Green and Gold for Christmas

Hello everyone, it's the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge today and Lynne is hosting this time. Her optional theme is "Traditional Christmas Colors" and of course the Anything Goes option is there too for those of you who prefer to go that route. We have a fabulous Tim Holtz Festive Foliage stamp set offered by Buddly Crafts along with a voucher for digital downloads from their store. Plus (brand new) starting with this challenge, the host will select a guest designer for a future challenge.

For my traditional Christmas Colors I went with Green and Gold.

The focal point is a beautiful die by Penny Black - Birds on a Wreath. UK friends can find it at Buddly Crafts. This wreath originally includes 2 birds but I had to cut one out as I messed up my background where I had to trim off more than I wanted and then the bird at the top didn't fit. I tried to add it somewhere else on the wreath but it looked cluttered so I left it off. 

The background was done with Pine Needles Distress Oxide ink using the smooshing technique. For the background stamp I used Penny Black's Christmas Story and the same ink. Before adhering the die cut I used a gold Posca pen for some spatter. Brushed Gold cardstock was used to cut out the focal point and the golden layer. Card base is SU cardstock. The color matched the Pine Needles ink beautifully but unfortunately I have no idea of the name of the SU color or it it's a retired color. It's been a few years since I purchased paper from Stampin Up. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Click here for more Christmas themed dies by Penny Black/Ad

I thought about adding a little red for a full traditional Christmas color scheme but I liked the simplicity of just the two colors so left it at that. 

I plan to share with these challenges:

• Creative Inspirations Challenge - AG
• Die Cut Divas - AG
• Double Trouble Challenge - 3 of something, 2 of anything, 1 of everything (3 layers, 2 baubles, 1 bird)
• Krafty Chicks - AG
• Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog - AG
• Peace on Earth - Christmas
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB products (I used PB die and background stamp)
• The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up - Christmas
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Christmas
• The Paper Funday - AG

Thanks so much for visiting!

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 8 - Anything in or from a Garden

Hello everyone, it's time for a new Garden Party (No. 8) to start and all are invited to attend with a "Garden" themed post. Remember, anything in or from a garden goes, this can be any type of craft, photography (from a garden), garden tips, garden weddings and parties, 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. My apologies to all of you as I fell so behind with commenting but finally got the chance to visit all your blogs now. 

Here is what I made using stamps from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs.

I don't have any pumpkins growing in my garden this year but I did once before (accidentally by leaving a pumpkin for the squirrels to enjoy over winter and one of the seeds grew a plant :)  I do have birds and cats (my own cat as well as some neighbourhood cats roaming around).

I started with my stamp positioning tool and the large pumpkin from the Tracy Evans set A Myriad of Designs. I used a mix of yellow-ish and orange Distress inks/Oxides and green for the stem. Next I used the ivy which is part of the same set. I slightly bent the ivy stamp so it wouldn't stamp in a straight line. Next I stamped the cat from the set Numerical Cats which also included "October" using Versafine Onyx ink. The little bird is from the set Myriad of Designs as well. I thought about some stenciling on the background but couldn't decide on a stencil so instead I dug through my Tracy Evans stamps and decided on using the background stamp - Art Notes which was released through Aall and Create and retired. If you are interested in any of these stamps, they are available in the US from Simon Says Stamp. The retired Art Notes can be purchased at Frantic Stamper. Fran is unfortunately closing her shop and is no longer purchasing any new inventory so the newer stamps aren't available there. Of course if you are in the UK you can get the Tracy Evans Boutique Designs stamps directly from Tracy's shop. 

I framed my scene with black cardstock then a white base. To finish the card I used a black Posca pen for some black spatter and stamped a couple more of the ivy leaves under the cat's paws.

I am sharing the above card here:

1. A Place To Start - Pumpkins
2. Cupcake Inspirations  - Fall Harvest
3. Double Trouble Challenge - 3, 2, 1 Recipe (3 layers, 2 animals, 1 pumpkin)
4. FarmQuest General Store Challenge - Anything farm/country/outdoors
5. Sisterhood of Crafters - Anything Fall
6. Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Animals
7. Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge - Halloween
8. We Love Stamping - Autumn

I also decided to make an ATC since I had stamped the pumpkin a second time. A similar design to the card above using the same stamps and inks. I am starting to love the miniature cards and have already made 5 this year. Those of you who make/collect these... how do you store them?

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!

I am sharing the ATC with the challenges below:

1. Papercraft Challenges - Amazing Autumn
2. Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Pumpkins and Leaves
3. Stamping Sensations - Autumn
4. Tag-Along (and ATC's) - Anything Autumn

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Click Here for Spooktacular Savings at Scrapbook.com/Ad

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 7

It was so great to see many of you joining me again at the Garden Party and selecting just 3 is never easy but I finally managed  and here they are listed in the order of entry:

No. 1 Silke

No. 17 Vicki

No. 24 Diana L.

Such beautiful work!! Congratulations to each one of you on your well deserved recognition! Your top pick logo is below, you may post it to your own blogs if you like to :)

Now it's time for the 8th 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 November 10th at 11:59pm CST

September Card Chain Challenge

It's been a while since I joined the Card Chain Challenge but I finally signed up again for September and today is reveal day. There were several challenge options given such as a sketch, themes, colors or techniques. I chose the colors along with the theme of "fish" and this is what I came up with. My card went to Arlene in CA.

