Be Your Beautiful Self

Another Saturday is here so it's time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge. Lynn is hosting this week and she chose the optional theme of "One for the girls". We would love to see your girly and feminine creations but all entries are welcome and will be entered into the prize drawings or considered for the top 5. 

You can take a peek on what you can win in May at the end of my post. By the way, the April prize winners have been announced yesterday, so don't forget to check out that post!!

And here is what I made:

The focal point is a stamp by Penny Black - Awaken. This stamp has nice large blossoms so it's perfect for paper piecing which I have done here using a snippet from a previously inked background. The die cut behind the flower is from My Favorite Things. The script paper came from a package of patterned paper I found at a thrift store, it's actually some sort of sticker paper. 

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I thought the card needed some more white accents and while I was trying to decide what to add I saw the "negatives" of he crosshatch die on my desk before I threw them away and liked the idea of adding them. There still seemed to be something missing so I used an old Martha Stewart punch and another snippet of homemade background to punch out the butterflies. 

The sentiment is one from Tim Holtz's Tiny Text stamp set. I am really loving all the inspirational quotes it includes!

Below are the prizes for challenges 726, 727 and 728, they come from WOWVOW, Oakwood Direct and Craft Stash. We do have a special challenge week coming up at the last week of May and there will be separate prizes for that :)

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!

Challenges I'd like to share with:

• Creative Knockouts - Flower Power
• Through the Purple Haze - For Girls
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Butterflies
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms and/or Butterflies

Nursery Rhymes at Double Trouble Challenge

Hello everyone, I have one more card to share for my guest designer spot at Double Trouble challenge where the Trouble Maker chose the main theme of  "a favorite nursery rhyme" from the Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes as the main theme. In addition to the main theme, there is an option to also include a heart or the words heart or love set by the Twister Sister.  If you have included both of the above on your project, it will also be eligible to share with their collaborating partner, this time it is  Heart's Quest Challenge. 

I was recently looking through a box of old Whimsy rubber stamps searching for a stamp for another project (to be shared soon), when I came across this cutie here and knew it was going to be the stamp for this challenge. I selected the nursery Rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" and included both Mary and her little lamb.

I've had this stamp from my time as a Whimsy DT member many years ago and it is no longer available in rubber but illustrator Sylvia Zet now sells many of her images in digi format through Whimsy, including Mary. 

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My card is very CAS, I stamped with Versafine Onyx and colored with Distress inks and Zig Clean Color markers. The sentiment is also retired from Whimsy Stamps. To "ground" the image I used a new grass border stamp from Colorado Craft Company. I just wish I had not stamped it with black ink as it stands out too much.. 

All details about the challenge are at a glance above. I am sure the ladies at Double Trouble would love for you to join in!

 

I would also love to share with these challenges:

• Heart's Quest Challenge - include a heart
• Digi Choosday Challenge - AG
• Unicorn Challenge - add an animal
• Path of Positivity - AG positive, opt. Literature
• Colourful Options - Pastels
• Through the Purple Haze - For Girls
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• The Card Concept - Inspiration Photo (I was inspired by the pretty pastels in the photo and my card style this time is CAS). 

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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!

For the Love of Animals

Hello and happy Saturday!

We have a new challenge for you at Allsorts and for this week Lolo selected the optional theme of "For the Love of Animals". Hope you can join us for a chance to win a prize or to be selected for the Top 5. Prizes for the April challenges come from Oakwood, AALL and Create, Stamp Addicts, Ruth Hamilton Design, Aldridge Crafts so there will be several winners selected from the weekly challenges!

Here is what I made:

I purchased this Colorado Craft stamp set (So Sweet) a couple of months ago but this is my first time using it. I stamped each mouse with Memento Tuxedo ink and colored with Copic markers. There is a matching die set available but I don't have it so I fussy cut the mice. 

I used Lavinia's Feather Leaf stencil with Spun Sugar Distress ink to create the background. The frames are by Penny Black and sentiments are part of the same Colorado Craft stamp set. I layered the sentiments onto some striped paper for more interest and finished off with some sequins. 

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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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Challenge I'd like to share with:

Dream Valley Challenges - 4 legged friends

Make My Monday - Frame it

613 Avenue Create - Stencils

We Love Stamping - Animals

Crafty Catz - Celebration

Stencil Fun - Stencils

I Spy With My Little Eye .... April Showers or May Flowers (Challenge #2)

Happy Wednesday everyone and welcome to a new "I spy with my little eye" challenge! I'm so happy to say the 1st challenge was off to a great start and it was so nice to see so many of you joining in this new monthly challenge! Be sure to scroll down to see if you are one of the 2 Top Picks with an invitation to join in as a guest designer in the next challenge.

