Elzybells Blog

Challenge 34

It's time for the final DT challenge of the year. Alas, this is the last challenge with the current design team before the 2010 team is introduced so it is tinged with a little sadness for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with each and every one of the talented ladies who have been on the team for the last year and a half (!)
I am very lucky to have had such a fun and dedicated team and I value them all very much. I am positive you have also enjoyed and been inspired by their beautiful creations, so please be sure to stop by their blogs and wish them well.

This fortnight's challenge has been set by Steph and is called 'Winter Wonderland'. You are to only use the colours blue, white and silver.
I don't know what it is about this combination of colours but they make me want to go very simple and quite minimalist. Here's my card:

I coloured the image very softly with koh-i-noors and OMS. I chose leather effect card for the large white panel as with its lovely texture, it's much more interesting than plain white card. I also smudged a little pale blue chalk around the edges, before dotting along with a sharpie marker.
I do hope you like it!

If you'd like to play along with this challenge, I'd love to see what you come up with. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a (direct) link to your challenge creation.
You have two weeks to do so and I will then choose my favourite creation - and that person will win a voucher to spend in the online store! The only rule, as with all our challenges is that you use Elzybells stamps.

Be sure to visit the design team's blogs for their challenge cards:
Charlene
Frances
Jeanne
Michelle
Steph

The winner for last fortnight's challenge is Melissa with these sweet creations. Melissa, please drop me an email and I'll let you know your voucher code :)
I also have to give you the link to Jane's gorgeous gingerbread man packaging - I can see myself trying this out to package up some tasty Christmas treats!

Thank you all for playing along!!
Elizabeth x

Edited to add: The winner of this challenge is Jane with this sweet creation! I love it :)
Jane, please get in touch for your prize.

Stamps used:
10-014 Polar bear
20-055 Tags - Christmas (sentiment)

Challenge 33

Yes, it's challenge time and with Christmas so soon upon us, Steph has set us a wonderful challenge - you must create a Christmas gift or gift packaging.

Being a proud new Auntie (thank you so much for your kind wishes) I think Christmas in our family this year is going to be all about little baby Mark :)
For my Christmas gift, I have made a pretty ornament for my sister to hang on her Christmas tree! I was inspired by Lauren Meader's recent post but I didn't use a ribbon spool and made mine double sided.

I used the Everyday alpha clear set to create the sentiment. A useful trick when stamping the sentiment in an arch like this, is to place a smaller nestabilty circle die where you would like to stamp the sentiment and lightly draw a pencil line following the shape of the die - giving you a guide for perfect alignment! Then after stamping, just erase the pencil line.

As I didn't use traditional Christmas colours, I thought it definitely needed plenty of bling!

Can you see I added the date too? The Everyday alpha set has numbers which are a perfect fit in each scallop (I drew the little dash with a black pen).

And on the back, I have an adorable photo and lots more bling!

I think personalised gifts like this are such wonderful keepsakes to be treasured year after year.

For more inspiration for this challenge, be sure to visit the design team's blogs and see what they've made:
Charlene
Frances
Michelle
Steph


Supplies used:
13-001 Baby teddy
20-041 Everyday alpha


If you'd like to play along with this challenge, I'd love to see what you come up with. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a (direct) link to your challenge creation.
You have two weeks to do so and I will then choose my favourite creation - and that person will win a voucher to spend in the online store!
The only rule, as with all our challenges is that you use Elzybells stamps.


The winner for last fortnight's 'Seeing Stars' challenge was without a doubt Inge Groot with this stunning card - just amazing!! Inge, please drop me an email and I'll let you know your voucher coupon code :)
I thought I'd also link to Bernie's very sweet card too!

Elizabeth x

Challenge 32

It's time for another fun challenge! This fortnight's challenge has been set by Jeanne and is called "Seeing Stars".
You can interpret this as you wish!

Here's my card, I kept it pretty simple with only one layer, if you don't count the embellishment and I'm really pleased with how it turned out :)

The tree is from our Christmas Tags set, stamped onto kraft card and coloured with chalks.
I used the tiny star from the Seasonal Sentiments set to create the star trails and added a few random dots with a black pen.

I used a yellow sakura gel pen to colour the stars and it gives a beautiful shimmer.

For the star embellishment I punched a star from the kraft card and coloured over with the sakura pen (I actually punched the star from white card first, colouring over with the sakura pen, but it just seemed too bright in contrast to the rest of the card).

For more inspiration, be sure to check out the design team's blogs for their challenge creations:

Charlene
Frances
Michelle
Steph

To play along, please type the full url to your creation in the comments section of this post. I will choose my favourite creation in two week's time and you could be in with a chance to win an elzybells voucher to spend online! As with all our challenges, the only rule is that you use elzybells stamps.
I look forward to seeing your creations!

