Happy Easter, Everybunny

Even if you have LOTS of patterned paper... (and I do!) ...sometimes you still don't have exactly what you want for a particular card. In this case, I wanted a text paper that said "Happy Easter" so I typed it myself! It's the perfect home for my Eyelet Outlet Rabbit Brads, whom I've given a little landscape to inhabit, by adding a Sun and Cloud Brad and a Mini Butterfly, as well as some punched grass and an oversized Hero Arts diecut tulip to frame up the whole thing.

This week I wish you a Happy Passover or Happy Easter, if you are celebrating; or just an extra nice second week of Spring! 

Hello, EveryBUNNY

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and if you guessed we'd like to see Easter cards, you're 1/3 correct... we'll also take Passover greetings; OR anything with a bunny on it. So there are plenty of ways to go. I'm representing Team Bunny!

I've been longing to make some big collages, but there just isn't enough time in a day; so I decided to settle for making a collage card. This sweet bunny came from a very tattered, garage-sale copy of a Little Golden Book. He's inhabiting a background made from torn vintage paper, beautiful trading stamps that Stephanie found at a thrift store, and not very much in the way of official papercrafting product, I'm afraid; except for several older, out of print Eyelet Outlet Washi styles, and a bit of Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide ink around the edges. I used my ancient We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper though, and quite a bit of Scotch Create Gluestick... does that count?  I had so much fun making my bunny card that I didn't want to stop collaging, so I made a few more cards:

I found this canary on a swing in an ancient, falling-apart book about pets while I was looking for bunnies, and I couldn't resist him. He was kind of small for an A6 card, so I filled in with a rose illustration from the same book. 

But then I found ANOTHER rose illustration... and a couple of really nice butterflies; also I had leftover torn bits of sheet music, foreign text and dictionary paper that were too small to keep, but too big to throw away, so I thought I might as well glue them onto a background. Collage-making often snowballs in this manner, I find, lol. 

Hop (like a bunny!) over to SOS and see what the rest of the crew have created, then start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight!

What's Slim and Retro and Fab All Over?

It's Dare 2B Artzy's Slim Retro Background, of course; just one of many fine Dare 2B Artzy Die Sets that can be found at The Ink Pad and it's on TIP Blog today:

Holiday Cards to Die For!

We're embracing the joys of diecutting this fortnight at Jingle Belles, so break out your nested label shapes, your stamp-and-die combos, your beautiful background dies or all of the above! For those who have not embraced the format, we'll also accept cards that use old school paper punches as well as electronic systems like Cricut, Silhouette, etc, so there's no excuse not to join the fun!

I absolutely love this Hero Arts Holly Confetti Cover Die, so it's a bit of a mystery why I don't use it more? That's what I love about card challenges... it spurs me on to use items I've been neglecting. I made a funky smooshed background using Lime, Pthalo Green and Turquoise ColorBurst, and layered the diecut panel over some ancient dark green velvet paper. I made a flower and snowflake stack using pre-packaged diecut snowflakes as well as some Tim Holtz Tattered Snowflakes, sandwiched between layers of fabric flowers. The brad at the center is so old I'm not sure where it's from, but it actually has tiny holly leaves so I could not resist!

Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and start planning what you will link up!

Bluebirds of Happiness

Bluebirds might be my absolute favorite of the backyard birds you see in New Jersey (or possibly tied with hummingbirds) and so despite the fact that they are two of the smallest of the eighteen (18!) stamps in LDRS' Country House Stamp Set, they were one of the first things I noticed; and I knew I wanted to feature them prominently in my card. Hop over to The Ink Pad blog for more details, including my trick for getting line free color on large images like, say, a big TREE! :)

I Like You a Latte

I never get tired of making coffee cards, especially when I can use my Eyelet Outlet Coffee Brads, Heart Brads, Sequins and Paper Flowers! 

This card is extra special because I used a STAMPlorations set called A Cuppa Love* designed by my amazing friend Becca... aka the Damsel of Distressed Cards... and an ARTplorations stencil called Dots 'n Beans; both of which I was lucky enough to win in last fall's Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog Hop. So it seemed only fitting to use them in the Spring/Summer Hop, which is taking place right now!

