Close to Nature

Two weeks have gone by so quickly and it's time already for a new Allsorts challenge. Our theme for the next two weeks is "Close to Nature". Lots of options here and we can't wait to see you creations. As always there is the "Anything Goes" option too if the theme isn't for you. We have prizes from Aall and Create.

And here is what I made using retired stamps from Aall and Create. You may still find these at some of A&C's retailers but they are unfortunately no longer available directly from A&C.

I was inspired by the January Triple B  challenge mood board so I chose a simple green and white color combo and a snowdrop stamp from the set. I can't wait for my snowdrops to bloom but first we're expecting some frigid temperatures starting tomorrow (around -20 degrees celsius during the night and only a few degrees warmer in the daytime). The sets I used are Elegant Spring Florals (#623) and Miniatures (#756). 

I stamped the snowdrop, masking off the root part of the image, then used Twisted Citron ink to make a simple inky background. I stamped the bloom again on white cardstock and fussy cut. I also used a white Posca pen for some splatter. Wording is all part of the same set (Elegant Spring Florals). The little bee is from the set Miniatures. I used a Faber Castell polychromo pencil to color the leaves. 

Another view below:

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!

Related Products: 

I plan to share with these challenges:

• 613 Avenue Create - AG
• Beautiful Blossoms - AG with Blossoms
• Crafty Catz - AG opt. CAS
• Creative Fingers - AG
• Daisy Chain Challenges - No Patterned Paper
• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends  - AG
• Stamping Sensations - AG with hand colored image
• The Paper Funday - AG/Monochrome
• Triple B - Blooms, Birds or Butterflies
• We Love Stampin - Anything But Square

Thanks so much for visiting!

I Spy With My Little Eye.......... Something With Feathers or Fur (Challenge No. 22)

Hello and welcome to the January "I spy with my little eye" challenge taking place right here on my blog. Pauline and I are back with a new theme and hope you will join in the fun too! Be sure to scroll down to see who our Top Picks from the last challenge were, both are invited to join us as guest designers in the next challenge.

This time it was my turn (Ellie) to select a theme and it is.............

I spy with my little eye....

Something with feathers or fur.

The choice is yours and you may even include both - feathers and fur. We can't wait to see what you'll share with us! The linky tool is at the end of this post.

And here is what we made to inspire you:

Ellie

(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 used two new to me Lavinia stamps, Swans and Field Grass. The background was done using Distress inks/Oxides. I first applied ink to a stamping block (Antique Linen in the middle, then Broken China and Chipped Sapphire on both sides. Spritzed with water and pressed the acrylic block onto Mixed Media cardstock. When this was dry (you can use a heating tool but I just used a paper towel to dry up the excess ink and waited a little bit) I added more of the same blue inks on each side using an ink blending tool and this time I also used a mask for the moon. There was too much blue ink on the moon part (you can't really control what you get when doing the acrylic block inking technique) so I decided to add a few clouds using a MFT stencil. Not really a fan of how the clouds turned out but at this point I didn't want to start over again. The little heart is part of a Penny Black die set and sentiment from Tim Holtz's Small Talk sentiment sticker book. 

Related Products:

I plan to share the above card with these challenges:

• Daisy Chain Challenges - No Design Paper
• Dream Valley Challenges - Something News (New Stamps)
• If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - AG
• The Creative Crafters - AG
• Triple B Challenge - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies

Pauline

Such a beautiful design featuring these wonderful stamps! Please visit Pauline's blog to find out all the details.

We are so excited to have a guest designer this time and that is Amy of Amy's Creative Pursuits. So glad you've joined us Amy!!

Isn't that peacock just stunning!! To find out how Amy made this card please visit her blog.

 

Top Picks for Challenge no. 21

Many thanks to everyone who joined us in the last challenge which goes back to a starting day of mid- November as there was no new challenge posted in December. Selecting top picks is never easy. But we finally managed and they are listed in the order of entry. 

