Monday, January 31, 2022

Citrus and Sunshine

ORANGE you glad it's Mandala Monday?! This one's bright enough to melt the rest of the weekend's snow off my driveway! :)

Mandala drawn with Pitt Artist Pens from Faber-Castell on Strathmore Watercolor Paper, 
and colored using my beloved Tombow Dual Brush Pens from Paper Anthology... 
then flicked with a few "splashes" of color!

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Hexies + Doodles +Thanks

Michelle Ward's Stamps and Stencils designed exclusively for The Ink Pad have a great NYC vibe, but they don't necessarily need to be used only for New York themed cards and layouts. For example, the Large Hex Pattern Stencil makes a fantastic pattern that works for any occasion; and Michelle's Dance Line Stamp Set has some fabulous art deco detailing as well as the two beautiful Dance Line silhouettes AND two very useful sentiments, as well. This card is on The Ink Pad Blog today, I hope you'll head over there and read all about it!

Saturday, January 29, 2022

A Cup of Kindness

One of my favorite sets of Wendy Vecchi Make Art Chippies embellishments is called "Beverages" and has a nice big coffee mug, a teacup and saucer, two spoons and two teabag tags. I painted the mug with Dina Wakley's gorgeous Eggplant acrylic paint and added a raised pattern with Ranger's Opaque Matte Texture Paste through the three-dot stencil pattern in Wendy's Merci and More Stamp, Die and Stencil set.


I used the chrysanthemum stencils, stamps and dies from Wendy Vecchi's Thank You set to create the exuberant bouquet in Tiger Lily, Tea Rose and Orange Blossom Archival Inks, with leaves of Prickly Pear and outlines in Jet Black. The finished bouquet is mounted on a collage of vintage book pages, sheet music and part of an old map. Mats of eggplant and floral green complete this not-quite-A9-sized card.


Be sure to visit the Ranger and Wendy Vecchi Instagram accounts for lots more inspiration featuring all the brand new Chippies designs!

Friday, January 28, 2022

Wendy Vecchi Chippie Valentine

I'm very excited to be on the Ranger Blog today, showing off some brand new Wendy Vecchi Chippies in a fun (and colorful) Valentine. What are Chippies? They're sturdy, pre-primed chipboard embellishments, ready to customize with inks, stamps, stencils, pens, paints or any other media you wish. I hope you'll hop over and see the completed card and read all about it!


Chippies come in Blossoms, Bases and Frames (both of which I've used in today's card) as well as Lots of Leaves, Beverages and Wreaths.

My True Love Gave to Me...

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're making holiday cards for our "True Love" (by which we mean anyone extra special) OR making a card that features hearts OR... if you dare... you could incorporate any of the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas, as creatively and/or tangentially as you wish; just be sure to explain how you were inspired if it isn't obvious! I decided to have a go at two out of three options, so I've put "Four Calling Birds" inside a heart! 


My "calling birds" are Eyelet Outlet Cardinal, Cardinal Profile and Female Cardinal Brads. I'm not sure exactly what type of birds were specified in the carol, but Cardinals are not particularly known for their song... unless you count some serious squawking when another bird gets too close to something they consider theirs lol. I've added some diecut greens and set my heart frame on a background of vintage sheet music set off with a bit of Wide Brick Washi and a scattering of tiny red Star Sequins.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and start planning what you will make!

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Un-be-LEAF-able!

I've been having fun playing with some brand new Wendy Vecchi Chippies from Ranger. These pre-primed chipboard embellishments are ready to customize with inks, stamps, stencils, pens, paints and more. In this case, I've used Archival Inks to tint some gorgeous foliage from the Lots of Leaves set. See?

I used (appropriately enough!) Leaf Green on the larger leaf and added a bit of shading with Fern Green around the edges. The smaller leaf is inked in Prickly Pear. I left the large scalloped frame from the Bases and Frames set the natural primed white shade it came in, and used it to surround a background made with maybe my favorite tape in Wendy's Washi Assortment 1

I stamped the large solid flower from the Country Flowers Stamp, Die and Stencil set in Sky Blue, then added the detail stamp on top, inked in Cornflower. I stamped the flower's center separately in Sunflower and added detail with Jet Black. The sentiment, "Make a Wish" is from the Bravo set and is stamped in Night Sky.


In addition to Bases and Frames and Lots of Leaves, Chippies come in Blossoms, Wreaths and Beverages, too.


I hope you'll hop over to the Ranger Blog to see all of the beautiful new products which have been released last week... there is so much inspiration, you won't want to miss it!

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

So Hoppy Together

I can never resist a pun, but for some reason they're even more appealing for Valentine's Day. If one happens to have Eyelet Outlet Frog Brads and/or Rabbit Brads, any greeting which would ordinarily read, "Happy" can now be, "Hoppy"! If one also has the amazing super-wide Sky Washi, an instant landscape can easily occur!


To flesh out the scene I added border-punched layers of grass, Sun and Cloud Brads and some adorable Mini Bees. For the Frogs, a Cattail from their set (they come with Water Lilies as well!) is peeping out in the background; for the bunnies it's a Colored Daisy. Be sure to hop (sorry, for once it was unintentional lol) over to the Eyelet Outlet Blog for more inspiration!

