I have this desire to design my own stamps. I am inspired by my favorite websites like MFT, Bellas etc.. and I just know I can put our some cute stuff but have no idea what the first step would be to get started. I figure, there are so many stamps I want and if they are not out- Ill just draw them… Here are just a few doodles for my chocolate themed images…(watermarked)

I have 12 designs for a chocolate themed stamp set. Who doesn’t like chocolate? Anyone interested? I have some cute sayings in mind too….

1-13-08    Here is my chocolate chip cookie image made into a cute card- photos never do it justice. These look good enough to eat. I colored them in with colored pencils and used bling rhinestone brads. I think it came out cute! The one on the bottom right is popped up for dimension but you cant really see it in the picture.

For this card- I drew the Hershey Kisses and cut them out of cardboard wrapping them in foil and popping them with pop dots for added dimension. I love the googley eyes… Its not want I originally had in mind but-its OK.

1/27/08 My latest and favorite addition to my “Who Needs Stamps” is my chocolate covered strawberry. Looks good enough to eat! I colored this with Prismacolor pencils and I really like the way it came out So many possibilities with this one. I’m enjoying playing and will continue to sketch away. Who know, maybe one day I’ll have my own line of stamps!

I came across this Santa hat for my cat in the store and had to get it. I should have know how difficult it would be to actually get her to wear it. I tried everything from cat nip to treats and after 3000 pictures and many scratches… I got the shot. The expression alone is priceless -

 I bought the stamps from Pink Cat Studio and knew this would be the perfect Holiday card for 2007!  Since we have no kids and everyone is tired of getting photos of me and my hubby’s mugs every year, Chloe will represent the family! I better get busy though because I have a ton of these to make.. I always wait for the last minute for everything!

The inside of the card says: ” Chloe cat says, I wore this ridiculous hat… FOR YOU! … Merry Christmas!”

I just got this image through my wish rak friend “Montana” I have been hoping to get this for quite a while! I colored her in with SU WWC Crayons and added some stickles to jazz it up. The sun and the sentiment are from other SU sets (Sunny Seasons Greetings and Blooming with Happiness). The background is Cuttle Bugged with the mosaic embossing plate and added a few eyelets and a rhinestone to bling it up. I am addicted to these bellas!

I received this knitabella through wish rak too (Thank You Julie Lacey!) I had to have her for my mother who knits all the time- she will love this one! I colored her in with the SU MM Markers. I used liqued appliqué to try and make the wool look like wool - it added dimension but hmmm not sure sure it looks like wool.  She came out cute though..

I have been wanted to get one of these ever since I saw the first one - Thanks to our wish rak group I received a few images to play with and now I know I need to buy these. I’m not sure if its just the great quality of the stamp that makes these look so great or the artist coloring them in-lol!

There are so many techniques out there for coloring these stamps- I just used good ol fashion SU wonderful Water Color Crayons. It was a lot of fun to color-like paint by numbers without the numbers. I took a photocopy of TK’s original “Garden of Prayer” images so I could try to match as closely as possible the colors and painted away. A little time consuming but the end result is beautiful! (especially from far away- it looks really nice)

The colors are obviously not as vibrant as the original- but mine is a watercolor so they are 2 different mediums. I like the effect. Very impressionistic and colorful. These great stamps are from Cornish Heritage Farms : http://www.cornishheritagefarms.com/kinkade.php

I had to get the “Globetrottabella” because it is very fitting since I travel so much…. I couldn’t wait to play. She arrived on July 27th - I just didn’t get a chance to update my blog.

 It’s hard to see-in the picture but I popped the globe and suit case for dimension. I added some stickles/glitter to jazz it up on her head band, belt and the globe. She was fun to color and create. The backgrounds is a Cuttle Bug embossing folder with white craft ink pad to paper to pop the design. I used some SU designer paper and some floral brads…. I think she is cute- I tried a different layout and hoped for the best…

 I made this card today using the SU WWColor crayons and re-inkers with the aquapen. I usually use colored pencils or markers for the bellas so this was a first for me. I like the end result and will have to play with the watercoloring some more.

I made this one today for a co-worker who has a tons of shoes and the best wardrobe in the building- it suits her well.  I used the Happy Birthday cuttle bugged BG and the white craft pad to make it pop. There are stickles on the boots and bow in her her (hard to see) added a rhinestone to the belt and some ribbon and mini brads to finish it off I like this one more than I thought I would- I want all of the bellas they are just so versatile.

My sister and I are doing this catering/waitress thing as a second income and I made this chefabella card to send as a Thank You to one of our customers. I think she came out pretty cute and you never know - maybe I can get a Stampin Up customer our of the deal and kill two birds with one stone …

Okay so I was inspired and felt a little ambitious today. I made 6 more chefabellas and I think one is cuter than the other. So hard to pick a favorite!  I made all of the aprons by paper piecing and matched them to their corresponding background paper. They all have the same design/ layout but all look different.  I love em!

I made this card to inlcude with my nieces graduation gift- it seemed fitting since they are going to Jamaica!

Tonight is my niece Danielle’s Senior Prom. We are very proud of her because she has worked so hard and is graduating in the top ten of over 300 students! She will be studying Biology at Providence this fall and wants to be a doctor.

For her prom Danielle has a purple gown so I used the Daintybella and modified her a little bit. I paper pieced the dress with designer paper and used micro beads to bead the top of it. I used a floral ribbon for dress accents and hair clip. She is colored in with good ol’ colored pencils and I used SU “riveting” sentiment- finishing it off with brads and eyelets. The background is the cuttle bug “You” embossing folder and the words are popped by using the white craft pad direct to paper technique. A lot of work on this card but it came out cute.

For the graduation card- Her cap and gown in obviously gold with a white color. I added dimension to the card by popping the roses/flowers, rolled a piece of paper and made a diploma, popped the cap and tassel too but could barely see it. The background is done with the SU paisley stamp and then cuttle bug embossed with the D’vine swirls embossing folder. Again I used the SU “riveting” for the sentiment. I added some ribbon, eyelets et voila…finsihed one of a kind graduation card. I gave her long hair to match Danielle’s and think it came out ok.

I Love how you could modify these bellas and use them for almost every occasion! Thanks for looking!

I was in need of a few Get Well Soon cards and thought I would play with my “Farm Fever” set by SU. I love quirky stamps and this set is too cute. These are the unconventional feel better cards but they are fun!

“Are you Cured Yet” is colored with the SU WWC crayons which I love! I used Cuttle Bug BG for dimension and texture and the colors are bright and cheery. I like my slotted punch side design with ribbon bows - thought it dressed it up a bit.

The “Are Ewe Doing Okay” is such a quick and simple card and I love the end result. Again I used a Cuttle bug background because it just adds a nice texture- the sheep is puffed up with my favorite “tulip” puffy paint and I heated it up extra long to give it a brown coloring in spots to look like dirt…I think she’s cute!

This is one I created today with my new “Cocktail Time” stamp from Inky Antics. She is too cute! I used stickles to make the drink and her jewels sparkly and crystal effects around the glass to add shine.  I used the cuttle bug embossing folders “tiny Bubble and spots & dots” for texture- I love my cuttle-bug! and the colors are SU’s So Saffron and Taken with Teal.

The “Wishing You the Best” sentiment is from SU’s “Riveting” set and its embossed with silver embossing powder. I, overall satisfied with the end results.