Elzybells Blog

Celebrate Summer with us!

 

Yep! We're making room for new stock so throughout August selected stamps will be on offer with 20% off!! The sale starts 3rd August.

Get the bargains while you see them!! Although the sale runs throughout August, there's no guarantee that all the stamps will still be on offer by the end of the month - if they're popular, they'll get snapped up quickly!

 

 

 

 

To kick off the sale, we're also offering FREE shipping on all orders over £35 between 3-7th August.

 

*** edited to add:  free shipping offer now expired ***

 

 

 

Each weekday in August we will give you the chance to win some lovely stamping goodies!! You have to be in it to win it - just leave a comment on this post telling me what's your favourite thing about Summer and you will be entered into the entire month's draws - that's 20 chances to win!

 

For complete fairness, strictly one comment per person please - all the comments will be added to each draw throughout the month so there's no need to comment more than once. People posting more than once will be disqualified from the draw. If for any reason there is a problem with your original comment, do not post another one, just email me and I will edit/delete it for you.

 

Here are the prizes we have lined up...

 

3rd - Mini messages - Summertime 

Jennifer Drake "My favorite thing about summer is VACATION!!!!! Of course also more time to stamp too"

 

4th - So sweet & Sweet like chocolate

Sheila "My fave summer thing is prob how quiet the roads are. I can get to work - and more importantly home again - in half the time. Which leaves more time for crafting :D"

 

5th - Surf's up & Swirly greetings

Kimbo "My fave thing about summer..the fresh fruits and veggies! Love the bounty that the sunshine provides!! Love the sunshine!"

 

6th - Snow landscape & Tree landscape & Let it snow

Katie Oakley "My fav time about summer is... MY BIRTHDAY! :) I am a summer baby! (Aug 22) I also love the smells of freshly cut grass, and BBQ's, and the sunshine (If we ever get any in the UK!!) I love most things about summer!"

 

7th - Fairytale dinkie

SeijaS "My favourite thing about summer is going to amusement parks and theme parks with my kids! And ice cream of course. And strawberries."

 

10th - Party pup & Kitty queen

Julie Schensted "My favorite thing about summer is having unlimited creative time and stamping time to share with others."

 

11th - Eskimo gifts & Juggling Eskimo

Dawn "My favourite thing about summer is spending time with my children crafting or playing in the Sunshine and later relaxing with a nice glass of wine mmmmm!!!!"

 

12th - Life's a beach

Julie Coe "The thing I love most about summer is to sit in the garden with juicy strawberries in hand and enjoy the warm sunshine and summer breeze! Any chance of having it in the UK this summer?

Thanks for the chances to win! ^_^" 

 

13th - Faux postage & Mini tags

Wilma "My favourite thing about summer is the general free time. My kid doesn't have to go to school, no work for a few weeks, sleep late, enjoy ourselves at the swimming pool, yeh! Hugs, Wilma"

 

14th - See-saw fun & Perfect day

Lorie "My favorite thing about summer is the lazy days.  I love being able to hang out with the kids and just enjoy their company rather than worry about homework and other activities.  Ahhh!!"

 

17th - *New & unseen clear stamp set from upcoming August release*

Andrea "My favorite thing about summer is being able to enjoy mother nature at her finest...if it's sunny I can be out working on my tan in the garden and if it's rainy I can spend some extra time stamping(which I've had plenty of time for lately with all this rain)!!!  Thanks for being so generous with your prizes, they're awesome!"

 

18th - *New & unseen clear stamp set from upcoming August release*

Gloria Probert "My favourite thing about summer is the longer days which gives us so much more time to enjoy everything - especially making my cards for all the august birthdays."

 

19th - *New & unseen clear stamp set from upcoming August release*

Yolanda: "My favorite thing about summer is looking at our (very) lazy cat, snoozing in the sun and him watching the birds and the bees and not lifting a paw :)!"

 

20th - *New & unseen clear stamp set from upcoming August release*

sk.smith@sasktel.net: "My favourite thing about summer is the length of the days....sun is up early and it stays up late, absolutely love that!   Wow, can hardly wait for August! Thanks! Sue"

 

21st - *New & unseen clear stamp set from upcoming August release*

Sarah Fewings "Wow what a fantastic opportunity you are giving us Elizabeth!
My favourite thing about summer is seeing mt mum happy as, being a SAD sufferer, she loves the long, light evenings. xx :0)"

 

24th - Cracker surprise & Cracking Christmas

Janet Stack "Thank you Elizabeth you are so generous with your prizes. Oh my goodness my list would go on for ever but my most favourite thing about summer is the school holidays because I see more of my two gorgeous grandsons. Thank you again Janet"

 

25th - Carol singers & Jingle bells

Suzie Q "Hiya, How generous are you !! thank you x My favourite thing about summer is being able to be outdoors in the sun surrounded by lovely flowers with friends over for a bbq!! and of course pimms on the rocks!"

