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.

Try It Out Tuesday #46 - Box It Up!

It's Tuesday and the always inspiring Suzanne has challenged us to box it up! When I saw Cherry Blossom, I knew I wanted to do her up in some special way and I found this great purse from Jodi and thought it was perfect for her! It was so simple and you can find it here. I got to meet Jodi earlier this year at Stamp New England and was so excited to give her project a try!

She's colored with copics, has some stickles added on to her top and I really tried to keep her elegant looking. I just love this beauty's face. She looks so exotic! Don't you just adore her chopsticks?



This is what this great purse looks like from the side. I just love how easy it was to put together!




Now go on over to Follow Your Heart and see what other great containers my Design Team buddies have in store for you. It's that time of the year when you need something cute and fabulous for wrapping!

Card Ingredients:

Cherry Blossom by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Stickles, Holiday Paper Pack from DCWV, ribbon, Prima Flowers, Silver Rhinestones.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Christmas Morning Tilda Candle

Sure hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Mine was nice and relaxing and I even got the chance to read a book! Well, it's back to work and creating and today, our ever lovely and talented Peta challenged all of us over at Roses on Paper's Design Team to make an altered Christmas project and I made a candle band using one of the new Magnolias from the So Jolly Collection. Hope you enjoy it!



These new Magnolias are just too adorable and I had to color up Christmas Morning Tilda. I like to think of her as going out in the middle of the night with her candle to look for the reindeer on the candle band! I made the band out of some of that gorgeous and fun Eskimo Kisses paper from BasisGrey. I just adore this paper and love the blues and burgandies in it.



I decorated the top of the candle by using my Poinsettia Shapeabilities and I added some Prima Flowers to the top. I love my flowers!



Here is another view of the top. Love these nestabilities!



So head on over to our Roses on Paper Design Team blog and check out the great projects by my design team sisters! And show us your Christmas projects! We love to look!

Card Ingredients:

Christmas Morning Tilda by Magnolias, Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, copics, stickles, Diamond Glaze, Stickles, BasicGrey Bling, spacers, nestabilities, shapeabilities, candle

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

Try It Out Tuesday #45 - Button Up!

Since I've been in Florida, I've gotten a new respect for shopping! My dear friend Sonya has it down to a science, just like our very own, fearless and ever talented leader, Suzanne! She challenged us here at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design to use buttons on our projects this week and I decided to go with something bright and fun, just like Sonya and Suzanne!

This beauty is colored with copics and I added some Stickles to her top and some Diamong Glaze to her boots. I framed her with my nestabilities and threaded some Scrapper's Floss through the buttons and ran one of my favorite BasicGrey paper stacks, Junebug, through my cuttlebug. I really love the embossed buttons on the side.



I love this set of images because you can do just about anything with them! Make sure to stop over at Susana's store blog and see what my design team buddies came up with for you. You'll be guaranteed to be inspired! So go and button up and shop till you drop!

Card Ingredients:

Suzanne from the Everyday Gal Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Junebug paper from BasicGrey, Scrapper's Floss, cuttlebug embossing folders, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, buttons from stash

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.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - It's All About the Romance!

It's time for another challenge for our Roses on Paper Design Team and this time our ever talented and sweetest thing around, Anki, challenged us to create a romantic card based on the movie, Sweet November. A little bit of romance is always needed in our daily life and shouldn't be held up for just special occasions. Some of the most romantic moments in my life have happened in my normal, every day life. Here is what I came up with.

I simply adore Dinner Tilda and you can shop all over Summer's store for these sweet babies! I wanted this card to have a soft, feminine feel to it and nothing says romance to me like lace, pearls and a little glitz!

Tilda is colored with copics and AI love this paper from the Baby and Bridal Collection from Graphic 45 (I simply adore their papers!). I enhanced it a bit with my texturized cuttlebug folder and used my new pendant nestabilities as the background. The flowers are Prima flowers and I finished it off with my two favorite things - pearls and Stickles! And I think the cotton lace added just the right amount of softness. I hope you enjoy her!

Doesn't she have the sweetest face? I could just look at them forever.



Oh, how I've missed my Magnolias! I've got to not let myself neglect them so much! I hope all of you find a little bit of time for some type of romance in your life. We all need that magic!

Make sure to stop by my talented and inspirational Design Team sister's blogs to see their creations. They're all so fabulous you don't want to miss them and you can find their links on my sidebar! And then go over and enter your card on our Design Team Blog! We love to see what you come up with!

Card Ingredients:

Dinner Tilda by Magnolia, Stickles, Prima flowers, Bling by BasicGrey, Liquid pearls, cotton lace, nestabilities, cuttlebug embossing folder

I've Got the Blues - Boho Chic Style!

I've got the blues and there's not much except some coloring that will help it! So our challenge this week for Follow Your Heart, thrown down by our favorite Design Team Leader, Suzanne, was to create something with lots of blue and a neutral color. I chose gold because it shimmers and shines!

Boho Chic is one of the fabulous creations from the Sampler #2 Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and card design and I though she totally fit my mood this evening. A bit bohemian and relaxed, just looking like she's loving life.

I colored her with copics and believe it or not, about the only thing I used on her was some Smooch! I love the red on her toe nails! The paper is from My Mind's Eye and I added just a bit of gold cord and a bow and star charm. I love the Prima flower in the corner and the gold pearls in the corner. Pretty tame for me!




Make sure to stop by our store blog and see the inspiring collections that my desig team buddies have come up with. They never dissappoint you when you stop by for a cup of inspiration! So go around and get the blues!

