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


Mar 23, 2024

Simplicity at Allsorts Challenge

It's Saturday already and that means a new challenge starts today at Allsorts. It's Sarah's turn to host and she selected "keep it simple" for her optional theme. Should be easy for everyone but if simple cards aren't your thing then you are welcome to share your other new crafty makes with us for the "anything goes" option. Btw. this challenge runs for 2 weeks to cover the Easter holiday so you have extra time to join us. 


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 was working on another card when I discovered this negative "frame" next to my die cutting machine from a rectangle die and got the idea to use it as a mask for a simple card. I inked the rectangle using Tattered Lace Distress ink then used a Lavinia stencil for some background fun. And what's easier than stamping a large sentiment onto the background??!! So I selected this beautiful quote by Penny Black (Dance, Sing, Love) and stamped using Versafine Onyx ink. 


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I could have left it as is for an even simpler look but have several extras of these butterflies. This butterfly die (by Penny Black - Soaring) includes 4 sizes of butterflies and I decided to keep them attached to one another so I don't lose any, and since I reach for the tiny ones more often I usually have several of the larger ones cut out. I chose 3 and added sticky rhinestones to their bodies. It was definitely a simple card to make but I love how it turned out.

We have prizes from  Highlight Crafts and Stamp Addicts for weeks 773, 774 and 775. The winners will be announced at the end of April. Btw, there was a winners post yesterday, so be sure to take a look on the challenge blog if you played in the challenge within the last few weeks.

Thanks so much for visiting!




I plan to share with these challenges:

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Mar 20, 2024

I Spy With My Little Eye ... Something Yellow (Challenge No. 13)

Hello everyone, it's time for a new "I spy with my little eye" challenge (taking place right here on my blog) and Pauline and I are back with a new theme. As always we'd love for you to join us! There were lots of wonderful entries last month so remember to scroll down to see who made our top 2. Both will be invited to join us in a future challenge. 


It's my turn to host this time and I selected the theme of 

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


something yellow. 

I can't help but love yellow this time of the year. I'm sure it has something to do with the beautiful Daffodils that are blooming in my garden. But there are many more things that are yellow and we can't wait to see what yellow things we'll spy on your creations. The linky tool is at the end of this post. 

And here is what we came up with for your inspiration:

My Card (Ellie)

info 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!

I absolutely love this quote by William Wordsworth. There used to be a Penny Black stamp with this quote but I never did own it and it's impossible to find now so I finally gave in and typed this up on the computer. I even downloaded a new font to use with it.

The Daffodil stamp is by Penny Black - Daffodil Dance. I used Letraset Aquamarkers (not sure these are still available...) to color directly on the stamp then used my stamp platform to get the results I wanted. I did some stenciling using the Circle Explosion and Chickenwire stencils then added the Lavinia Stamps bunny and bee. The stitched detail is a retired stamp from Whimsy Stamps. I used Stickles glitter around the flowers and bee wings. When it was all finished I wished I had printed the poem in black instead of gray but didn't want to start over again.

I plan to share the above card here:


Pauline's Card


I love how Pauline used these stamps to create this spring themed card! Please visit her blog to read all about how she made this.

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We're so happy to have a guest designer this month, Irene who has been busy creating not one but 3 wonderful samples, each one using yellow.

Aren't they all beautiful!! Please visit Irene's blog to find out how she made the cards.



Top Picks from Challenge no. 12

There were lots of wonderful creations last month and we had such fun finding things beginning with "b" on your projects. It was such a well received theme, thank you all!! As always selecting our top picks wasn't easy but finally here they are 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. 14 starting Wednesday April 17th ! Of course it's not a requirement but we would love to have you both as guests!!

No. 7 Steph (Ellie's Pick)

(B for Bird and Books)



No. 18 Liz C. (Pauline's Pick)

(B for Butterfly and Blooms)


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 (optional of course!) for challenge no. 14 starting on Wednesday April 17th. 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 be in compliance with GDPR, Top Pick photos and links will be removed after the start of the new challenge. 






