Jul 5, 2025

Hooray... It's Your Special Day

Hello everyone, this is another scheduled post so hopefully it posted as planned. 

It's the start of a new challenge at Allsorts and Liz is hosting this time. Her theme is one I really enjoyed... For  a Child as I simply love all things cute and cute stamps are the reason why I discovered this hobby in the first place. Of course I discovered lots of different styles of stamps over the many years which I really enjoy working with just the same, but I will never not like making cute cards :)


This stamp is by Penny Black - Furry Flight. I colored with my Derwent Inktense pencils. For the sun I used a rays stencil by Vicki Bouton which at one time was a freebie from scrapbook.com. I used Antique Linen ink for stenciling. 


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The patterened paper I've had in my stash for a long time from a 12x12 paper pack by DCWV (I think). Sentiment is also by Penny Black from the set "Sweet Wishes". I stamped "It's Your Special Day" from the same set inside the card but unfortinately didn't take a picture of the inside.

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I hope to get a chance to link up with these challenges:

Thanks so much for visiting!


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Jul 2, 2025

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday June and July Challenge (Reminder)

This summer I am combining the June and July Crafty Wednesday challenges once again as you may have noticed when I posted the challenge in June. But I had an extra unplanned project prepared so I thought I'd create a "reminder post" where I would share the extra project I made.

As always, the theme at Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday is 

"Anything Goes" 

and instead I will select a Top Pick twist from the entries. Nobody knows what the twist will be (not even me!) until the end of the challenge as it will be inspired by the entrants. As I have combined the June and July challenge, I won't announce any Top Picks in this post, instead I will announce them when I post the August challenge.

Here is my little inspiration piece - an ATC created with a part of a "rejected project" I worked on. 

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!


Maybe you'll remember seeing this recent card I shared for the current "I spy with my little eye" challenge. No idea why I had started over with the card but it left me with another piece, too pretty to throw away so I decided to make it in to an ATC. 

I used Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE042 Bloom and Grow which I colored with Victorian Velvet ink. The script stamp in an oldie from Just For Fun Rubberstamp (no longer in business) using the same distress ink. And the black stamping on the edges was done with part of TE009 Take Flight.

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When/if I get a chance I will try to link up here:


Remember, I will post both June and July Top Picks with the August challenge as I am on a (partial) blogging break and posts are scheduled.


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Please use the June/July linky tool below to join in.



Jul 1, 2025

Hello Summer Days from a Cool Cat

This is another scheduled post so hopefully it will go live as planned!

It's the first of the month and that means today starts a new challenge at The Four Seasons challenge blog where we are in the midst of Summer and we have another fun mood board to help inspire your creativity. As always, the mood board is optional as Anything Summer Goes


There are so many great ideas you can get from our mood board! I was inspired by the palm trees and drink, and I used this cute Penny Black stamp Beach Hammock 2089L. This is a real oldie and I am sorry but I could not find it anywhere at the moment. These older stamps do pop up on eBay occasionally, or Etsy.


I heat embossed the image on Bristol Vellum paper then colored with my Derwent Inktense pencils. On my mission to de-clutter my craft area I came across my small set of 12 Inktense pencils and as I've not really reached for them in the past I decided to give them another try before donating them. So this image has been colored using this small set of Inktense pencils and guess what?? It prompted me to purchase the set of 72 pencils!!! I think having a variety of colors to choose from will make such a difference and hopefully I'll get lots of use out of them. 

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I used a Sizzix Deckle die to cut out a window on the black cardstock to frame the image with. The die cut sentiment "Hello" is part of a Penny Black die and "Summer Days" is part of an old Whimsy stamp set. I used part of a circle for the die cut sentiment. The frame reminds me a bit of a vintage postcard. 


This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!



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When I get a moment I will try to link up with these challenges:


As always thank you so much for visting. 


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Jun 21, 2025

Seaside

Hello everyone, it's the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Christine is hosting this time around. Her theme for the next two week is Seaside. Of course the Anything Goes option is there too if the theme isn't for you. We have prizes from  Grafton Crafts.



I've been so busy preparing for a 3 week visit from overseas, meaning working ahead on projects and blog posts. My visit arrives this evening and unfortunately I have also somehow injured my shoulder and been dealing with some intense pain for over a week now. The nights of course are the worst but it limited the work I could do to prepare for the visit, thankfully the rest of the house has been very helpful!

