card classes, card ideas, card making, card making idea, card techniques, cards, christmas cards, retro images, vintage cards

Have Yourself a Retro Little Christmas + FREE PRINTABLES!

I love retro images. Like LOVE, LOVE retro images. They make my heart smile and I feel all warm and cozy just looking at these darling illustrations. It’s no wonder, than, that they are the centerpiece for so many of my card creations!

Here are six cards I made recently. I thought you might enjoy these darling greetings.

This “Little Boy’s First Christmas” is one of my favorites. I love the color combo and the flower cluster so much!

Adding various sizes in your flower collage makes it look full and interesting – so, change it up! Add a variety!
Found this pine bundle in the floral section at Michaels and just took apart branches so that I could put them where I wanted them.

I was so happy when this sweet pink baby’s first Christmas card found a good home – I love the intricate lace, pearls, flowers, and seam binding!

Beautiful cards don’t have to be super fancy either. This one is simple, but just so happy and sweet!

Feeling inspired? Here are copies of the vintage images I used so that you can print and play with them too!

A few “must haves” when working with printables:

  • a great printer! I use HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 and it’s amazing (I use it a TON every single day for my business)
  • quality cardstock. Try Neenah Premium Cardstock for fabulous images
  • Stickles glitter – you won’t believe how it changes the entire quality of your card. For real

If you just want to get your hands on finished cards, be sure to check out my eBay and Etsy shop for lots of handmade goodies!

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for all things crafty! Please stay in touch and share your finished projects with me!

Thanks so much for crafting with me today, and happy holidays!

xoxo

Genevieve

Bella Stitchery

card classes, card ideas, card making, card making idea, card sale, card techniques, cards, Thanksgiving, thanksgiving cards, vintage thanksgiving cards

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Month! Gobble gobble!

🦃

I am so excited to share my recent festive greeting cards with you, my crafty friends! 


Some kitchens may be full of baked goods and turkeys, but mine is covered in turkey images and craft goodies! 

I love vintage images so much and it’s always such a pleasure to make greeting cards around these darling illustrations.

This is also one of my favorite color combos (I got married in the fall just for these colors – lol).

I used lots of hand-dyed seam binding and 49 and Market flowers on these special collages. I also inked all the edges with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink throughout.

Check out my YouTube tutorial for some bow-making ideas – I have lots of cheats for ya! 🙂

You can find all these happy holiday greeting cards in my eBay shop and my new Etsy shop.

What’s your favorite holiday to decorate for, and what is the coolest DIY décor idea you’ve seen? Keep in touch – let’s make stuff together!

xoxo

Genevieve

Bella Stitchery

card classes, card ideas, card making, card techniques, cards, christmas cards, Christmas ideas, christmas layouts, fussy cutting, gen's scrapbook kitchen, handmade scrapbook, holiday scrapbook pages, scrapbook, scrapbook ideas, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook page, scrapbook pages

Pastel Christmas!

There’s something so precious about a pastel Christmas! I love the sweet pinks and yummy teals – they always make me smile!

This month’s Handmade Club Kit is all about shabby chic Santa, elves, holly berries, and cookies. I had a wonderful time cutting out all these darling embellishments and playing with them in different collage settings.

Crystal Stickles is the perfect accent to all these delicious images. I added them to the roses, the elves’ costumes, and the cookie frosting.

I already have several Christmas cards ready in my eBay and Etsy shop too (yes, I know it’s October, but I couldn’t help myself!) 🙂

Don’t they just make you smile? Have you tried fussy cutting? What do you think about the process? It seems like people either love or hate it. I think the biggest tool for your cutting success is super small, precise scissors. It really makes all the difference.

https://amzn.to/30WRNFU

If you’d like some tips on better fussy cutting, I have a YouTube tutorial all about it too:

Well, hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my October Santa’s workshop today! Keep in touch and happy crafting!

xoxo

Genevieve

Bella Stitchery

card ideas, card making, cards, halloween cards, handmade cards, scrapbook sales, scrapbook sketches, scrapbooking, scrapbooking ideas

Trick-or-Treat

This is one of my favorite times of year, for sure! I love the colors of fall and spookiness of October. Welcome to my happy place!

I’ve been busy in my new home of South Dakota – trying to find my rhythm here and the best place and time to create. It’s not without it’s challenges, however, it’s sometimes nice to have a fresh start too.

Here are some of the layouts I’ve made this month…

(all these handmade goodies can be found in my eBay shop and my NEW Etsy shop!)

Of course, I’ve had to make some darling greeting cards too – they just make my heart so happy!

What have YOU been up to this month, my crafty friends? And where do you like to craft? What is your favorite space and time of day. I think I’m *just* starting to hit my stride, and it’s so nice to get back to making pretty things after the summer’s move.

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today – keep in touch!

xoxo

Genevieve

Bella Stitchery

handmade scrapbook, scrapbook, scrapbook blogs, scrapbook ideas, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook page, scrapbook pages, scrapbook sales, scrapbooking, scrapbooking ideas

Music, Dance, Art

There’s nothing quite as inspiring as getting your hands on a new paper collection. I love the excitement of flipping through the new paper pad and being delighted at each new turn of the page.

My craft table was overflowing with the new Passion collection by Stamperia last week. It’s all about dance, music, and art. The colors are fabulous and the illustrations just melted my heart.

It was so easy to make gorgeous premade scrapbook pages and I felt like I just burned through the entire pack before I knew it.

