Bellaholics Friday Embellishment Clallenge...Clearly so much fun!

It's the first Friday of the month so that means it is my turn to challenge the sistahs over at Bellaholics Anonymous. This month is CLEARLY going to be lots of fun.

Here goes...

Use Acetate or a transparency as your card base and then embellish with something else clear. Use baubles, micro beads, rain dots, epoxy stickers, rhinestones, Tim Holtz's fragments, etc. There are lots of clear embellishments out there. Here are a couple of examples, although the photos are not great (taken with my phone because I can't find my camera). Acetate is hard to capture, they are always so much better IRL, but you get the idea. These cards are shown standing up and a little bit open. The oval image and the rain dots are on the card front. The white is on the inside with the frog stamped on it and the yellow is attached to the back of the card so that a border shows through.

Supplies:

Belinda Bumberboots - Stamping Bella

Clear acetate paper cut to 8.5" x 5.5" and scored in half.

Bazzill Swiss Dot Paper - Nestabilities Ovals - Rain Dots Stickers

Frog Stamp -Stampendous, Copic Markers

More of the same idea except this one is a Changito Stamp by Stampendous. The Monkeys are flocked...of course! If you are participating in this challenge I have created a folder on the photo site to share your creations Have Fun!

Special Delivery... it has come full circle.

I had a rotten day at work. I won't bore you with the details but it was bad. Until around 3:30 pm when a package arrived for me.

I have been waiting for this special package from across the sea (France) for a while now. I had it sent to my office because I couldn't take a chance that it would be left on my doorstep unprotected. I know what is inside and it brings a smile to my face and a tiny tear to my eyes. I carefully walk back to my desk to open my special delivery when a co-worker asks, "Is that what I think it is?" she knows I have been waiting. I walk to her desk instead and open it carefully while she watches. This is what I find inside.
For those of you that read my blog, you know. For those who are reading for the first time here is a bit of the story behind this image. This is a birthday gift for my daughter who turned 21 on Wednesday. It is a one of a kind original painting by a very talented lady, Gretchen Jakub Fabre of Chichiboulie.

It is also a tribute to another mother, a sleeping beauty, who has touched my heart. Her name is hidden in my painting. It's sweet reminder of why this was created. I won the auction Gretchen had to raise money for Nie Nie. I had this done to celebrate the bond I have with my daughter, and my hope is that my donation in some small way helps NieNie to have the chance to build a similar bond with her daughters.

Suddenly my "bad day" seems so insignifigant, who am I to complain about anything...life is good.

Sneek Peek...

So my last few posts have been about a very special thing I am working on. Finally I have a little something to reveal (with Gretchen's permission). This drawing means so much to me I cannot even begin to put it all into words... but here goes. Gretchen wanted to help NieNie. I wanted to help too. I love Gretchen's work so it made sense for me to help her help...get it??? I won the auction and sent my donation to the Stephanie and Christain Nielson Fund and the forwarded Gretchen my receipt. She asked what I wanted and so I explained.

I want something special for my daughter. She turns 21 in October. I am so very proud of the young woman she has become. We are very close and she loves stamping and scrapbooking like I do. We both fell in love with Gretchen's fairies on Stamping Bella. I wanted something to celebrate that special bond between mother and daughter. I also wanted something that would in some small way honor Nie Nie because her view of motherhood has inspired so many and after all she is the reason for the design. I emailed Gretchen my ideas along with some pictures of Ashleigh and I and she got right to work. I knew I would love whatever she came up with becuase I so love her style...but I had no idea. Here is what she sent me originally.



I love her sketchy sketch, obviously an artist at work. I am not sure what I had in my mind. I have one of her images of Lottie and Gussie and I asked for something along those lines. When I opened the email and saw her interpretation of my ideas I cried. This was much better than anything I had ever imagined. She even hid "Nie Nie" in there...can you find it? She also included little hearts that say, "my mother", "my daughter", "my soul" in French. How perfect is that?? Now Gretchen asks for changes or additions. I only have a few, Ashleigh's hair needs to be curlier, she needs to be wearing a hoodie with her hand in the pocket (anyone who knows her will get that). Another idea, maybe hang the hearts from the branch of a tree...a family tree.


Again she went to work and here is her final draft....I am in awe.




Now she will hand paint this just for me. I cant wait to see it colored. We also talked about another idea...a way for this image to keep on giving...more details on that to come.

So Excited!!!

A while back I posted something about an auction that was being done by one of my fav artists on behalf on Nie Nie. Click here for more info on NieNie. Well I won that auction and now I am working with Gretchen from ChichiBoulie on something really special. She is making a drawing of mother and daugher fairies. I asked for this because my DD will be 21 years old in October. We are very close and I thought it would be something special to give her. She loves the ChichiBoulie fairies too and she is going to college in Utah not far from where Nie Nie grew up. One of her roomates knows Nie Nie. You can donate too by clicking here.



Anyway, I was happy to be donating to the NieNie Recovery fund anyway and getting an original piece of ChichiBoulie art is icing on the cake. I just received a first draft of the sketch from Gretchen. Her talent amazes me. I am hoping to post it here, but I want to ask her permission first since it is her orignal work. Anyway I can't wait to share it with all of my sistahs, and if my dream comes true I may have something else special in store too.

Win some original ChichiBoulie Artwork

Wanna win some ChichiBoulie original art hand watercolored just for you???? Check out her blog for a chance to win and help out an amazing family at the same time. Click here to find out more. Right now I have the highest bid but I really want someone to beat me and give more to this family.

To find out more about the family and their tragic accident click here. To donate directly click on the Nie Recovery button to your right. To send a card to decorate their recovery room .

c/o c jane
2250 N. University Parkway #4876
Provo, Utah 84604-1590