Blog candy!!! (not mine yet!)

I will be having a blog candy thing here in the next couple days (well probably after the Labor day holiday) but until I have mine... You should go check out dawns blog candy!!! she is having a fun game, and she is being very very generous with her give away!
I have some storage solutions that I HAVE to share with you all later today... I will work on that in the next couple hours.
For now go to DAWNS BLOG and see her beeeeeeeautiful blog and the candy she is giving away!

Cards Cards and More Cards

Okay so I am not keeping up with this as well as I intended... i have been so busy... I had to make a crap load of cards for my husband - It was our 5 year anniversary so I had to make some cards for him, and my mom (got married on her b-day) and by brother. So I have been making cards like a crazy fool...

For now though, I thought I would just post some of these last cards I put in the bella house!

If you wanna know anything about the cards please post or email me. I will give you further details...

3 more cards in bellas house

This first card is pretty basic, it would make a good card for a workshop card... the best part of it won't even show on this... The fun flock on the mouses face, hands, legs and tail. Makes him all fuzzy and soft. The inside says "Thank you"! I use almost all Stampin Up colors because I love how everything is so easy to match and everything coordinates. The colors on this one are: Yo Yo Yellow, Basic Black, and Purely Pomagranite- which is a retired color now. I watercolored with my watercolor crayons which I couldn't live without. Stamps: Happy Heart Day (a perfect Valentine's day set) and I used the heart out of Boat Loads of Love.

Fun card to make... and fairly easy.

I made this second card when I first got my new colors. I LOVE the new colors that Stampin up is offering this year...the In Color line is always fun, Trendy colors that explode with attitude. On this card I picked Pink Pirouette, Kiwi and tossed in the Regal Rose. This is one of my ALL time FAVORITE stamp sets... I will be truly sad when they retire it... I use it all the time it seems... Heartfelt thanks. Nothing too exciting about this card... except that I used exactly 1/4 a sheet of each pink (plus a small piece of Pink Pirouette, and a small strip of the Kiwi. This is a paper saving layout and IT LOOKS LIKE I USED LOTS OF PAPER LAYERS.

Let me know if you wanna know more about this technique.

Lastly, We have this fun card... this was my first time with the shaving cream technique. Have you tried it? OH MY GOSH WHAT A COOL TECHNIQUE. I have been stamping for a long time now... and I kept seeing that people do this technique... but this was the first time I actually was "willing to make a mess." (which on a side note, isn't really that big of a mess.) What do you do? Here I will give you a quick explination:

First put some shaving cream into an empty stampin-store box.(the plastic box that you get your stamps in) I just put enough to lightly cover the bottom of the box... at least in the size of the paper you are going to cover. NEXT, drop a few drops of re-inker into the shaving cream (I used the same colors as paper Baja Breeze and Bayou blue) next use a popcicle or scewer or some kind of stick to swirl around the colors in the shaving cream. Until you see the swirls the way you want them to be. NOW lay your Glossy White Paper on top of the shaving cream... and lift. You can sandwhich it with another piece and keep going with the shaving cream in the box - you can make several peices of marbled paper this way. Now with a paper towel gently rub off the shaving cream and your ink and color will be left behind. Isn't it cool!!! LOVE IT!

The colors I used on here are: Baja Breeze (new this year to the SU In Color family) and I used a retired color called Bayou Blue, and whisper white. I used a hostess set from last catalog and I used the background stamp called Canvas. The only other little tid-bit of information that you might need to duplicate this card is I used my chipboard - On Board Simon Lower Case, they have some {'s in there... I popped one out and traced around it... and then I cut it out... I used some sweet little tools called Magic Matters to make a perfect mat around it so that I would have my perfect {... the white one you see next to the word Thanks is paper punched... I used my "Rounded tag" punch and cut it out it makes the perfect shape as well.

Hope you enjoy, if you end up trying the technique you should write me so I can see the finished product! See you in a couple days when I will have 3 more Bella house cards.

Just a few of the cards I put in my Bella House:

There are 15 cards that I put in the "bella house". I just thought I would share a few each day!

