Snow Village

Hello Everyone

I promised I would share a couple of cards created with the beautiful new 'Snow Village' papers from Pink Paislee.

This first one was created by Wendy Gay and is absolutely stunning - I am not sure the picture does it full justice so you will just have to take my word for it!

It is an 8"x8" card and Wendy has used two sheets of the beautiful 'Eggnog' paper which has allowed her to cut two sets of the poinsettias and deer out giving the 3D effect.  The paper has a number of different designs incorporated in it which gives this layered effect and in addition Wendy has used the IndigoBlu 'Harlequin' stamp with 'Lancashire Rose' Megaflake.  The ribbon is faux silk ribbon in white which Wendy coloured using Distress stains so that she could get exactly the right colour and has used her own border punch for the pine needles.

This next one I created using the Snow Village 'Peppermint Patty' paper as a background, both sides.  The beautiful 'Poinsettia' stamp from IndigoBlu goes beautifully with this range and I stamped and embossed it using Gold embossing powder and then cut out and layered the flowers.  The Kraft card I tore and then inked the edges using Versamark Ink in a random way and then once again using Gold I heat embossed which gives the random effect and extra detail.  I also stamped the craft card with the IndigoBlu 'Script Background stamp' to add a little extra detail.  The sentiment is an old one from Kaisercraft which sadly is no longer available.

I hope all your Christmas preparations are going well and if you want to make a few more Christmas Cards then these beautiful papers from Pink Paislee are a joy to use.  They are also brilliant for creating your Christmas Scrapbook memories.

Have a wonderful day.

Kate xx

Getting Creative with Pink Paislee

Hello Everyone

We recently took delivery of two new Pink Paislee ranges; 'Hey Kid' which is a hip and happy collection suitable for kids of all ages and 'Snow Village' a beautiful Christmas/Winter range.  I absolutely love both ranges and couldn't wait to start getting a little creative.  Using the 'Hey Kid' range I created this layout of my nephew at his Prom.  The photo isn't brilliant quality but I wanted to record the event.

'Smarty Pants' by Kate Holliday

I used the Hey Kid 'Marco Polo' and 'Simon Says' papers and the 'Element Stickers' which includes the arrows and letters.  The chevron arrows were created using the Crafters Workshop 'Mini Chevron Arrows' Mask which I inked through using the 'Crushed Olive' and 'Peeled Paint' Distress Inks. To add a little more 'grunge' I stamped using the Tim Holtz 'Spills & Splatters' stamp set which I 'inked' with the Adirondack Paint Dabber 'Pool'.  The 'washi tape' is the new Prima 'Washi Tape Wood Mount Stamps' which are incredibly versatile as you can create 'washi tape' in any colour to match your project.  The journaling square was created using the Banana Frog 'It's all about documenting' stamp set which is another very versatile set.  I lifted various elements using 3D foam to give some depth and distressed and inked most of the edges.  I had great fun getting inky on this layout and using the fun elements from this great range.

I have a couple of cards using the 'Snow Village' range which I will share tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Kate xx

ScrappyDayz Retreat

Hi All

Nicky and I have just spent an amazing weekend at the Scrappy Dayz Retreat which was held at a Premier Inn in North Cardiff.  The Retreat was full of lovely ladies, fabulous classes, sweet treats galore, an amazing raffle and bingo with a huge array of prizes.

We had been invited to take the shop by Penny Kafai who organises the event and runs crops in the local area too.  Penny and Elaine Corcoran ran the classes with some stunning layouts being created and it was a truly inspirational weekend.

I thought you might like to see the Bellaboo shop in all its glory...

 Some of our new Home Decor products from Artemio.

 Inks and more!

 Messy stuff!

 Some card samples made by the very talented Tracy Harris using some of our large IndigoBlu range of stamps.

 Just some of our ever increasing stamp range.

 Punches and pretties!

 More pretties and bling.

 Our Christmas table including our new Christmas range 'Snow Village' by Pink Paislee.