Remember, Top Picks are invited to join us in the next challenge if you like to. That would be for challenge no. 23 starting Wednesday February 19th. Of course it's not a requirement but we would love to have you both as guests!!

No. 30 Emma T. (Pauline's Pick)

No. 51 Loopyloo (Ellie's Pick)

Congratulations to both of you!! Your top pick logo is below to display on your own blogs if you like to.

You are both invited to join us as guest designers for challenge no. 23 starting on Wednesday February 19th . 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.

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.
• Backlinking to a recent project is allowed.

A Matching Pair with a Winter Owl

We are back at Allsorts challenge with our first challenge of the year hosted by Brenda. She chose the theme of "Matching Pairs", so something extra to go with your card. It could be matching envelope, gift bag/box or tag, etc. And of course the Anything Goes option is there too. Prizes are from Lavinia Stamps and remember, each challenge now runs for 2 weeks.

For my set I made a card with a matching gift tag. 

I had the "Spring Trees" stamp on my Lavinia wish list for some time and this was a recent purchase along with a couple other Lavinia stamps. Although named Spring Trees I find it very suitable for Winter cards and that is what I made.

I started out by stamping the owl (from Lavinia's Brodwyn and Maylin set) and pine (Lavinia Red Pine Tall), then masked the edges using washi tape. Next I heat embossed the bare trees using Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. I added a mask at the bottom of the trees and over the owl for this step. My favorite US Lavinia Stamps retailer is ASC Supplies or you can get them directly from Lavinia if you are the UK/Europe.

After embossing, I used Speckled Egg, Tumbled Glass, Seedless Preserves and Chipped Sapphire inks (available here) on the background to make the sky and snow banks. I used a white Posca pen to add some spatter to the background and stamped the verse Snow Falls also from Lavinia onto the background. 

Related Products:

Below is a closer look at 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

Related Products:

I plan to share with these challenges:

• Crafts Galore Encore - AG
• Craft Rocket Challenges - Something New (trees stamp)
• Creative Inspirations Challenge - AG
• If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - AG
• My Time to Craft - New (trees stamp)
• Simon Says Stamps - Something New (trees stamp)
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - January Challenge

Hello and welcome to the January Edition of Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday challenge taking place right here on my blog! I'm starting the New Year off with 2 blog posts, this is the second one. If you missed the first post then I would like to wish you a Happy New Year!!!

Thank you all for joining in the last two months which was a combined linky party. I really appreciate your continued support to make this little "just for fun" challenge worthwile. Be sure to scroll down to see who made the top picks with a twist.

As most of you know, the theme is now always ....

Anything Goes

and instead of a challenge theme there will be a "Top Pick Twist", meaning I will select a twist from all of the entries for the Top 3. Nobody will know what the twist will be (not even me) until the end of the challenge. So do link up all of your crafty makes, your entry might be the one inspiring the Top Pick twist :) 

Here is what I came up with for the month of January:

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 made another winter themed card, this time using shades of pink/purple which I happen to love for winter cards. The stamp is by Penny Black, an oldie but new to me - Snowy Family. I colored with Copic markers then fussy cut. I created the background by using Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet inks then stamped Penny Black's Gorgeous Grove using Spun Sugar ink. I die cut a hill using an old die from Whimsy Stamps then adhered the snow family using foam dots. I already had the Dancing Snowflakes die out from today's first card so I cut out a few more to use on this card as well. Then a few more tiny flakes using a posca pen. I painted these on as I already had the sentiment in place and I didn't want any spatter on it. Sentiment is also by Penny Black - Snuggles Cut Out.

I plan to share the above card here:

• Aud Sentiments Blog Challenge  - Winter and a Sentiment
• Creations in Pink - Mainly Pink
• Cut It Up - AG with a Die Cut
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Passion For Markers Challenge - AG with Markers (I used Copic)
• Penny Black Saturday - Winter Wonderland

Related Products:

Now it's time for my Top Picks with a Twist. There are two sets of Top Picks for November and December so lets get right to them.