Before I get to the new theme there is an announcement to make. The lovely Pauline is joining me here as a full time designer. I am sure you will love her beautiful and creative projects! Welcome on board, Pauline! So nice to have you joining me here!

Challenge No. 2

I spy with my little eye............

April Showers or May Flowers

This is not an optional theme so please be sure we can "spy" the theme on your creations. You may share anything crafty as long as it represents the theme in some way. The linky tool is at the end of this post. 

Below are the projects from our mini- design team. Maybe we can inspire you a bit today :)

My card (Ellie)

A rainy April day in Paris

The background was made using stencils from Stampers Anonymous and Lavinia  with Stormy Sky and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. SU french script was stamped with  Victorian Velvet ink. The stamp is Penny Black's In Paris stamped with Versafine Onyx ink. I embellished with some Prima flowers and  stickyback pearls. 

I'm sharing the above card with these challenges:

Crafting Happiness Challenges - Rainy Weather // 613 Avenue Create - Let's Stencil // Penny Black Saturday Challenge - AG w/PB Stamps // Paper Dragonfly Creative Challenges - April Flowers bring May Flowers // Stencilfun Challenge - Pattern with Stencils // Art Impressions Stamp Challenge - April Showers // Fab n Funky - April Showers // Sisterhood of Crafters - April Showers

 Pauline's Card

A beautiful spring flower meadow

Please visit Pauline's blog to find out how she made this beautiful card.

Top Picks for Challenge #1 

(a Spring or Easter critter)

It wasn't an easy choice with so many fabulous spring and Easter critters but we made our selections and they are listed below in the order of entry.

No. 1 Papierelle (Ellie's Favorite) 

No. 9 Scrappy Horses (Pauline's Favorite)

Congratulations to both of you! Well deserved recognition!  

Remember, you are both invited to join us as guest designers (if you like to) for challenge no. 3 (starting May 17th). Please email me (Ellie) at ellibellescorner at gmail dot com if you would like to join us so I can tell you about our upcoming theme. *Please note, by accepting the guest designer post you agree to have your project and blog link posted here on this blog.

Your top pick logo is below, feel free to post it to your own blogs if you like to :)

To be in compliance with GDPR, Top Pick photos and links will be removed after the start of the new challenge. 

And now it's on to you! We're looking forward to seeing what you'll share with us!

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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!

A few things to remember:

• You may share up to 5 different projects
• You may combine with as many other challenges as you like to
• No fully digital projects please
• Please include a link back to this blog
• Backlinking to a recent post is allowed
• Challenge ends Sunday May 14th at 11:59pm CST

Beautiful Inside and Out

Today I am sharing my second card for Double Trouble challenge and unfortunately it's coming a little later than it should have but better late than never!

This time around Thing 1, the trouble maker, wants us to create something for a special lady. You can stop there or you can follow the Twisted Sister's (Thing 3) instructions and include flowers (optional) on your project. If you have made something for a Special Lady with Flowers then your project is also eligible for the Double Dare (Thing 2) who happens to be the Beautiful Blossoms Challenge this time. 

For my project I made a CAS card using a beautiful digistamp from Power Poppy - Graceful Still Life. I colored with my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I tried to follow the optional mood board from the Beautiful Blossoms challenge (see below), it's not an exact match but pretty close. 

The strip of paper is from my box of scraps. Sentiment is from the Penny Black set Heartfelt. I did some stenciling on the bottom portion (sorry I don't remember the name/brand of the stencil) and a bow with natural jute twine finishes off the card.

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Thank you so much for visiting!!

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'd like to share with these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - mood board and flowers

Stencilfun challenge - patterns with stencils

Power Poppy's Blossoms challenge - sponge bath (a sponging tool for stenciling)

Live Well, Laugh Hard, Love Big

Hello everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Allsorts. Lynn's turn to host this week and she selected the theme of "make your own background" but there is an option of Anything Goes so you may share all your new crafty makes with us for a chance to win or to be in Lynn's top 5. 

For my homemade background I chose a "smooshed" background which was made using Distress ink. Then I used a Lavinia hill mask to add a hill. Finally decided to stamp some words onto the background using a retired border stamp from Whimsy Stamps. 

