Nov 22, 2025

Sentiment in Focus at Allsorts Challenge

Hello everyone, it's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this time our theme is "Sentiment in Focus" selected by Helen. Or you can choose the Anything Goes option instead. The challenge runs for 2 weeks and hope you'll join us! We have a prize from Sweet Poppy this time.


I'm currently in "Christmas Card-Making Mode" so I decided to use a large sentiment stamp by Penny Black (from the set Festive Cheer) stamped with Versafine Onyx ink. Next I chose patterned paper from a 6x6 paper pack I purchased from Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. A little more was needed under the sentiment so I chose die cut pieces from Spellbinders (they are part of a sleigh die set by Spellbinders (Delivering Joy). 

I used Kraft cardstock for my card base by Recollections 110lb from Michaels.

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:


And that is all for today. Hope you're having a great weekend! 

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Nov 19, 2025

I Spy With My Little Eye.............Something Festive for Christmas (Challenge No. 32)

Hello everyone and welcome to a new "I Spy With My Little Eye" challenge taking place right here on my blog. Pauline and I are back with a new theme and we hope you will join us too! And don't forget to check below to see who made our top 2, both invited to join us as guest designers in a future challenge. 

It's my turn to select a theme and fitting for the upcoming festive season I chose...........


I Spy with my little eye.....

Something Festive for Christmas.

This can be anything suitable for Christmas: cards, tags, scrapbook pages, home decor pieces, gifts, etc. You can choose how festive you want to go, it could be just a bit or full of festivities. Pauline and I both thought of mice in a festive forest setting as you will see below. Totally unplanned :)


My Card:

(Details are right below the card)


I recently received an order from Lavinia stamps (could not resist those cute mice!!!) and decided to make a festive outdoor scene featuring this cute little mouse Pipspell looking up in wonder at the sparkly Christmas tree (Fairy Fir Tree). I made some snowbanks and hills using a homemade mask out of torn paper and stamped a pine branch from Lavinia's set Starpine. The golden berries are from the Berry Wreath set and the tiny mushroom cottages are Lavinia's Small Shroom stamps. I added  stickles glitter for sparkles. As with all the other stamps, the winter sentiment at the bottom of the card is also by Lavinia - Seasons Change. 

I plan to share the above card here:


To find out how Pauline made this card please visit her blog. 





Top Picks from Challenge No. 31


Thank you all again for joining us in the last challenge where we were looking for something spooky. There were such fun spooky makes shared, thank you all for joining us. It's never easy to narrow it down but we finally managed and here are our Top Picks, both invited to join us in the next challenge.


No. 8 Helen (Pauline's Pick)
No. 20 CarolG (Ellie's Pick)

Congratulations to both of you on your well deserved recognition! Your Top Pick logo is below.

Remember, you are both invited to join us for the January challenge starting January 21st. If you would like to be a guest designer please message me (Ellie) at ellibellescorner at gmail dot com so I can give you all the details. Of course, this is not a requirement but would love to have you joining us if you like to :)



Just a heads up: Next month we are taking a break from the traditional challenge but instead there will be a "I spy with my little eye........A Crafty Year in Review/Favorites of 2025" post with a linky tool where everyone will be able to link up their own "year in review post :)


To play along in the new 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.
  • Back-linking to a recent project is allowed.
  • Linkup closes on Sunday, December 14th at 11:59pm CST



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Nov 13, 2025

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 9 - Anything in (or from) a Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to the new Garden Party taking place right here on my blog. When I started the Garden Party I thought about taking a break during the non-gardening months but there is always beauty in the gardens no matter the season so I am continuing over late fall and winter. 

As always, you may share anything in or from a garden. This can be crafts of any kind, garden photography or garden tips, weddings and tea parties taking place the garden... So many options!!

And here is what I'm sharing:

I couldn't resist this new stamp set from Tracy Evans TE055 Berries and I thought it would be perfect to use for a "late season" garden card. I went with a CAS design. I created a mask using the negative of a deckle die cut and inked the inside using Stampin Up's Cookie Crumble ink. I stamped the branch from the set in the top left corner and then used the bunnies along with the notebook edge at the bottom. Both along with the sentiment are part of the same set. A little bit of Stickles Crystal glitter on the berries finish off the card and I used Kraft paper from Michaels (110lb) for the card base. 

I thought the card was a little bit too CAS so I decided to use a simple stencil (Tim Holtz) on the background for more interest.

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 enter the above card here:




I couple of days ago I was so lucky to have found out about the possibilty of Northern Lights in my area and was treated to this beautiful sky. This was taken at the edge of town just around 9:30 pm. My first time seeing them and it was well worth the few minutes drive to the edge of town (they are hard to see inside the city due to city lights). They were visible in much of the US midwest and I've  heard even in Texas and northern Florida. I hope some of you got to see them too!!