And Nicky slaving away over a hot crafting table :).

Anyone for Bingo?!  Our Bingo caller Sarah-Jane who did a brilliant job - it was hysterical but I do need to practice my Bingo technique, I wasn't very good!

Penny has another retreat booked for the 17th-19th January 2014 and there are still a few places left and I would really recommend coming along.  The Retreat is very reasonably priced at just £150 which includes six classes and the room is large and bright.  Acccommodation is on top of that but it is extremely well priced and the hotel and staff were excellent, can't be faulted, so what are you waiting for?!

I will be back with some of the bits Nicky and I created whilst we were away.

Have a great day,

Kate x

A bit of an apology!

Hello Everyone,

I owe a big apology to the lovely Sue Johnston who sent this beautiful layout of her daughter's Prom.  I asked if it would be ok to put it up on the Blog and she very kindly gave permission only for me to promptly forget!  So sorry Sue but thank you so much for sharing.

The paper is from Websters Pages 'Country Estate - Calm Moments' which is a stunning paper and the colours work beautifully with the photo.  Sue has added some lace, a stick pin and some die cuts to embellish the page but with the beautiful paper and stunning photo very little is needed.  Sue did some 'fiddly cut' decoupage to the flowers using a second sheet of the paper and also inked with 'Antique Linen Distress Ink' to make it less pretty - her words, not mine :D.

Thank you so much for sharing the layout Sue and my huge apologies for the oversight in not blogging it before now - blogging seems to have got away from me lately :(.  I do love to see what you all create as we all draw on inspiration from other people's work so it s lovely to share, so please do send me pictures of your creations using the Bellaboo products.

Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

3,2,1 .... Go!

Hello Everyone,

Rather later than anticipated (forgive me, we have been a bit birthdayed out over the last 10 days in our household and everything has got behind!), we have our August Blog Challenge.

This month we are having a 3,2,1 challenge.  Create a layout, card or off-the-page item using the following recipe:-

3 embellishments

2 patterned papers

1 image/photo

How you wish to interpret this is up to you but this is the basic recipe and we will leave you to have fun cooking up your creative masterpiece!

To get you started I have a couple of cards to share created by the lovely Tracy using the recipe above.

3 embellishments: Flowers, Adage Ticket, Feather with die
2 Patterned Papers - Prima Nature Garden
1 Image - From Nature Garden Paper

3 Embellishments - Ribbon, Dazzler, Die-cut leaf sprig

2 Patterned Papers - the patterned papers were created by Tracy using Stamps and chalks

1 Image - IndigoBlu stamp image  from Wild Meadow stamped in Faded Jeans Distress Ink

I am sure you get the idea. We will randomly choose the winner and you can enter up to three times as long as they are different creations.  The winner will win a £20 Bellaboo e-voucher, so definitely worth entering :). All that we ask is that one of the main products you use on your creation is a Bellaboo product ie a stamp, patterned paper, one of our kits, a mask etc and mention this on your Blog post with a link.  If you don't have a blog you can still enter, just send me an email with a photo of your creation. Please either email through your entries or add them to the inlinkz icon below by midnight on Monday 2nd September GMT (slightly extended as we are late getting going this month).  

Do have a go, we can't wait to see your entries :).

Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

And the winner is ....

Well we didn't have lots of interest in our July 'Flower Show' Challenge but nevertheless we have a worthy winner, chosen at random, and that is ...

Sue Wilkins

With this lovely creation:-

Congratulations Sue, you are the winner of a £20 Bellaboo Voucher.  Do get in contact to claim your prize.

We will be having another challenge this month so look out for details coming soon.

Have a great day

Kate xx

Flower Show Finale

Hello Everyone,

I have one final layout to share with you from the Flower Show Challenge that came in by email late last night.

This stunning layout by Deb Whittaker uses the papers from October Afternoon's 'Woodland Park' range. The flowers in the papers pick up and emphasise the beauty of the flowers from Deb's photos from her visit to the Eden Project - so a double whammy of floral splendour!

