Flowers for You with a Ribbon or a Bow

Hello everyone, today is the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Sarah is hosting. Her optional theme is "Ribbon and/or Bow" and then we also have the Anything Goes option if you'd rather go that route. We have a prize of an A5 stamp set, stencil and ribbons, and also a £10 digital download from Polkadoodles. Hope you'll join us. As always, the challenge runs for two weeks.

I recently mentioned that I purchased a mixed lot of stamps inside a box (only those at the very top were visible), curious but unsure of what else I'd receive, and this gorgeous stamp was part of that stamp lot. The German saying "buying the cat in the bag" come to mind, I don't think it's one used in English, but it means buying something without knowing what you're getting😀Sometimes we have to take risks, right??

This is an older wood mounted stamp by Penny Black 4164K the Rose. I used Versafine Onyx ink for stamping and Derwent Inktense pencils for coloring. For some background stamping I chose a stamp by Tracy Evans and Antique Linen Distress ink. The strip of paper on the right side is from my box of scraps. I added white silk ribbon next to the patterned paper and then tied some striped twine around the card. The mini tag die is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps and sentiment "for you" is from the Penny Black sentiment "Blooming Sentiments". Glitter was added to the roses 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 share with these challenges:

• Crafty Catz - AG
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG
• Creative Fingers - AG
• Creative Moments - Feminine
• Double D - Signs of Love
• Little Red Wagon - Leftovers (the paper strip and tag die cut are made from leftover pieces)
• Simon Says Stamp - AG
• Sweet Stampin - A Special Woman
• Woodblock Wednesday Challenge - Use any woodblock stamps

Excited that I finally managed to join in the Woodblock challenge again (it's been a while!!), as I do have so many woodblock stamps which I love and always want to join in but then it's usually closed by the time I get my act together. If you want to give your woodbock stamps some love then do check out this challenge. It starts on the last Wednesday of each month and is open for one week. 

A Bare Tree and Broccoli Stamping

The other day some sort of a promoted post popped up in my Instagram feed where someone used a piece of broccoli and acrylic paint for an art piece. The only vegetable I probably ever used as a stamping tool had been a potato in Kindergarten (we probably all did that!!) so I really wanted to give Brocccoli stamping a try. Here is what I came up with using stamps by Tracy Evans besides the broccoli. I did use traditional inks, not acrylic paints.

I started out by creating an inky background with a circle in place for a moon. I used Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Chipped Sapphire inks. Some water droplets were splattered on to the background to create some interest. Stamps used are all by Tracy Evans - TE38 Silhouettes (tree), Miniatures released by Aall and Create (bunnies and quote) and TE50 On the Wild Side (foliage stamped in green at the bottom part). Inks used for stamping are Versafine Onyx, Versafine Clair Grass Green, Arctic and a tiny bit of Baby Pink to make it look like the tree is starting to flower.

I used a torn paper mask and Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide ink to make a hill for the bunnies. 

Can you see where I used the broccoli 😀😀 It's the speckled stamping around the trees and a little bit at the bottom too.

I am sharing my card with these blogs:

• 613 Avenue Create - Animal Magic
• Ally's Angels - AG
• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• A Place To Start - small critters
• Classic Design Challenge - AG
• Crafting from the Art Challenge - AG
• Crafty Animals - Animals
• Crafty Catz - AG
• Crafty Gals Corner - AG
• Creative Fingers - AG
• Creative Inspirations Challenge - AG
• Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters
• DL.ART Thankful Thursday - AG
• Double D - Signs of Love 
• FarmQuest General Store Challenge - Anything Farm/Country Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - AG
• Make My Monday - for a male
• Paper Rock Scissors - AG with papers and/or Scissors (all paper layers)
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - whatever the weather (dewy spring weather)
• Stamping Sensations - AG
• Talk About it Tuesday - Anything blog post
• The Paper Funday - AG
• Try It On Tuesday - 3, 2, 1 (3 layers, 2 bunnies, 1 moon)
• Unicorn Challenge - Animals
• We Love Stamping - AG
• We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

Have you tried broccoli stamping yet? Or any other fun "non-crafting" items you tried? I would love ot hear from you!

