Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 20 - Anything in or from a Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to a new Garden Party, taking place right here on my blog! So glad you stopped by today and maybe you brought something along to share too. Remember, it's Anything in or from a Garden, this can be crafts of any kind, garden photography, garden tips and advice, garden tea parties or weddings etc. The linky tool is at the end of this post. I also have two special guests joining me today so be sure to scroll down.

It's beginning to look a little spooky in the garden, in fact the large Illinois orb weaver spiders have been busy since August and of course cats are part of it. Wether it's my own Fussy who enjoys sleeping on a garden chair when the weather is mild, and it always makes me happy when a stray cat wanders through the garden. 

Anyway, you might recognize the cat stamp I used here as I made a similar ATC in September. I loved that one so much that I decided to make two greeting cards using the same cat stamp.

The stamp set I used is called Spooktacular by Penny Black. Background was done with orange and black Distress inks and a stencil. I flicked some water onto the background for that fun reaction and a few flicks of a black Posca pen. The cat has been fussy cut and I colored the pattern on the cat with pencils and a glitter pen. Sentiment is from the Penny Black stamp Creepy Crawly Halloween K4018 (no longer available). 

Challenges I am entering the above card to:

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - Spooky (see cookies above)
Just Add Ink - Stencils or Dies
Two Old Bats - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween

This is the other card I made:

Here I created an inky background with Villainous Potion Distress ink and once again a few splatters of water. A circle die has been used to cut out the cat and then I used a starry Avery Elle circle die around the circle die cut. Sentiment and spider are both part of the same stamp set Spooktacular. And I used a pencil and glitter pen again for the cat's pattern and sparkle on the spiderweb.

Challenges I am entering card 2:

Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters

Halloween Crafts All Year Round - Halloween

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps

The Paper Funday - AG

I'm so excited to have not one but two special party guest joining me here today as guest designers, that is Priya and Darlene! Thank you both!!

 Priya

Darlene

Aren't these both amazing!! To find out how they are made, please click on the links above the projects.

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 19

This is never an easy task but one that I do enjoy and finally made my selection. They are listed in the order of entry, each one invited to join me as a special party guest/designer for the November 12th Garden Party.

No. 2 Kathy K.

No. 44 Julia A.

No. 47 Helen F.

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (#21 starting Thursday, November 12th). Please 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 your share at the Garden Party No. 19!

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.
• A short mention of products used whenever possible is expected, especially the focal point.
• It is the creator's responsibility to follow copyright laws.
• The party ends on Monday November 9th at 11:59pm CST

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 19 - Anything in or from a Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to the September Garden Party taking place right here on my blog. I'm so glad you stopped by and hope you will share something in the linkup too! As always, it's Anything in or from a Garden. This can be crafts of any kind, garden photography, garden tips and advice, garden weddings, tea parties in the garden etc. The only rule is that the crafts/photos have to be your own. 

It's beginning to look a little bit autumnal in the garden so I made a fall themed card for my project. The stamp is Penny Black's wood mounted stamp Chitchat which I believe was my very first PB stamp I ever purchased 😊 I colored with Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils and then added some shading with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. the patterned papers are from my stash, I think both are from a DCWV Fall paper pack. Sentiment is from a clear stamp set also by Penny Black. I finished off the card with a button and jute twine bow and die cut butterflies using Penny Black's die set Soaring and some glitter on the butterflies' bodies.

There are still ongoing issues with blogger's reading list, if you don't want to miss a post then I'd love for you to subscribe via email.

 

Please use the form above to be added to my new email subscriber list via substack. Simply enter your email address and click subscribe. Subscribers, please add ellibellescorner at substack dot com to your address book so ensure post delivery.

Sharing the above card with these challenges:

• Addicted to Stamps and More - Die Cuts or Stencils 
• Craft Rocket Challenges - Dies
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Creative Moments - Make it cute
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stamp It
• The Pick 3 Challenge - I chose Insects, Polka Dots and Stamping

There are no special party guests this time so let's get straight to the Top Picks from the last challenge.