I did my best to find colors to match the color combo below:

The images and sentiment are all part of a set by Hero Arts - Curious Cat. I colored with Distress inks, Hero Reactive ink and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. Images have all been fussy cut. 

The brick background was done using a 3D Texture Fades ebossing folder (also at Amazon). At the bottom of the brick background I used a gingham stamp by Lawn Fawn and black ink. 

I'm entering the above card here:

• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• Ally's Angels - AG
• Can You Handle The Pressure? - AG with Embossing Folder
• Crafty Animals - AG
• Critter Crazy Challenges - AG
• FarmQuest Home Challenge Blog - AG Home related (this was a scene from my own home some years ago just a larger aquarium)
• Neglected Stuff Challenge - AG with neglected stuff (patterned paper and stamp set have both been neglected )
• Paper Rock Scissors - AG with paper and/or scissors (I used both - paper layers and scissors for fussy cutting and ribbon cutting)
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Animals
• The Paper Funday - AG
• Try It On Tuesday - Animals

I received the beautiful card below from Julia from MA. Isn't that flamingo absolutely stunning!! And loving the texture!

If you've been thinking about joining in at the Card Chain Challenge then you still have few more days to sign up for the October card exchange. All you have to do is make and send a card to the person in front of you on the sign up sheet and receive a card from the one signing up after you. So fun! All details can be found here.

Thanks so much for visiting!

World Cardmaking Day Sale Going On Now!

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - October Challenge

Hello and welcome to the October Edition of Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday challenge taking place right here on my blog. I'm so glad you stopped by and hope you'll share something too. There were some wonderful entries last month, thank you all so much for joining in. As always my top picks with a twist are at the end of the post.

As most of you know, the theme at Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday 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 :) The linky tool is at the end of this post.

Here is what I made:

I made a CAS style card using Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Numerical Cats along with some leaves from the Tracy Evans set Silhouettes. Available from Simon Says Stamp and Topflight Stamps in the US or directly from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs in the UK.

I made a mask using a circle die cut and my big shot machine then inked the circle using Antique Linen, Carved Pumpkin and Aged Mahogany Distress inks/Oxides. A torn paper mask was used to add some "hills" in the background. Then I stamped the cat using Versafine Onyx ink. The leaves were inked using Carved Pumpkin and Aged Mahogany ink. Birthday sentiment is from a SU set I found at a thrift store, it's probably retired. "Meow" is part of the same Tracy Evans set. I layered this onto matching papers by Stampin Up. 

>>>>>>>>>Click here to shop all kinds of cat stamps at Scrapbook.com/Ad 

(PS: Take an extra10% off with coupon code for World Card Making Day - ends soon!!)

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!

I plan to share with these challenges:

• 613 Avenue Create - Lots of leaves
• Addicted to CAS - Code word: Leaves
• A Place To Start - Leaves and Circles
• Double D - Mood Board (below)
• Dream Valley Challenges - Autumn Colors
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Animals

Top Picks with a Twist:

Now it's time to announce the Top Picks with a twist. Thank you all again for joining in, it was so great to see your posts! 

The twist from the September entries is: Beautiful Blossoms, meaning each one of my top picks features flowers.

No. 43 Irene M.

No. 51 Yvette

No. 56 Maria

Congratulations to each one of you on 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.

To join in this month's challenge please use the linky tool below. You have until October 31st to join in.

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 products 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.

World Cardmaking Day Sale Going On Now!

Witching Hour

Hello everyone! October is here and it's the start of a new challenge at the Four Seasons challenge blog. Autumn is all around us here in the Northern Hemisphere and we have another wonderful mood board to inspire your autumnal creations. But as always, you don't have to use it as "Anything Fall Goes".

I was inspired by the bottom right image from the mood board (see below) to use this gorgeous Marcie from Lavinia Stamps. She is from last year's release but I only just purchased her. I usually get my Lavinia stamps from ASC Supplies on Etsy and Joggles also has a nice assortment. Of course if you are in the UK you can get them directly from Lavinia for the best selection.

The background was done with one of Lavinia's hill's stencils but this can easily be done with a handmade paper mask using copy paper by tearing or cutting with scissors Then I stamped the witch  and cat  using Versafine Onyx ink along with the branches on the left and right side using Lavinia's Seasonal Tree stamp. 

Next I stamped the moon and the leaves from the set Creeping Vine. Finally I thought it needed something else so I chose Orchard Grass. Besides black ink I used Distress inks Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahohany. For some sparkle I used a Sakura Stardust glitter pen on her hair, broom, dress and around the moon but unfortunately the sparkle isn't showing up well in the photos. 

Sentiment is also from Lavinia stamps - Witching Hour.

Below is a peek at our mood board. Isn't it just fabulous??!!

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!

I plan to share my card with these challenges:

1. A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
2. Ally's Angels - AG
3. A Place To Start - Leaves and Circles
4. Classic Design Challenge - AG opt. Leaves
5. Crafts Galore Encore - AG
6. DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
7. Double D - Mood Board (below)
8. Dream Valley Challenges - Autumn 10
9. Make My Monday - Autumn
10. Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - Autumn/Halloween 10

PS: I also have another post today for my monthly Crafty Wednesday challenge. Click here to read the post and to link up your own creation over there.