I Spy With My Little Eye ........Something You Love (Challenge No. 34)

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! As always, our top two from the last challenge are at the end of this post, both invited to join us in the next challenge.

It's my turn to choose a theme this time and it is...........

I Spy With My Little Eye...........
Something You Love.

It could be a particular stamp or craft tool, favorite colors, flowers, animals, gardening, a hobby... maybe a particular technique or embellishment, a particular season etc. So many options, but please do let us know in your post what it is that you love featured in your design.

Here is what we came up with:

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!

Lots of things I love on this card... cats, birds, the garden, watercoloring (although I'm not too great at it), Penny Black stamps, CAS-ish design.

The stamp is an old wood mounted stamp by Penny Black called Cat Bath. I stamped on Bristol Vellum paper and colored with Zig Clean Color brush pens. The wording stamped on the bottom part of the background in green and the cut out sentiment are the same: "Nothing lifts the spirits like being out in the garden". This is from a set by Tracy Evans for Aall and Create (Blackbird). The small bird is from another one of Tracy Evans sets (Myriad of Designs).  A little bit of splatter finishes off the card.

I am sharing the above card with these challenges:

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB Stamps
• Sweet Stampin - No Designer Paper

Pauline's Card

So beautiful and how cute is that little mouse!! Please visit Pauline's blog to find out how she made this card.

We're so excited to have a guest designer joining us this time, that is Chris from And Here's One I Made Earlier. Thanks for being our guest designer, Chris!

Chris' Art Journal Page

A stunning page with such great details! Please visit her blog to find out how this was made.

Top Picks from Challenge No. 33

It was a quiet month for the last challenge, but many thanks to each one of you who joined us! Our Top Picks are below listed in the order of entry:

No. 1 Deb Horst (Ellie's Pick)

No. 3 Jolanda (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 March 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, March 15th at 11:59pm CST

You Are My Dream - Allsorts Embossing

Hello everyone, it's time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this time our optional theme is Embossing (Heat or Dry) selected by Val. Prizes come from Lisa Horton and you have about two weeks to join us! If embossing isn't for you then there is always the "Anything Goes" option and we love to see those too!

Here is what I made very fitting for today's Valentine's Day :) 

I made a CAS card using Lavinia Stamps Swans along with a sentiment by Penny Black Dream.Love.Sentiments and a die cut heart also by Penny Black. For embossing I chose dry embossing using an old  Cuttlebug embossing folder. I used red cardstock from Stampin Up for the 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!

Challenge I plan to share with:

• A Cut Above - Die Cut Challenge Blog - AG with die cuts (I used a circle die cut for focal point and small heart die cut)
• Aud Sentiments Blog Challenge - Dies and Love theme
• Can You Handle The Pressure? - Embossing Folders
• C.R.A.F.T. - Love
• Crafty Calendar - Love is in the air
• Cupcake Inspirations - Love is in the air
• Double Trouble Challenge - 3 layers, 2 images (the swans are 2 separate stamps), 1 CAS technique. Also followed option of one color (red - black and white are my neutrals) and option of include a heart.
• Heart's Quest Challenge - Include red or gold hearts
• Heart's Quest Celebration of Love - opt. Valentines
• Make My Monday  - include 2 dies (circle and heart)
• Simply Clean and Simple - CAS
• Stamping Sensations - Favorite Stamps (currently obsessed with swans and these by Lavinia are my favorite swan stamps because I love silhouette stamps)
• Tic Tac Toe Challenge - top row: hearts, die cut, red/pink
  
• TIME OUT Challenges - Pick Two from list (I chose red and heart)
• Triple B - Birds, Blooms or Butterflies
• We Love Stamping - Hearts

Thanks so much for visiting. Hope to see you at the Allsorts challenge blog. Here is our prize for the embossing/AG challenge - an embossing folder with matching layering stencil.