I tried literally all of my brown and tan Oxide colors with the Dots 'n Beans stencil, and every single one looked awesome. But I wanted a slightly lighter, brighter, Spring vibe, and eventually I had a brainwave to try Spun Sugar. Weirdly enough, that was The One, lol! I stamped the sentiment in (appropriately enough) Ground Espresso, colored the mug with Tombows, cut it out and added a Heart Brad. I was happy with my cluster of mug, Paper Flower (with Coffee Bean Brad center!) and sentiment, but somehow it needed just one more thing. I'm not saying the answer to, "What does this card need?" is *ALWAYS* Eyelet Outlet Sequins, but that does turn out to be true a fair amount of the time, and they did the trick here!

Be sure to visit the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Hop to see all the amazing cards, then start planning what you will make to get a shot at all those awesome prizes!!! ♥

*Becca's A Cuppa Love stamp set is so awesome that it has sold out at STAMPlorations. 

Luckily she has a whole line called Big Grins, and I predict you will love them as much as I do! ♥   

"Smooshing" a Rainbow

Probably your first question is, "What in the world is SMOOSHING?" and I'll get to that in a minute, but first let me mention that today's cards were inspired by and made using Dare 2B Artzy'x Slimline Curve Borders Die Set and the Mega Box of Karin Markers, both of which can be found at The Ink Pad and will be of considerable advantage to your crafting arsenal! There's a little photo tutorial and a second card made using these same ingredients, both can be found on The Ink Pad Blog, so I hope you'll hop over to see them.

Festive Foliage

We're still celebrating holiday greenery at Jingle Belles and you're still invited to join us! This week I've combined LOTS of different diecuts: holly, a few types of evergreen, even a bit of fern; plus of course that beautiful big Penny Black "Glorious" poinsettia... all on top of a collaged background of sheet music, text paper and holiday postage.

Head on over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made, and link up your own masterpiece!

Gang's All Here

Tim Holtz's Baseboard Dolls add instant vintage style and whimsy to any project, but they're not exactly colorful; which is why I decided to pair them with my brand new set of Sorbet Scoops Memento Dew Drops mini ink pads from... appropriately enough... The Ink Pad. Hop over to TIP Blog for all the details and more pics!

G Through L

Would this be a good time to show of the next five pages (and six letters!) of the Eyelet Outlet Alphabetical Brad Book? Oh and I've made a cover for it too, but more about that in a minute. Meanwhile, here's Part Two:

As with the first set, these pages are ATC-sized (2.5 x 3.5") and built on top of an older, incomplete deck of playing cards to which I've added not-quite-solid patterned papers in a variety of colors. The brads representing the letter G are: Graduation Hat, a Giraffe from the Jungle Mix, a flying Gull from our Seagull Brads, all three varieties of Grape and a glass of red from our Wine Brads, and a Gnome, who is on sale!

The letter H consists of: Headphones from the Computer and Headphones set, Hair Style items from our Brush and Hair Dryer Brads, Hand Sanitizer from our Co-Vid themed Mask, Hand Sanitizer and Soap set, wood Hanger Brads, and a Handbag from the Shoe and Purse set.

From the start, I knew I'd have to double up a few letters, because there just are not nearly as many I and J styles as there are in more frequently used letters like H, M and S. Throughout the project, I've taken a few liberties with names to get a better mix; so I've made sure to use the exact titles and place direct links to make each brad style easy to find in the EO Store! 

The letter I features: Ice Cream, Italy in the form of Colosseum and Pisa Brads (which are on sale!) and an i-Phone from the Selfie set. Representing J we've got: a Java aka Coffee Brad, Jeans from the Jeans and Tee Shirt set and a Sneaker Brad I've re-named as Jogging.

On to the letter K: Kris Kringle is part of the Santa and Mrs. Claus power couple, Knitting Brads are one of my all-time faves (and they're on sale!), our Kitten Brads packs have three shapes and are divided into half white and half black, but I tend to save the latter for Halloween; Mr. Koala comes from the Sloth and Koala set and Kitchenware is a bit of a cheat, since I combined items from the Cooking Brads and Baking Brads sets.

