PWCO stamp launch tonight!

come by the site for a chat tonight at 8pm EST (6pm MST) all you'll need to do is click on the CHAT button on the blog to join in the fun! There will be some prizes to be won by leaving comments on the different blog post of the reveal so i hope you will join us! Tomorrow i'll be posting my cards from the reveal on my blog.

thanks for stopping by!
Bella

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!

check back on Dec 30th for the release of the new PWCO stamps!!!!

day two of PWCO reveal

My boys went to see Santa this week! I altered Jacob from the Jacob and cookies for Santa stamp to fit him nicely in the airplane! Also I used a paint dabber with white paint to create a sort of snow from on my picture; I'm really happy with the way this turned out.

supplies used:

paper: Collage Press "Joyride collection"

stamps: Little Loud Stamps - Jacob and cookies for Santa

colors: Memento black, Copics, Versa Magic (Jumbo Java), Copic liner black, Zig writer brown/black

accessories: creative cafe rub-on, stickles (sequins, Gold), Ranger acrylic paint dabber (white), Fiskars corner rounder squeeze punch, AC thickers, HS distresser tool

I cannot wait to work with this great design team and to help showcase the awesome stamps that Peggy has in the store!

Thanks Peggy for inviting me to join your team!

thanks for stopping by,

big announcement finally revealed!

OK so I can finally announce that I made the Paperworks Co. design team. Today and tomorrow I am being introduced on the blog. You can see the posts here. They design their own stamps and are the sole distributor for the Little Loud Stamp stamps which are adorable. the two cards below are made with Little Loud Stamps from their holiday collection! Can i just say that the ones I'm working with for the reveal on December 30th are just as adorable!

I made this super cute card set, not sure if I'm gonna give them away or try to sell it on Etsy. I'm in the process of setting up a small shop, so we'll see.

here's a close-up of Jacob and the reindeer. I did some paper piecing for the hoofs, inside of ears, tail and antlers of the reindeer. They are colored with Copics (of course!) and i used some stickles on the tangled x-mas lights.

supplies:

papers: Bazzil kraft cardstock, Collage Press "Joyride collection" papers

stamps: Jacob and reindeer - Little Loud Stamps

colors: Memento black, Copics, versa color (lagoon blue), ColorBox fluid chalk (lime pastel)

Accessories: stickles (sequins), Crystal Stickers glitter dome (reindeer nose), Spellbinders Nestabilities labels two, zig writer (black), Fiskars border punch

here's a close-up of Jacob and cookies for Santa. I wanted to add some texture to this one so for on the stockings I used some kind of very coarse, flaky, white iridescent glitter that I found in my old tool caddie in the basement (hadn't touched it in years!) On the fire I used clear micro beads and on Jacob's santa hat I used white lace stickles.

supplies:

papers: Bazzil kraft cardstock, Collage Press "Joyride collection" papers

stamps: Jacob and cookies for Santa - Little Loud Stamps

colors: Memento black, Copics

Accessories: stickles (white lace), zig writer (black), micro beads, unknown flaky glitter, Offray blue ribbon

Come back tomorrow for another look at my PWCO introduction.

thanks for stopping by,

new member of our family

some of my friends and family already know this, but some of you might not. We are getting a puppy!!! yup, we are crazy! i know it's gonna be a lot of work, but in the long run so worth it (at least that's what i imagine in my head)

Hi name is gonna be Cosmo (unless i decide that it doesn't suit him when i finally see him)

He is a Bernedoodle, that's a Bernese Mountain dog and Poodle cross. We are getting him from Sherry at SwissRidge Kennels she breeds Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles and her mother breeds Bernese Mountain dogs (Cosmo's daddy is Daiko, one of her males, he's gorgeous!) hubby and I both love Bernese Mountain dogs, and want a big dog, but i was very interested in the low-shed factor of the poodle cross. Besides they are just too cute! I picking him up in Little Britain, ON on the 17th. We will have a new family member home for the holidays. it's kinda perfect since my mom nor my sister are coming down to visit. without further ado, here is Cosmo! (picture is from the SwissRidge kennel website)

Thanks for stopping by,

holiday card and snowman soup!

Snowman soup, i bet you are wondering what the heck i'm talking about, i know my hubby did when i told him that's what me and the kids had done that day!

