inspiration EVERYWHERE!

Hiya sistahs!
Just wanted to show you a little something I found in the dollar store. I love walking up and down the aisles in there… the craft section.. the stationery section.. office supplies.. I always find something to play with!

This week I found these amazing wood veneer stickers! They came in different shapes.. I opted for the classic round and oval shapes.

I found them in our local dollar store chain called DOLLARAMA.

venneershapes1

arent they cute?

So I says to myself.. self?  wouldn’t these be AMAZING to stamp on?  Kinda like textured Kraft paper (I LOVE coloring on Kraft)

So I decided to take my black archival ink.. you can use Staz On too I’m sure.. and stamped SLICK CHICK 🙂

veneershapes2

is he not deelish? and that tuft of hair he slicked back?  LOVE.

I then took out my Prismacolor pencils and decided to colour him in..  it was really fun.. nice and smooth.  and love to see the pop of colour!

veneershapes3

I then decided to use my mineral spirits.. some graphite and more pencils to just experiment and play.  Did this come out perfect?  nope.. because I was playing!  And I had so much fun playing!  I realized I really do love colouring on this veneer and THAT was what the experiment was about.. it’s the JOURNEY sistahs.. DA JOURNEY!  I an going to stick him in my journal because it’s always nice to receive flowers isn’t it? LOL.

veneershapes4

I will continue to play with my veneer shapes.. experiment.. maybe gesso it.. maybe try watercolors.. copics.. let’s see where this takes me!

So what I am saying is… always look around for inspiration and PLAY!  Take risks.. wonder..  and you will see how much fun that process can be!

Mwah to da sistahs who love da DOLLAH store and taking risks  as much as I do 🙂

Em

recap/inspiration THURSDAY!

Hiya sistahs!

I just love posting stuff from da sistahood.. so I think I am going to go through our FACEBOOK GROUP and on INSTAGRAM (if you tag @stampingbella and #stampingbella) once in a while and share the GORGEOUSNESS here.. ok?  you DOWN wit dat?  Ok good.

First I wanted to show a card I spotted on FB by Deborah Deruyck using Uptown girl VIENNA on her VESPA… these pleats?  I CANNOT.  If someone doesn’t teach me how to pleat RIGHT NOW I am gonna have a conniption (sp?) fit.  LOL

How stunning is this? so clean and crisp no?  Thank you so much Deborah for sharing this with us.. you are so talented!

viennaDEBORAHDERUYCK

I also wanted to share a card by the talented Christine LEVISON.. using EDNA blows a KISS.. I LOVE EDNA!!!! and CHRISTINE!  Christine told me her mom’s name was Edna so our character holds a dear place in her heart 🙂  I love stories like that!

ednablowsakissCHRISTINELEVISON

Thank you so much ladies for thinking of Stamping Bella before you sit down and create 🙂 it means the world to me!

MWAH and see you tomorrow for bellarific friday!

it’s not too late to enter.. check out the inspiration photo challenge HERE

Em

I love happy accidents :)

Hiya sistahs!  I KNOW I know  a blog post NOT on a Friday!  My goal is to write more.. I say it all the time and have to put it into practice!  So I was playing around in my studio which is a DISASTER…  I have a huge table to work on and have about 2″ of free space to stamp on… ARGHHH.  Anyhow, I decided to play around with what was on the other 875 (not really) inches of my table.. grabbing scraps and doilies and tape and and and… to make this card.

I stamped ESPECIALLY FOR YOU PETUNIA on our Bella’s Bestest Paper  and decided I would only use Petunia and not the little chickie helping her.. Ok so at least I made a conscious decision there.   Then my copics happened to bleed past the lines (ok maybe it was really me and not the copic) so I decided to use my handy dandy scissors and cut around Petunia getting rid of anywhere the *ahem* “copic may have bled through” (lol)… I then HATED the way I shaded her feet… SO I REALLY had to get thinking… and get creative.  I could have really scrapped the whole thing but I did love how I coloured the rest of her so I had to start thinking…..   and thinking.. and thinking.

