so DEER to my heart

we're still making cards based on our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ blog banner and you're still invited to join the fun! here's a reminder of the inspiration graphic:

this week i've made nearly the same card as last week... just with different ingredients, see?

patterned paper: my mind's eye, studio calico; stickers: doodlebug, crate paper, idea-ology; digital bingo card: jenni bowlin; fabric diecut: basic grey; acrulic frame: imaginisce; pearl swirl and snowflake brads: eyelet outlet; corner rounder: we r memory keepers; adhesives: elmers brand tape runner, 3m foam tape

basically, i used the sketch of the header and a bunch of the elements, such as the deer in a frame, a doily shape, a bling flourish, scattered snowflakes; but this time i've chosen cute and colorful versions instead of the more glamorous white-on-white from last week. most of my patterned paper is from my mind's eye's "holly jolly" collection, which i got at paper anthology; the bling and brads are eyelet outlet of course; the rest of the ingredients are bits and bobs from my stash. it's a bit of a mish-mash, buti  love how it turned out!

hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and be inspired by stephanie's card, check out the gallery, and link up something of your own, we'd love to see it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you the happiest of holidays: full of delicious food, great company and stress-free travel. In keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition of eating then shopping, make sure to keep an eye out for special sales at The Ink Pad's Greenwich Village shop from Friday through Tuesday so you can get your craft fix on! (& of course The Ink Pad Online is open all the time!)

Card by Lauren Bergold

Supplies used: Karin DecoBrush Metallic Pens, Pitt Artist Pens, Eyelet Outlet Brads 

and VersaFine Clair Inks; all available at The Ink Pad!

♥♥♥

Hip To Be Square

I like square cards. I'm even willing to pay the extra ounce of postage, to get that beautiful shape and a slightly larger canvas to decorate with Eyelet Outlet Brads, Bling, Washi Tape and Paper Flowers!

With the exception of the card base and diecut snowflakes, my first card is composed entirely of Eyelet Outlet goodies! The background panel is made of Checked Tape, inset with gorgeous new Cardinal Washi flanked with Skinny Xmas Tape. The center of the stacked snowflake (which includes a white Paper Flower) is fancy new Snowflake Bling; I've even adorned my clear Swirl Bling with some smaller Snowflake Bling.

My second card features a commercial patterned paper, but I love the way I could add a bunch of different tapes right on top to customize that fun plaid! I've got more Checked Tape, Cardinal Washi and a different Skinny Xmas Tape, not to mention a cool scripty Merry Christmas Tape, Poinsettia Washi and a red dotty Skinny Tape; all of which is flanked by festive red Jewel Strips. I lined up my snowflake diecuts this time and topped them with a white Paper Flower and finally a beautiful Cardinal Profile Brad.

Wishing all of my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, and an Especially Nice Thursday to everybody else! ♥

Lots and Lots...

...of layers on today's card on The Ink Pad Blog. Old school round eyelets and grungy stenciled gel prints combined with Michelle Ward's Manhattan Map Stamp Set for perhaps my most New York-centric card yet? Hop over for all the details!

Getting A-Head-er on Holiday Cards

We're inspired by our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ blog header this fortnight, which means you can make a card which involves as many (or as few, lol) of the elements you see here. Maybe you love the deer, or the white-on-white color palette, or the shabby chic vibe or the frame or the pearls or... well, you get the idea, right? 

One thing you absolutely, positively DO NOT have to do is make a card that is a literal interpretation of every single thing in the header. On the other hand, you *could* do that... and I have, lol!!! :)

patterned paper and primed chipboard window frame: prima marketing; vintage sheet music and a doily from my stash; florals: petaloo and ken oliver crafts; pearl bling swirls and snowflake brads: eyelet outlet; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, glue dots, beacon 3-in-1 adhesive

Ok, see, it's a bit unfair this time, actually, because I designed the header, so obviously it's a style that I like and for which I have lots of stuff that works. On the other hand, something I somehow hadn't realized until I was nearly finished, is that the header actually does not have ANY flowers on it. (Srsly... HOW did that even happen?!) But luckily I have corrected that omission with my card, which means I can join the Allsorts "Christmas Flowers" Challenge! and the handsome diecut deer means I'm eligible for My Time to Craft's "Christmas Animals" Challenge, yay!

hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see Stephanie's beautiful card and start planning your own masterpiece!

