Bella Carta at Art 'n Soul

Last Saturday, Karin Rose showed us a card she has made for new baby twins. She was inspired by two different ideas she saw online; Karin's ability to bring those two ideas together is awesome! And she is very clever in putting all of the handmade elements together! The card top is everything you see here; the card then opens up like any other card with a handwritten note inside.

by Karin Rose

She saw the gate idea, and she saw the grass idea. Don't you love the card cover . . . a garden gate with grass peeking out the bottom and the hanging sign, and then to open the gate and see the baby buggy with the little baby faces peeking out. Buttons for wheels, folded fan for the buggy cover, something embossed for the gate hinge, ric-rac for the buggy trim . . . all enclosed in a handmade envelope! Karin, thanks so much for sharing!

Elizabeth Allan and Jill Foster show cards they've made with a Penny Black stamp in common.

by Elizabeth Allan for Penny Black

by Jill Foster for Penny Black

Here's the link: http://pennyblackinc.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/introducing-sunny-stamping-feathers-fur-and-friendship/

Penny Black recently announced a winner to their Website Wonder contest. The winning card design is from Swarup Murthy and her blog name is: storyteller.

by Swarup Murthy for Penny Black

This is the link to the Penny Black blog announcing her winning entry (http://pennyblackinc.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/website-wonder-winner/) and this is the link to her blog (http://sanketij.blogspot.com/2014/03/thinking-of-you.html) . . . I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Helene has posted more mixed media designs from a Magenta class she taught in Montreal. She is very proud of the students' works using Magenta stamps, and she should because they're beautiful. Here's a sampling:

by Sonia Simard, Magenta Class by Helene Metivier

by Catherine Lambert, Magenta Class by Helene Metivier

Here's the link to Helene's blog so you can enjoy the other cards made in her class: http://helenemagentastyle.blogspot.ca/2014/05/mix-media-mixed-media.html

Linda Lucas, Artist-in-Residence for IMAGINE Crafts, has made a card using pasta! Yes, I said pasta! Check it out . . .

by Linda Lucas
Artist-in-Residence for IMAGINE Crafts

Here's the link so you may see how she worked pasta into her creative techniques: http://imaginecraftsblog.com/2014/05/08/colour-outside-the-square/

This is another stencil idea from the Memory Box blog.

by Pam Sparks for Memory Box

Here's the link to the how-to: http://davebrethauer.typepad.com/outsidethebox/2014/05/may-flowers.html

Another fun idea. A customer was in the store Friday morning and she was going to use this Memory Box die for a Mother's Day card for her daughter-in-law's sister, who recently had triplets. She was going to add one more baby duck in the line of babies for the card top.