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 18

It's never easy to choose but I finally managed and here they are listed in the order of entry:

No. 19 Priya R. 

No. 21 Donna W.

(fun fact, Donna's card inspired me to use the image I used on today's card 😀)

No. 52 Darlene

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (starting Thursday, October 8th). Please 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 your share at the Garden Party No. 19!

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.
• A short mention of products used whenever possible is expected, especially the focal point.
• It is the creator's responsibility to follow copyright laws.
• The party ends on Monday October 5th at 11:59pm CST
  

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 18 - Anything in or from a Garden

Hello crafty friends, it's time for the new Garden Party which takes place right here on my blog and all are invited to join in. The theme is always "Anything in or from a Garden" this can be crafts of any kind, garden photography, garden tips and ideas, garden party posts etc. The only rule is that they need to be your own garden themed photos. The linky tool is at the end of this post.

And here is what I made for this month.

Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no extra cost to you.

This cute stamp is by Penny Black (Flying High), stamped with Versafine Onyx ink and colored with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I stamped the bunny again on a post-it note and fussy cut tor a mask then did some stenciling using the Circle Explosion stencil, I think it's by MFT. Butterflies are made with a new-to-me die set also from Penny Black (Flight of Fancy) and the sentiment is part of the bunny stamp set.The "hill" was made with a die set by Whimsy Stamps (old and no longer available but there are other similar options available). To finish it off I added stickles glitter to the flower and butterfly bodies. Mounted onto a matching green cardstock (inked with Twisted Lime Distress Oxide ink) and then a simple white card base.

I am sharing my card with these challenges:

• Cardz 4 Galz - Blue Sky
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game!  - Stencils
• Cupcake Inspirations - In the Garden
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB Stamps
• We Love Stamping - Summer Blooms

There are no special party guests this time so I am sharing photos of 2 pretty blossoms from my garden.

Below is the beautiful Crown Princess Margareta rose I planted last fall in memory of my sweet orange tabby Thomas. It's a climbing rose as he loved to climb up on everything.

 

This is the same rose shrub different set of blooms. It was evening when I took the second photo so the blossoms look a little more peachy.

Below is a dwarf type of a sunflower. Lots of beautiful blooms on just one stem but unfortunately it is now faded. The birds love the seeds, I was lucky to see 2 goldfinches feasting on some seeds. 

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 17

And now it's time to see who made the Top 3 from the last Garden Party. It's never easy to choose but I finally managed and here they are listed in the order of entry:

No. 2 Nancy J. 

No. 26 Amy's Midsummer Vegetable Garden

(many more photos in her post)

No. 33 Papierelle

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (starting Thursday, September 10th). Please 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 your share at the Garden Party No. 18!

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 September 7th at 11:59pm CST

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 17: Anything in (or from) a Garden

Hello and welcome to a new Garden Party taking place right here on my blog 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 in a  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, each one invited to join me as a special party guest :)

And here is my Garden share for this month. Now if I could just find a cute little hedgehog in my Garden, sadly they aren't native here in the States but I will always have the fond memory of finding one under our plum tree growing up in Europe :)

Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no extra cost to you.

I recently mentioned that a friend asked me to show her 10 year old daughter how I make card (she really loved the birthday card I sent her) and this is the second card design I prepared for her to make. (You can see the first one here). 

The stamp is the wood mounted Penny Black "Ladybug 'n Hedgehog 1433F. The wood mounted version is hard to find but I think it comes also as part of a clear stamp set (probably smaller scale). Stamped with Versafine Onyx ink and colored with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. The patterned paper is the same used on the first card I shared, by The Paper Studio, butterflies were done once again with Penny Black's Soaring die set. Cut from pale yellow cardstock and the edges were inked with Wild Honey Distress ink. The leafy bunch at the bottom of the card is a woodmounted stamp also by Penny Black Spotted Winter 4270K and sentiment an oldie from Stampin Up. I added a tiny heart to the sentiment. I gave my little student :) the option to add a few more butterflies to her card which she did. She also used a cloud stencil on the white space and that looked really nice, wish I had taken a photo of her finished project but I didn't think of it. She had lots of fun and hopefully we'll do this again in August before school starts. 