Now it's time to link up YOUR creations for the new theme! Anyone is invited to join us with your crafty makes following our theme - "I Spy Something Yellow".



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 project is allowed.

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Mar 16, 2024

Easter Prank with Feathers and Fur

This week it's my turn to host at Allsorts challenge and I selected "Feathers and/or Fur" for my optional theme and everyone is invited to join us with a new crafty make. If feathers and fur aren't for you then you can go with the Anything Goes option too.  We have prizes from Craftstash and AALL and Create. Winners will be announced next Friday of the month on the challenge blog.

And here is what I made with a digistamp I selected from a recent challenge win. I thought it was absolutely perfect for the theme :)


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!

The image is called Easter Prank from The Paper Shelter. It comes in black and white as well as pre-colored. I don't usually use pre-colored images but since we got a new printer within the last year I was curious to see how well it worked when printing a colored image and I thought it printed just fine so I went with the precolored version. I did use a dark gray colored pencil on part of the image for a little more shading. 


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To make the sky I used my cloud stencil and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink. Both the large and small sentiments are from this cute set by Colorado Craft Company. 


There was a small smudge in the sky so I added these tiny butterflies. 

Thanks so much for visiting!


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Mar 9, 2024

Daffodils and Blackbirds

Hello and welcome! It's time for a new challenge at Allsorts and Lynn is hosting this week. For her optional theme she selected "Add Yellow" which I happen to love, especially this time of the year so it was perfect for me to finally ink up a new to me stamp set.


I didn't plan on making 2 cards but somehow that's how it ended so here they are both using the same stamps - Elegant Spring Florals #623 and Blackbird #530 both by Aall and Create.

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!


On the card above I made a smooshed background using Squeezed Lemonade and Wilted Violet ink (or was it Villianous Potion??) then stamped the floral image onto the card. I colored with distress inks and pencils. I wasn't too thrilled with it so far and that's when I decided to start working on the second card (below). But when that one was finished I decided to go back  this one and added the blackbirds and garden sentiment which is also part of the Blackbird set. I inked the edged with Squeezed Lemonade ink then mounted onto black cardstock and then a white card base.

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I plan to share this card with these challenges:


And here is the other card I made with the same stamps.


Here I started with a circle die cut mask then inked with Squeezed Lemonade Oxide ink and also used a stencil (Circle Explosion). Next I stamped the image and colored with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I stamped "Narcissus" on a scrap piece and added 3 enamel dots next to it. I wanted to turn this into a birthday card so I added the Penny Black birthday sentiment from the set Sprinkles and Smiles and Stickles glitter to the bloom. Still seemed like it needed something else so I got out the Blackbird set and stamped the birds. Believe it or not but this is when I thougth there was too much going on now LOL so this is when I decided to finish the above card. Well, my daughter liked this one more so I decided to show both :) And I can't really say which one I prefer now that I finished both. Which one do you like more?


I plan to share the above card with these challenges:


Btw, Allsorts challenge is open for one week and I hope to see you joining us for your chance to win. We have prizes from Craftstash and AALL and Create for challenges 771 and 772 with winners announcements on the last Friday of the month. 



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Mar 6, 2024

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - March Challenge

Hello and welcome to Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - March challenge taking place right here on my blog! I'm so glad you stopped by and hopefully you'll share your own crafty makes too. The linky tool is at the end of this post. There were so many fabulous entries last month so be sure to check out who made the top 3!

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:

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 was inspired to give my gel press another try so I started by brayering Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks onto my square gel press then flicked some water onto it with a brush before taking the print. I wasn't too thrilled with the outcome but was determined to make it work so I stamped my old Stampin Up French Script onto the background for some more interest. For the focal point I decided to use a Penny Black Christmas wreath die (birds on a wreath) but used pastel colors and cut away the baubles and relocated the birds to turn it into a wedding/ anniversary card.

wreath die

The little flowers were done with an old Stampin Up punch (flower trio). I added white enamel dots to the flower centers. The hearts are another Penny Black die (heart bow die), I trimmed part of the die cut off to make it work for the design. Finally I added the silk ribbon bow and sentiment which is from an old Whimsy Stamps set. Love the simple font. For some shimmer and sparkle I used my Wink of Stella clear glitter brush on the flowers, birds and wreath.