The flowers are by Penny Black - Dainty Whispers - stamped with Versafine Onyx ink then colored with Faber Castell Polychromos. I used a Quickie glue pen and loose glitter to add some sparkles. Before adhering to the card base I used the same background stamp on the bottom portion, this time with black ink.

The sentiment is from the Penny Black set Love Big. I used a circle die to cut it out, then inked with distress ink. Edges were distressed for some interest. I thought the card needed something else, so I used a butterfly punch and an inky background paper I made with dylusions ink to cut them out. 

>>>>>>>>>>>5 Hot Brands Sale at Scrapbook.com/Ad

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!

Hope you can join us this week for your chance to win! Prizes for the April challenge come from Oakwood, AALL and Create, Stamp Addicts, Ruth Hamilton Design, Aldridge Crafts so there will be several winners selected from the weekly challenges!

Challenges I plan to link up with:

• Cut It Up - Starts with a B (butterflies, blue)
• Creative Knockouts - Spring is in the air 
• Paper Shelter - Anything that flies
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - April Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday -April challenge taking place right here on my blog! I'm so glad you you stopped by and I would love to see you joining in this month too! It was so nice to see so many of you linking up in March and I enjoyed visiting you all! Be sure to scroll down to see my top picks.

As always at Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday the theme is now.....................

Anything  Goes,

and instead of a challenge theme there will be a "Top Pick Twist" but nobody knows what the twist will be (not even me) until the challenge closes as it will be inspired by YOUR creations. So do link up all your new or recently created projects for a chance to be featured. Remember, you may share anything crafty, handmade by you. It doesn't have to be a card.

Here is my April creation:

The focal point are these fun Lavinia Stamps fairies - Dancing Till Dawn.

For a change I dusted off my Dylusion sprays, I used After Midnight and Fresh Lime although you can barely see any fresh lime here... It's been years since I last used them and I don't really know how to properly use them so I just spritzed on a craft mat, a spritz of water and then I inked up some Mixed Media card. There was plenty of ink for several cardstock pieces, the first two were very intense but I liked how this piece turned out and I thought it was perfect for these Lavinia fairies so I made a night sky which happens to be this month's Lavinia stamps challenge so I may link this up there.

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I used parts of Lavinia's poem Secret Night on the top right and bottom left stamped with Chipped Sapphire ink. I also used one of Lavinia's tiny stars stamp with Squeezed Lemonade ink. A quicky glue pen and loose glitter finishes off the card. Looks like I forgot to brush off some glitter specks from the Night of Navy (Stampin Up) card base. 

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 plan to link up with these blogging challenges:

• Country View Crafts' Challenge - things with wings
• Pearly Sparkles Challenge - All Creatures Great and Small
• Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - AG
• We Love Stamping - Using AG Option
• We Love 2 Create - AG Creative/Mixed Media

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March Top Picks with a Twist:

As mentioned previously, there is now a Top Pick Twist when it comes to my selection of Top Picks. Nobody knows what the twist will be - not even me - until the end of the month as the twist will be totally inspired by YOUR creations. This means the top picks will all have something in common.

The Top Pick Twist from the March entries is ..... For the Kids. How fabulous are these creations below!!?? So fun and creative!!

No. 34 Steph

No. 67 Priya

No. 70 Linby

Congrats everyone, well deserved recognition! Your top pick logo is below. Feel free to post it 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.

To join in this month's challenge please use the linky tool below. You have until Sunday April 30th 11:59 CST to play along!

A few things to remember:

• You may combine with any other challenges.
• You may use any brand of stamps/digis/products (no company restriction).
• Please try to limit your linked up cards to 3 entries per month - it's ok if you end up with more than 3.
• Please do include a link back here to my blog in your blog post.
• Backlinking to a recent post IS allowed.
• Digital products are allowed and very welcome but the final piece has to be a physical handmade creation, not just digital

Crazy Cousin at Double Trouble - Colors of the Rainbow and a Sketch

Hello everyone, I was invited to be the Crazy Cousin (a.k.a guest designer) at Double Trouble challenge for the month of April so here I am today sharing my card for their first April challenge. 

You can see in the logo above, Thing One - the trouble maker - wants to see a choice of rainbow color(s). Thing 3 - Twisted Sister - want us to use the Sketch (below) from Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge (this is optional) and finally Thing 2 wants us to share our card with Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge if we used the sketch (also optional). 