And Lo and Behold, I decided to take my handy dandy craft knife and cut 2 little slits under her arm… EUREKA!  Because of all my booboos, I found a way to “save” her.. and a WHOLE NEW WAY TO USE HER…  Now that I cut these slits, I was able to “hang” her over the scrapbook paper bit (I found in my mess) and allow her to just “hang out” (she really is a laid back piggie)…

Aside from the fact that I found all the bits and bobs for the card on my table (all 7865 inches of it (not really)).. and the card is a bit busy (ok a lot).. I just wanted to show you how happy accidents happen and how they really can spark your creativity!

I hope you love her as much as I do 🙂

Here is the original “ESPECIALLY FOR YOU PETUNIA” image which you can find HERE

especiallyforyouPETUNIA

 

And here is my card, discovering a way to allow Petunia to “hang out”

especiallyforyoupetuniaEMILY

Yes she’s a little busy, but I am just so thrilled that I have a whole new way to use this stamp!

Would love to hear about your “creative accidents” and how you solved them!

Mwah to da sistahs who have more than 2″ table space to work on 🙂

Em

Zig markers.. my order.. a little bit of DIS and a little bit of DAT

Hiya sistahs!  Why does it feel like Friday when it’s only Tuesday ? LOL.. long week already!

First of all, I wanted to share with you that I TOO wait desperately for my order.. LOL.. as desperately if not MORE desperate than you (is that possible?).  Was so excited to open my mail box and got a box FULL of DIS(this)!

haul

so much fun!

Is anyone addicted to YouTube like I am?  OMG.. I’m SO addicted.  Every night Youtube is my best friend .. that and my Ipad and a pair of headphones 🙂

I bought these markers a while ago… started watching videos.. and now hooked on playing with them LOL…

I watched THIS VIDEO by Jennifer Mcguire.. she has two more … careful.. she’s an enabler LOL

So I decided to play!  The first colours I always try are portrait colours.  They are my fave.  And since I got my big box yesterday.. I was SO excited to pull PAMPERED out and play with her 🙂

So in this picture, my ink smeared a bit which made me scream and curse.. but then I quickly got over it because I knew she is JUST for PRACTICE.  (It took me about 5 minutes to  calm down and stop cursing LOL)

Here i used FLESH and PALE PINK.  this is my new GO TO face colors 🙂

pamperedweb

then I coloured the rest in with other combos I tested.. and then it began to bleed.. and not behave (watercolor has a mind of it’s own). so I just showed you the towel and the face and cucumbers below :)..I also tested the PINK on her cheek which is not the right pink but that’s ok! now I know!   I will continue to  play.. and practice and try to tame my temper 🙂  I love that they have a teeny tip.. you can get them in all of da little bella nooks and crannies.  LOVE!

zigweb

This is the 60 set above.. they are so bright and vivid.  Just gorgeous.  I can stare at the chart all day long 🙂

I will try to practice some more and share some more with you throughout the week!

Mwah to da sistahs who love to CULLAH! (colour) LOL

Em

 

a little bit of MIDWEEK inspiration :)

hiya sistahs!

if you don’t follow us on facebook, then you probably haven’t seen these gorgeous cards made by our very own Paulabella :)… I am trying to woo her back but with her recent amazing news that she’s gonna be a GRANDMA, I don’t think I stand a chance LOL.

Hope you’re having a phenom week 🙂

 

Here’s Paula’s SENIORITA ERMA card

paulaerma

and here’s the inside.. love the PENNANT!

paulaermainside

And here’s Paulabella’s BUDDY and JOLLY card!.. look at those CHEEKIES!!

paulabuddyandjolly

 

Hope you’ll join us for Bellarific Friday!  It was an inspiration photo :).. submit your entry by friday morning to me and I will post 🙂

inspiration 12-nov-14

happy new year to US.. happy new year to US.. happy NEW YEAR DEAR UHHHHHSSSSSSS.. happy new year to us!