I am sure you will agree that I couldn't not share this beautiful layout.

The winner of the Challenge will be announced later today.

Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

Flower Show Entries

We have had some beautiful entries to our July Blog Challenge 'Flower Show' which have been sent in by email.

This first one is an 8"x8" card created by Alison Drummond-Jones and features papers from the Kaisercraft 'Miss Nelly' range.

 This is a 12"x12" layout created by Sue Wilkins and features papers from the Prima range 'Sun Kissed'.  Sue actually sent in three layouts, all gorgeous, but unfortunately I seem to be having some technical difficulties with uploading the other two (I will work on it!!!).

You just have a few hours to get your entries in if you wish to have a chance of winning a £20 Bellaboo voucher.  Full details of the challenge can be found here.

Happy crafting!

Kate xx

More Flower Show

Hello Everyone

Well the weather has been extremely hot here in the South East of England and we are just not used to it!  I love a bit of summer and sunshine but can't cope when the heat gets up into the late 20s and 30s!  Clearly I am never happy but hope you are wherever you are :).

This is a reminder about our July Challenge 'Flower Show' and you have just over a week to get your entries in as it closes at midnight on the 31st July.  I also have some more gorgeous ideas from the Design Team.

'Box Frame' by Wendy Gay

This stunning box frame created by Wendy uses papers and embellishments from the Prima 'Engraver' range together with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Glossy Accents (used on the flower stem) and Yorkshire Dales Mega Flake with FlitterGlu.  Full details can be found on Wendy's Blog.

'Our Flower Show' by Martina Gardner

Martina has used the beautiful new papers from Echo Park's 'Beautiful Life' range to proudly showcase her hanging baskets photo.  Flowers abound in this layout from the photo itself to floral papers and diecut flowers and even a trellis complete with climbing roses - lovely detail.

'Bloomin Great' Card by Tracy Harris

This sweetly pretty card uses a few different stamp sets.  The sentiment is from the 'Blooming Great' Stamp set, the flowers from the 'Clockwork' Stamp Set and the swirl from the 'Wild Meadow' Stamp Set, all by IndigoBlu.

'Wisley in Bloom' by Nicky Parry

This beautiful double-page layout by Nicky is another profusion of flowers, mainly, this time, from the photos.  Nicky has also used the beautiful new Echo Park range 'Beautiful Life' and used the reverse of 'Stripes' paper which as you can see is a more subtle stripe.  Many of the embellishments are from the Beautiful Life range and the washi tape is from the October Afternoon 'Woodland Park' range.

As you can see, there is a broad range of ideas and the 'Flower Show' theme really lends itself to an open interpretation.  Full details of how to enter can be found here.

I hope you have a great rest of your week and Happy Crafting!

Kate xx

Butch it up!

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share with you this great layout created by Deb Whittaker.

'Cycle in the Woods' by Deb Whittaker

Deb has used the 'Bunny Tail Trail' paper from the Woodland Park range by October Afternoon in conjunction with some scraps leftover from previous layouts she has created using the Attitude range by Kaisercraft (the 'Center Parcs' lettering is also from the Attitude range).  What I love about the layout is that because the photos are of her two teenage sons she has 'butched' up the cute Bunny Tail Trail paper with the strips from the Attitude range, giving the effect of cycle tracks, which really works and even the addition of the flowers, which because the colours all tie-in, doesn't make the page too feminine at all.  Love it!  Thank you for sharing Deb.

Don't forget that we have our July Challenge 'Flower Show' going on throughout the month so make sure you get your entries in; full details can be found in our previous post.Thank you for sharing Deb. 

Have a great day!

Kate xx

Flower Show July Challenge

Hi Everyone

I cannot believe we are already in July; where does the time go to.  Really sorry I have been so remiss at blogging - there has been an awful lot going on at home over the past few weeks that my crafting has definitely taken a back seat :(.