This set retired a long time ago, but I still LOVE it! Birthday Banter is the best stamp set that Stampin' Up has had for a long time. (Opinion of course) I used the Word Window Punch to cut the cat tails... and then I used the "cutting tool kit" to cut the grass... the colors are Vanilla, Kraft, and Always Artichoke .

The saying is "We may not be tadpoles anymore... but at least we haven't croaked". LOVE IT!

My next card was this beauty... It is a "gate" card (which means that it opens in the center of the card. I just overlapped the the main pannel over... so it covered the whole front. This is Cupcakeabella - she is adorable... and the saying is from a Hero Arts stamp set I love the tempting turquoise with the brown. The dew drops are from Ellen Hutson. I used Liquid Applique on the cupcake for the frosting.

Here is a picture of the "inside" of the card.

The picture isn't that great but I wanna get this posted so I am not going to go and re-crop it... The inside says "You deserve a day sprinkled with fun!"

This Hero Art Stamps set was made to match the stamping bella - In my opinion of course.

Here is my third beauty for the day... I will do this over the next 5 days or so... This is "Make a wish".

I used Stampin Up! Chipboard to start this one... I used "On Board Blossoms & Basics" the square with the star cut out of it... I popped out the star and covered it with a Luminer acrylic paint and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds. I covered the square with patterened paper - Almost amithyst. I stamped "Make a Wish" from the Mini Mates set. (which is retired) and I put self adhesive rinestones that I got at the $ store. on the card. I have silver cord hanging and then I I put punched out stars on circles with glue dots holding it inplace... It is super shimmery and glittery. Very cute and fairly easy.

Thanks for looking.

I truly appreciate any comments!

Raise the Roof

There is a fund-raiser this weekend for Habitat for Humanity... it is a silent auction. I was honored to donated some cards and this box. The name of the fundraiser is "RAISE THE ROOF" I took the "theme" and ran with it.

Here are some pictures of the box that the 15 handmade cards with dividers.

Do you see the bellas in all the different rooms of the house? I have Bubblebella in the top left corner taking a bath behind "smoked glass". (You know all bathrooms have foggy windows). I have a Fella (I used fisherfella) standing in bedroom putting his change on the dresser - Purple curtains. and then downstairs is their daughter "cosmobella"... she is looking out the window with the flowerbox waiting for the friends to come party with her.

I tried to zoom in so that you can see the door... it is sooo cute.. All cut pieces of paper, so the different "panels" of the door all pop, and then the window is covered with chrystal effects so that it looks like glass in real life. See the little sign, it says Happy is the home that shelters a friend. Each siding board is laid down individually... and the grass is "mowed" perfectly! It is SOOO much cuter than these pictures show!

When you open the box it litterally "Raises the Roof" to the house. Each shingle has been punched out (3/4" circle punch) and then each one was individually shadowed and spounged and glued on one by one.
I was trying to show some of the things that you can do with a house (what the family that is having a house built by habitat for humanity will be able to do now.) So take a bath, have a room to collect money, have parties/friends, and in the background I have all the kids playing in the back yard. Two big trees with a tire swing (Good Year of course) and 3 kids playing with bugs.

The "latch" is just a piece of fiber that wraps around a cloud and a piece of "yard" to close the door.

When you open the latch and open the top of the box, I have the dividers inside... but you can also see that in the trees there are 2 squirrels playing and a blue bird sitting in it's own home. (Hidden message: Other things get homes from the one home that you build in partnership with Habitat for Humanity). Of course this picture shows the dividers as well... There is Birthday, Thank you, Just because, and For you (blank cards)

And lastly there are the sides... I have a mailbox on one side... because there is nothing like getting cards in the mail... (that is why you wanna buy this box.. so that you can send cards to those who you love.) I am all for the personal touch of a handmade card, hadwritten and sealed and stamped to mail - SNAIL MAIL to your loved ones. The other side is a small card just reminding whom ever buys the box-o- cards why they bought it ... It goes to a good cause. I gave myself credit for the creation itself and the cards inside... but I have Copyright information on the bottom of box... giving credit to Stampin' Up, Stamping Bella and Eat Cake Graphics.

I will be showing the cards I put inside in the next couple days.

Thanks for looking!

Laura