Representing the letter L: Lights technically called Holiday Lights, a Lion from the second Jungle Mix, called Lion Tiger and Zebra Brads, Lobsters from the Crab and Lobster set, a Lure from the Fishing Lure Brads, and Lightning from our Wizard Hat and Lightning Bolt Brads.

One of my favorite things about any minibook project is making the cover. I used a similar set of leatherette alphabet stickers, but in lower case, which are a bit smaller (also I was out of uppercase B's!) Since I wanted the typed title to stand out, I didn't label each brad, but I did manage to work in nine styles, which are: Antler Brads (I adore these and they're on sale), an Apple and an Ant; Book Brads, a Butterfly Profile (which is sadly out of print, but we still have regular Butterfly Brads) and a Broom from the Vacuum and Broom set; A Classic Car, a Cupcake (which is on sale) and a Candy Corn Brad.

We're only halfway through the alphabet, so I'll be back in the next few weeks with the letters M through Z; meanwhile, whatever letter you need a brad for, I can assure you we have one at Eyelet Outlet! 

PS: If you'd like to see the letters A through F, you can find them in this post!

Welcome, Roy G. Biv

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash the challenge is called, "The Rainbow Connection" so I'm pretty sure you've already guessed that we'd like to see either rainbow colors OR actual rainbows OR both. I went with rainbow colors (in spectrum order, o'course) in the form of (ancient and mostly out of print) washi tape strips and then added my super sweet Gina K. Unicorn (from the Sunshine Wishes set) whom I've given a rainbow mane. Cloud punches and a few Simple Stories Sn@p diecuts against an older Doodlebug "Sunshine" patterned paper round off my card. 

Check out how the rest of the design team have made The Rainbow Connection at Shopping Our Stash and start planning your own colorful creation!

Spring Has Sprung!

Impression Obsession's line of Slim Scenes stamps are made to mix and match OR you can use them one at a time. You could, of course, use them on any sized project, but they're ideal for making beautiful slimline designs, which are still the hottest trend in cardmaking. The Spring release includes Wildflowers, Spring Sentiments, a Meadow and even a few Bunnies in Grass! Lots more pics of my three cards, plus a bit about my letterpress-inspired stamping technique on The Ink Pad Blog!

The Holly and the Ivy

We're big fans of foliage at Jingle Belles, so we like to sneak in a prompt each year that features Christmassy greens. Of course, in addition to literal holly and ivy, you can work in pine boughs, mistletoe, poinsettias* or for that matter, you can make a wreath from anonymous leafy punches... just think festive foliage and you're good to go!

This beautiful panel of holly, berries and mistletoe was the background of a card someone sent me this past xmas. I'm not sure how it got mixed into a pile of paid bills on my desk, but I was excited to find it just in time to make this week's card. I added an Authentique journal card, a few diecut greens, super skinny red mats and a trio of Eyelet Outlet Poinsettia Brads and my flat, mailable masterpiece was complete!

Jump over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and start planning what you will link up with us this fortnight!

*Did you know that technically poinsettias are all foliage, even the red or pink parts which look like flowers?!

An EGG-cellent Easter

Easter cards are an excellent place for puns! You can go with someBUNNY, anyBUNNY, everyBUNNY and bring in Rabbit Brads or Pastel Rabbits. On the other hand, if you switch over to Chick Brads and bring in Colored Eggs (or ordinary Egg Brads, for that matter) that gets you even more EGG-citing, EGG-stra special of EGG-cellence, like this card! To make it more of a little landscape I've added a Sun and Cloud Brad as well as some Mini Stitched Flowers, tucked behind layers of punched grass.

For an even faster background, you can always grab Easter Egg Tape, Egg Washi, or one of our Rabbit Washi or Bunny Tape varieties in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

An Ambi... what?

I confess that I hadn't heard the term "ambivert" (which describes a person who has a mix of both introvert and extrovert personality features) until I found Everyday Explorers Co "Ambivert Life" stamp set and thought, "Hey, that's ME!" Hop over to The Ink Pad Blog to see the flip side of this fun card AND a Traveler's Notebook page I made using the same set!