Get da picture sistahs?

So happy to be kinda back in work mode.. kids are back in school on Monday.. WOOHOOO!!! (did I say that out loud?  no I typed it so it doesn’t count..LOL)

Well lots of things are happening this new year.. I cannot share yet but what I CAN share is that we are going to be having one HELLUVA mega release.. including new concepts, new ideas.. just when you think there can’t be anything new right?

Well I am popping in to announce that we have a new BABEROONI!!!!  Her name is Tammie Edgerton.. and OMG you will LOOOOVE her work!!  she is one amazing babeabella!

Here is her first project using UPTOWN GIRL OPAL and I find it so perfect for today’s post

tammieopal

you likey?

So what has everyone been up to??? Any good prezzies?  relaxation?  any new resolutions?  i’ll have you guess mine.. LOL

Don’t forget NEXT WEEK Bellarific Friday resumes with a BANG!  So please send me your entries and make our bellarific fridays better than they have ever been!

inspiration picture

inspiration 1-jan-10

I will come back and talk to you about the DOCUMENTED LIFE project again.. I am very into it and am preparing some stamps for it too.. shhh you didn’t hear it from me!

Em

wednesday musings…

Hiya sistahs!

hope you’re having a great week so far 🙂

I am busy shipping.. thinking.. artwork reviewing.. 2014 is gonna be CUH RAZY!! do you hear me???  heheheh that’s me torturing you..

I was surfing my IG feed the other day and just wanted to share a class, idea that my pals are hosting in the new year… This is why I love da sistahood.. we share, we share we share!  Ideas, Inspiration, classes.. I am all about that.. and when I saw this mini class, I thought I should share with you 🙂

I have always been a stationery/leather goods/pen/planner MONGER.. Since I was about 8 years old.. I had a pen collection, papers, stamps, agendas, filofaxes.. you name it.. I owned it.. or at least had it on my wish list..

Every December, I start buying my agendaS for the year because 1 never does it for me.. then I lose where I wrote down my appointment… uch I’m a mess.  So when I saw THIS idea posted on Instagram, I thought it would be perfect.. it’s a planner.. it’s an art journal… it’s whatever you want it to be in ONE PLACE!

It’s called “THE DOCUMENTED LIFE” project..   I think it’s so important to record our day to day.. for History’s sake.. for our legacy’s sake.. for people to understand US later on… for us to look back on.. to remember the good times, the bad times…I love it.  And I wouldn’t post it, if I didn’t truly believe it 🙂

thedocumentedlife

there are AMAZING hostesses in this project.. if you go to Rae’s blog.. you will get all the information.. and don’t forget to join the FB group to get all updates!  And if you haven’t “LIKED” stamping Bella yet on FB, you should!  there are going to be many updates going on there too 🙂  oh and on Instagram.. I’m such a Social Media junkie LOL.

Just a little nugget of amazingness I wanted to share with da sistahs.. Oh and a little hint.. if you are into agenda “decorating”.. you will SQUEAL with delight when you see what I am coming up with :)..

Mwah to da sistahs who are EXCITED!!!

Em

 

a little bit of me and my artwork :)

Hiya sistahs!

So if you ever ask yourselves what I do to unwind (cuz I am SURE that’s what you ALL ask yourselves LOL).. I will answer that question here 🙂

I Paint.

I collage.

I get messy.

I splatter

I splootch

and then I try to make sense of it all.  LOL

I started painting about 4 years ago.. I have always wanted to paint and draw and never had the guts to try.. whenever I drew as a kid I was shot down.. I think it became a part of my subconscious and I always pushed that voice away.  My great aunt was an artist.. I remember going to her house as a kid and saw her drawing table.. her bottles of watercolors.. her brushes and would ALWAYS want to be in that room.  When she asked where I would like to go, I remember always saying the art supply store.. LOL.. not much has changed 35 years later.

