Hello, ICAD!

Tomorrow is June first, or as I like to think of it, ICAD day! Once again, Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow Art is hosting sixty-one days of creativity, as we embark upon the 2022 version of the Index Card a Day project! You can follow along on Tammy's Instagram account, Gypsy999, which is well worth the trip at any time of year, but especially fun in June and July.

You really don't need anything special to participate in this project, besides some index cards (and yes, they really should be actual, cheap, flimsy index cards from the office supply store; as opposed to pieces of high quality watercolor paper cut to size!) and some way to make marks upon them. You can collage, draw, doodle, write poems or haiku, make lists, swatch your markers or paints, practice handlettering or do a little bit of everything. The point of the exercise is to do SOMETHING creative, for a few minutes a day, for two months in a row. But... having said all of that... I've done this for the last ten summers, and I've discovered that having a little purpose-made minibook to hold all of my cards is a huge boost to my moral and my commitment.   

I think the 2022 version miiiiight be my favorite ICAD book ever and I can't wait to start working on some of Tammy Garcia's inspiring (optional!) prompts!

My plan is to post daily index cards on Instagram (my feed is llaurenb) starting tomorrow, and then do weekly round-ups right here, so stay tuned it you love small format art!

Evolution of a Mandala

I've just discovered Simon Hurley's create. dye inks from Ranger and I'm fairly smitten. I've used five of my favorite bold shades (prom queen, guppy, shooting star, overzealous and remember me) to watercolor this week's mandala; by "smooshing" some of each color onto my craft mat, then picking it up with a waterbrush. And yes, I love to throw some spatters of each color on, as well! When I was done painting, I had something which looked a bit like this:

Once all the basic shapes were in place and the inks had dried completely, I went in with Letter It Fineliners and outlined everything. Then I started adding details: shapes within shapes, double outlines, scallops and faux stitching. Finally, I grabbed a few markers and a white paint pen to add the finishing touches.  

Usually, that would be the end of the story, but since June first is just two days away, I went the extra mile and trimmed my finished sketchbook page into two 5.5 x 3.5" panels to fashion the front and back covers of my 2022 Index Card a Day* journal!

I think this might be my favorite ICAD book ever and I can't wait to start working on some of Tammy Garcia's inspiring (optional!) prompts; which can be found on the Daisy Yellow Art website, as well as Tammy's Instagram account, which is Gypsy999, and worth a look-see at any time of year, but especially fun in June and July.

Stay tuned for lots more about ICAD* and starting on Wednesday, I'll be posting my daily index card art on my own IG account (llaurenb) with weekly round-ups right here!

*If you're wondering, "what on Earth is ICAD?" you could check out this Daisy Yellow post, which is coincidentally titled, "What on Earth is ICAD?"!

Merry Gentlemen

We're still making "guy cards" at Jingle Belles, and you still have time to join the fun. This week I've got a double header, thanks to a page of steampunk-inspired holiday journal cards and coordinating papers from Graphic 45's Christmas Time collection. 

These are some of the simplest cards ever made. I cut out the journal cards, gave them all skinny (skinny!) black mats, added Eyelet Outlet Holly, Star, Compass and Gear Brads and called it a day. Gotta love it when that happens, right? 

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie and our lovely guest star Beverly have made this week!

Spoiler Alert: It Ends with "Zebra"

Yes, we've come to the fourth and final post of the Eyelet Outlet Alphabetical Brad ATC's! It's so exciting, I'm going to show off the entire set and then we'll talk about the letters S through Z.

And here are the individual cards, with all their brad styles listed:

S: Safety Pins, Shells (in the form of Shell Corners, Shells and Seashore Brads), the Sun from our Sun and Cloud set, one of two styles of Sunglass Brad, and a Sleigh direct from the North Pole. 

T: A Tractor Brad is a fine addition to any haul, while Tissues (and TP) come from the Toilet Paper and Tissue Brad set, (Summer) Trees, Tool Brads are great, but of course they need a Toolbox.

U and V: The U.S.A. is represented by our Patriotic Flag and Hat Brads, and the Utensils are called Silverware Brads, but the Unicorn is from the Unicorn and Rainbow set; a Vacuum from the Vacuum and Broom Brads (on sale!), both halves of the Video Game set and a Valise which is technically the Suitcase from our Travel Set.

W: A lovely Wreath, some Water Lillies from the Frog set, a champagne toast from the Wedding Brads, a Witch Hat and some Witch Legs.

X, Y and Z: An Xmas Tree (technically listed as a Pine Tree Brad) and a Skull Brad who's standing in as an X-ray; these cute Yellow Jackets are actually Bumble Bee Brads (there are Mini Bee Brads also) and the Yolk is in the center of the Fried Egg from our Bacon, Egg and Toast Brads; finally we've got Zinfandel from the Wine Brad set and a Zebra from the second Jungle Mix, called Lion, Tiger Zebra Brads. 

That concludes the EO Brad Alphabet, but of course there are lots more brads (plus washi tape, bling, flowers and more!) in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store; and be sure to consult the sidebar on the Eyelet Outlet Blog and look for the EO Booth at a tradeshow near you!