This was a fun card to create. I thought this new to me wood mounted stamp from Penny Black (Fish are Jumping) was the perfect choice for the Roy G. Biv Rainbow color challenge. 

I colored the image with a mix of Copic markers and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I followed the orders of the Twisted Sister and used Tuesday Morning's sketch (which will actually go live tomorrow as their challenge starts on a Tuesday but I think they will allow back linking for this challenge only). I cut the image out using a Nestabilities scallop circle die. The papers are from my stash. 

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Sentiment is also new to me from Tim Holtz's Tiny Text stamp set. Lots of great quotes in this set! I used Stickles glitter to make the rainbow sparkle. 

This challenge runs for two weeks and as mentioned you only need to follow Thing 1's theme of rainbow color(s), Thing 2 and 3 are optional :)

I shared this beautiful photo before but couldn't miss the opportunity to share again since today's topic is about rainbow colors :)

I took it while on vacation in Colorado. It was such a beautiful sight to see and it was extra special as that day was my birthday!

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!

Linking up my card with these challenges:

• We Love Stamping - Opt. Birds/Animals (a little mouse)
•  Sisterhood of Crafters - Rainbows or Rainbow Colors Unfortunately I'm too late for it :(
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters
• Pearly Sparkles Challenge - All Creatures Great and Small

In the Spring Garden

I'm back again a second time today as it's also time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge. It's my turn to host and I selected the optional theme of "in the spring garden". Lots of choices there and I'd love to see all those garden things but if you're currently working on another theme we'd love to see those too! Btw. this theme runs for two weeks to cover the Easter holiday so I won't have a Saturday post next week. We have a new selection of prizes for the April challenges, this month they come from Oakwood, AALL and Create, Stamp Addicts, Ruth Hamilton Design and Aldridge Crafts. Winners will be drawn from each challenge and all will be announced on April 28th on the challenge blog. 

Another Penny Black stamp for my second project today, this time I chose the beautiful stamp Bird's Eye View which I stamped using Versafine Onyx ink and colored with Distress watercolor pencils. I wanted to add a spring quote but don't have many to choose from especially not it a font I wanted so I googled spring quotes and loved this one by S. Brown and I typed it up on my computer using the American typewriter font.

To add some interest to the background I used a graph stamp by Darkroom Door (you have to look really closely to see it). Also used a Lavinia Stencil and added some ink spatter onto the background. The bird was stamped a second time and fussy cut then added with foam tape.

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The outer paper looks black but is Stampin Up's Night of Navy which always looks black in photos. I haven't added this piece to a card base yet. I think this might make a nice spring wall decoration so I might get a frame for it. 

Those butterflies and spatter weren't intentional LOL but I got some ink marks from my fingers onto the piece shortly before it was finished and didn't want to start over with it. So I decided to add the butterflies and spatter to "hide" the imperfections. I do like how it turned out :)

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Thanks so much for visiting. If you'd like to read my other post I shared a couple of hours ago simply click on the card below. It's for the April Four Seasons challenge where the theme is Spring.

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 would like to share my Spring Garden creation with these challenges:

Penny Black Saturday - PB Stamps 

Craft Rocket Challenges - For the Girls

Simon Says Stamp - AG

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stencil it

Use Your Stuff - Animals/Birds

These below are Always Anything Goes, I may not share with all but hope to link up when possible:

A Gem of a Challenge unlimited entries
A Perfect Time To Craft unlimited entries
Classic Design  Challenge unlimited entries
DL.Art Linky Challenge unlimited entries/ once per day
LeAnn’s World 101 unlimited entries
We Love 2 Create (creative/mixed media) unlimited entries
A Place To Start 8 entries max
613 Avenue Create 8 entries max
Path of Positivity 7 entries max
The Paper Funday 6 entries max
Word Art Wednesdays 5 entries max
The Corrosive Challenges 4 entries max 
Through The Craft Room Door 4 entries max
Crafty Catz 3 entries max
Creative Fingers 3 entries max
Ally's Angels 3 entries max  
Arty Divas 3 entries max
Crafts Galore Encore 3 entries max
Creatalicious Challenges 3 entries max
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday (my own challenge) 3 entries max  
Let's Craft & Create Challenge 3 entries max 
QKR Stampede 3 entries max
The Creative Crafters 3 entries max
World Wide Open Design Team Challenge 3 entries max
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends 3 entries max
Taylor Made Cards 4 U 3 entries max