Still Sketchy

We're still making cards based on Stephanie's beautiful sketch at Jingle Belles and you're still invited to join the fun. Let's remind ourselves what that sketch looks like:

And here's what I made this week:

Once again I capitalized on the efficiency of using a sketch by translating the various shapes into ready made items like stickers and diecuts. I flipped the sketch, so that the focal point and the intersecting lines are reversed, just to change things up a little. I've used five different Eyelet Outlet Washi Tapes to make the strong vertical line, and an older Crate Paper sticker that says "Winter" for the horizontal; then I've clustered a few different bits and bobs to make up the focal point including that sweet jar diecut (from  Pebbles) embellished with EO Holiday Tree and Snowflake Brads; and a couple of chipboard xmas trees that I think were Echo Park from several years ago. The whole thing is on a base of Carta Bella music-lined paper that is ancient, but still looks fab to me! 

Join the fun with us at Jingle Belles!

It's Alpha-BRAD-ical

Some people ignore their crazier craft ideas, but I like to run with them! Lately on Instagram, I've seen some really beautiful illustrated and embroidered alphabet samplers, and I started thinking it would be fun to make something similar with Eyelet Outlet Brads. I considered making a single large piece, like a sampler (and I might still do that, lol!) but then it occurred to me that an ATC-sized minibook would give me room to use several brads for each letter, so that's what I decided to do. Here are the first six pages, which I plan on adding to over the next few months:

I used an incomplete deck of playing cards as the base for each 2.5 x 3.5" page of my minibook. I covered the numeral sides with nearly solid, brightly colored papers and added the appropriate chunky leatherette alphabet sticker to each page. I typed a label for each brad. Many of the names are the same as their titles in the official Eyelet Outlet store, but in some cases I had to be a little more creative to make enough brads fit each letter. 

The letter A: has Apple Brads, an Ace from the Playing Card Brads, Ale from our Beer Brads, Ants (technically Mini Ant Brads), and an Airplane from the Travel Brad set.

The letter B: has Bees from the Funky Bee Brads (they're on sale!), a Bear Brad, a Bicycle Brad, the colorful version of Book Brads, and a (School) Bus.

The letter C: is wearing a Crown from the Crown and Tiara set, a Crab from our Crab and Lobster Brads, a Chicken, some Candy Corn Brads and the Computer from the Computer and Headphones set.

The letter D: consists of two out of three Donut Brads, a Deer, one of the three Dinosaur Brads, a couple of Dress Brads and a (Long) Dog (those are on sale!)

The letter E: has an Elephant from the Jungle Mix, Easter Eggs (technically called Colored Eggs), an Envelope from the Mail Brad set, the flying version of our Eagle Brads and some Emojis from the Emotion Brads and Mini Emotion Brads.

The letter F: includes two flying Fairy Brads, a Faucet (from the Pipe Brads set), a Film (and clapper... technically called Movie Brads), a Frog and a Fish Brad.

As I was choosing brads for each page, it occurred to me that when I get to the lesser-used letters, (like I and J; or X, Y and Z) I'm may have to double up. But I think, with a little creativity, I can make this work for all 26 letters. Stay tuned to the Eyelet Outlet Blog and see!

Oh, the Places We'll Go!

Having been pretty much at home for an entire year, we're traveling --in card-form at least-- this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash. For "Oh, the Places We'll Go" we invite you to choose a destination and use it to inspire your card or project. Or... you can embrace a general travel theme.

I chose Hawaii as my imaginary destination, at least partially because I wanted to color the hula girl (and chameleon!) from MFT's Polynesian Paradise set. I'm fairly proud of the selection of older stash I found to pair with my stamped images: Echo Park Cloud paper, Doodlebug tropical-themed stickers, Studio Calico faux-polaroid images, and a Taylored Expressions Palm Tree die. Not bad, considering that I've managed to fit them all onto an A7 card! 

Be sure to make the leap to SOS and see the amazing creations from my design team darlings! ♥