Top Picks for Garden Party No. 7

Let's take a look at my Top 3 from the last Garden Party. As always, there were lots of beautiful things shared and it's always so hard to narrow it down but here they are in the order of entry:


No. 2 Linby




Congratulations to each one of you on your well deserved recognition! Your top Pick logo is below you may post this to your own blogs if you like to :)



Now it's time for the 9th 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 December 8th at 11:59pm CST

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Nov 8, 2025

I've Been Good All Day!

A new challenge starts today at the Allsorts challenge blog and this time it's Christine's turn to host. Her optional theme is "Christmas Cards" and you have two weeks to join us. There are 2 prizes for this challenge from the Allsorts prize box.

I feel like it's been a while since I used my "cute" Penny Black stamps and this particular one is new to me so I wanted to color it up. It's a wood mounted stamp called Tweet Christmas. I had so much fun with it that I used two different coloring mediums but created two very similar cards. 


Above I used my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils on Bristol Velllum paper. For the backgorund I used one of my stencils by Tim Holtz and Antique Linen ink. This cute ginger cat image was the perfect stamp to use with Penny Black's Dear Santa stamp set. 

The card is simple in design so I decided to stitch around the edges with my sewing machine. I'm keeping it closeby now so maybe I'll reach for it more often. I added some stickles glitter to the ornaments to make them sparkle. 

I am sharing the above card here:




This card is almost identical to the one above. Here I heat embossed the image on watercolor paper and then used my Derwent Inktense pencils. I used another Tim Holtz stencil and matted onto dark purple cardstock before sewing. I used the same stamp set for the sentiment, again very fitting for the image. 

Below is a peek at our prizes - stamps, stencils and dies!



Thanks so much for visiting. Hope you're having a great weekend. Rain and maybe some snow is in our forecast. 

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Nov 5, 2025

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - November Challenge

Hello and welcome to the November Edition of my Crafty Wednesday Challenge taking place right here on my blog! I'm so glad you stopped by today and hope you'll join in too with a new or recently made creation. There were lots of fabulous entries last month, thank you all for sharing your creativity! My top picks with a twist are at the end of the post along with the new linky tool.

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 :)

And here is what I made:

I still love playing with my new Tracy Evans stamps and here I used the snowman from the set A Myriad of Designs. I wasn't sure how this would turn out (this was basically a test run with that snowman) but I love the results and decided to use it for today's inspiration piece.

I started out by heat embossing the snowman onto Bristol Vellum paper.

I know most of you are familiar with heat embossing but if you've never done it before, basically these are the tools you need:

  • Anti Static Pouch (you rub this over your cardstock, this ensures that embossing powder only sticks to the ink)
  • Versamark ink pad (make sure to ink your stamp very well with this ink)
  • Embossing Powder of your choice (I prefer ultra fine/detail as I sometimes like to emboss sentiments too - here I used Ultra Fine White) I usually sprinkle plenty onto the stamped image then shake off the excess and put back into the jar.
  • Heating Tool to melt the embossing powder


After heat embossing, I added some color to the background using the smooshing technique with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink. Using black ink (I used Versafine Onyx) I stamped the snowman's hat and then fussy cut so he could have a black hat. An embossed hat would have been nice too but I was too lazy for that :)  A Micron fineliner pen was used to color his eyes and heart shaped buttons and copic markers to color the embossed branches, carrot and tiny heart. Not sure the copic markers were the best choice as they did bleed a little so I am still looking for something fine-tipped that writes onto embossed images (maybe these extra fine-tipped Posca Pens would work without bleeding..)

The tree and wording are from Tracy Evans set Winter Delights and the little bird at the bottom left and row of bells at the top are part of the set Myriad of Designs. You can find Tracy Evans stamps at Simon Says Stamp if you are in the US or directly from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs in the UK. 

Another view below:
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!

Challenges I plan to share with:



October Top Picks with a Twist:


So many wonderful entries to choose from and they gave me lots of ideas for a twist. But "Lots of White" won and these are my Top Picks using the twist. 

No. 8 Jenny Martin

No. 53 CarolG

No. 56 Dreja


Congratulations to each one of you on your well deserved recognition. Your 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 Sunday November 30th 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.
 



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Nov 2, 2025

October Card Chain Challenge

Today is reveal day at the Card Chain Challenge where I took part in last month. As always there were several challenge options to choose from such as a sketch, themes, colors or products/techniques. I actually liked all of the options given so I decided to join in. My card went to Dee in Kenya. I really hope it was received as I haven't heard back yet from Dee.

My first thought was to go with the sketch using trees and fairies but the sketch then didn't really work out so the challenge options I chose are trees, wee folk, glitter and splats.


All stamps I used are by Lavinia Stamps - Fairy Chain small, Spring Trees, Secret Night. I linked these to ASC stamp supplies on Etsy (my favorite shop for Lavinia stamps in the US because she offers free shipping!!). They are also available at Simon Says Stamp. If you're outside the US then your best place to get them is at the Lavinia stamps shop or a Lavinia retailer in your country. 

