Year in Review 2019

At the end of every year I like to take a look back at all the cards I made during the year and pick my favorites to share in my "year in review" post. To make it easier I choose a favorite from each month, but there were a couple of months where I couldn't decide and picked 2.

I've linked the original post above each creation, if you'd like to find out more about each card, simply click that link. 

January

Sweet Wishes

Sweet Wishes using Penny Black Loads of Love as the focal point.

 Masculine Birthday 

I used a Cowboy Trio Stamp by Magenta (no longer available)

February

Winter Sparkle

I used Mo Manning Siku and Shiya and Penny Black Berry Bevy for the focal point.

One Corner an a Little Music

I used  Hero Arts My Monthly Hero February Kit as the focal point.

March

The Color Yellow

I used Mo Manning Baby Fairy Bee as the focal point.

April

Bugs, Butterflies, Blossoms

I used Stampin Up Butterfly Basics - retired but available HERE on eBay.

May 

Life Is Beautiful

I used Hero Arts April My Monthly Hero Kit.

June

Summer Scenes

Only the girl card was made in June, the boy card made in April.

I used Stampin Up Summer by the Sea, Hero Arts Color Layering Waves, Hero Arts Color Layering Sea and Sand to create the scenes.

July

Add a Charm

I used Penny Black Snowy as the focal point and  Holiday Snippets for all the little sentiments.

August

For Boys or Men

I used Penny Black Birthday Critters, Penny Black Sweet Wishes and Penny Black Wood Floors die to created this scene.

September

Friendship is the Wine of Life

I used this retired stamp by PSX as the focal point. 

October

Best Wishes with Chinese Lantern

I used Hero Arts September 2018 Stamp Kit as the focal point.

November

Caroling Trio

I used Penny Black Caroling Trio as the focal point. 

December

Inspired by a Song

I used Penny Black Nose to Nose and Penny Black Tall Trees to create this scene.

So which one of my favorites is your favorite? 

You can definitely tell that I didn't do well with my 2019 crafty New Year's resolution ... it was to use up more of my pattern papers. I did well in the beginning, but it didn't take me long to neglect my pattern papers again! Maybe I'll try again in the new year but I enjoy the process of creating my own papers and backgrounds so much more!

The cute Penny Black stamps are still some of my favorites, and I definitely enjoyed working with distress inks a lot this year (inking and coloring). I also enjoyed getting out some oldies and some of my favorites were done with stamp kit subscriptions. I am sad that non of my Lavinia stamp cards made the top picks, but I didn't use them as much. I made several different card styles for sure, but if I were to make the same style of cards I would get bored easily. 

Did you create a "Year in Review" type post on your blog? If so then please let me know in the comments so I can come to take a look! It doesn't have to be cards, I'd love to see what your favorite posts of the year were.

As always thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to visit my blog. 

Wishing you a safe, happy and healthy New Year!

Linking up here:
Create with Joy  // Not Dressed as a Lamb

This post includes 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 your support!

Allsorts Challenge 521/522 - Anything Goes

It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge. This time the challenge runs for 2 weeks to cover the holiday season and Lynn is making it easy for you with the theme of Anything Goes.

I made a masculine card using products from this Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit (the car & matching die, stencil and golden paper) along with an old sentiment from Stampin Up and an old Star Die set from Whimsy Stamps. I love this star die set as an alternative and it's on my wish list.  

The car and sentiment were heat embossed. I used the matching die to cut out the car. Distress inks were used to color the car and I added subtle sparkles with a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush. The pattern papers are from my stash. 

This fun Art Deco inspired Hero Arts kit is still available HERE if you're interested.

Thanks so much for visiting! This is my last new post for this year. I am planning on sharing my yearly "Year in Review" post at the end of the year, hope you'll check back then!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!


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This post includes 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 your support!

More Flowers All Over for Penny Black and More!

This post includes 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 your support!

Did you get a chance yet to join this month Penny Black and More challenge? If not then there is still some time to play along for a chance to win some great prizes! Our theme is Flowers All Over, you can make anything you want featuring hand stamped flowers.

A quick and easy card today, I already had the background inked up from a previous project using a variety of green Distress inks and oxides. Then I stamped the flower sprig from the Penny Black set Sprigs in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and sentiment from the same set over the inked paper. The card base was stamped using the same flower stamp this time with Bundled Sage Distress ink. I finished off the card with some white "candy dots" that I think were part of a Stampin Up stamp kit I purchased a few years go. 

Thanks so much for visiting!

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Allsorts Challenge 550: Inspired By A Song

It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge ... this week it's my turn to host and I chose the theme of ..............Inspired By A Song. Hope to see you joining us. You can choose any type of song you like, just be sure to tell us in your blog post what song inspired your card.

The inspiration for this card came from the song "I love the Winter Weather", one of my husband's favorites during Christmas time. I really wanted to use this cute stamp but didn't need another Christmas card so I made a love themed card with a winter sky. 

The image stamp is Penny Black's Nose to Nose.

