Handmade Backgrounds at Allsorts Challenge

Hello everyone, today is the start of a new Allsorts challenge and Donna is hosting. Her optional theme is "Make your Own Background" and our prize is a set of 4 background stamps from AALL and Create. There are lots of great ways to make your own background but if that's not a challenge for you then the Anything Goes option is always there too!

Here is what I made:

I decided to get out my gelli plate for today's card and brayered Chipped Sapphire ink onto it. Next I placed AALL & Create's Crisp Tulips stencil onto the gel plate and went over it again with the brayer (I have this one). Then I took the print. The stamps on the background are by Tracy Evans Magnolia TE43 (available here and here in the US or directlty from Tracy Evans' shop in the UK.) I used Chipped Sapphire and Saltwater Taffy Distress ink/Oxide ink. The birds are from another one of Tracy Evans sets Myriad of Designs. The script stamped onto the background is part of the same Magnolia set and I used Versafine Clair Twilight ink for stamping the words. I wanted to add stitching but didn't want to mess with the sewing machine so I chose a retired stitching stamp from Whimsy Stamps instead for some cross-stitching. 

I had a negative circle mask out on my desk and decided to use that too for an additional interest and finally flicked some diluted Chipped Sapphire ink onto the card before adding the coral layer and card base.

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:

• Cardz 4 Galz - Pink Flowers (I hope coral pink is ok?)
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• TIME OUT Challenges - A Favorite Cardmaking Technique (Love adding script and splatter to backgrounds)
• Try It On Tuesday - Add Some Text
• We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative

Below is a peek at the prize. You have about 2 weeks to join us!

Krafty Penguins

Hello everyone, I actually ended up in my craft room working on design team cards and I ended up making an extra card so I decided to share it today. 

I started out with a square piece of kraft cardstock from Michaels. Love that it comes in heavy weight for card bases and lighter weight for card fronts. I used the negative of a circle mask and moonlight white Brilliance ink pad to ink up the circle and snowbanks for the scene. Stamps are all by Tracy Evans and they are all part of one set: Winter Delights available at Simon Says Stamp or Topflight Stamps  in the US, or directly from Tracy Evans shop if you live overseas. 

I used a white Posca pen for some "snow flurries" and added glitter to the trees and snow. Since the kraft card front was very CAS I decided to use my scoring tool around the edges.

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 would like to share my card with these challenges:

• Cardz 4 Guyz - Epic Adventure
• Little Red Wagon - Neutral Colors
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• The Paper Funday - AG
• TIME OUT Challenges - Favorite Cardmaking Technique (stamping scenes)

 

Hope you stay warm! It's getting a bit better over here, finally not below -20 degrees (celsius). It's still below freezing but I'll take it :) 

I Spy With My Little Eye...........New Beginnings (Challenge No. 33)

Hello everyone and welcome to a new I spy with my little eye challenge, the first one of the New Year taking place right here on my blog. Pauline and I are back with a new theme and we hope you will join us! As most of you know, we took a little break from hosting the challenge during December and instead I decided to hold the yearly "Year in Review" in its place. Many thanks to those of you who also shared their own year in review, I'm always curious to see what your favorites were and enjoyed visiting your blogs! Speaking of favorites, our Top Two from the last challenge (the one that started way back at the end of November) are listed at the end of the post, both invited to join us in the next challenge, so be sure to scroll down.

This time it was Pauline's turn to selecte a theme and it is:

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

New Beginnings.

How about New Year, New Home, New Baby, New stash, New Techniques, a New Season…. There are lots of possibilities and you have plenty of time to join us! Maybe this challenge will help you along if you have a lack of mojo like some of us seem to have in this new year.

My card (Ellie)

(All details are right below the card.)

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!

A couple of months ago I purchased a box full of mixed stamps, I couldn't really tell what was all in the box but I did noticed a few Penny Black stamps and the price was right. While several of 

the stamps were donated I did keep quite a few of them too and this one by Art Impressions was one of them. My stamp is wood mounted but I found the unmounted cling version on Etsy. And apparantly there is a whole line of stamps by Art Impressions called "Windows to the World" that are just like this one and there is a shadow box window die to go with these stamps... maybe something I need?? Probably not...