November Top Picks with a Twist:

For November I selected the Twist of "Christmas or Winter".

Congratulations.................

No. 12 Loopyloo

  No. 18 Jan R.

No. 38 Andrea La Vigne

December Top Picks with a Twist

For December I selected the Twist of In the Woods.

Congratulations.................

No. 68 Debbie

No. 69 Deanne

No. 78 Anke

 

Congratulations again to each one of you for your well deserved recognition. The Top Pick logo is below, you may post this to your own blogs if you like to :)

I will continue to pin the top picks to the dedicated Pinterest board, but will also include photo and link back to the original blogs/sites here. These will be removed at the start of the new challenge to stay in compliance with GDPR.

PS: Are you planning on writing a "Year in Review" type post by December 5th? If so, then I would LOVE for you to share your post HERE (for papercrafts only). Join the fun in looking back at our favorite creations of 2024!

To join in this month's challenge please use the linky tool below. You have until the last Wednesday of January to join. 

A few things to remember:

• You may combine with any other challenges.
• You may use any brand of stamps/digis/dies/papers (no company restriction as long as copyright laws are followed).
• Please note: entries using pre-colored digital images will no longer be selected as top picks. 
• A short description of products used is expected, most importantly the source of focal point.
• This linkup is for sharing handmade projects of any kind not limited to papercrafts.
• Please try to limit to 3 entries per month - it's ok if you end up with more than 3 but I may not be able to visit your entries after the 3rd.
• Please do include a link back here to my blog in your blog post.
• Backlinking to a recent post IS allowed.

You can read more about the Guidelines/Copyright info here.

Snowflake Kisses and Warm Winter Wishes for Four Seasons January Challenge

 

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, followers and visitors!!

I am starting the year off with 2 new posts today 😊 as the first of the month means it's time for the new Four Seasons challenge and since today is also the first Wednesday I am posting the new Crafty Wednesday challenge. This post is for Four Seasons. You can see my other post here.

As always we have a beautiful mood board to inspire you but it is completely optional as .... Anything Winter Goes.  Here is our wonderful mood board for January: 

And here is what I came up with for this month:

This wasn't actually what I had in mind when I pulled out several Lavinia stamps (Foxes, Wolves, Trees etc...) but after I made my inky background I thought it was too dark to create a scene on it, so I simply used snowflakes instead. I do love how it turned out :)

I used Chipped Sapphire and Tumbled Glass Distress inks for the inky background then stamped the snowflakes from Lavinia Stamps (snowflake sets large and small). The words on the background are also from Lavinia Stamps - Winter Magic. A white Posca pen was used for some spatter. I added several die cut snowflakes, these were done with Penny Black's Dancing Snowflakes die set. I added a small die cut frame then stamped the sentiment onto a scrap piece of cardstock. The sentiment is part of Penny Black's set When Snow Falls. I added Crystal Glimmer enamel dots to the snowflake centers.

Related Products: 

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 share the card with these challenges:

• A Gem of a Challenge - AG
• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• Crafts Galore Encore - AG
• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Dream Valley Challenges - AG
• My Time to Craft  - Something New (Sentiment Set)
• Paper Funday - AG opt. Monochromatic
• Peace on Earth - AG Christmas
• Penny Black Saturday - Winter Wonderland 
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Cold and Frosty
• We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

PS: Are you planning on writing a "Year in Review" type post by December 5th? If so, then I would LOVE for you to share your post HERE (for papercrafts only). Join the fun in looking back at our favorite creations of 2024!

Papercrafters Year in Review 2024 Blog Hop and Linky Party - Come Join Us!!!

Happy Monday and welcome!

Today a group of crafters and I are hosting a blog hop where we share our favorite creations of 2024, the Papercrafters Year in Review hop. We hope you'll hop along with us and you are invited to create your own Year in Review post and then link up with us. We would love to see YOUR favorite creations of 2024 too!! You can choose a monthly favorite, or a Top 10, Top 5, favorite Christmas cards of 2024 etc. - it's is all up to you. The most important thing to remember is, that these have to be selected from your own creations, not favorites you found online.

