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!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spring Themes on Sale at Scrapbook.com/Ad

I plan to share with these challenges:

• Aud Sentiments Blog Challenge  - Bling and a Sentiment
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! - Stencils
• Dream Valley Challenges - Dies
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB products
• The Crafty Addicts - AG
• Triple B - Blooms, Birds or Butterflies
• Try It On Tuesday - Stencils
• We Love Stamping - Feminine
• Word Art Wednesdays - AG
• Word Power - Focus on Words

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:

• Beautiful Blossoms - Flowers
• Craft Rocket Challenges - For the Girls
• Double Trouble - Spring Florals
• FarmQuest General Store Challenge - Anything Country Goes
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps
• Stamping Sensations - Spring
• Stencil Fun - Stencils and Spring
• The Crafting Challenge - Spring Air (I love it when the spring air smells like Daffodils!)
• Triple B - Blooms, Birds or Butterflies
• Try It On Tuesday - Use a Stencil
• Word Power Challenge - Words in focus (I do wish I had printed this poem in black instead of gray to be even more focal.)

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. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spring Themes on Sale at Scrapbook.com/Ad

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.

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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I plan to share with these challenges:

• A Gem of a Challenge - AG
• CAS on Friday - Easter
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! - Spring/Easter
• Digi Choosday Challenge - AG
• Everybody-Art-Challenge - AG
• Fab n Funky - Spring
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - AG
• Little Red Wagon - CAS
• Paper Shelter - Spring Colors
• The Crafty Addicts - AG
• The Paper Funday - AG

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:

• Daisy Chain Challenges - Flowers
• Double D Challenges - First Signs of Spring
• Fab n Funky - Favorite Colors (I love yellow and purple)
• Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - AG
• Paper Shelter - In the Garden
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful
• Stamping Sensations - Spring
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies
• We Love 2 Create - Something Creative
• Word Art Wednesdays - AG

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:

• Aud Sentiments Blog Challenge - Glitter
• Beautiful Blossoms - Flowers
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! - Stencils and Spring
• Dragonfly Dreams - Circles
• Dream Valley Challenges - Sparkle
• Incy Wincy Designs - Birthday
• {PIN}spirational - Glitter
• Simon Says Stamp - Add a sentiment
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Dots or Stripes
• The Paper Funday - Dies or AG (I used a die cut as a mask)
• We Love Stamping - Feminine

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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.