I thought it would work well for a new couple and their new home. It's really those swans that make me love this stamp and the whole scene is just charming. I used Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for  coloring and added a touch of glitter to the flower centers. The kraft script paper came from a prize I won from DL.Art challenge some time ago, sentiment I think is by Whimsy Stamps, but a real oldie.

I plan to share the above card here:

• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Retro Rubber Challenge - AG (I don't know the exact age but I can image it's at least 10 years old!)
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Things with Wings (Swans)
• Sweet Stampin - Bright and Beautiful
• We Love Stamping - Something New (New Home, New to me stamp)

Pauline's Card

Such beautiful elements and gorgeous colors! Please visit Pauline's blog to find out how it's made.

We're so excited to have not one but two Guest Designers joining us this time and they are Helen B. and CarolG. Thanks for being our guest designers!! Their beautiful creations are below.

Carol

So very cute!! Please visit Carol's blog to find out how she made this card.

Helen

How sweet is this??!! Please visit Helen's blog to find out how she made this adorable card!

Top Picks from Challenge No. 32

Thank you all again for joining us in the last challenge where we were looking for something festive for Christmas. There were lots of beautiful creations and as always it wasn't easy to select favorites, but we finally managed.

No. 11 Crafticarrie (Ellie's Pick)

No. 50 Chris (Pauline'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 as guest designers for the next challenge starting February 18th. 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 :)

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, February 15th at 11:59pm CST

A Little Bird Told Me....

Hello everyone, it's my turn to host at Allsorts challenge this time around and my theme is For Boys or Men. Of course the Anything Goes option is there too and I hope you can join us. We have prizes from  Sweet Poppy. 

I came across this fun stamp with sentiment by Penny Black (40-327 "A little bird") on eBay a few months ago and the price was just right so I clicked the "Buy  It Now" button :) This is my first time using it. I think it's perfect for masculine cards and of course for any cat lover. I'm a bird lover too but do find this funny as long as this wouldn't happen in real life!!

I stamped on Bristol Vellum paper and colored with my Derwent Inktense pencils. On the background I used a "speckled" stencil from this Tim Holtz set. On the bottom portion I used a birthday background stamp from My Favorite Things (retired) and inked with gray ink. I did stamp the image onto a post it note to make a mask to use when I inked the floor. My sewing machine is still closeby so I stitched around the edges. 

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:

• Ally's Angels - AG
• C.R.A.F.T. - AG
• Crafty Animals - AG with Animals
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! - Stencils and opt. Four Legged Friends (I used a "speckled" stencil on background)
• Creative Inspirations Challenge - AG
• Critter Crazy Challenges - AG with a Critter
• Double D - Birthday
• FarmQuest Home Challenge Blog - Anything Home Related (a cute lovable kitty being up to no good is part of many homes)
• Paper Rock Scissors - Papers and/or scissors. All layers are paper and I used scissors to cut out the image from a post it note to use as mask.
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB Stamps
• The Paper Funday - AG

Thanks so much for visiting!

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 11 - Anything in or from a Garden

Hello everyone, it's time for a new Garden Party to start and all are invited to join in the fun!

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!! As always the linky tool is at the end of the post along with my Top Picks from the last party.

I think my mojo left me way before Christmas and it's still nowhere to be found but at least I knew I wanted to use Tracy Evans stamps and this is what I came up with.

It turned out to be a bit "busier" than I intended. That is because I originally used only green, black and white, but then decided to add some yellow and this is the final result. A little mistake led me to add a little more yellow and not much I can do about it now :)

Stamps used are all by Tracy Evans: TE38 Silhouettes, TE14 The Wonder of Nature, TE33 Sunflower, TE32 Alpha Florals and Art Notes from Tracy's Aall and Create release. For inks I used Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide, Mustard Seed Distress Ink, Versafine Onyx. I also used a black Posca pen for some spatter along with diluted Wilderness ink. Stamps are available directly from Tracy Evans in the UK or Topflight Stamps and Simon Say Stamp in the US. 

I plan to share my card with these challenges:

• Lost Coast Designs - Winged Things
• Stamping Sensations - Beginning with B (Birds, Bare Tree)
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies
• We Love Stamping - AG

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 10

There were lots of beautiful garden themed posts to choose from last month, thank you all so much for joining in! As always, selecting just 3 is never easy but I finally managed and here they are listed in the order of entry:

No. 6 Gerrina

No. 8 Karen L.