Wish Big!

It's generally not a great idea to follow the advice given by small forest creatures, but this handsome frog is making a very good point about *WISHES* today on The Ink Pad Blog! ♥

Making a Scene

All you need to make the *GOOD* kind of scene, in a cardmaking sense, is a judicious combination of Eyelet Outlet Brads and Glitter Tape... and ok... maybe a little bit of Bling, as well. Which is what I've used to make these two winter wonderland cards:

 This Glitter Tall Tree Tape has the perfect colors, the perfect (wide) width and the perfect amount of glitter, of the variety which absolutely DOES NOT leave a sparkly trail wherever it goes. This I needed no more than a few torn paper mats and some Pine Tree, Prancing Deer and Snowflake Brads to make a perfectly peaceful winter scene.

I've used a second variety of Glitter Tree Tape on my second card, which I framed with Blue Marble Tape and some Fancy Pearl and Jewel Bling before attaching my Moose and Pine Tree Brads. I've bordered the vertical sheet music panel with some Glitter Star Tape and allowed my Snowflake Brads and a few of the tiny gems from the Pearl Bling to cascade down the front of the card.

I expect there are nearly endless combinations of Glitter Tape and Brads that would look beautiful on holiday --or even just winter-themed-- cards. I hope you'll be inspired to try your own variations!

rainbow thanks

this fortnight at shopping our stash we are "SO THANKFUL" by which we mean (you've guessed already, haven't you?) we'd like to see projects which involve thanksgiving OR thankfulness OR it's always useful to have a few extra thank you cards on hand, isn't it. i definitely find that to be the case, which is why i've gone with option three:

patterned paper, a couple of tapes and chipboard alphas: doodlebug design; additional ancient tapes from eyelet outlet, heidi swapp, october afternoon and scotch; actual filmy graph paper from my stash, backed with plain white cardstock from staples; sequins: taylored expressions; adhesives: xyron, elmers brand tape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

yep, i still love rainbow color schemes and i cannot see that changing any time soon! i had a vague idea about a washi tape rainbow and kawaii stickers. it shifted a bit when i found the doodlebug paper with the colorful polaroids on it and remembered i had some old-but-unopened d-bug chipboard alphabets. the size of those two ingredients changed my smallish, squarish greeting into a tall card. the washi tape (which is super long term stash-centric; some of these are ancient!) stayed, but i swapped out stickers for a scattering of rainbow sequins. so to sum up: NOT the card that was originally in my head, but i love how it turned out. 

hop over to SOS to see the gorgeous cards from my design team darlings, then start planning what you will make! ♥

You'll Get a Kick...

...out of the card that's on The Ink Pad Blog today!

(Spoiler Alert: it features Michelle Ward's beautiful Dance Line Stamp Set, designed exclusively for The Ink Pad!)

Stamping (Somewhat) Snarkily with the Sisterhood!

I was extremely honored to have been named The Queen of Snark at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for my Pink Halloween card. And the best part is that I get to be a guest designer with them for the new challenge which is called, "Q is for Quip".

Before I show my card I figured we should agree on a definition of "QUIP". According to Dictionary.com a quip is:

quip [kwip] (noun)

a clever or witty remark or comment. a sharp, sarcastic remark; a cutting jest. 

a quibble. an odd or fantastic action or thing.

So basically it seems like pretty much any snarky sentiment could potentially count as a quip. Which gives us a lot of scope, lol! Mine is more silly than snarky, but it's a stamp my craft bestie Stephanie gave me yeeeeeeears ago and I don't use it nearly enough. Plus... it feels pretty quippy to me!

sinatra image scanned and reduced to fit my A7 card; sheet music, dictionary pages and trading stamps from my stash of vintage goodies; sentiment stamp: drs designs; flourish stamps: fancy pants;  patterned paper: photoplay, basic grey, craft consortium; plain white cardstock: staples; inks for edging: ranger distress; ink for sentiment: gina k amalgam; adhesives: elmers brand tape runner, scotch create gluestick

Since the joke revolves around Sinatra, clearly Frank should be the star of the card. I found the perfect image in one of the Sinatra bios I own, but since it's a very nice book that is definitely not for cutting up, I photocopied it, which also let me reduce it slightly in size. I built a background of dictionary paper and sheet music, added some vintage trading stamps and did a bunch of very subtle stamping of flourishes on top of the collage base. So subtle, in fact, that you can't really see them very distinctly, but it knocked down the bright whiteness of some of the papers and kind of ties everything together. I added the sentiment on nested label shapes and called it a day.

