How is 2018 nearly over already?! I feel like this year went by SO fast, and I was constantly trying to keep up, but here we are just days before the start of a new year, and new possibilities. Today, each member of the Stamping Bella design team is looking back on the year that was, and choosing their top 10 favourite cards from the year. I'll be honest, choosing my favourite 10 was not easy, because there are so many beautiful Stamping Bella images to choose from (and even a new release just on Boxing Day!). Not to mention, December 1st marked my first anniversary of being on the Stamping Bella design team, so I've made 60+ cards using Stamping Bella images this year. But I did select 10, and so here we go...starting the countdown: 10. Uptown Girls Snapshots Minis I love these images of girlfriends sharing secrets, supporting each other, and just being silly. They also come individually in a larger size, but here I used the set of all four in mini versions all on one card. I coloured all the images with Copic markers and popped them up on some craft foam over strips of cardstock in black and gold foil. 9. Uptown Girl Faith the Fairy Here I masked the image and used Distress Oxide Inks to create a dreamy background for Faith the Fairy. The sentiment embossed on vellum, and is so perfect for so many different occasions, or just for a bit of encouragement. 8. Uptown Girl Nancy Reads the Newspaper There's something about images with furniture that I just can't resist. I have a hard time committing to wall colours, and I'm not brave enough to select bold furniture for our home, so when I colour a chair, I like to choose fun patterns and colours I would never be brave enough to own. I thought this lady might like a leopard print chair to offset the pops of red in her mug and shoes. Animal prints are some of my favourite go-to patterns to colour, as you can see in the video I've made here. For the background, I just stamped the sentiment over and over and covered it with a sheet of vellum to make it blend into the back a bit more and resemble newsprint. 7. Little Bits Fairy Set I fell in love with these little fairies as soon as I saw them. So simple and fun to colour, they can be paired with any number of images. Here again I used Distress Oxide Inks and a white Gelly Roll pen to create a nighttime background, because of course everyone knows fairies fly at night. 6. Tiny Townie Lacey Has a Letter This image is so versatile, and the sentiment is perfect for sending a card for no reason. Who doesn't love happy mail? Lacey and her envelope are both coloured with Copic marker, and just a bit of soft Distress Ink for the background. 5. Tiny Townie Jenny Feels Joyful This image just makes me smile, and I love how the green and warm white go together. The card was all coloured in Copic markers, and instead of the usual yellow chicks, I coloured them white as well, but couldn't resist giving them light pink little bellies. 4. Tiny Townie Daphne and Her Dogs Dogs. What more is there to say? Dogs ARE my favourite people, and this image just looks like a natural antidepressant. I kept the focus on the image here, and used Copic markers for the colouring. 3. Tiny Townie Patricia Loves Pumpkins This fall, I started to dabble in no-line colouring, and did I ever start to love it. And hate it. Always, part way through, I wonder what I was thinking, choosing such small and detailed images to colour in this technique (and usually when trying to meet a deadline). But I find if I just power through and work in small areas, the result is always soooooooo worth it! This one was all done in Copic markers, using a light grey ink to stamp the image. 2. Hearty Chicks I just can't get enough of the Stamping Bella chickies! And that one in the middle...oh my goodness. Again, these were coloured with Copic markers, and I fussy cut the top half (twice! -- once for the outside of the card, and once to finish the inside) to place on a clear note card. 1. Tiny Townie Rita and the Reindeer And here is the last one. This was one of my first projects for Stamping Bella. Again, it was coloured in Copic markers, with a Distress Ink background. This is still one of my favourite images of all time, and the background colours were chosen from a photo inspiration prompt. The result was a combination of colours I would never have chosen on my own, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. And that's my top 10 of the year. I'm very proud to be part of the Stamping Bella design team, with so many talented members, and to get work with such a great company and play with such beautiful images! Please be sure to visit the Stamping Bella blog, as well as the blogs of the other design team members for more inspiration! Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope the new year brings you good health, many blessings, and lots of time to relax and recharge and be inspired to create! -- Sandy