Snowman soup is just a fun way to give away little packets of hot chocolate - even better if you have white hot chocolate! I made a few white ones for the girls back at my old job and i made some with a homemade hot chocolate mix (found a recipe online) for my hubby's employees.

the boys were excellent helpers. i would put the hot chocolate mix in the baggie then Brady would put in some mini chocolate chips and Charlie would finish it by adding some mini marshmallows. (of course they had fun eating the chips and marshmallows! ) don't worry people i made sure they washed their hands before. Then you finish it off by stapling a piece of colorful cardstock, punching two holes, passing a ribbon through and attaching a candy cane stick and the snowman soup poem (there are different variations you can find on the web) i used this one: When the weather outside is frightful,

Snowman Soup can be delightful.
May it warm your spirit and your soul.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

When you feel a chill or 'burrrrrr',
Use the peppermint stick to stir.
Add hot water and sip it slow.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

here's another card i made with the Collage Press papers!

don't forget to drop by on the 18th for my announcement!

Thanks for stopping by,

muffin tin mondays and holiday cards

Muffin Tin Mondays - anybody heard of these??? i think they are fantastic! i first heard that name on someone's blog (sorry i don't remember who) and then i googled it. You can read all about it on Michelle's blog : Her cup overfloweth. The kids just love when i do this for lunch and i don't do it only on mondays, for me it's when i feel like it and sometimes it's twice a week when the kids ask for it. like tomorrow that's what Brady wants for lunch, he calls them cold lunches in the muffins. In October i would use halloween paper cups and now i get to use my Santa paper cups (aren't they adorable!).
Usually i don't line all the muffin cups, just the ones with wet or sticky items. here's the lunch they got last week: -glass of milk (sometimes i stick a juice box in there)

-peanut butter blossom cookie

-dried fruit puree cubes (don't remember the name but it's like "fun bites"

-leftover spaghetti (ok, Brady had seconds of this one!)

-turkey slices

-mozzarella cheese that i cut with a snowflake cookie cutter (that was my favorite piece of their meal!)

Here are a couple of pictures i took of Charlie and my dad tonight, i think they look fabulous!

Ok Ok i said there'd be holiday cards.... here's one (i'll show another tomorrow + other holiday goodies!) i used the Collage Press holiday collection - i just love it! so far i've made 4 cards and 1 layout (they will be revealed soon...)

Oh yeah! remember a while back i said i had good news but couldn't share until december? well don't worry i didn't forget; come back on the 18th and all will be revealed!

thanks for stopping by,

funny things kids say

I always mean to write down the funny things Brady, who is now 5, says but i always forget exactly the way it came out when i go to write it down so this time my computer is nearby and i'm doing it right away.

so here is the context of this little conversation: the kids are extreamly rowdy today and cannot, i mean can NOT sit still or keep quiet for even 2 straight minutes; i think it has to do with the snowstorm they are announcing for tomorrow. Anyways, Brady asks if i can please put on the Frosty the Snowman DVD, i accept on one condition, they have to keep quiet and sit still ( i need a little break after today's raucus! )


Me: Ok fine, i'm putting on Frosty the Snowman but i am begging you...i'm begging you please ...(stay quiet)

Brady interupts: no! no! i don't want to be baked, i don't wanna be baked like a sweet potato!!!

Me: LOL!

Ok now that's funny~!!!!

bellarific 3rd birthday bash

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Bash Blop Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

Three gift certificates for $100 in Bella Bucks will be hidden along the hop, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave some love as you hop!!! Make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 7 at theStamping Bella Blog. MWAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to see Jeanie at The Spotted Chick.

pirate birthday cake

My friend Erin asked me to make a Pirate cake for Ethan's birthday this week-end. Well here it is; finished this morning! i used some gold dust powder on his beard and mustache and then diluted it and painted the earing a nice shimmery gold. The skull and scarf have been dusted with pearl dust powder. i'm someone who will fuss a lot and not be happy if it didn't quite come out with the way i had imagined it. well i can say that i am very happy with the way this one turned out!

On another note, Charlie started coughing yesterday and fever last night, this morning his fever went up to 104F! so needless to say we're taking it easy today.

upcoming plans.... stay tuned tomorrow for Stamping Bella's birthday blog hop!

next week: bake cookies, pies and tourtieres! start X-Mas shopping (yup haven't started yet!)

in two weeks: on the 17th; go pick up our new puppy (it's a 6.5 hrs drive from here! i know we're crazy!) finish up X-Mas shopping!

oh yeah, i really should mail out my X-Mas cards! and this week-end i really have to mail out my mom's present, i'm also supplying her with a dozen x-mas cards.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow!