Monday, January 24, 2022

What's Black and White and Rose Gold All Over?

In this case, the answer is a really BIG mandala... drawn on black paper. Because let's face it, there is always something a little bit magical about light ink on dark paper, we cannot help but marvel a tiny bit, right? And if there is a Deco Premium Rose Gold pen as part of the equation, so much the better! They come in chisel and bullet tips; this is the latter and it lays down a beautiful seamless line of color that is entirely opaque.

I could have drawn the entire mandala in Rose Gold, but it's always more fun to mix it up, so I added in some of my favorite Posca Pens, too: Silver and Pink Metallics in the 5mm bullet tips, plus the !mm and 3mm white Poscas which I adore. I drew the entire mandala on a 7x7" sheet of black paper, then fussycut around the three large scallops and layered the results on pale pink cardstock, Black Kromekote and finally white. 


There are lots of other fine choices in opaque pens, as well as embossing pens, drawing pens, waterbased markers, fancy fountain pens and more... search "pens" on The Ink Pad's website and prepare to be amazed!

Friday, January 21, 2022

Yum and Yummer

We're still Getting Fit for the New Year at Jingle Belles by allocating all of our favorite sweets and treats to our holiday cards, where there are no calories to be found!


In December, I treated myself to Carta Bella's "Christmas Cheer" collection at Paper Anthology and I especially love the entire page of "Just for You Tags" in the set. For this card, I trimmed five of my favorite food-related tags, mounted them on some coordinating gingham and then a background of older Authentique holiday paper that matches perfectly, and called it a day. 

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made, then start planning what you will make!

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Valen-TINY

Valentines come in all shapes and sizes, and these are definitely of the smaller variety. Artist Trading Cards are 2.5 x 3.5" (modeled on the average playing card) which is big enough for some sweet Eyelet Outlet Chameleon or Turtle Brads (they're on sale!), plus Sun and Cloud Brads, and a silly sentiment. Everything you need to wish your Valentine a happy day.  


Be sure to check out the Eyelet Outlet Blog, where the design team are always cooking up something fun to inspire you!

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Bordering on AWESOME!

It's time for a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this time we're celebrating border punches and dies! I went with the former, because I still have quite a few of those awesome old-school devices and I realized it had been a while since I used them... so I've incorporated three of my favorites into my card.

The sweet and sparkly animals come from a patterned paper so old, I'm not sure who made it? I suspect it was Creative Imaginations, but I won't swear to it. The plaid sky, sentiment and happy sunshine are Doodlebug and newish. The border punches are (from the top down) Fiskars (on Dare 2B Artzy paper) and two Recollections; on Echo Park and Hello Kitty, respectively. This cute critter convention will very shortly be on its way to celebrate a very happy birthday with one of our grand-nieces.

Be sure to visit SOS to see what the design team has made to inspire you; then dust off those border punches and dies and get crafty with us!

Monday, January 17, 2022

MLK Mandala Monday

Remembering the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King this Mandala Monday, “We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”  

Pitt Artist Pens from Faber-Castell on Strathmore Watercolor Paper, 
and colored with Tombow Dual Brush Pens from Paper Anthology and a waterbrush.
Loads of splashes on top; some blotted and some left on. 

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Tiny Sealing Wax Collages

Wax seals add instant elegance and nostalgia to any project, and there's seemingly no limit to the combination of papers and embellishments that coordinate well. In this case, we've got Vintage Typewriter StickersClassic Icon Fleur-de-Lis Wax Seals, Penny Black Juniper diecutsGlitter Tape and scraps of sheet music. Read all about it on The Ink Pad Blog!

Friday, January 14, 2022

Sweets and Treats

We're Getting Fit for the New Year at Jingle Belles by allocating all of our favorite sweets and treats to our holiday cards, instead of our tummies!

I've adorned an older Doodlebug gingerbread house sticker with a couple of candy-centric Eyelet Outlet brads and a Pearl Swirl above the chimney. The cool paper-strip background is based on an absolutely ancient, totally brilliant Card Maps sketch that I discovered lurking in my inspiration file. 

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made, then start planning your own sweet treat of a card!

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Outstanding in Their Field

Sheep are shear magic and I think you wool love Eyelet Outlet Sheep Brads! I've made a farm-themed Valentine, although really this idea could work equally well as a birthday or encouragement card at any time of year. 


I've watercolored Art Impressions' Old Barn mini stamp set with Tombow Dual Brush Pens and added LDRS' Country Fence diecut in the foreground. My farm yard features the sweet sheep from our Pig and Sheep set, as well as some Mini Butterflies and the Sun and Cloud set. 

In addition to the Pig and Sheep Brads, Eyelet Outlet has Cow and Goat Brads, Horse and Pony Brads, Roosters, Chickens, Chicks, Eggs, Pick-up Trucks, Cowboy Brads and Tractors, too! So FARM, so good!

Monday, January 10, 2022

Would You Like to Build a Snowman(dala)?