Card Ingredients

Boho Chic from Sampler #2 from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, My Mind's Eye paper, Blue Moon Charms, Prima Flowers, gold cord, SU ticket punch, gold pearls, Smooch

Make Mine A Latte!

Me, I love me some coffee! Strong, weak, with cream and sugar, with nothing at all, you name it and I love it! There's nothing like the smell of freshly brewed coffee on a cool autumn day and that's exactly what I thought of when I saw Latte, a new stamp from the Sampler #2 Edition from Elisabelth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.

She's colored with copics and I love the colors in this paper by My Mind's eye. I love the retro mod look she has to her so I tried to stay in the browns and oranges for her. To keep the mood going, I pulled out my retro flower punch and used it instead or some regular flowers. I love these brown pearl rhinestones and thought they added just enough to keep the card from looking too overdone.

I am absolutely crazy about this new side of Elisabeth Bell! I love the slightly older look to these ladies and cant' wait to bring more of them to you. You can see the entire collection at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. Don't miss them!

Sorry this is so short but I've been having some major problems with my internet connection and computer and while I think I've got it worked out, I don't want to take too much of a chance just yet.

Card Ingredients:

Latte from the Sampler #2 Edition of Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Diamond Glaze, Baby Girl Polka Dot paper from My Mind's Eye, brown pearl rhinestones, ribbon, corner rounder, EK Success Retro Flower Punch, copics

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.

Atlantia by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design!

It's so exciting to get to participate in blog hops, but when you get to present a brand new Elisabeth Bell stamp, well, for a stamper and for me, it doesn't get much better than that! If you came to me from our inspiring and talented Carolyn, then you're on the right track. If not, make sure you head back over to our dear Jennifer's blog to start off!

This is the new collection from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and Oh, they absolutely take my breath away! And in honor of my move to Florida and my love of the water, I want to introduce you to Atlantia. Isn't she just absolutely stunning? Her and all the others in this new collection will be available for purchase today at 6am California time.



She's colored with copics and has so many different types of Stickles all over her to show her off! I think she looks like she's glittering under water, don't you? I added some tiny Kaisercraft pearls to her and added the sheer blue ribbon and a hatpin that has some underwater colors to them. I wanted to keep her simple and elegant. What do you think?



I used my divine swirls cuttlebug embossing folder and my EK Success wave punch for the edges and called it elegant. You know me and I just have to show off her ethereal face. Isn't she just stunning?



Now make sure you hop on over to our sweet, talented Anki's blog for our next showing! I hope you're enjoying this as much as we are!


Card Ingredients:

Atlantia by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Stickles, copics, nestabilities, Fall Collection Pack paper from My Mind's Eye, ribbon, hatpin, Kaisercraft Pearls.

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

I'm Back with Try It Out Tuesday - Make A Scene!

I've finally made it to Florida and am just about unpacked and can find everything! I'm loving life and sorry I've been away for over a week. I've been settling in and getting comfortable in learning a new job and am loving every second of it! Warm weather, a cute new apartment and new adventures to look forward to. It just doesn't' get much better than this!



After missing a couple of Tuesdays, I'm back with our challenge from the ever talented, Suzanne, challenged us to make a scene and here's my take on it. I used Snow Fun, one of the new releases from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. This one so reminds me of my gorgeous baby, Nichole, who would be out building a big snowman every day if she could! I've never seen anyone who loves the snow and outdoors like my baby girl! Honey, I miss you terribly and hope that you gets lots of snow this year to keep you busy and occupied!

She's colored with copics and I added some Polar White Flower Soft for the snow and some stickles to add lots of sparkle. I added some dimension to my scene by adding some different shaped snowflakes falling around the cutie pop and her snowman. And I love the Eskimo Kisses paper pack from BasicGrey.



Make sure to stop over at our Follow Your Heart blog and see what my always creative and inspiring Design Team buddies have in store for you. You'll never be disappointed by stopping over there! Girls, I've missed the heck out of all of you and thanks for your patience with me while I've been on the move. Love you all!

And make sure to check out the snippets of our new Elisabeth Bell Release that's going to be available on November 12th! It's like no Elisabeth Bell you've ever seen and I'd hate for you to miss out on the opportunity for some sweet candy!

Card Ingredients:

Snow Fun from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Polar White Flower Soft, Stickles, MS Snow flake punches, nestabilities snowflakes, Crystal Rhinestones, Ribbon, Cuttlebug snowflakes folder, SU ticket punch

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

Try It Out Tuesday #41 - Metal Musings!

Did you ever feel just a little sassy? Well, that's how I was feeling today and I decided to add a little bit of pizazz to my day. Our oh so talented Design Team Leader, Suzanne, over at Follow Your Heart, for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, challenged us to use meal musings on our cards so while packing up my stuff to move this week, I found some metal photo corners and decided to use them and this is what I came up with:



Oh, I love me some Rubber Romance! I've always loved Melanie and her shopping bags and thought I'd send her out shopping for some Halloween. I colored her with copics and added some Smooch, Stickles and Diamond Glaze to her and I love this Eerie paper from BasicGrey. I thought it was perfect for her and her holiday shopping spree!



Doesn't she just look fabulous? I added some Prima Flowers with spacers and stickles and let her be on her way home. I'd say she's got some pretty good candy and a great Halloween costume in one of those bags, what about you?

Now head on over to Follow Your Heart and look at what my fabulously talented Design Team buddies have to share with you. You're never disappointed when you go over there!

Card Ingredients:

Melanie by Rubber Romance, Eerie Paper by BasicGrey, copics, Smooch, Stickles, Metal photo corners, ribbon, MS Goop edger, spacers, rhinestones,Diamond Glaze