The sky was done with Distress inks and Oxides - Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire. (I mix and match distress inks and oxides as I have some colors in oxides and some in regular distress inks.) Before inking, I added a circle mask for the moon and flicked some masking fluid onto the card stock for a snow or starry effect. While I was waiting for the masking fluid to dry, I heat embossed the image and added a little bit of color with distress inks, then fussy cut.

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The snowy hill was die cut using an old Whimsy Stamps die I received when I was on the Whimsy design team years ago. The die cut trees were done with the Penny Black die set Tall Trees. Sentiment is from the Penny Black set "So Very Much", heat embossed after removing the moon mask. 

Penny Black Nose to Nose // Penny Black So Very Much // Penny Black Tall Trees // Distress Inks Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire // Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid // Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink // Clear Embossing Powder // Wink of Stella Glitter // Stitched Border Die -Old (Similar Option) // Nestabilities Circle Die Set // Bristol Vellum Paper // Cutterbee Scissors 

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Linking up with these challenges:

Alphabet Challenge - S for Snow // Art Impressions Stamp Challenge - Animals // Aud Sentiments Challenge - Winter // Fab n Funky - Winter Clothing (Scarf) // Mod Squad - Snowy or Starry Night // Crafting Happiness Challenges - Winter // Addicted to Stamp - Cold and Frosty // Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes // Die Cut Divas - Winter // Sweet Stampers  - Anything Goes // Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine

Always Anything Goes:

A Bit More Time to Craft  // A Perfect Time To Craft // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge //  Not Just Cards (F) // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends // The Corrosive Challenges // Creative Fingers // QKR Stampede // Crafting With An Attitude // Brown Sugar (?)

Inspire Me Mondays 

 

Below I've linked toAmazon for those of you interested. These and some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links, at no cost to you. 

Allsorts Challenge 549: Snowflakes and/or Snowmen

This post includes affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links, at no cost to you! Thank you so much for your support!

It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge, Kath is hosting this week she picked the fun theme of Snowmen and/or Snowflakes. Hope you'll join us for a chance to win. This week our prize is comes from Clever Cut Stamps and you can win a beautiful stamp set.

Of course Penny Black's Snowy had to come out for this occasion, he's been stamped and  heat embossed on Bristol Vellum paper, then fussy cut. By the way, there is matching die set available for this stamp, I don't have it as I don't mind fussy cutting. 

I added some color to his scarf with Fired Brick Distress ink and used the mini tile stencil from TCW to add design to the scarf, using the same ink. The snowy sky was done the same way I've done this recent card and this recent card using Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid  along with Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks. The hills were die cut with a retired die, this die set would be a similar option. 

Sentiment is from the Penny Black set Holiday Snippets. This set comes with a bunch of tiny sentiments but does include two larger sentiments and some snowflakes. The snowflakes were die cut using a die set I won from Dare 2 B Artzy. It's no longer on their site but I'm sure most of you  have a snowflake die or punch, if not, then there are plenty of options available. 

Penny Black Snowy // Penny Black Holiday Snippets // Distress Oxides: Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire // Distress Ink Fired Brick // Mini Tile Stencil by TCW // Snowflake Die (retired) - Options // Stitched Border Die Set Option //   Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink // Clear Embossing Powder // Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid // Bristol Vellum Paper // Zig Detailer Brush // Heavyweight White Cardstock // Cutterbee Scissors // Wink of Stella Glitter Brush // 

Sharing with these challenges:

Alphabet Challenge - S for Snow // Colour Crazy Challenge - Coloring // Winter Wonderland - Christmas // Aud Sentiments Challenge - Christmas or Winter Sentiment // Cardz 4 Galz - Cute Christmas // Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes this week // DL ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Christmas // Through the Purple Haze - Let it Snow // TIME OUT Challenges - Merry and Cheerful // Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes // Creative Moments - Anything Goes // The Paper Funday - Christmas // Creatalicious Challenges - Winter // Daisy Chain Challenges - Winter // Die Cut Divas - Winter // Always Fun Challenges - Snowman //Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Sparkle // Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Penny Black Stamps

Always Anything Goes:

A Bit More Time to Craft  // A Perfect Time To Craft // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge //  Not Just Cards (F) // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends // The Corrosive Challenges // Creative Fingers // QKR Stampede // Crafting With An Attitude // Brown Sugar (?)

Inspire Me Mondays 

 

Thanks so much for visiting!!

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Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - December Challenge

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links, at no cost to you! Thank you so much for your support!

Hello and welcome to the December Crafty Wednesday challenge right here on my blog! I'm so glad you decided to check out this month's theme and hopefully you'll join in! So many wonderful entries last month for the Christmas/Holiday theme, thank you all so much for taking the time to join in! Be sure to scroll down to the end of this post to see if you were the prize winner or one of my top picks!

This Month's Theme

For the month of December I picked the nice and easy theme of ..........

All Creatures Great And Small

this includes animals of all kinds, humans of course and don't forget about those mythical creatures and snowmen! I can't wait to see what you'll come up with this month and hope to see you link up below!