4 years ago I decided, that’s IT.  I cannot squash this voice anymore.. this pull.. this tug.  So I went for it.  HEAD FIRST.  KNEE DEEP.  And have never looked back.  I have taken many online classes.. have studied books.. but really I have followed my heart and my own intuition.

Now me displaying my work is hard for me.. i feel naked so to speak.. exposed.  I don’t know if anyone will like it…. or understand it.. or understand how I FELT while painting it..  But I have shown my work to a few people and they urged me to sell my work.  SELL MY WORK?  what ?  are they INSANE?  and then I continued to work in my little messy room and found myself with many unfinished pieces.. so I decided.. with MUCH prodding that I will start selling my work.. whether people like it or not?  I don’t know.  Would they actually hang it in their homes?  who knows.. but the thought of a little piece of me somewhere else to be loved and cherished makes me happy (shhh don’t tell anybody).  I have two pieces hanging at my best friends house.. and every time I see her looking at them, I see how much she loves them.. and THAT, my sistahs, makes me happy.

I am not saying that my stamps don’t make me happy.. cuz they DOO!!! And I still work on other people’s artwork all day for the stamps.. but sometimes, I need to work on me too.. does that make any sense at all?

So I will be updating this website Under ORIGINAL ARTWORK and will post new paintings all the time :). Obviously it all looks better in real life 🙂

so hope you enjoy a little piece of me displayed on your monitor 🙂

"BE TRUE".. an abstract landscape .. collage, acrylics, graphite..

“BE TRUE”.. an abstract landscape .. collage, acrylics, graphite..

the sides.. a bit "graffiti style"

the sides.. a bit “graffiti style”

closeup of the trees and the little collage part "be true"

closeup of the trees and the little collage part “be true”

"Every Woman Has a STORY"... All my "girls" look sad... or not so much sad but Thoughtful.. a little quirky and a bit odd :).. sounds a bit like me!  All mixed media.. including collage, acrylics, and oils

“Every Woman Has a STORY”... All my “girls” look sad… or not so much sad but Thoughtful.. a little quirky and a bit odd :).. sounds a bit like me! All mixed media.. including collage, acrylics, and oil.  An original 1940 letter to a woman is collaged in there.. and my little story on bottom in graphite.

and the sides..  I left them cracked and "exposed" showing how our stories always try to come out somehow or another....

and the sides.. I left them cracked and “exposed” showing how our stories always try to come out somehow or another….

"the Line"... Also mixed media using acrylics, oils, collage.  I love how the collage from underneath prompted the whole painting and is incorporated into it..

“the Line”... Also mixed media using acrylics, oils, collage. I love how the collage from underneath prompted the whole painting and is incorporated into it..

and the finished sides

and the finished sides

 

and there you have it.. a little bit of me… A little bit of VULNERABLE me…

mwah to da sistahs who took a look and smiled 🙂
Em
 

 

 

 

 

 

How about a little inspiration and a sale?

November is around the corner and I need a pick me up.. do you?  Everyone loves a sale and I thought to “soften” the blow of the cold weather coming we would have a 20% off sale.  Whaddya think?  Just put in code: novembersale and POOF, 20% off the whole order… that’s a pick me up no?   So take advantage sistahs!

Now for some inspiration..

the baberoonis have been hard at work and I think it is only right to share some beauticiousness .. oui oui?

Angelabella used UPTOWN GIRL VIENNA on her VESPA

Angelabella used UPTOWN GIRL VIENNA on her VESPA

Angelabella used UPTOWN GIRL BRYNN

Angelabella used UPTOWN GIRL BRYNN

 

Cathabella used LIFE IS GOOD

Cathabella used LIFE IS GOOD

Cathabella used UPTOWN GIRL LOLLY and her BROLLY

Cathabella used UPTOWN GIRL LOLLY and her BROLLY

Danabella used SENIORITA HARRIET... (have I mentioned that I wanna be where HARRIET is now?)