Please head over to the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers and check out the other "Quip" cards... then start planning what you will make for this fun challenge! ♥

it really IS cold outside!!!

this has been the first week of wintery weather here in new jersey, so clothing items such as hats, mittens, scarves, winter coats, and so forth no longer seem like optional extras. which is perfect timing since cold weather garments are exactly what we're looking for in our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ cards this fortnight. here's what i made this week:

patterned paper: authentique, graphic 45, bo bunny; embossing folder: darice... used on idea-ology kraft core gold metallic cardstock and sanded for a cool distressed effect; sheet music from my stash; kraft cardstock: bazzill; dimensional holly leaves and distressing tool: prima marketing; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

i built my card around this sweet vintage-style journal card from authentique. i added loads of distressed layers, a bit of dry embossing (and sanding!), a little sheet music, some machine stitching... in fact there's a little bit of pretty much EVERYTHING i love on a christmas card!

be sure to hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see stephanie's card, cruise the readers' gallery and link up your own masterpiece!

Stamps + Tape + Brads

Are a few of my favorite things. Coincidentally, you can get all of those-- and lots more! --at The Ink Pad! Meanwhile, The Ink Pad Blog is where you'll find a card which looks verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry much like this one! ;)

What's Black and White...

...and black and white... and white... and white... and white... and white?! Penguins in a snowstorm!!! Or, to be more specific, the brand spankin' new Eyelet Outlet Penguin Brads in a couple of snowstorm cards. Like these:

I'm always excited when a finished project turns out looking EXACTLY like the idea that was in my head. And this was one of those times! I knew I wanted loads of diecut snowy hills stretching far into the distance with Penguins the only creature in sight. I wasn't absolutely sure if a landscape or portrait card would be best, so I decided to just make both.

My second card features fewer Penguin Brads, but I've compensated by adding Snowflake Brads, to get a little more action into the scene.

I hope that you'll be inspired to make something fun today; and I also hope there is less snow than this where you live!

Later, Gator

Did you know that in addition to The Ink Pad's entire line of exclusive Michelle Ward Stencils, all of those beautiful New-York-Centric images are available in stamp form too? In most cases, you can choose between classic woodblock and cling-backed. Either way, they've got the same thick, deeply etched, red rubber than makes for the very best impressions. Because hey, it's The Ink Pad and when it comes to stamping, they don't mess around! Today's card, which can be found in full on The Ink Pad Blog, uses three different stamp sets and one stencil. Just watch out for the alligator, k? :) 

baby it's cold outside!

but we're warm and cozy over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ because we're making cards that feature winter garments like hats, coats, mittens, mufflers, snow boots... even xmas sweaters, ugly or otherwise! my card features the cuuuuuuuutest possible giftwrap which i found at the discount store:

hello kitty trimmed from giftwrap discovered at Five Below; patterned paper: glitz design, pebbles, basic grey, doodlebug; snowflakes cut from american crafts POW glitter paper with hero arts die; snowflake gems and enamel shapes: eyelet outlet; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape

when i want to use something like a flimsy piece of giftwrap on my cards i first run a piece of plain white cardstock through my xyron machine, then i gently place the delicate wrapping paper on top, avoiding any wrinkles. now i have cardstock weight paper i can use as is OR i can fussy cut... as i've done here. i used this week's sketch saturday (#588) as a guide to placing all my elements.

hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see stephanie's card, then start planning your own masterpiece!

We're Leafy and Wreathy...

