Bella de Ball Challenges...

German Phrase of the Day: Deine Wohnung ist sehr gemuetlich. = Your appartment is very cozy. Gemuetlich (actually spelled with a u with an oolot as opposed to ue) is pronounced: GAY-mewt-lihkh according to my calendar. Julia just asked me to read the phrase to her, and she new exactly what it said. She just amazes me!!!

Over the weekend I managed to make 4 new Bella cards for the Bella Ball challenges over on SCS. Last night before going to bed, I uploaded them all...and when I got up this morning I discovered they weren't coming up when clicking on the keyword search. I finally figured out that somehow in the last 2 weeks my Fan Club subscription had lapsed (Didn't they used to send us an email about that?) and so since it was a Sunday they had to be approved by a moderator. Therefore...I didn't get into the contests. Oh well...I still had fun making the cards. And hopefully, you all will enjoy them!

This first is one of my favorites. The challenge was to make a card using a non-bella StampingBella image. Since I recently ordered a few, this was an easy one. I really loved this topiary stamp when I saw it...I've always had a thing for topiaries. I decided I wanted to have three, so it was going to have to be a tall (or in this case, LONG) card. I flipped through my designer papers, and settled on this pattern from Porcelain Prints. I had actually just got this for free when I got my replacement pack of paper for the Holiday Harmony typo. I LOVE these colors together.

The card base is Not Quite Navy, sponged with the same ink. Then, I added the DSP (sponged of course) and the strip of Certainly Celery. Next, I worked on the topiaries. THey are stamped with Palette Noir ink onto watercolor paper, then colored with an aquapainter and reinkers. I used Cameo Coral to color in the flowers, and some certainly celery to create some green around/among the flowers. For the bow I used Not Quite Navy, and for the pots, I used my Encore Gold pad. I wasn't sure I could watercolor with that ink, but it turned out looking quite cool, with a nice little shimmer to them. I used creamy caramel with a touch of chocolate chip for the dirt in the pots.

I lightly sponged some celery onto the watercolor paper, then attached them each to a celery mat, and then a cameo coral mat. Initially, I didn't think I could fit any ribbon on to this card (what, no ribbon? Perish the thought!!) and so I did the paper piercing in the corners to add some interest. Then, I realized I could put the ribbon on top of the celery strip and it might look kinda cool...so I did. I like how you can see the green strip through the sheer organdy.

I'll have to use one of my Papertrey Ink stamps for a greeting on the inside...something from the garden set I think. Ok...I'll post more as the week progresses....and if I have some time I'll try to post one more later on today.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bella's Topiary StampingBella
CS: Watercolor paper, Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery, Porcelain Prints DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, celery, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, cameo coral, Not Quite Navy, encore gold
Acc: crafter's toolkit, sponge, aquapainter, may arts ribbon

TFL!
-Jana