Anyway, onwards and upwards and I am really excited to tell you about a new monthly challenge we will be having.  At the beginning of each month we will give a theme and you can create a layout, card or off-the-page item that fits in with the theme and submit it by clicking on the inlinkz icon at the bottom of the blog post.  We will randomly choose the winner and you can enter up to three times as long as they are different creations.  The winner will win a £20 Bellaboo e-voucher, so definitely worth entering :).  All that we ask is that one of the main products you use on your creation is a Bellaboo product ie a stamp, patterned paper, one of our kits, a mask etc and mention this on your Blog post with a link.  If you don't have a blog you can still enter, just send me an email with a photo of your creation.

The July Challenge is....

FLOWER SHOW

This can be a layout with photos of a Flower Show, floral papers used in your creation or perhaps a floral stamp, the choice is yours.  To get you started we have some creations from the Design Team:-

'Just for You' Gift Box by Nicky Parry

Nicky has used the 'Park Drive' Monthly Kit to create this beautiful box and the Wild Meadow Stamp Set on the sides and tag.  The box will have cards in and makes a beautiful gift.

'Hinge Card' by Wendy Gay

Details of Wendy's beautiful card can be found on her Blog.  

She has used flowers and papers from the Prima range 'Engraver' 

'Thinking of you' Card by Tracy Harris

This beautiful card is created using the Blooming Great Stamp Set from IndigoBlu., Distress Inks, Walnut stain, Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge and Brighton Pier Megaflake and Flitterglu.

'Bloom & Grow' Layout by Martina Gardner

Martina has used papers from the Miss Nelly range by Kaisercraft to create this lovely layout of her daughter and with the leftovers she has created this pretty card. 

'Opal the Optimist' Card by Kate Holliday

I have used one of the new Stamping Bella Stamps 'Opal the Optimist' together with the gorgeous new papers from Echo Park 'Beautiful Life'.

Just a few ideas to wet your appetite, we can't wait to see what you create, so make sure you get your creations in by midnight on 31st July for you chance to win a £20 Bellaboo Voucher.  Good luck!

Kate xx

Attitude!

Hi Everyone

I have a layout to share with you today.  It is created using papers from the Kaisercraft range 'Attitude'.

'Man with Van' by Kate Holliday

The layout is of my son taken last summer.  He had got himself a summer job and was delighted when that included doing deliveries in the firm's pick-up truck!

I have curled and distressed the papers and created a 'frame' using the 'Teenager' paper.  The 'Dude' paper has a very pale reverse side so I stamped on this using the Tim Holtz stamp set 'Ultimate Grunge' which, as the name suggests, helped to grunge things up a little!  In addition I added some 'splatz' (such a wonderful technical term!!!) using the Black Soot Distress Stain.  You literally hold the bottle up high and bang it down on your paper creating .... yes, you guessed it, a splat!  This simple but wonderfully effective technique is a little addictive and I think I may be 'splatting' on everything!  

I layered up the photos using a gears die by Tim Holtz which I have in my own stash and die cut the title and also used some little alpha stickers.  I created a little file folder to hold the journaling which I made out of 'Rebel' paper which has a great distressed fence design on the reverse which I really love.  I tied up the folder using Black Bakers Twine.  All edges were inked using Black Soot Distress Ink.

Thanks for looking

Kate xx

Peg Challenge

At this month's evening crop, which is held on the last Tuesday of the month, I had set a challenge to 'decorate a peg' to our ladies a few weeks before.  The idea came from a challenge that was held at the Scrapstars Retreat which we took the shop along to in March.  At the Retreat we were given the pegs on the evening and just had a short while to complete the challenge but my ladies were given a whole month and you can see by the quality of the designs that they really had fun with this challenge.

First of all I will show you my rather humble entry which I photographed at home ...

I painted my peg white and then stamped the Tutu Toad stamp and coloured him with Promarkers.  I cut the image out and made a little skirt with an off-cut of tulle - such fun, and it makes me smile looking at it.