No. 14 Carrie Sheridan

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 :)

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party. Simply message me at ellibellescorner at gmail dot com if you would like to be a special guest. Of course this is totally optional as I know we all are busy in one way or another just thought it would be something fun to offer the top picks :)

(Btw. Even if you are a special party guest for the month, you are still invited to share your other garden themed creations in the linky tool during the month!)

Now it's time for the 11th 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 January 5th at 11:59pm CST

I wanted to add a little reminder that the annual Crafty Year in Review is still open until January 18th and I would love for you to join in there as well to share you favorite creations of the last year. I think it's so nice to have a look back!

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Goodbye for Now

Hello crafty friends, I have a bit sad news to share... I decided to discontinue my Crafty Wednesday challenge for the time being. I have really enjoyed hosting this linkup for the last 7+ years, so much that I had started the "I spy" challenge along with my "Garden Party" last year too but I realized it may have been a bit too much to handle so for now I am taking a break from hosting this linkup (I don't know when or if it will return so it is a Goodbye for now). I want to thank you all for your wonderful support of this challenge over the years!

That being said, the Garden Party and I spy with my little eye challenges will continue and I do hope to see you all there :) And you can find the December Top Picks at the end of this post.

I do have a card to share today made with the adorable Pipspell and some additional Lavinia stamps. 

I stamped Organic Root at the bottom right, along with Pipspell using Versafine Clair Pinecone ink. At the top right I used Lavinia's Starpine set to build up the pine branch. The quote is Lavinia's Magic Surrounds Us stamped using Chipped Sapphire ink. I decided to add some orbs made with a homemade "bokeh" stencil and I stamped the mini snowflakes (also by Lavinia) onto the backround. Before adhering to the pale pink mat I inked some more of the Chipped Sapphire around the edges and added stickles glitter to the center of each snowflake and the bauble. The card base is navy to coordinate with the dark blue ink although it looks black in the photo. I also used my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for coloring the bauble and mouse.

If you're in the US I highly recommend Crystal from ASC Craft Supplies for a source of Lavinia Stamps as she offers Free Shipping on everything, although she doesn't have all the stamps in stock. (Also a great place to shop for the beautiful Stamperia papers!)

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 the above card with:

• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Creatalicious Challenges - Winter Animals
• Critter Crazy Challenge - Animals
• FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge - Outdoor Christmas
• Girlz Creative Christmas Challenge - Christmas
• Peace on Earth - AG Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Something New (some new to me stamps - organic root and quote)
• Stamping Sensations - Beginning with B (Bauble and Branch)
• We Love Stamping - Something New (New Organic Root and Quote Stamps)

Top Picks with a Twist from the December Challenge

For the last set of Top Picks I decided that there is no twist and simply chose my favorites from the December entries: 

No. 18 Irene M.

No. 20 Jan R.

No. 48 Judy V.

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 :)

Thank you all again for your support of my Crafty Wednesday challenge over the years. It's been so fun and I got to meet many fabulous crafters along the way! I hope to continue to see you around blogland :)

Have a great day and I will be back again tomorrow with a new Garden Party! Hope to see you there!

Winter Animals at Allsorts Challenge

It's the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge (the first one of the new year!) and Helen selected "Winter Animals" for her optional theme. Hope you can join us! We have prizes from Visible Image. The challenge runs for two weeks so plenty of time to join us! And remember, the Anything Goes option is always there too!

I have a quick and easy to make card to share today using more from the beautiful designer paper from Stamperia. I don't usually use much designer paper but treated myself to this pack after seeing it somewhere online and it doesn't need much to create a pretty card with. Click here if you missed my first card using this pretty paper pack.

This 8x8 paper pack is called The Owl's House (unfortunately this size seems to be out of stock -  available in 12x12 size for US shipping and maybe it's easier found overseas). I layered the image panel onto some coordinating colored cardstock then stitched all around the edges. The sentiment is from the Penny Black set Season's Gifts. I used 110lb Kraft cardstock from Michaels for the card base. A little bit of glitter finishes off the card.

I adore that sweet squirrel!!

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!

A few challenges I plan to share with:

• Cardz 4 Guyz - Christmas Critters
• Classic Design Challenge - AG
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge - Outdoor/Country Christmas
• Love those pretty papers - Use Pretty Papers
• Simon Says Stamp - Add a sentiment

Below is our prize for this challenge, a beautiful stamp set and coordinating die set. You have 2 weeks to join us!