 

26th - Teddy Angel 1 & Teddy angel 2 & Just for you

wilma "My favourite thing about the summer is the warm sun. It is a great time to have picnics and swim at the beach."

 

27th - Cold nose dinkie

Jada "OMGOSH!!! I absolutely adore Elzybells stamps! Thanks for the chance to win some!!! My favorite thing about summer is spending more quality time with my family. No getting up early for school, can do whatever we want when we want and it stays light longer to have more fun time."

 

28th - Thank you for & Best things

Wendalyn "My favorite thing about summer is Warm Weather... being in Minnesota we have plenty of cold weather that I can do without... "

 

 

When a winner has been drawn, their name will appear next to the prize for that day. So check back on this post to see if it's you! If you are a winner please email me your postal address (elzybells1@aol.com) and I will have the prizes sent asap.

 

 

A last important note regarding wood mounted stamps -

As you know we have been slowly phasing out the wood mounted option for our rubber stamps. As this is taking quite a long time, we have decided to stop offering the wood mounted option completely as of 1st Sept. 

 

 

Winners!

First up is the winner for last week's challenge (sorry, this should have been posted yesterday!)

The winner is Lee for this beautiful creation!

 

Lee, please drop me an email and I'll give you your voucher code :)

 

 

 

I have also drawn a winner randomly from all the people who have submitted cards for showcase throughout July. The winner is Jocelyn Knight

Jocelyn, please email me and I will give your voucher code too.

 

 

 

... and now for the spot the difference winner from the Summer release!! There were actually 9 differences between the two pictures but one was particularly tricky! Here they all are (click the image full a large view):

 

 

There were absolutely no differences between the overall colours of each picture (eg, sand, sea and sky). A few people put this down as a difference but I'm afraid this must have been down to your monitors.

 

Now, nobody actually got all nine answers correct and as the 9th one was a very tricky one, I have randomly drawn a winner from all those people who guessed the number to be 8 instead.

The winner is....

 

Diane Wood

 

Congraulations Diane, you win the entire Summer release!!

Please email me your address and I will have the stamps shipped asap :)

 

 

I'll be back a little later today with a big shop announcement!!

 

challenge #24

It's challenge day today and I bet you'll enjoy this one, this challenge has been set by Charlene -

Buttons & Bling!

 

 

Here's my take on the challenge!

 

 

I used the Life's a Beach clear set (20-046). I stamped the main starfish onto kraft card and added some depth by colouring with 2 shades of brown koh-i-noors. I filled the flower with a white gel pen for a striking contrast.

 

I used a little paper distresser by Tim Holtz which I worked along the card I wanted to layer with. I then rubbed in some brown chalk using my finger. Just to finish, I dabbed a dark brown ink pad around the edges.

 

Do you know you can use your blending stumps with chalk? This is how I coloured the background of my card. Just keep the stump dry - no need for any oms. The pointy end of the stump makes it so quick and easy to get in among the shapes.

 

 

Here are the design team's creations (for more information you can visit their blogs):

 

Charlene has made two beautiful cards:

 

I LOVE the button centers on the sunflowers!!

 

 

Here's Jeanne's take on the challenge:

 

 

Here are a couple of cards by Steph:

 

 

 

Here's Frances' bright and fun card:

 

and lastly, Michelle's card (I love the warm colour scheme):

 

I hope we've inspired you to play along. All you have to do is post a link to your creation in the comments section of this post. You have one week as I will pick my favourite next Thursday and that person will win a £5 voucher to spend online :)

 

See you tomorrow - do pop by as I have a big announcement!!

 

Strawberry fool

Has anyone out there got even a teeny tiny ray of sunshine today?? The warehouse is looking dull and the weather outside is pretty bleak and by the sounds of today's news we haven't much sunshine to look forward to in August :(

 

So close your eyes for a moment. Imagine being outside in a vast strawberry field. You feel a warming glow on your bare shoulders and you can hear the distant buzzing of honey bees. There's a light, cool breeze and you can smell the sweetness in the air....

 

Now open your eyes...

 

 

I hope you like!

... now where's the whipped cream...?

 

 

Gone to the beach

I absolutely **love** how this sweet little note card turned out!!

The clear set - life's a beach (20-046) is my absolute favourite set of the Summer release. It's a really big set with a lot of stamps. There are several sized flowers, both solid and outlined which make creating various pretty backgrounds so simple and enjoyable.

 

 

The flowers on the flip flops are little sequins. I didn't want to use brads for the centers, so instead I used a couple of self adhesive pearls - they were white but I coloured over them with a permanent red sharpie pen - perfect!! They still keep their pearly shimmer too.

 

 

 

A lady I worked with years ago had a teenage daughter who was going on holiday by herself and friends for the first time. So she put together a cute hamper of useful and fun things for her daughter to use while she was away. I think a little note card like this would go very well with a going away gift / hamper :)

 

 

Stamps used:

20-046 Life's a beach

06-009 Flip flops

20-044 Mini messages - at the beach

 

Wish you were here

I will be continuing to share my Summer creations all week made using our newly released stamps! They are just so much fun, I have lots to share!