Make Mine a TALL One

A tall card, that is. Which is what we used to call Slimline cards, back in the day. It's also what we're celebrating this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, so break out your tall skinny envelopes and a few supplies you haven't used in a bit, to make a card to link up with us. Here's what I made.

When I started thinking about "Tall" cards it reminded me that I have a super cute older stamp set with a giraffe in it (technically it's "Peeking Pals" from Stampendous) that is quite fun to color with Tombows and shade with Prismacolor pencils. So much so, that I made a double set of critters in order to end up with two cards; definitely a boon going into the summer birthday season. The sentiments are from Taylored Expressions' Big Bold Birthday set, which Stephanie gave me over a year ago and I somehow never used until now. The background is one of the half dozen or so "cloud" papers I currently own... I can never resist a paper with clouds or woodgrain!

Speaking of Stephanie, she is over on the SOS blog with the rest of my awesome teamies, and they've all made fabulous slimline cards to inspire you!

Sunshine & Stickers

I haven't made a sticker mandala in a while; long enough that I had somehow forgotten how much fun they are to assemble! Most of these stickers are from Pipsticks' So Many Stickers Book, which is fairly magical and one of the best birthday presents ever... from Stephanie, of course! If you've always wanted to make mandalas, but don't enjoy drawing, sticker mandalas are a fun (and easy!) way to start.

 

Masculine Merry Christmas

We're making holiday cards for the special men in our lives this fortnight at Jingle Belles, and we'd love for you to join the fun!

I based my card around a postcard-sized pre-printed panel from Penny Black, called Masterpieces Made Simple, which I got at Paper Anthology. These little cards are semi-glossy and slightly textured, so they are a gorgeous centerpiece; you just add stamping, diecuts, embossing or... in my case... an Idea-ology sticker sentiment, some Eyelet Outlet Brads and a few mats! This card was so fun (and FAST!) to make that I decided to use the other three cards in the set right away. I've used Cardinal and Female Cardinals, a handsome Moose, several Snowflakes, plus Bluebird and Robin Brads; as well as a variety of patterned paper scraps and solid cardstock to complete my A6 card designs.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles, where Stephanie and our lovely guest star Beverly, have made marvelously merry masculine cards to inspire you!

The ABC's of EO... Part 3

Here are the next five cards in our Eyelet Outlet Brad Alphabet. This set takes us from L to S, with lots of adorable brads along the way.

Todays brads, allocated to each card are:

L: (Holiday) Lights, Lizards from the Reptile Brad set, the Lighthouse from the Boat and Lighthouse set, Lions from the Lion, Tiger, Zebra set, sequel to the popular Jungle Mix.

M: Mailbox from the Mail Brad set, Monkeys from the Jungle Mix, Mrs. Claus from the Santa and Mrs. Claus set, a Mood (technically an Emotion Brad) in a Mask from the CoVid-inspired Mask, Hand Sanitizer and Soap Brads, a Mower from the Lawn Mower Brad set (which is on sale!) and a stately Moose.

N: (Music) Notes, Navigation aka a Compass Brad, Navy (technically a Sailboat from the Boat and Lighthouse set with an Anchor Brad), a stack of Novels which we actually call Book Brads, and a Nutcracker.

O and P: The handsome Owl is known as a Sketched Owl (there are also Owl Brads and Winking Owls... both of which are on sale!), Ornament Brads are also on sale, and the Oven Glove is from the Cooking Brad set; the super-cute Paw Brads are one of two styles, a Party Hat is always a good idea (just ask the Birthday Sock Monkeys) and the Pipe Brad is part of a cool set that your Dad (or handy Mom) would love!

Q and R: Our Crown and Tiara Brads are fit for a Queen, the cute Quackers technically are called Duck Brads and the Quilting supplies are a combination of Thread and Scissor Brads (you need to get creative when it comes to the more challenging letters, lol!); a Rainbow from the Unicorn and Rainbow set, the Ring hails from our Wedding Brads and finally a handsome Rooster.

We're getting towards the end of the Alphabet... next week we'll wrap up with the letters S through Z!

Moody Blues

It's a Moody Blue Mandala Monday, featuring some of my current favorite shades of Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks from Ranger, including deeply dramatic Night Sky, as well as Cornflower, Bluebird, Sky, Fern Green, Prickly Pear and just a touch of Violet. I used a few sizes of Letter It Fineliners to draw the basic shapes, then applied the inks using fingertip sponge daubers and Detail Blending Tools. Though with hindsight, I realize it would've been easier to apply the ink first and then draw the lines; OR to have made my shapes slightly larger. We live and learn.

Grey and Pink and Festive All Over

We're still using the color palette from this sweeeeeet photo inspiration to inspire our cards at Jingle Belles and you're still invited to join the fun!