I plan to share my card with these challenges:

• Crafting Happiness Challenges - AG
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Moving along with the Times - Use a coloring medium (I used pencils)
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps
• Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Four Legged Friends
• Try It On Tuesday - Animals
• We Love Stamping - Summertime

I'm so excited to introduce not one but TWO special party guests joining me this time as guest designers. Please welcome Lia and Deanne! Thank you both for being here! Remember, even though you are special party guest, you are still invited to link up your other garden themed projects!

Guest designer Lia

Guest Designer Deanne

You can find out more about how they made these gorgeous creations by visiting the links above their projects. I'm sure they would love to hear from you!

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 16

Now it's time to announce my Top 3 from the last Garden Party. It was so great to visit all your blogs and admiring your gorgeous creations. A note for entry no. 18 - I am sorry that I couldn't leave you a comment, but I kept getting a "spam-alert" error message. I do appreciate you sharing the beautiful 3D paper flower! Thank you!

My Top 3 are listed in the order of entry:

No. 9 Lorraine A.

No. 13 Donna W.

No. 28 Rosi

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (starting Thursday, August 13th). Please 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 your share at the Garden Party No. 17!

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 August 10th at 11:59pm CST

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 16: Anything in (or from) a Garden

Hello everyone! Welcome to a new Garden Party taking place right here on my blog 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 in a  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, each one invited to join me as a special party guest :)

Here is my Garden share this time. It's been a stormy day yesterday, when this was taken but the sun peeked out for a short moment between the rain showers so I managed to get an ok photo. 

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 feel like my cute Penny Black stamps have been neglected for a bit and I though it's time to choose one to ink up. I decided on From Me to You. Stamped with Versafine Onyx ink and colored with Derwent Inktense (watersoluble) pencils. The background was done with a new-to-me Sizzix embossing folder I recently picked up at a thrift store when I took in a huge box of crafts for a donation. As luck would have it, on that same day I came home with a package of new-to me goodies (several sets of Close to My Heart stamp sets and 4 embossing folders)... so much for delcuttering!!! I ran an ink pad across the embossed paper and glitter was added for an embellishment to the flower centers. Sentiment is an oldie from Stampin Up.

I am entering the above card here:

• Make My Monday - Add Texture
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB Stamps
• Simon Says Stamp - Add a sentiment
• The Paper Funday - AG
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

So excited to introduce not one but two special party guests for this party, please welcome Pauline of Passion for Papercraft and Lynda of Loopyloo Cards. Thank you both for joining me and remember, even though are are a special guest designer, you are still invited to share your other garden themed posts in this linkup :)

Special Guest Designer Pauline

Special Guest Designer Lynda 

You can find out more about how they made these gorgeous creations by visiting the links above their projects. I'm sure they would love to hear from you!

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 15

Now it's time to announce my Top 3 from the last Garden Party. It was so great to visit all your blogs and admiring your gorgeous creations. Kelly S (entry no. 28), I am sorry that I wasn't able to leave you a comment, the link went back to my own blog so I wasn't able to find your blog.

No. 23 Lia

 No. 32 Deanne

No. 60 Yvette

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (starting July 9th). Please 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 your share at the Garden Party No. 15!

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 July 6th at 11:59pm CST

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 15 - Anything in (or from) a Garden... Plus More Italy Vacation Photos: Varenna)

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 in a  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, each one invited to join me as a special party guest :)

At the end of the post I'm also sharing an assortment of photos from our daytrip from Milan to Varenna on Lake Como. They are very garden focused so fit well into today's post. If you're not interested in the pictures simply scroll down to the very end for the Garden Party link up.