 

I wanted to give this card a letter / postcard feel with the main image being like a photograph.

 

 

This palm tree image is so nice to colour. I've used koh-i-noors and blended with sansodor mineral spirit - perfect tools to create a warm sunset!

I added a little interest around the edges of the card by dotting along the top and bottom with a white gel pen and then dabbing a brown inkpad around all the edges.

 

Stamps used:

20-046 Life's a beach

20-045 Surf's up

20-033 Faux Postage

20-044 Mini messages - at the beach

 

Showcase Sunday

It's time for this week's showcase and Linda Williams has been very busy this week!!

 

 

Here's a sweet, water coloured wedding card by Lisa Coull

 

 

Here are some lovely creations by Jane Millard

 

 

 

 

and lastly for this week, are two cards by Hannah Aitken

 

Many thanks to everyone for sharing their creations this week!!

Have a happy Sunday,

 

Pick of the peeks

I haven't done a pick of the peeks in a long time and the design team have done such an amazing job showcasing this release, so I thought I'd pick just a few of my favourite's in case you missed any of these gems while blog hopping.

 

 

 

 

Fabulous creations, I'm sure you will agree.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and I shall be back with more Summer cards next week!

 

hugs,

Release day is finally here!!! I have another sample to share with you and all the new stamps will be made available at midday today. It's quite a long post today, with a little sad news but also a chance to win some blog candy!

 

This card has been made using the new clear sets; Life's a Beach & Surf's Up.

 

 

As kraft card is one solid colour, it is extremely effective to add some subtle highlights and shadows using chalks. The middle panel has some white chalk around the shell in a halo effect and the two corners have a darker brown shadow. I just rubbed the chalk in with my fingers, nothing to it and very quick. I used koh-i-noors for the shell itself.

 

I hope you've been enjoying these sneaks. As I said yesterday I have much more to show you with these stamps ...I told you they're my favourite release didn't I?!! :)

 

 

 

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So here's a chance for you to win - not just one or two stamps - but the *entire* Summer release!

It's really fun - what I want you to do is spot the differences between these two Summer scenes!

 

Email me the total number of differences you can find (please include your full name in the email). I will then take all the correct answers and randomly choose one winner to receive all the fabulous new stamps!

This blog candy is only open for one week and I will be announcing the winner next Friday (30th).

Edited to add: Do not post your answer as a comment on the blog or on the cbox, they will be deleted - only emailed submissions will be accepted.

 

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Now onto the sad news.

I'm sure you are all familiar with the wonderful design team I have had the immense pleasure of working with over the past year.

When I put the DT together back in June last year, we had 22 people! Over time I was very sad to see many members drop out due to various personal issues arising and they felt they were unable to give the DT 100%. Now the year is up and I am very sad to have to say goodbye to the remaining Elzybelles. 

 

As I am not planning to set up a new DT until later in the year (to start in January), I have asked five members to stay on until the end of the year. Unfortunately due to some other factors at my end I am unable to keep all the ladies on, as much as I would have liked to. It was a horrible task choosing the remaining five and upsetting to let the others go. The ladies have been most gracious and understanding. It means a lot to me.

 

These ladies have been my very first design team and I will always hold each and every one dear. I know this may sound sappy to some of you, after all, it's only a DT, right? But no, I have made some great friends and had a lot of fun, I am sure that no future design team will ever match it.

 

So I would like to thank all the design team members from the bottom of my heart. I am so very grateful for all your hard work, wonderful creations and inspiring ideas.

Thank you Angel, Deborah, Kim, Maria, Rachel and Tobi.

Please find the time to visit the DT's blogs and let them know how much you have valued their work. I know they will appreciate it.

 

The girls to remain until the end of the year are:

Charlene

Frances

Jeanne

Michelle

Stephanie

 

As a few people have asked, I will be doing a fresh DT call around October time but the set up will be much different. All will be explained later in the year.

 

 

 

Okay - so you must all know by now that I *love* kraft card! I have so many more samples to show you using these stamps and kraft - they're just so effective together. But in case you get bored of me, I thought today I would give you a splash of juicy colour :)

 

What is more refreshing in the heat of a Summer's day than a cool, delicious slice of ripe watermelon straight out of the fridge??!

Yes, it is at this point, enjoying such a simple pleasure that I feel life is good....

 

 

I have simply coloured the watermelon with koh-i-noors.

 

 

For this card I tried out my copics but the sky and grass were coloured with koh-i-noors. I actually made this card for elzybelle Charlene - remember when she had snowfall in June!!

 

 

It's release day tomorrow, boy the week is whizzing by... The design team and I have a few more samples to share with you tomorrow and all the new stamps will be available from midday.

 

I'll also be sharing more samples with the new stamps on Friday and throughout next week - I just can't put them down!!