Bella

1st Pixie dust studio and practical scrapper challenge

here's my entry for the 1st Pixie Dust challenge as well as the Practical scrapper challenge. Kathy, at Pixie Dust, has donated a free digi stamp for this "texture" challenge. here's my take on it.

for a while now i've been wanting to use a Starbucks holiday disposable cup and sleeve on a card. I opened up the card and used it on the front and inside of the card. i used the sleeve on the inside of the card as a gift card holder

here's a close-up of the Santa from Pixie Dust Studio. the white parts of the jacket are colored with clear Atyou Spica pen, then i've added white doodlebug flock on some parts. For the beard i used white liquid pearls. I also used some gold liquid pearls on the bag and some red flock. Sorry for the yellow tint to the color, it's really white in real life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bella

Copic Creations challenge - coloring snow people

Here's my entry for this week's challenge (#17) over at Copic Creations. the challenge: coloring snow/snowpeople.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bella

my fondant class

ok, for those of you who don't know what fondant is it's a sugar paste that bakers use to cover cakes and also make figurines and other decorative elements. Marzipan can also be used, this is almond paste; personally i prefer the taste of marzipan but it is twice the price of the fondant. Either are super fun to use, it's like play-doh for adults! So here's the cake we decorated in my fondant class that ended last week, it was only 2 evenings but so informative. our teacher Steve Paquin from St-Bruno is awesome! I took this class and all the other cake decorating classes at Creations Gourmande in Ste-Catherine.

it's a bit of a modge podge of different techniques so the cake looks a little odd but it was oh so good. Of course i couldn't just make a regular white cake so i made a coconut flavoured buttercream and them sprinkled coconut between the layers. it was good but really sweet.

Thanks for stopping by!

grown up Ian

i got the "grown-up" Ian from TGF and i think they are gorgeous! it's funny because i definitely see one that reminds me of Brady and the other is totally Charlie. I used the Cosmo Cricket boyfriend papers and made good behaviour jars for the boys. well i'm sure it would work well if i kept it up but it's a big job for me to be consistent doing it so it kinda went by the way side. i'm probably gonna use the pics on the jars and make something new for them with it, maybe a sign for their bedroom door or something.

TFL!

Dora birthday cake

My very good friend Claude asked me to make the cake for Kira's birthday, which was last week-end, i was very honored to make this and it was so much fun since i have two boys and will not be making princess, Dora or anything pink for them. Sorry the picture isn't that great but Claude has a good one on her blog. Mommy wanted fondant over the cake but i told her kids usually like the icing better so i iced the cake but make those cute little swirl lollipops out of fondant just for her! The rectangular cake was white tinted purple, because when asked what kind of cake she wanted Kira just said "purple!" Ok so a purple cake it was! the white icing is buttercream and purple one is cream cheese icing. Dora's skirt is a chocolate cake. the road is make with multicolored non-pareils and multicolored licorice and jujubes are used to decorate the rest of the cake. it was very yummy and i love how it turned out! you know sometimes when you make something it just doesn't come out the way you had imagined it in your head? well it happens to me all the time! so i sketched out my idea for this one and it worked out great!

Thanks for stopping by!

yummies...

tomorrow, my good friend Michelle invited me and the family over for supper. Julie and Steph's families will be there also. We try and get together for supper at least once a year, which is kinda pathetic when you think about it. we all live within a 15 or so km radius from each other. Last year we did a girls only supper at Le Local in Old-Montreal, OMG the food was amazing!

So when Michelle started talking about this whole dinner at her house thing i had just finished my first cake class and was so excited about it that i offered, or begged, to make a cake. Ok now since then, with the other classes i've done (pumpkin, fondant...which i have yet to post the pics of the cake) i've made about 1 cake per week in the last month and a half and i have a request

from Erin to make one for next week-end so i'm a little caked-out! (but wait till you see the cake she requested it's so awesome i can't wait to make it!) So when we confirmed with the girls yesterday i told them i was taking care of "dessert", that left my options a bit more opened! I decided to make a Tiramitsu, with real mascarpone not some weird combo of whip cream and cream cheese, it's gonna be so yummy!

i'll post pictures of it later, it has to sit in the fridge over night before finishing it up. Since there is espresso and Brandy in it i made something else for the kiddos. They will be having a brownie pizza for dessert and Charlie helped me with the toppings, ok i think more went into his mouth then on the pizza but that's what's fun about it, right?!

this is super simple to make and takes about 45 min from start to finish. Make a Betty Crocker brownie mix and spread it in a greased round pizza pan, i cooked it at 350F for about 15 min and it was perfectly done. remove from oven and sprinkle some white chocolate chips on top.

let sit on hot "pizza" so that they melt and spread with an offset spatula, they weren't quite melted enough when i tried to spread mine and it pulled off some of the top of the brownie so i put it back into the warm oven for 3-4 min.

Once the "cheese" is spread out sprinkle with your choice of candy toppings and you are done! it's that simple and i'm sure the kids will love it!

thanks for stopping by!