Snow is by far my least favorite form of precipitation in real life, but it must be said that snowflakes... and snowflake mandalas... are A LOT of fun to draw! ♥

pitt artist pens by faber-castell; tombow dual brush shadows, 
helix circle maker tool, canson mixed media sketchbook

Friday, January 7, 2022

Mele Kalikimaka is the Thing to Say*

We're still showing off What Santa Brought Us at Jingle Belles, and you're still invited to come along and make a holiday card that features something new and crafty; whether it came officially from The Big Guy, or perhaps you helped him out by choosing something fun for yourself? 

This week's card is admittedly a little bit of a stretch... except in our 50th state! But having received not one but TWO awesome sets of tropical flowers and foliage from Santa Stephanie, I literally could not wait to use them... so I didn't! I cut all of the pieces from Lawn Fawn's Happy Hibiscus and Tropical Leaves out of colorful scraps; fashioned an appropriately Hawaiian Holiday sentiment from stickers and attached everything to my bold and beautiful A9 card.

Head on over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card, then start thinking about what you'll make!

*sorry about the earworm! :)

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Painted Peony Power

Pink Fresh's Painted Peony Mix Stamp Set from The Ink Pad is exactly the breath of spring we need on a cold, grey, January day, I hope you'll hop over to the TIP Blog and check it out! 

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Have an ICE Day!

I have to confess that, in real life, I'm not overly fond of snow and ice; but... I am a huge fan of Eyelet Outlet Polar Bear Brads, for whom snow and ice are the ideal habitat, so I've tried to recreate it in card form. See?


In addition to said handsome Polar Bears, this card features Twig Washi Tape and tiny silver Star Sequins. Be sure to check the EO Blog often, the design team are always coming up with awesome ideas to inspire you!

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Things That Start with S(OS)!

It's the first challenge of 2022 at Shopping Our Stash and we've got some lovely new teammates, including Stephanie Severin, so I'm extra excited. This time we'd like to see cards or projects which include Something That Begins with the Letter S... so there's quite a bit of scope there... but be sure to mention your S's if they aren't obvious, k? 

My card features Small, Sweet Seahorses Swimming on a Swirly Sea, in a Star-Shaped Shaker full of Sea-quins (geddit?!) over Sparkling Sand, Surrounded by Shells, Sanddollars and Starfish; with a Silly Sentiment and Strategic Stitching! For the record, the seahorses are from a Lawn Fawn mini-set (Sea Horsin' Around) that I've had for over a year and only just inked. The swirly sea paper is from Sassafras Lass... remember them? (And YES, this was from the era when they still had the "Lass" on there!) The brads and sequins are Eyelet Outlet, o'course; and the shaker is built using the two largest dies in my Nesties Stars set.

Be sure to hop over and welcome the new SOS Teammates, bid farewell to a few who are leaving and soak up all the S-based inspiration!

Monday, January 3, 2022

Merci Beaucoup!

I'm thrilled to be a guest on the Ranger Blog today, with a tutorial for that most timely of January papercrafts: Thank You cards! I used Wendy Vecchi's "Merci and More" Stamp, Die and Stencil Set plus one or two other goodies (like the awesome Bravo set); and my new favorite color palette of Wendy's Periwinkle and Thistle Archival Inks. I'd love for you to hop over and check it out; and be sure to follow @ranger_ink and @wendyvecchi for lots more amazing ideas and inspiration!



Happy Mandala Monday

It's the first Mandala Monday of 2022, so let's tart the year off right with some bold color:


I'm not sure if I'll manage to blog EVERY Mandala Monday, but I thought it might be fun to have a whole strand I could look back on at the end of the year, so we'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, this mandala was drawn with Pitt Artist Pens from Faber-Castell on Strathmore Watercolor Paper, and colored using my beloved Tombow Dual Brush Pens from Paper Anthology... then brushed and flicked with water to make a literal "splash" of color! ♥

Saturday, January 1, 2022

It's January First...

...so it's time to start making Christmas cards!!! Ok, yes, to a civilian, that probably sounds insane; but to any papercrafter who's ever spent a big chunk of December making 50+ cards, trust me, this is a GREAT idea! So once again, at Jingle Belles, we'll be publishing a new prompt every other Friday, and Stephanie and I will each be making two cards for each. By December first (or thereabouts) we'll have at least 48 unique handmade cards; so if we're not actually finished, we'll be in excellent shape. Of course this is definitely a case where more is merrier... so we'd love it if you'd join us! No need to make a commitment or participate every single week, just jump in when you can and have fun along with us!

First up, we KNOW you have some brand new goodies you're dying to use, so break out those gifties (whether they came from Santa, or you treated yourself in the pre- or post-holiday sales!) and use them to make your first holiday card of 2022! Be sure to mention what you've used, so we can be suitably jealous!


Miss Stephanie gave me a beautiful Spellbinders' Woodland Wreath Die Set which I've used to frame up some paper and stickers from Photoplay's Christmas Cheer line, to which I treated myself at Paper Anthology in December. I filled in with an older plaid from Photoplay, some gorgeously realistic Prima Holly Leaves and a scattering of round red Eyelet Outlet Sequins.

Be sure to hop over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made, then sort through your holiday bounty and start making something fun to link up with us!