...on The Ink Pad Blog today, where I'm showing off a card that has collage, negative space, three different styles of Eyelet Outlet Leaf Brads, gel print goodness and... well, let's just say it's got all my favorite things except gelato! So why not hop over and see? ♥

Fa-La-La-La-Latte

One of my favorite new Eyelet Outlet brad styles is the Holiday Coffee Cup, because the only thing I love more than caffeine or Christmas cards is the combination of BOTH! :)

Since the Holiday Cups are red, white and green, those are the colors I built my card around. I thought about adding in some everyday Coffee Cups in either white or red; and possibly some Coffee Beans, but after I added the Poinsettia Washi, I found that I wanted a bit of pink and mint green, too. I did place a Holly Brad next to the cups though. And snipped apart a red Pearl Bling Strip to hyphenate my sticker sentiment.

I'm joining the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop, which runs through this Friday, November 8th. Maybe I'll see you there!

And now I think it's about time for some coffee-loving in real life... can I get you a cup? ♥

November/December Classes...

...at Paper Anthology have been posted and there are some AWESOME ones this time around! Oh and if you attended the eighth anniversary party over the weekend, be sure to check out the newsletter post because the names of the five lucky raffle winners are in there! Meanwhile here's what I'll be teaching the next two months:

Vintage-Style Collage Ornaments

We’ll combine vintage paper, collage techniques, stenciling, modeling paste, gems, flowers, doilies… in short, we’ll combine ALL of my favorite things and use them to decorate your choice of three small papier-mache ornaments that will make beautiful holiday gifts, *IF* you can bear to give them away!

(NOTE: There are many additional ornament shapes, including bells, angels, stockings, mittens, birdhouses and more; but only two or three of each style. Students will get to choose on a first come, first served basis.)

 Heavenly Hero Arts Holiday

What do you get when you mix beautiful brand new Hero Arts dies with Prima Marketing's “Angelique” collection papers from the vaults? Three bright and beautiful cards that shimmer and sparkle in their own unique way!

Just a reminder that Paper Anthology is located at 717 Highway 46 in Kenvil, NJ and all the details for all the awesome classes can be found on the website! ♥

hopefully this is just a metaphor...

our challenge this fortnight at shopping our stash, that is. because it's called, "here comes suzy snowflake" AND this is the forecaseted to be the first week of really cool temperatures here in new jersey. if it actually SNOWS HERE i am going to have to re-write the brief in favor of a much more tropical theme, but let's see how it goes!

i like to think i've hit all the stash-busting categories witht this card! i used my neglected tim holtz snowglobe 2 die set that i got at paper anthology in january; i LOVE this set but it has very, very, verrrrrrry many tiny parts and thus it's not something i bust out every week. on the other hand the tiny parts mean i used up LOTS of scraps. and finally, i chose two well-hoarded basic grey patterned papers, woohoo! oh and just in case that was not snowy enough, i added in a stacked set of diecut snowflakes AND some extra-fab eyelet outlet snowflake brads. ta-da. :)

be sure to head on over to SOS and see the amazing inspiration that awaits you, then start planning your own snowy masterpiece! ♥

Nostalgic NYC

It's Stencil Sunday on The Ink Pad Blog where I've got a card with a bit of a glamorous 1930's vibe thanks to two beautiful Michelle Ward Stencils, Fishtail Pattern and NYC Manhole Covers II. For the record, I think this may be the first time ever that anyone has typed a sentence which has the words, "glamorous" and "manhole cover" so that's pretty exciting too, right?! :)

By the way, the stencil is inspired by actual New York City manhole covers, some of which really are cool looking! This is what is awesome about Michelle Ward, whereas we might not even notice manhole covers are as we walkover them, she thinks, "Those are beautiful and they would make awesome stencils and stamps!" That's definitely my kinda designer! ♥

putting the CARD in CARDINAL (or possibly vice versa?)

we're still celebrating the critters of christmas at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and you're still invited to join the fun by making a holiday card with an animal (or creature!) on it.

i had a completely different plan for this week's card, but then i saw my friend elisabeth unpacking this amazing taylored expressions layered cardinal die set at paper anthology and all bets were off. also... it allowed me to build a collage of torn vintage paper and postage stamps for the base of my card, which i was really really in the mood to do! (sometimes my "process" is very scientific, lol!) layered label shapes and some eyelet outlet poinsettia, pinecone and holly brads complete the finishing touches.

hop, swim, gallop, fly or pull a sleigh over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see the beautiful readers' gallery, not to mention a brand new card that stephanie made especially to inspire you!