Anyway, I thought I'd make an easy card for this challenge and use a Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin card kit which I found at a thrift store over a year ago. I had forgotten about it until it "fell into my hands" during my decluttering mission and I thought it would make a quick and easy card. But my original idea seemed nothing like my style so instead I ended up just using the boat and wheel from the kit. This meant I had to have my husband help with the 3D embossing folder which I think was my first time using although I purchased it some time ago. I love the extra texture from these embossing folders but they are so hard to run through the Big Shot machine!!! I didn't even want to try with my shoulder injury. The embossing folder is by Spellbinders.

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The red frame came from my box of extra die cuts, this particular one was done using Penny Black's Polaroid die. Skyblue cardstock was placed behind the polaroid die cut and then I added some cheesecloth and the wheel along with a strip of indigo blue cardstock and the boat. Sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts. The card base is actually another part of the Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin kit. 

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

When I get a chance I will try linking up here:


Thanks so much for visiting. Hope you're having a great weekend. 

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Jun 18, 2025

I Spy With My Little Eye......... Vintage Vibes (Challenge No. 27)

Hello everyone and welcome to the 27th edition of "I spy with my little eye" challenge taking place right here on my blog! Pauline and I are back with a new theme and some inspiration for you, and we hope you will join us this month too! Also remember to scroll down to see who made the Top 2 in the last challenge, both invited to join us for our next challenge as guest designers.


It's Pauline's turn to select a theme and she selected:


I Spy With My Little Eye..........

Vintage Vibes.


Lots of ways to make it a little bit vintage, could be as simple as distressed edges, maybe add some lace for a victorian feel or use vintage-y colors. And of course there is an abundance of vintage style products available too so we hope you will get a chance to share with us! 


And here is what we made to inspire you.


Ellie (my card)

All details are right below the card.

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I recently received an order from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs and decided to ink up my new goodies. I used TE042 Bloom and Grow for the focal point stamped twice to form an oval. Next I used the text stamp from the set TE043 Magnolia and decided to add some crackle stamping on two of the corners. This was done using an old Tim Holtz stamp. I thought it needed something else so I used parts of TE009 Take Flight stamped in black. The sentiment is from the set TE039 Poppy Edges were distressed and inked using the same ink I used for coloring the flowers and for background stamping. I matted this onto black cardstock and then a white card base. For inks I used Victorian Velvet Distress ink as well as Versafine Onyx ink. I finished off the card with some stickles glitter in the flower centers. 

I plan to share with these challenges:


Pauline's Card


Such a beauty using all these gorgeous nature themed stamps! Please visit Pauline's blog to find out how she made this card.


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We have no guest designer this month so let's get straight to last month's Top Picks. 


Top Picks from Challenge No. 26


No. 6 Nonni (Ellie's Pick)

No. 17 Carrie Sheridan (Pauline's Pick)




Congratulations to both of you!!

Remember, Top Picks are invited to join us in the next challenge if you like to. That would be for challenge no. 28, starting Wednesday July 16th. Of course it's not a requirement but we would love to have you both as guests!!  
If you are interested in taking part, please message me (Ellie) at ellibellescorner at gmail dot com so I can give you all the details for our upcoming theme.

Below is your top pick logo, you may place it on your own blogs if you like to :)




To play along in the current challenge please use the linky tool below.

A few things to remember:

(Complete list of guidelines and copyright info can be found here.)

  • You may share up to 5 different projects.
  • You may combine with as many other challenges as you like to.
  • A short mention of products used whenever possible is expected, especially the focal point.
  • New: While you are free to link up your creations using pre-colored digital art (AI generated, digital pre-colored toppers/images, digital papers etc.), they will be excluded from top picks. 
  • Please include a link back to this blog.
  • Back-linking to a recent project is allowed.
  • Linkup closes on July 13th at 11:59pm CST

If you like this post then I invite you to subscribe to receive post updates sent directly to your inbox. Simply add your email address below to be added to the list. 


Jun 12, 2025

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 4 - Anything In or From a Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my Garden Party No. 4 taking place right here on my blog. I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you will bring something along to share this month too. Remember, anything in or from a garden goes, this can be any type of craft, photography (from a garden), garden tips, garden weddings, etc. As always the linkup is at the end of the post. And don't forget to check who made the top picks from the last party.