I recently made a similar card with a different stamp and sentiment but loved how it turned out so I decided to make a few more. Here is one, and I will share another one done with this technique in my Saturday post.

I started out by flicking Masking Fluid with a cheap paint brush onto bristol vellum paper and let this completely dry. (Be sure to wash the brush ASAP as it will dry on and you'll end up throwing the brush away). Next I inked up the paper using Distress Oxides Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire with a blending tool.


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For this card I stamped and heat embossed the images on a separate piece of  Bristol Vellum Paper, then colored with distress inks (regular inks not the oxides). I'm sure most of you have used ink pads for coloring before, but if not, all I do is press a corner of the ink pad onto a clear block (you can use any non-porous surface) then pick up the color with a wet brush (I use theZig Detailer brush) to color the image. One of my critters comes from the set Holly Jolly Critters and the other critter plus star are part of the wood mounted stamp Listening To Stars. 

I used a stitched border die - similar die set - to create the hill, then added the fussy cut animals.

The sentiment from my favorite Christmas sentiment set  Penny Black Season's Gifts was stamped and heat embossed directly onto the background. Glitter was added to the star and hat with a Wink of Stella Glitter Brush.

Penny Black Listening to Stars // Penny Black Holly Jolly Critters //  Penny Black Season's Gifts // Similar Stitched Border Die // Distress Oxides: Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire (for the sky) //  Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink // Clear Embossing Powder // Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid // Bristol Vellum Paper // Zig Detailer Brush // Heavyweight White Cardstock // Cutterbee Scissors // Wink of Stella Glitter Brush

Sharing with these challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Critters // Artistic Stampers - Christmas is Coming // Ching-chou Kuik Digital Stamps - Christmas // Country View Crafts' Challenge - Stars // Crafty Animals -  Animals // Creatalicious Challenges - Winter // Creative Sketchy Girls - Christmas Cards // Daisy Chain Challenges - Christmas/Winter // Die Cut Divas - Winter/Christmas plus diecut // Happy Little Stampers - Dies // Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog - Christmas // Sparkles Forum Challenges - Christmas // Sparkles Forum Christmas - Winter Wonderland // Sweet Stampers  - Christmas // The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up - Christmas // Tinker- Dream - Christmas // Cardz 4 Guyz - Christmas Critters // Ike's World - Christmas // A Place To Start - Happy Holidays // Artsystamper Challenge - Holidays // Christmas with the Cuties  - Cute and Santa Hats // Colouring in Scrapland - Christmas // Cutie Pie Challenge - Animals // Dream Valley Challenges - Christmas // Path of Positivity - Anything Positive/ Peace // Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Sparkle (glitter on star and Santa hat) // Dare 2B Artzy Challenges - Holiday Fun // We Love 2 Create - Creative Mixed Media // Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Christmas // Di's Digis Designs - Animals acting like Humans // My Time to Craft - Christmas Scene // Crimbo Crackers - Christmas Animals // 

Anything Goes this week: 

Let's Craft & Create Challenge // Love to Craft  // Morgan's ArtWorld Open Challenge (F) // The Creative Crafters // Crafty Sentiment Designs // Tuesday Throwdown // Addicted to Stamps // A Gem of a Challenge // Crafty Friends Challenge // Just Us Girls 

Always Anything Goes:

A Bit More Time to Craft  // A Perfect Time To Craft // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge //  Not Just Cards (F) // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends // The Corrosive Challenges // Creative Fingers // QKR Stampede // Crafting With An Attitude // 

I've linked to  some of the products as found on Amazon for those of you interested. Remember these are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links, but as always at no extra cost to you. 

This Month's Prize

For the ease of things I am continuing to offer the winner a $6 Gift Certificate to either Mo's Digital Pencil Shop, Tiddly Inks or Bugaboo. I am not affiliated with any of these companies and the prize will be supplied by me.

Last Month's Winner and Top Picks

Nancy

Congratulations, you won a $6 Gift Certificate to either Mo's Digital Pencil, Tiddly Inks or Bugaboo Stamps. Please message me at ellibellescorner at gmail dot com with your choice of gift certificate and I will get that sent to you. 

As always it's not been easy to select top picks but it has to be done, and here they are in order of entry:

No. 7 Nancy 

(who coincidentally happens to be the prize winner)

No. 12 Lynne R.

No. 46 Nana Connie

Congratulations ladies, your top pick logo is below. Feel free to post it to your own blogs if you like to :)

As always, in order to follow GDPR regulations, I am not linking back to the individual blogs, but you can see these gorgeous top picks following the "Christmas/Holidays" theme by visiting last month's challenge/ linky tool.

To play along in the December challenge simply use the linky tool below. The usual rules apply:

• Enter up to 3 times with a new project.
• You may combine with any other challenges.
• You may use any brand of stamps/digis (no company restriction)
• Be sure to add a link back here to my blog

Btw, you can also find me here:

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