Supplies used:
20-055 Christmas Tags 
20-052 Seasonal Sentiments
20-053 Mini Messages - winter (sentiment)
Kraft cardstock

The winner for last fortnight's Tempting Textures challenge is Kim with this creation. Well done Kim! Please email me for your voucher code.
I also have to point you in the direction of Jocelyn's beautiful creation here! :)

Elizabeth x

Challenge 31

YAY, It's challenge time!
This fortnight's challenge has been set by Steph and is called "Tempting Textures". You are to use various textures, materials, ribbons etc on your creation - basically anything goes and you have a fantastic excuse to get completely carried away and over the top!

This is a fabulous challenge and I've been so looking forward to having a play. I'd been thinking about it all week and I had grand plans to use a whole array of luscious textures, ready to go completely over the top! I set out lots of supplies, textures, fabric, papers and various ribbons, but in the end, I didn't use much of the stash I had set aside and I kept it very simple!
In fact, most of the 'texture' effect has actually been created using my white inkpads rather than any real texture.

I LOVE the height of this card! It's just under a whopping 11 inches high so makes a great statement!
The angel image isn't actually as long as you would think from this card, it's a very versatile size. However, I extended the panel by stamping the verse directly underneath leaving some space for some ribbon too. 

I had some lacey ribbon I wanted to use, but not being quite happy with wherever I placed it, I paperpieced the angel trio with a fabulous patterned paper instead - it's packaging tape by Making Memories.
I wish I had some white flock! I would have filled in the pattern with it :)

I used both our hybrid and pigment white inks for this card. The reason being is that the hybrid doesn't stamp quite as vibrantly on cardstock as the pigment, so I started with this for a softer distressed look.
I used a distressing tool along the edges of the main panel and then just dabbed the very edges into the white pigment ink for crisper white edges.
The cream corrugated card also keeps the overall feel of the card quite soft rather than using white cardstock.

I used chalk to colour around the angels and used the white opaque pen on the wings. For those interested in the decorating chalks I use (see post below) we have some stock on order so they'll be available in the online store very soon!


Supplies used:
10-049 Angel trio
03-204 Angels on high
20-045 Surf's up (swirly border)
Whipped cream (hybrid ink)
Sugar candy (pigment ink)


You can play along with this challenge for a chance to win a £5 voucher to spend online! All you have to do is add a direct link to your creation in the comments section on this post within the next two weeks (please be sure to type the full url). The only rule for our challenges is that you use Elzybells stamps.

Be sure to visit the design team's blogs to see their tempting texture creations!!

Elizabeth x


The winner for the last fortnight's 'glitter, sparkle & shine' challenge is Petra with this creation! I also have to say the this creation by Chris has come a close second!

Petra, please get in touch and I will email you your coupon code :)

challenge #30

It's challenge time once again and this fortnight's challenge has been set by Jeanne and is called: Glitter, Sparkle and Shine

It's a very open challenge so you can interpret it as you wish - and who doesn't like glitter, sparkle and shine??!
Here's my card using images from our new clear sets being released today. Overall, I've tried to keep it simple.

The glitter is just stickles glitter glue (I'm far too messy with the loose stuff!)
The red card is actually our white leather effect card which I coloured with a red copic marker. Unfortunately, I haven't got the knack of adjusting some of the camera settings when taking a photo so the red looks quite garish :o/ In reality it's a deeper red and with the leather effect it kinda looks velvety.

I do love the new Christmas images, I've popped them up with 3d stickers and I like how some of the taller images stick out over the circular wording :)

Jeanne and Frances have come up with these fab cards to inspire you, check out their blogs for more info!

  
(- how delicious does that pudding look!!)

If you'd like to play along with this challenge for a chance to win a voucher to spend in our online shop, all you have to do is leave a link to your creation in the comments section of this post. You have two weeks and I will then pick my favourite creation and you could win a voucher to spend in the online store!

I had trouble choosing the winner for last fortnight's challenge, everyone came up with such fantastic 3d creations. However, the winner is Jane with this great creation.
Well done Jane, drop me an email and I'll let you know your voucher code :)

Have fun with the challenge!!
Elizabeth x

challenge #28

 

Yes! It's time for this fortnight's challenge!

The challenge is to CASE a DT member's card. If you are unfamiliar with this term, you basically have to find a card by any DT member or myself that you particularly like / inspires you and recreate it putting your own spin on it!

This is such a fun challenge and I struggled to make up my mind with which card to case - the DT have made SO many fabulous creations!

 

Here's the card I finally settled on by DT member Charlene:

and here's my Christmas spin!!

 

Instead of the folded ribbon border, I embossed some lines along a piece of dark brown card with my scorpal and just added some faux stitching next to each score. Here's a close up:

I just love this set of robins. It certainly makes a warm Christmas card with this colour combo (the orange looks much brighter in the photo than it actually is!).

 

Each of the DT have case'd another member's creation. Be sure to visit their blogs to see how they've put their own spin on the card. It's lovely to see that although the card has been case'd you can totally recognize their own style while re-creating it. Here are direct links to their blogs:

Charlene

Frances

Jeanne

Michelle

Stephanie

 

Do you fancy playing along with this challenge?? Go on, it's a lot of fun! Maybe you like the layout of a DT's card or how about a particular technique they have used or the colour scheme...?