Here is my share for this challenge:

I feel like I've been neglecting my Tracy Evans stamps a bit, in fact the focal points (flower and mice) on this card were never used before even though I've had them for a few months now. It was time to ink them up especially since I just treated myself to some new Tracy Evans stamps when she offered free worldwide shipping. I need to start using my new goodies instead of just collecting them!!!


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I used a homemade mask to ink up the circle using Distress inks. (Broken China, Twisted Lime and Cracked Pistachio). The flower is from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs set Clematis TE5 stamed with Versafine Onyx ink. To add to the design I chose a stamp from Tracy's Aall and Create release The Great Outdoors #370 on the background and two corners. This set is retired but possibly still available through some Aall and Create retailers. The sentiment is part of the Clematis set. I wanted to include a little critter and chose the garden mouse -Tracy Evans set TE32 Alpha Florals. That little mouse seemed lonely on the card so another little mouse joined him at the bottom of the card :)

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I also wanted to share my beautiful Iceland Poppy I recently planted. I absolutely love it and promptly purchased another plant :) Can never have enough flowers! 


Challenges I plan to share my card with:



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Top Picks for Garden Party No. 3


It was so great to see many of you joining me again at the garden party and I enjoyed visiting all your wonderful entries. Selecting just 3 is never easy but I finally managed  and here they are listed in the order of entry:




Aren't these simply stunning? Congratulations to each one of you on your well deserved recognition. Your Top Pick logo is below, you may post it on your own blogs if you like to.



Now it's time for the 4th Garden Party to start!

Simply link a new or recently shared post (featuring something in or from a garden) using the linky tool below. To make it even more fun and maybe meet a new blogging friend I invite you to visit another entrant's blog post and leave them some love. This is just a suggestion and in no way do you have to :)

Below are the main guidelines at a glance:

  • Your entry must feature something in or from a garden.
  • You may combine with any other challenges/link parties.
  • Please leave a link back to this blog.
  • Up to 5 entries per blogger please.
  • Backlinking to a recent post is allowed.
  • The party ends on Monday July 9th at 11:59pm CST

If you like this post then I invite you to subscribe to receive post updates sent directly to your inbox. Simply add your email address below to be added to the list. 

 


Jun 7, 2025

Flowers Make Me Happy

Hello everyone and happy Saturday! Today is the start of a new challenge at Allsorts and Gail is hosting. Her theme for the next two weeks is.......What makes you happy. A fun and easy theme but as always there is the Anything Goes option if you prefer. We have prizes from Buddly Crafts

There are a lots of things that make me happy and I decided to go with Flowers. 



I didn't always love Geraniums, somehow it seems to me like a very "old-fashioned" flower with not the most pleasant scent, but in the recent years it's become one I purchase every year. Love that it's available in a variety of colors, they are very heat tolerant and last three seasons long into late fall with minimal upkeep. So for my card I selected this beautiful Penny Black stamp Light Touch which features a beautiful brushstroke Geranium. 

Brushstroke stamps need a stamp positioning tool (in my opinion) and that is what I used along with Distress inks/oxides (Picked Raspberries, Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron). When the ink was dry (I used my heating tool to help it along) I stenciled a mini tile design on the background (Tim Holtz stencil). Then I randomly stamped a Nature verse on the background which is part of a Tracy Evans set (Miniatures by Aall and Create). This set is retired but possibly still available through some retailers).


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For the sentiment I chose Especially for You from the Penny Black set Blooming sentiments. I added this with a couple of staples along with a piece of crimped paper. I've had my paper crimper tool for many years since my early cardmaking days and when I recently decluttered it almost had to go because I simply never use it. Well, here we are, it still has a place in my craft room and it was time to put it to work :) Anyone else having such a hard time parting with tools even though used so rarely?

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!


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I plan to share with these challenges:

Speaking of challenges, I wanted to remind you about my Garden Party where anything in or from a garden goes. Just a few more days remain for you to join in the current challenge and I hope to see you there :)


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Please click HERE to join in "Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday" challenge.


Please click HERE to join in "I Spy With My Little Eye" challenge.


Please click HERE to join in "Ellibelle's Garden Party" challenge.