This card was actually pretty easy to make once I figured out my design. I first stamped the Fairy Chain using Walnut Stain Distress ink and embossed with ultra fine clear embossing powder. Next I inked the card using Distress inks/oxides in Carved Pumpkin and Fired Brick with a moon mask in place. After removing the moon mask I stamped the Spring Trees using second generation Walnut Stain ink as I wanted the trees a shade lighter than the fairies. A homemade mask was used to make some hills around the fairies and trees using Fired Brick ink. Finally I stamped parts of the sentiment Secret Night at the bottom. For some spatter I used a gold Posca pen. And of course the fairies need sparkly wings so I added stickles glitter for some sparkle.







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 link up with these challenges:

I received the beautiful sparkly card below from Jeanne in MN. It's hard to tell from the photo but the flowers are embossed in gold and glitter. I love it!



Btw., if you'd like to join the card chain challenge in November, it is still open for a few more days. All you have to do is make one card and mail to your recipient so it arrives before the end of the month. You will also receive one card from the person who signs up after you. All details are here.



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Nov 1, 2025

The Great Pumpkin and the Little Fox

Hello everyone, it's hard to believe but November has arrived and that means it's the start of a new challenge at the Four Seasons challenge blog. It's our last month of "All Things Fall" for the year so hope you can come join in the fun with your fall themed creations. As always we have a great mood board for your inspiration but it is optional as "Anything Fall Goes". 

Here is what I made for this month inspired by the bottom left image from our mood board. I love those colors and it gave me another reason to ink up the fun pumpkin stamp from Tracy Evans.


I find Tracy Evans' stamps so addictive, they all work so beautifully together and I think the way to combine them are unlimited. This cute little fox is new to me from a retired set (Up Up & Away) also by Tracy Evans for Aall and Create. I had it on my wishlist for some time but never ended up purchasing it. Then recently I came across a cute card by the very talented Sarn who used another fox from this set and I was reminded of the set. It's no longer in production but luckily I found it at Frantic Stamper who still has one in stock (US shipping only). 

I stamped the fox onto a paper where I had used the "smooshing" technique and fussy cut. For the pumpkin from the TE set Myriad of Designs I used Pumice Stone Distress ink and Stampin Up's Creamy Caramel around the edge. I did use my stamping platform for the pumpkin so I could re-stamp if needed. For the stem I used Bundled Sage along with Iced Spruce. Behind the fox/pumpkin I used stamps from Tracy Evans sets Fern, On the Wild Side and the flowers are from the set Poppy. They were also stamped onto a smooshed background. Oh, I also used the script stamp from the set Magnolia. I added a few spatters (watered down Iced Spruce Oxide ink) but left it in a CAS style otherwise. 

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!

Product List:
Inks: Distress Inks and Oxides: Pumice Stone, Bundled Sage, Iced Spruce, Carved Pumpkin, Dried Marygold. Stampin Up: Creamy Caramel. Tsukineko: Versafine Onyx
Other: Stamp Positioning Tool, Paint Brush for spatter
Stamps: Tracy Evans: Myriad of Designs, Fern, On the Wild Side, Poppy, Magnolia available here, here  or here. AALL and Create: Up Up & Away (retired) one set available here for USA shipping






I plan to share the card above with these challenges:
Please visit the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team made and you have until November 25th to join in this month. 

Thanks so much for visiting and Happy November Days!!


If you like this post then I invite you to subscribe to receive post updates sent directly to your inbox. Simply add your email address below to be added to the list. 
 


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Oct 25, 2025

Autumn Colors

Today is the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Brenda is hosting. For her optional theme she selected "Autumn Colors". They are all around us here so a perfect time for the theme. I hope you'll join us! We have prizes from Stamp Addicts and Simon Says Stamp. 

Always a  hard decision on what stamps to use so I decided to ink up some newer Tracy Evans Boutique Design stamps for the first time - Seedheads. These are available directly from Tracy Evans shop or if you are in the US then you can get them at Simon Says Stamp. Besides Seeheads, I used a few additional stamps by Tracy Evans - Magnolia, On the Wild Side and Pinecone (retired from Aall and Create) on the background.

The inking on the background was done with Brushos before stamping. The seed pods were stamped again and fussy cut. I used a white gel pen for some highlights. "Autumn" is part of the Pinecone set. The image panel was distressed and glued onto rust red cardstock then onto kraft cardstock.  I used a harlequin stamp (very old from Stampin Up) on the top and bottom corner of the card front. Decided some gold spatter would be nice but my Posca pen went a bit wild with some huge spatters. Oh well... I need to accept that some things I cannot control!!

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:

Lots of autumn themed challenges so I found plenty to join :)

Thanks so much for visiting and hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

 

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