Leave a comment on this post with a link to your creation. Be sure to include a link to the original card in the comment or in your blog post.

It's important that you be imaginative and put your own spin on the card you are case-ing, there's no point in just copying it. The only rule is that you use Elzybells stamps for the most part.

 

I can't wait to see what you come up with!! You have two weeks and I will choose my favourite card on 8th October and that person will win a elzy voucher to spend online!

 

 

The winner of last fortnight's challengeis Juut with this card. It just goes to show how imaginative you can be with only a limited amount of stamps! Well done Juut, please email me for your coupon code :)

 

challenge #27

 

It's time for our fun fortnightly challenge and Steph has set us a good one... you have to be imaginative! The challenge is to alter an image.

Take one of your stamps and alter the image in someway. You can mask the design to change it or how about incorporating another stamped image or even hand-drawing an image into the design??

 

Here's what I came up with, it's pretty simple really. I used Stocking Surprise (10-081) & Butterfly Ted (07-011)

 

 

It's so easy to find the perfect little sentiment among the mini messages sets and I couldn't help adding a little bling :)

 

 

The design team have really surprised me with their imaginative creations...

Jeanne has really outdone herself with this amazing card, can you guess which stamps she used???

They are stamps from the Eggstravaganza clear set - now that's imaginative!!

Charlene used Tree landscape & Mini messages - a little hello on this card. It's a lovely way of using a winter stamp for a different theme.

 

 

Steph used the Strawberry picking stamp and replaced the strawberry basket with a drawn handbag, very sweet :)

 

 

Frances used Teddy heart balloon & Mini messages - summertime for this sweet and colourful card. I love how the ribbons have been tied to look like the kite tails :)

 

Michelle used Teddy antics for this sweet and simple card utilizing just the top part of the stamp. The stamp in its entirety is quite long, so this is a great example of how versatile you can make an image.

 

Be sure to click the links in the right sidebar to read more information about these cards on the design team's individual blogs.

I would really love for you to play along with this challenge. You have two weeks to add a link to your creation in the comments on this post.

I will pick my favourite creation on Thurs 24th to win a gift voucher to spend online! As always, the only rule is that the stamps used be Elzybells stamps for the most part.

 

The winner for last fortnight's patterned paper challenge (challenge 26) is Doreen Robertson!

Well done Doreen, please email me and I will give you the coupon code :)l

 

Challenge 26

It's challenge day today and this is an awesome one! I've really enjoyed making my card as it really gets you thinking and being imaginative.
For this challenge, you have to make your own stamped patterned paper.

What I love about this challenge is that you can go as simple or as elaborate as you like!!

 

 

I wanted to go quite elaborate with mine and have a busy pattern with lots going on. To create this base - can you see those subtle swirls? - I drew random squiggles all over a white sheet of card using my white koh-i-noor pencil. I then watered down some acrylic paint (red, yellow and white) and brushed it over the top. The white pencil will resist the paint leaving a water mark effect!
I then also splattered a bit of paint on top here and there.

 

I also made a small note card to match with a bit of bling on the flip flops!

 

 

 

 

Do you want to play along with this challenge?? All you have to do is post a link to your creation in the comments section of this post. I'm giving two weeks for this challenge so I will pick my favourite creation on 9th Sep and the winner will receive a £5 voucher to spend online! The only rule for all our challenges is that you use Elzybells stamps for the most part.

I hope you can play along with this challenge, it's such a fun and versatile one, I would love to see your handstamped patterned papers! Be sure to check out the design team's blogs for more inspiration:

Charlene
Frances
Jeanne
Michelle
Steph

 

Challenge winner!!

Last week's challenge was 'Mad about Plaid'.

Well I actually had some trouble choosing a final winner, so here's a first for the challenges - I have picked two winners, who will each get a £5 voucher to spend online!

 

The first winner is Trix with this adorable plaid sheep, how cute!! You can find more information on Trix's blog.

 

 

 

and you really couldn't get madder for plaid than this next card by Carly Robertson!! :) Check out her blog for details.

 

 

Well done Trix and Carly, these are fab creations!! Please email me and I will let you know your coupon codes :)

 

Challenge 25

It's challenge time again and this fortnight, we're all mad about plaid....

 

Here's my card. I wanted to try creating a plaid effect with the lines rubber stamp (02-002). Unfortunately you can't really see the two different colours used.

 

Here are the design team's interpretations of the challenge and you can find more info on their blogs.

 

 

Charlene

 

Steph

 

 

Frances

 

Michelle

 

But I have to say, my favourite challenge card this week is by Jeanne... I love how she created her own plaid pattern with copics!!

 

To play along with this challenge and be in with a chance to win a £5 voucher to spend in the online shop, just link your creation to the comments on this post and I will choose my favourite next Thursday :)

The only rule is that you use elzybells stamps for the most part.

 

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!!