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I plan to share with these challenges:





February Top Picks with a Twist


As always I had a hard time selecting the top picks with a twist but it is a part of the challenge I enjoy as I take more time to study the linky tools gallery, and I finally decided on the Twist of: Feathered Friends. And here are the top picks listed in the order of entry:


 No. 9 Melanie


No. 28 Debbie


No. 32 Chrissy



Congratulations to each one of you! 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 Wednesday March 27th 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 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.
  • Digital products are allowed and very welcome but the final piece has to be a physical handmade creation, not just digital


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Mar 2, 2024

Spring has Sprung at Allsorts Challenge and Card Chain Challenge February Reveal

Hello everyone! This is a "two in one" post today as I am sharing two cards - my weekly Allsorts challenge card and the February Card Chain Challenge card.

First up is my card for the new Allsorts challenge where Lorraine is hosting this week with her optional theme of Spring. Hope you will join us for your chance to win. Prizes come from AALL and Create and Aldridge Crafts for weeks 769 and 770. Remember, winners will be announced on the last Friday of the month and Top 5 next Friday.


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 my card I decided to ink up some Lavinia stamps and created this cute spring scene. I started out with Lavinia's hills masks and a MFT cloud stencil to create the background. Then I stamped the tree (Celestial Tree) and Hares (Whimsical Hares) using  Ground Espresso Oxide ink and a bit of green ink on the tree buds to make it look like a spring tree. The flowers are Lavinia's Lavender. The bee is also from Lavinia and sentiment is an oldie from Stampin Up. I added stickles glitter to the tree, bee and flowers for some sparkle.
 
Iplan to share the above card with these challenges:

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Next up is my card for the February Card Chain Challenge where today is reveal day. My card went to Alice in Finland this time. As always we are given a variety of themes/challenges to choose from and I went with the colors this time.



I love these colors and knew right away it's what I wanted to choose. I also got a bit inspired by the sketch so I added my image panel at an angle although I'm not sure I like it that way. 




The image is new to me from a set by Aall and Create Don't Stop Me Now. I colored with zig clean color markers. I added some diluted distress ink onto the background then stamped just the 2 flowers from the same image onto the top right corner. Sentiment is a quote from Tim Holtz' Small Talk sticker sentiment book. My plan was to tie some twine onto the staple (twine was another option from the February challenge) but it seemed out of place to my eye so I took it off again and added sticky rhinestones in sky blue instead. I haven't heard yet from Alice but hopefully she received the card and likes it. 

Still a little time yet to join in the March card chain challenge if you like to sign up. You do need to be willing to make and mail a card to one other participant (the person who signed up before you) and you will receive one card from another participant. All the details can be found here. 

I plan to share the above card here:


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Mar 1, 2024

Springtime at Four Seasons Challenge

Happy Friday!! March is here and we are switching seasons at the Four Seasons challenge blog as it's now time to put away those winter stamps and start thinking SPRING!! As always we have a fun mood board to inspire you but you may share anything spring, the mood board is optional in case you need a starting point.


 Here is what I came up with inspired by the mood board.


The stamp is from the Penny Black set Chick to Chick. It's an older clear set but available at Amazon (USA) with free shipping as I type this. I stamped with Memento Tuxedo ink then colored with Copic markers and fussy cut. On the background I stamped the grass from the PB set Enjoy Life, another oldie. I used the circle frame die from Penny Black's die set Soaring which also includes the little butterflies I added to the top of the card. Two blossoms from my stash and some enamel dots finish off the card. I also used a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush on the Easter eggs for some sparkle. The sentiment is part of the set Chick to Chick.


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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!


I plan to share with these challenges:


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