Here is what I made this time:

I started with a smooshed background using diluted Distress inks. I found a piece of inky cardstock in my stash of extras that matched the background piece so I used that extra piece to stamp the boots onto and then fussy cut. I thought the postmarks stamp from the same set would work well to "ground" the boots and I used the same stamp directly on the boots to give them some more detail.

Next I stamped the butterfly collage stamp directly onto the background but it didn't stamp fully so I decided to use another butterfly stamp from the same set, stamped on another snippet of inky cardstock and fussy cut then added right over the large butterfly. "Fly Free" and "Butterfly" are part of the same sets: Tracy Evans for Aall and Create The Great Outdoors and Spread Your Wings. Both have been retired but possibly still found at some retailers...

I plan to share the above card with these challenges:

At Double D they are asking for Watercolor (my background is a smooshed watercolor background), Double Trouble Challenge want to see at least 3 layers, at least 2 shapes (hexagon and rectangle), and at least 1 stamp

At Mix It Up Challenge it's all about Stamped Backgrounds, Moving along with the Times wants to see Butterflies, Paper Rock Scissors is looking for Paper and/or Scissors (I used both this time!), then at The Pick 3 Challenge we need to choose three from a list of 6 words(I chose Boots/Feminine/For a Friend) and at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge it's Things with Wings. Anything Goes at The Paper Funday and Word Art Wednesday  My color scheme was inspired by the current optional Triple B moodboard with pink butterfly, bird for flower. Finally at We Love Stamping it's all about all creatures great or small.

I'm so excited to introduce a Special Party Guest this time around and that is Guest Designer Irene of Irene's Scrapbook. So happy yo have you as a special guest, Irene!!

Irene's Card

This card puts a big smile on my face as I love hedgehogs and daisies!! Please visit her blog to find out how she made this card.

Top Picks for Garden Party No. 14

Now it's time to announce my Top 3 from the last Garden Party. It was so great to visit all your blogs and admiring your gorgeous creations. Susan aka rainy if you read this, I am sorry that I wasn't able to leave you a comment, I kept getting an error message and my comment wouldn't go through.

My Top 3 are listed in the order of entry:

No. 10 Loopyloo

No. 32 Suzanne Reynolds

No. 44 Pauline

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 :) Please read the info below if you'd like to join me as a special party guest.

New this year:

I would like to invited each Top Pick to join me as a "Special Party Guest" in the next Garden Party (starting June 11th). Please 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!)

As promised I am sharing some more of my April vacation photos. This time the photos are from our daytrip from Milan to Varenna on Lake Como. Mid-April on a weekday was definitely the perfect time to visit as it gets extremely busy during summer - and as a bonus, the beautiful Wisteria was in full bloom during our visit. 

Varenna is known for its beautiful gardens at Villa Cipressi and Villa Monastero and they were why I planned this daytrip from Milan. Some  of you know how much I enjoy gardens! Plus it only takes one hour to get here from Milan and train tickets were easily purchased from the Trenitalia site and very inexpensive. 

This is "Heaven's Gate" at Villa Cipressi. Be prepared to wait in line for your turn... Unfortunately some visitors turn this into longer photo sessions for Instagram (some showed up with tri-pods for their phones)  but I can't blame them as it's such a beautiful spot.

 

Even prettier without people in it...

All roads to the town center were very narrow and uphill like the one below.

Many daytrip tourists take ferry rides to other villages on Lake Como but I wanted to have enough time to explore Varenna and I didn't want to wait in a line for a ferry on our first visit to Varenna. It worked out perfectly and we enjoyed a relaxed day surrounded by beauty and some surprises (such as a small scorpion on a wall - I had no idea Northern Italy had scorpions - luckily I found out these are pretty harmless!)

PS: If you missed my Milan pictures and would like to see them you can find them here. I have more vacation photos and soon I will share some snapshots from Verona.

But now let's get back to the party... it's time for your share at the Garden Party No. 15!

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 June15th at 11:59pm CST