Danabella used SENIORITA HARRIET… (have I mentioned that I wanna be where HARRIET is now?)

Danabella used RAMONA LOVES TO GLIDE

Danabella used RAMONA LOVES TO GLIDE

Marybella used UPTOWN GIRL CHANEL the CHEF

Marybella used UPTOWN GIRL CHANEL the CHEF

Marybella used UPTOWN GIRL AUDREY

Marybella used UPTOWN GIRL AUDREY

Sandiebella used UPTOWN GIRL POSH

Sandiebella used UPTOWN GIRL POSH

Sandiebella used UPTOWN GIRL OPAL

Sandiebella used UPTOWN GIRL OPAL

SOOOOO??? does this wanna make you sit in your craft room/dining room table/kitchen table/floor and make cardsies???? It does me!!!

Hope you enjoyed the yumminess today

Tomorrow we will have GLOOBOOK wednesday.. soooo if you have any scraps all over your craftroom/dining room table/kitchen/floor, stick them in your book and email me the pic and I will post!

It’s such a fun project.  I use the Moleskine POCKET SKETCH book..(size 3.5*5)… such a cute great size :).  I also use and LOVE this glOO stick .. and then all you need is a pair of scissors, scrap papers (vintage ephemera, stickers, labels, scrapbook paper, ribbon, photos.. you name it.. STICK IT.. LOL

And our Sale will be on until next MONDAY so take advantage sistahs

Also don’t forget to post a comment on the bellarific friday post for your chance to win $10 in bella bucks!  AND you can contribute to this weeks’s theme which is due Thursday and you will have a chance to win $20 in bella buckeroonis!

Sound good??

now GOOOOO… GLOO, STAMP, GET MESSY!

mwah

Em

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a little bit of artsy inspiration :)

Hiya sistahs!

Well I promised to share some of my artsy stuff with you so here it is.. if you follow me in Instagram then you may have seen these 🙂

I LOOOVE collage.. I have said that for a long time but I really do.. I love the act of cutting and sticking.. I can’t explain it… finding the perfect image.. finding “accessory” images.. and putting it all into something new.. it’s SOOO much fun 🙂

I have started a little “gluebook” (a pocket sized moleskine sketchbook -3.5″ x 5″) and I vowed not to use ANY paint in here.. JUST paper… and I am LOVING this project.  L-O-V-I-N-G.  Whenever I need to “decompress”.. I head for this book and just cut and stick.  Am I weird? (ok don’t answer that LOL)

So here are some pages from my new GLOObook. (I like how GLOO looks LOL.. )

I drew her in my sketchbook while watching tv and fell SO in love with her that I cut her out and pasted her in my book

I drew her in my sketchbook while watching tv and fell SO in love with her that I cut her out and pasted her in my book

I found her picture from a vintage magazine and fell in love with her expression.. it was kind of how I felt at the moment.. and that's why I tell my story sometimes through vintage images.. sometimes that replaces actual writing for me

I found her picture from a vintage magazine and fell in love with her expression.. it was kind of how I felt at the moment.. and that’s why I tell my story sometimes through vintage images.. sometimes that replaces actual writing for me

Here's a vintage mail inspired page.. with some new scrappy embellishments mixed in.. scrapbook letters, journal card and the cork chevrons.. the rest is vintage :)

Here’s a vintage mail inspired page.. with some new scrappy embellishments mixed in.. scrapbook letters, journal card and the cork chevrons.. the rest is vintage 🙂

 

Tomorrow I will share some of my painting with you too..

WANNA START A GLOO BOOK???  it’s a great way to use your scraps..

I would love to hear.. and if you do.. maybe we can have a GLOO BOOK sharing day.  That would be FUN!

 

let me know in da COMMENTS or send me an email 🙂

Mwah to da sistahs who not only LOVE the way GLOO looks spelled this way, but who also wanna GLOO.

Em