These were the enries on the evening.  As you will see there were only a few but two of the ladies had sourced 'super-sized' pegs which, as I hadn't specified a size, was certainly allowed!

This beautiful peg was created by Wendy Gay and you can see it from the front above and a side view below.  Wendy has used her peg the traditional way round and will use it to hold notes etc.

This stunning peg was created by Tracy Harris and Tracy has used her peg 'upside down' so that the peg can hold a photo etc for display and co-ordinated it with the colours in her craft room where she wants to display it.

 From the front above, and side view below.

 This fun little peg was created by Linda Sutherland and is a normal size peg with two miniature pegs holding a row of washing, so cute.

 On the side Linda has hand written some 'wash day' words :).

Sorry about the quality of the photos but the crop ones were all photographed in the evening when the light was poor.

I am now thinking about a challenge for our next crop!!!  If you would like to join us, we are based in Stoke Poges in South Buckinghamshire and have two crops a month; the last Tuesday evening of the month and (usually) the second Saturday of the month.  Contact me if you would like more details kate@bellaboo.co.uk.

Have a wonderful day.
Kate xx

Romance Novel Card

I wanted to share this beautiful card with you that was sent in from Wendy Gay.  Wendy always produces the most beautiful, intricate work and this card is no exception.

The card uses papers from the Prima 'Romance Novel' range which Wendy has teamed up with 'Baby Pink Light' Bazzill cardstock.  The ribbon is white 'Faux Silk' which has been coloured with 'Tattered Rose' Distress Ink.  Wendy has distressed all the edges using the Tim Holtz Paper Distressor and has even created a miniature calendar as an embellishment by stamping the Technique Tuesday 'Its a Date' stamp onto shrink plastic.  The other embellishments are Wendy's own.

I am sure you will agree it is a stunning card and many thanks to Wendy for sharing it with us.

Kate xx

March's Lucky Follower!

Hi Everyone

As promised, we have the winner of our March Blog Candi Giveaway and the winner is.....

Hannah Ainsworth

Congratulations Hannah you are the winner of a £15 e-voucher.  If you would like to contact me I can give you all the details of how to claim your prize.

We will be having a draw every month so if you are not yet a Follower on the Blog make sure you add your name to be in with a chance of winning in April.

Now I have a little card to share with you.

This is a card I created for my husband's birthday a couple of weeks ago using this fun stamp from Stampendous 'Icing Fluffles'. This image really makes me smile and works perfectly for a man or a woman - very versatile.  Here I have used it in conjunction with the Echo Park 'Little Boy' range of papers and have stamped the image twice, once onto white cardstock and again onto 'Cool Stripe' paper from the range and have paper pieced the cupcake case and 'Fluffles' party hat.  The icing, once coloured, I have gone over with Glossy Accents and added 'Stardust' Glitter Glue to the 'sprinkles'.

To finish I created some bunting and also stamped and created an embellishment using the 'Year Round' stamp by Technique Tuesday to mark the date of my husband's birthday - I love this stamp, it is great for cards and scrapbook layouts.

If you order today, all these products have 20% Off in our Easter Sale but hurry because the Sale ends at midnight tonight.

I hope you have a happy and relaxing end to your Bank Holiday Weekend and a belated 'Happy Easter' to you all!

Kate xx

Altered Book

I was delighted to receive these pictures on an email yesterday from the very talented Caroline Lovett.  Caroline has created this gorgeous open altered book using more of the Madame Boutique Kit.

There are so many gorgeous elements to this kit which you can really go to town with and these are also able to enhance and stretch your papers etc.  As you can see, Caroline has not only used the die cut elements that come with the kit but also used punches and dies to create flowers and butterlies and some sweet rolled roses.

Caroline has created a stunning display item for her home and I certainly feel inspired!  Thank you for sharing.

Have a great day,

Kate xxx