Coming Next Week!
Next week we'll reveal our first Elzybells Guest Designer! Stay tuned...
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November 2007
November 30, 2007
November 27, 2007
Featured Design - Baubles by Melissa
With my business, Joy, I work mostly on wedding and baby themed creations. So when the opportunity comes to switch it up with something holiday themed, I JUMP at the chance! :)
This design is actually similar to one I've done in the past, but I thought the Row of Baubles stamp would work well - I wish I'd had it originally! It worked perfectly to stamp the image twice in a row. Then all I had to do was color the ornaments in and place a little Diamond Stickles on each one. The ribbon not only adds more visual interest to the design, but also makes the perfect place to "hang" ornaments!
November 25, 2007
Featured Design - Mouse Post Stamp by Melinda
This little mouse and the sentiment bring back such wonderful memories of Christmas. On Christmas Eve my mother and I would set out cookies for Santa, hang my stocking over the fireplace and, of course, she would read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Everything seemed so simple then (sigh).
For this card I just wanted to keep it simple. The layout (focal image, sentiment and ribbon) is one I use a lot and it can be adapted easily to different size cards and images. I also just used part of the sentiment and only colored a portion of the image. Sometimes less is more!
November 20, 2007
Featured Design - Girl with Sleigh by Novell
One of my favorite Elzybells Winter images is "Girl with Sleigh". I knew she would look awesome with the new blue Madeira notecard because it reminds me of snowflakes! I had to give her brown hair, of course, and bright pink cheeks from walking in the cold. Every Christmas I bake up a bunch of goodies for friends and neighbors. I'm sure if we had snow here regularly, I'd have a sled piled high with homebaked goodies in lieu of the presents and tree, making my deliveries. I'd have a coat and hat just as cute as this girl's, too! For a finishing touch, a bit of glitter and Twinkle Dot candy adds just the right sparkle, don't you think?
November 18, 2007
Featured Design - Pucker Up by Emily
When my Elzybells stamps arrived, this was the first card that I designed! I just could not wait to color her curls and little red holly headband. And the holly stamp tied in perfectly with her hair and skirt!
A little trick that I used here was to punch her out using the same Giga Scallop rectangle punch that I used for the red layer. Then I trimmed off the scallops to make it a smooth rectangle which fits perfectly with the red scallop rectangle!
November 07, 2007
Meet Our Designers!
It is a pleasure to introduce you to our ElzybellsNA Design Team!
Emily Montenaro
Emily has enjoyed paper crafting since she was little and began stamping in 2001. Creative thinking and imagination allow her to design simple, fun cards that bring images to life. With an eye for detail, she enjoys a challenge and trying new techniques. Her goal is to design fast and fabulous cards that inspire other stampers to create! Emily is the ElzybellsNA design team coordinator and has been designing for A Muse since 2006.
Blog: Stamping Scoops
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Heather Meeson
Heather is a geologist, turned photographer who’s been addicted to rubber stamping for well over a decade. She and her husband, Dave, recently moved from a small village in Germany to Colorado Springs where she’s a busy paper crafts and stamping instructor when she’s not "on the road" photographing her travels. While Heather has been designing and teaching for years, A Muse was her first design team and she is excited to now be part of the ElzybellsNA team as well!
Blog: One Little Spark
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Melinda Matzen
Melinda has been in love with ‘all things crafty’ since she was a little girl and discovered that cotton balls make great clouds! She continued her crafty ways with handmade gifts for friends and family and, of course, handmade cards were the next logical step. In 2001 she discovered the wonderful world of rubber stamps and fell in love. Since then she has worked (part-time) in two different stamp stores to feed this growing addiction.
In 2005 Melinda discovered the simple and whimsical designs of A Muse Artstamps. She loved them so much she soon began teaching A Muse classes on her own and then “officially” became an A Muse Instructor in 2006. When she was asked to be on the Design Team for ElzybellsNA she couldn’t say no. The adorable images are not only hard to resist, but are also such a natural complement to the A Muse line.
Blog: Melinda's Musings
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Melissa Oseran
Melissa began stamping 5 years ago and hasn’t looked back! She has always enjoyed a craft project, but stamping seems to have stuck. In 2005, she started her own custom invitation business, Joy, which incorporates all of her favorite things: paper, ribbon, stamps & being creative & crafty for a living!
Her style is simple and clean, with small embellishments like glitter adding the extra special touch. She is thrilled to be a part of the Elzybells NA Design Team.
Blog: My Joy
Website: Joy-Creative
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Novell Eckstrom
Novell dabbled with rubber stamps back when people used their toasters as embossing tools. She only became a serious rubber stamper about 4 years ago after many years as a scrapbooker. Novell attributes her 'craftiness' to her mom's side of the family, all of whom are also 'crafty' people. She also enjoys cute and dainty things, which is what drew her to A Muse. She likes the clean, simple, but cute designs and the fact that the stamps are smaller and easier to handle. Novell has a day job in the telecommunications industry but spends her free time with her husband and two very active boys, volunteering her Wednesday nights at church, and designing and teaching for A Muse and ElzybellsNA.
Blog: Mastering the Art of Procurement
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We are so excited about this new team! Be on the look out for more of their fabulous card designs and projects featuring Elzybells stamps!
November 01, 2007
Featured Design - Holiday Party by Melinda
Every year my parents would have a Christmas Open House and this little scene reminds me of decorating the tree just before the party. I love these two stamps (Cheery & Bright and Deck the Halls) and they’re just perfect together!
My favorite “tool” is glitter glue. You can place even the tiniest dot and you don’t get glitter on everything! To make the little lights “glow” I first used a yellow marker and made a circle around each little light. Then I dotted each with yellow glitter glue. The hanging ornament has red glitter glue.
I also like to use parts of a stamp image. For the sentiment I added one hanging ornament from “Row of baubles” by masking the rest with a post-it, inking the stamp (remember to remove the post-it), and lining it up with the word.