As always, thanks so much for visiting!

December Card Chain Challenge Reveal Day

Hello everyone, I played in the Card Chain Challenge again in December, couldn't resist the challenge we were given, and today is reveal day!

For December there were no options but instead we had to follow all of the challenges  which were:

NBUS

(new but unused stuff) 
something from your stash that is unused
It doesn't have to be new, old unused stuff is OK too

 

AND

 

your favourite 3 colours

 

AND

 

an animal OR a flower OR a fruit.

This is what I came up with following the challenges above. My card went to Joanne in CT and I was happy to hear that she liked it. The card below is actually are replica of the "original" as silly me forgot to take a picture before mailing it!! But luckily I realized what I had done the very next day when I still had most items out on my desk and the card was fresh in my mind so the only difference would be where the splashed might have been.

I knew exactly which colors to use: this exact blue and this exact pink. My third favorite color is black, I didn't use too much of it on the card, only the sentiment and black brad. Then I knew I'd have some new and never before used stamps as I had purchased several stamps in the last few months that I hadn't had a chance yet to ink up and since it was during Christmas time I selected the beautiful Poinsettia stamp set from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs.

I masked the edges with washi tape then used Blueprint Sketch Distress ink and some splatter with a wet paintbrush for that fun reaction. Next I used part of the Christmas Story background stamp by Penny Black at the bottom portion of the card. The flower was stamped, heat embossed and colored using Picked Raspberry ink and clear embossing powder. There are 2 Poinsettia stamps in the set, the large one (which I heat embossed twice and then a smaller one which I heat embossed once, to cut out for some layers. I used a black brad to hold them together. Under the flower I placed some die cut pine branches made with a Penny Black die (Ornamental Branch). I used navy cardstock for the card base, navy is also a favorite color of mine.

Finally I added the flower with glue dots, stamped the sentiment from the Penny Black set Seasons Gifts in Versafine Onyx ink and then added the sequins for some shine and mainly I wanted to bring a little bit of pink up to the top portion of the card.

Sharing with these challenges:

• Craft Rocket Challenges - Something New (Poinsettia Stamps)
• Creative Inspirations Challenge - AG
• Everybody-Art-Challenge - Christmas or New Years
• Simon Says Stamp - Add a Sentiment
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

I received a real treat from Wendy in Ireland as she sent both of these adorable shaker cards. Thank you so much, Wendy, I absolutely love them!!

The Card Chain Challenge is open to any cardmaker anywhere in the world willing to snail mail a handmade creation and you can still sign up for the January challenge. It's such a great way to send and receive some Happy Mail!

A Winter Owl for The Four Seasons January Challenge

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, followers and visitors!!

Hello everyone, I am here bright and early sharing my first card of the new year for the January Four Seasons challenge. We're in the midst of winter and we would love to see all your winter themed creations. We do have a fabulous mood board (see below) but it is just for your inspiration as "Anything Winter Goes". 

My card features a beautiful designer paper from the Stamperia 8x8 paper pack called The Owl's House. Unfortunately it appears that it's been discontinued but available here in 12x12 size for US shipping. I'm not one to normally use a lot of patterned papers but I fell in love with some Stamperia papers when I saw them featured somewhere in the blogging world. I purchased 3 other paper packs at the same time and hope they won't just be hoarded!!  But I do have another card to share with you soon from this particular paper pack.

This was really easy to make too, I simply stamped the sentiment (from the Penny Black set Holiday Snippets) directly onto the designer paper then added the diecut snowflakes (Penny Black Dancing Snowflakes). I added stickles glitter onto the snowy branches and sewed around the card before adhering it to a kraft 110lb card base 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 am sharing with these challenges:

• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• C.R.A.F.T. - AG
• Crafts Galore Encore  - AG
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Creatalicious Challenges - Winter Animals
• Creative Fingers - AG
• Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters
• Cut It Up - AG with a die cut
• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Everybody-Art-Challenge - Christmas/New Years
• FarmQuest Country Christmas Challenge - Outdoor Christmas
• Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment

PS: The "Year in Review - Favorites of 2025" linkup is still open and I would love for you to link up your own "Favorites of 2025" post :)

Thanks so much for visiting and hope to see you at the challenge blog!