The linky tool is at the end of this post and you may also find it on most of the co-hosts blogs. It will stay open until January 5th 11:59pm Central time.

I am always excited to look back at my creations of the year as I do tend to forget what cards I made and I am always curious to see which one of my creations makes this list :) As it's always hard for me to choose, I usually select one favorite card per month and that is what I did this year too (or at least I tried to stick with one). I linked back to the original posts in case you want to find out more about each project.

January

(Original Post)

also January (it was a tie!!)

(Original Post)

February

(Original Post)

March

(Original Post)

April

(Original Post)

May

(Original Post)

June

(Original Post)

July

(Original Post)

August

(Original Post)

September

(Original Post)

October

(Original Post)

November

(Original Post)

December

(Original Post)

Silhouette stamps seem to have been a favorite and I loved getting inky. Happy to still see some "cute" cards among my favorites although I feel like I haven't made as many this past year and they used to be my favorites to make once upon a time. I'm surprised to see a couple of cards with dies as focal points made my favorites list this year :)  Although have to admit I only made 4 cards in December so that month wasn't easy to choose, however I so love that cute die set!! Maybe I'll try it with a different color scheme next time. 

Related Products:

Soooo, which one of my Top Picks of 2024 is your favorite? I would love to hear from you! If I had to choose from just these 13 cards, I would have to say February is my most favorite closely followed by January's winter scene. 

Below is this year's hop list or simply visit the linky tool for the direct links. We would absolutely love to have you hop along with us.

A Cut Above a.k.a Vicki of A Cut Above Challenge Blog

Debbie of Secret Stamper

Diane of Nellie's Nest

Ellie of Ellibelle's Corner

Helen of Made by Helen

Joanne of My Slices of Life

Rachel of Slow Down, Enjoy and Create

Vicki of He"artful Validations of Vicki

Remember, any papercrafter is invited to join in this linky party. Simply create your own Year in Review blog post,  then use the linky tool below to join in the fun. The linky tool remains open for 1 week (closing on January 5th at 11:59pm US Central time).

Fun with Dies

Happy Saturday, it's time for a new challenge at Allsorts. This is our last challenge of the year and as a reminder - starting today all of our challenges will run for two weeks!!

This week Sarah is hosting and she chose the theme of "Use Your Dies". As always there is the Anything Goes option. This week we have 3 prizes of Oakwood dies and coordinating stamps.

Here is what I came up with using a new to me die set from Penny Black called Mitten Stocking. 

Most pieces on the mitten (including the mitten) are part of the die set, only the snowflake is part of Penny Black's Dancing Snowflakes die set. I layered the mitten onto Penny Black's Polaroid Die cut. On the white background I used Penny Black's background stamp Christmas Story. The kraft paper was embossed using an old Sizzix embossing folder. I embellished with a little "button" snowflake and twine and some Frosted Lace stickles glitter.

Related Products:

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 share my card with these challenges:

• A Cut Above - Die Cut Challenge Blog - AG
• As You Like It Challenge - Anything Christmassy
• Can You Handle The Pressure? - Embossing Folders
• Cardz 4 Galz - Christmas
• Crafty Gals Corner - Opt. Make it Merry
• Cut It Up - More than one die cut
• Inspiration Station - Inspiration photo below (I was inspired by the cute gingerbread man and colors.)

• Little Red Wagon - Christmas
• My Time To Craft Christmas - Sweet Treats for Christmas or New Years (candy cane and gingerbread cookies)
• Penny Black Saturday - use Penny Black products
• Simon Says Stamps - Use Dies

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As this is my last post before Christmas I would like to wish all of my blog readers a 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 

I will be back on December 30th with the 2024 Year in Review blog hop post. Remember, even if you didn't sign up as a host, we would LOVE to see your favorites of the year, so hopefully some of you will join us. There will be a linky tool for you to link up your favorites starting December 30th!