Cellos and ballerinas – what could be more lovely?! I did a lot of fussy cutting on these layouts too, so pop up elements on the page and tuck photo mats underneath.

I also used LOTS of beautiful Prima Marketing flowers, such as the Sugar Cookie flowers below to coordinate with the colors in the collection.

You can find all my handmade scrapbook pages in my eBay shop this week. Each one is made with love and ready for your favorite artistic photos!

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today! Hope you were inspired! Please follow Bella Stitchery on social media and stay in touch. Happy crafting, my friend!

christmas, christmas cards, Christmas ideas, christmas layouts, gen's scrapbook kitchen, handmade scrapbook, holiday scrapbook pages, scrapbook, scrapbook blogs, scrapbook ideas, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook page, scrapbook pages, scrapbook sketches, scrapbooking, scrapbooking ideas, shabby chic, shabby chic cards, shabby chic layouts

Handmade Club October Printable Scrapbook Pages

I’m so proud to be part of the Shabby Art Boutique Handmade Club’s team! The October 2020 kit has so many fabulous shabby chic Christmas printables, and I incorporated them into my 12×12 scrapbook layouts this week.

This Vintage style is so much fun to work with. I added lots of Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink and Diamond Stickles throughout to really bring all the fussy cut images to life.

I also made a couple darling retro Christmas cards. What a fun week!

Hope these pretty projects have inspired you today. You can find these and lots more handmade goodies in my eBay shop too, so please stop by and say “hi!”

xoxo

Genevieve

free scrapbook supplies, gen's scrapbook kitchen, graphic 45, graphic 45 layouts, handmade scrapbook, paper crafting, paper crafting ideas, paper crafts, scrapbook, scrapbook blogs, scrapbook ideas, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook page, scrapbook pages, scrapbooking, scrapbooking ideas

Torn Paper Graphic 45 Vintage Layout

04596C4D-53D2-4068-9F16-FD32DA1A3700

Join me for this special tutorial! I’ll show you how to make this vintage-inspired scrapbook page using some paper from Graphic 45, along with some torn and layered cardstock.

 

FF9B1AAE-7914-4813-8B79-D7103714F6FB

In the video, I mentioned offering the clock printable I made in Photoshop. Here’s the  free sheet for you to print and use for your projects:

clocks collage

83A90E02-539F-4CF0-8CF6-651E2DC6E5F2

Here are some links for the goodies used on my page as well:

Pretty appliques: https://amzn.to/2LeS5xy

Tim Holtz Base Board Frames: https://amzn.to/2ZGMWlT

Prima Marketing Bronze Age Metallic Wax: https://amzn.to/2MRmzYu

 

6788AE83-37DF-4FDB-8913-5C923E40DE9B

 

 

Note: my website and YouTube channel use affiliate links to help support my business. These commissions are at no cost to you, but come from Amazon directly.

scrapbook layouts, scrapbooking

Steampunk

I made this 8×8 album as a special order for a steampunk album. It was my first time making anything in this style and it was fun using lots of new materials- from Swellegant paints to Prima Marketing metallic waxes.

I used Etsy printables for the paper backgrounds and many of the printed embellishments .

I made this pressure gauge out of cardboard that I painted with the copper Swellegant paint. I added liquid diamonds to the printed gear face so it would look like glass and then finished it off with brads, a Tim Holtz year and a lightbulb embellishment (also by Tim Holtz).

Up, up, and away!

Gesso and metallic paints helped bring these pages to life!

Pockets!

This was a fun collage. I used buttons, keys, glass beads, and even screws to add layers and texture. Then I covered the whole thing with black gesso. Once that was dry, I lightly went over the pieces with Prima Marketing silver wax.

I love these clock die cuts from Tim Holtz. I cut out several for this album.

I used lots of lace and some burlap to give the pages dimension…

This last page has tags that tuck in behind the lightbulb print.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope these pages inspire you – feel free to comment or send me photos of your work as well. I would love to see what you make!

fine art, freebie friday

Freebie Friday – Girl with the Pearl Earring Cross Stitch Pattern Download

Girl with the Pearl Earring cross stitch pattern

Happy Friday! Every week I post a free pattern download. They’re available for 24 hours. After that, you can find them in my Etsy and eBay shops.

This famous artwork is all about the intimacy of the girl’s gaze toward the viewer. It’s haunting and engaging. I was so excited to make this into a unique, one-of-a-kind cross-stitch pattern.

Click here to download the free pattern.

Finished piece will be about 13.5×20 inches, based on a standard 14 count fabric (196×280 stitches).

Please share this link with those you love! Enjoy and happy stitching!

xoxo

Genevieve

Bella Stitchery

bella stitchery, pattern sale

Buy 3, Get 3 FREE! Woot.

buy three, get three FREE

We’re heading into a new year. Let’s kick it off right! Stock up on lots of fun, unique cross-stitch patterns and keep yourself busy and out of (too much) trouble in 2015!

You can shop at any one of my Bella Stitchery websites, from eBay to Etsy to ArtFire and enjoy my new promotion:

*Buy any 3 patterns, get 3 more of your choice FREE!

Yep. Free.

Simply email me with the list of the 3 that you would like as your freebie gifts and I will include all six with your order.

Easy breezy.

Please feel free to convo me with any questions. Custom patterns are also available upon request.

cross stitch collage

So, have fun and cross-stitch your little heart out. 2015 will be the year of crafting!

xoxo

Genevieve