen anyone who loves to wrap presents and goes all out on a package like Nichole! Branden has banned her from bringing anymore wrapping paper into the house, but I think she might be able to talk him into a new roll or two! He's very good to her like that and after all, the presentation is as much fun as picking out the present!

I thought this would give you a view of the scene so you could see how great both of these Christmas Collections from Belles N' Whistles can go together. There's nothing better, especially with the economy the way it is now, than to have stamps that are inter changeable!




The top has some great poinsettia's from Prima Flowers. I topped them with some gold Dew Drops.



I love the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Tree and thought they would be so cute in the corner of the room! I tell you, I'm just in love with these Christmas images! I just can't get enough of them!



This is what I did the the inside. Who can resist a picture of Santa on the rooftop? Not a believer like me!



Now hop on over to our Belles N' Whistles Blog and leave us some love! There's a fabulous gift that awaits someone! To be eligible, make sure you comment on each design member's blog along the blog hop and someone will be awfully happy on Thanksgiving when Summer posts the winner! Make sure to spread the word on these gorgeous stamps! Remember, you can start preordering them today, November 23rd and they'll be shipped out the first week in December. Now go on and hop!


Card Ingredients:

Christmas Hearth by Belles N' Whistles, The Christmas Tree from Belles N' Whistles, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from Belles N' Whistles, copics, Stickles, Prima Flowers. Dew Drops, K&Company rhinestones, ribbon, Holoiday Collection Paper from DCWV, Provo Craft box.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Belles N' Whistles

Like I promised, I'm back with my Rockin' Around from Belles N' Whistles and my
Christmas Tree to show you how she can be used for the upcoming holidays. What a cutie patootie she is!

She's colored with copics and I used some Stickles on her and the horse and the tree. I really love this week's sketch by Sketch Saturday. It's just fabulous and so easy to put together. Isn't this Eskimo Kisses paper from BasicGrey the greatest? I love all the patterns in it.

Isn't she just so precious? I totally adore these two stamps!



I really hope I showed how versatile these stamps can be. Come back around Valentines Day to see her in pinks and reds and Easter in gorgeous pastels, Summer in some bright reds, whites and blues, well, you get the idea! Enjoy your day!


Card Ingredients:

Rockin Around by Belles N' Whistles, Christmas Tree by Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses paper by BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, spacers, Stickles, ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Bling by BasicGrey, nestabilities, MS branch punches, hatpin.

Rockin' Around the Autumn Trees with Belles N' Whistles!

One of my favorite things as a little girl was sitting on a hobby horse that my brother had and riding it like I was born on a ranch. When I saw this cutie baby, Rockin' Around from Belles N' Whistles, it brought back some wonderful childhood memories.



I wanted to show the versatility of this stamp and the tree so I thought since New England was so beautiful during the fall, I would pull from the autumn colors and this is what I came up with. The sketch is from this weeks Sketch Saturday day and she's colored with copics. I used some yellow Stickles everywhere to give it a warm glow and cut here and her horsey out and popped them up. Don't you just love the teddy bear hanging on for dear life? I think this Indian Summer paper from BasicGrey is perfect for this card and I used a couple of cuttlebug folders to give it some dimension.

Here's a close up of her sweet face and that precious rocking horse.



I added some Prima flowers and some branches from my Martha Stewart punches and some brown pearls in the corners. I love how she came out! Can't you just see her done up in spring and then summer colors? Oh, the things you can do with her and that tree! Think about Easter, the fourth of July, all kinds of things. Check back tomorrow to see her in a bit more of a holiday setting!

Make sure to stop over at Belles N' Whistles and look at the entire collection and stop over at our Design Team blog and see what the project of the day is. You'll be inspired and challenged, I promise!

And don't forget to look at Follow Your Heart and see the great Elisabeth Bell candy that's going on! Sugarless but sweet as can be!

Card Ingredients:

Rockin' Around by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, Prima Flowers, Indian Summer paper pack from BasicGrey, MS branch punch, ribbon, SU scallop edger, brown pearls

Belles N' Whistles - Lil Miss Poppy Gift Card Holder

I have a quick and easy project to share with you today and Lil Miss Poppy from Belles N' Whistles is here to help me! I love these gift card holders and you can see the tutorial here. I thought that with the upcoming holidays right around the corner, these would make great, quick containers for you.



She's colored with copics and I used some Diamond Glaze on her ribbon and a tiny bit of stickles on her blouse and skirt. I added a bit of decoration by using my flourish punch from EK Success.

Here's a copy of the inside.



And Lil Miss Poppy has the sweetest looking face. I love showing her off!



I'd love to see some of your examples! Show em off, girls!

And don't forget to join in on our blog hop tomorrow! We just can't wait to show off our new release from Belles N' Whistles! Get ready!

Card Ingredients:

Lil Miss Poppy from Belles N' Whistles, Indian Summer Paper from BasicGrey, Flourish punch from EK Success, ribbon, BasicGrey Bling, ribbon

Waste Not Wednesday at Belles N' Whistles

Today is my turn at our Belles N' Whistles Design Team Blog to share my take on Wednesday with you. I've decided to call it Waste Not Wednesday and this is what I created with scraps sitting on my craft table:



Lately I've been making a lot of 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" cards and that leaves me with a 3" strip that is just big enough to put together a card using my scraps! I colored Tania Baking by Belles N' Whistles with copics and then cut her out with my nestabilities. I added a bit of distressed inks around the edges of the image and put a few pearls on the side. I added some stickles and some charms along the side. The paper is all scraps from my Indian Summer paper from BasicGrey that was left over from some other cards. I used some string instead of ribbon so it wouldn't overpower the card. Some pearls in the corner and a Prima flower and a hatpin finish it off. And these were all things that I had just laying around that were too big to throw away but not big enough to use on a full size card. Well, this 3" x 5 1/2" is a perfect way to use them up. And it didn't take hardly any time to put together. Wouldn't these make a cute set?



I keep saying this, but I just love her cutie little face! She looks so intense in her concentration of baking. I wish pies were my specialty! You can do so much with these images! I thought she looked so fallish and I can just imagine her baking up an apple pie from scratch. Yummy!



Make sure you go over and check out Jacque's sweet blog candy and give her a big welcome to our Belles N' Whistles family.

I hope you enjoy using up some of those scraps you have laying around. Remember, Waste not, want not! I'd love to see your 3" card! Show 'em to me!

Card Ingredients:

Tania Baking by Belles N' Whistles, Indian Summer Paper by BasicGrey, Distressed Inks, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Pearls, Prima Flowers, Spacers, Hemp cord, hatpin, copics, nestabilities