Here's what I made this week:

I started with the puffy Santa and tree stickers, leftover from Prima Marketing's Santa Baby collection of several years back. I bought the entire collection at the time and used most of it immediately, but I have a few things left and since they were the PERFECT colors for this challenge, I decided this was the perfect time to use them. Since they're sort of small to fill an entire card, I added a journal card from the Havana collection, layered Tim Holtz snowflake diecuts, some Echo Park grey and white snowflake paper and a jeweled snowflake of uncertain origin. It's a little bit lumpy, what with all the gems and multiple layers of foam tape, but I kinda looooove how this came out.

Do hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and then start thinking what YOU will create using this beautiful and striking color palette!

Eyelet Outlet ABC's: Part 2

Would this be a good time for more Artist Trading Cards with Eyelet Outlet Brads in alphabetical order? Here are the next five cards, featuring the letters F, G, H, I, J and K.

The brads on these cards are as follows:

F: Felines, Fire Truck from the First Responders set, a fabulous Fairy Brad, Flip Flops, Film (technically the Movie Brads) and a cool (in every sense, lol) vintage Fan from the Telephone and Fan set.

G: Super-cute Gingerbread couple, a Graduation Cap, Grapes (and a glass of red from our Wine Brads), Gardening consists of Garden Tool Brads and a White Daisy, plus a pair of handsome Giraffes from the Jungle Mix.

H: One of two styles of Hanger Brad, a Heifer (technically a Cow from the Cow and Goat set), Holly, Headphones from the Computer and Headphones set, Hand Sanitizer from the CoVid-inspired Mask, Hand Sanitizer and Soap set, and Hearts in the form of one Heart Brad and one Playing Card in the suit of hearts.

I and J: I-Phone from the Selfie set, Insects (technically a Ladybug and a Mini Ladybug) and Ice Cream; Java (one of several styles of Coffee Brads), Jeans from the Jeans and Tee Shirt set (which is on sale!), and Jogging is represented by our Sneaker Brads.

K: Kitchenware is actually some Baking Brads and some Cooking Brads, Kris Kringle from the Santa and Mrs. Claus set, and sweet white Kittens who are naturally after the Knitting Brads, which are on sale. 

Next week I'll be back with the letters L through R, until then, you can find brads for every letter, color and occasion in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store, or see the sidebar on the EO Blog for a list of tradeshows near you!

SOS470: The Power of Pastels

Let me ask you this: When you find a particular patterned paper you really love, how many pieces do you buy? I generally grab two. One to use, one to hoard, lol. In this case, the paper in question is from 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry in Color collection, and I used one piece to make my card and one piece as a backdrop for the photo.

Most of the time, you don't actually need an entire 12x12 sheet to make a 6.5" card; but in this case, the flowers were out at the edges of the paper, so whichever bit I chose, I'd only have two or three blooms. Since I wanted LOTS, I decided to cut out ALL of the flowers and layer them onto the center of my card. So that's what I did. This paper is only a year or so old, so it might not seem like the perfect choice for Shopping Our Stash's new challenge, "The Power of Pastels", but I've also used a Ciao Bella sheet from 2019, some little white flowers from several years ago, and some Prima vellum butterfly stickers and tiny tan flowers from... well, they're old enough that I'm not actually sure how old they are, which is pretty "stashy", right?

There are lots more powerful pastels over at SOS, so I hope you'll take a trip over there for a bit of inspiration, then start thinking what you'll link up with us this fortnight!

Going Around

It's an Inner Circle Mandala Monday, with all of the details inside the central circle. This style of mandala always reminds me of a Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Sign, though obviously a bit more detailed; and not currently decorating a barn, lol.

Pitt Artist Pen linework colored with Tombow Dual Brush Pens; 

in my Canson Sketchbook, with the help of my Helix Circle Tool

 

Sweet Inspiration

This time at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to make cards inspired by beautifully striking color palette of this plate of cookies from Sweet Sugarbelle at The Cake Blog – Pink, Grey (or Silver) and Ivory (or White). You can also take inspiration from the cookies and other design elements, if you wish, but please make sure you stick with the color palette. 

Here's my card:

I've changed the proportions of the colors a bit (obviously I love dark pink more than the cookie baker does, lol!) but otherwise stuck faithfully to the palette. When I saw the inspiration photo, the first thing I noticed --and wanted to mimic-- was the way some of the cookies were rectangles framing up design elements like the stylized tree. I decided to make some cookie-sized rectangles and use the inset diecutting technique to get a similar effect. The (ancient) snowflake die is from Spellbinders, the tree is Echo Park and the foliage is Sunny Studio. I've used a mix of plain and shimmer cardstock, glitter paper, and metallics to make the design more interesting and textural, and scattered Eyelet Outlet Pink Pearls all over, similarly to the way the candy dots were used to decorate the cookies.

Please visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and then start planning how you will use this beautiful palette to inspire your next holiday card.

The ABC's of Eyelet Outlet

A couple of years ago, I made a little ATC-sized book with as many Eyelet Outlet brad styles, arranged alphabetically, as I could fit... which turned out to be quiiiiiiiite a few! That project was so much fun, I decided to do it again. So here are the letters A through E:

Here's a complete list of the brads used, I tried to change it up and add some lesser-known ones in addition to all my favorites!

A: Mini Ants, (Vacation) Arrows, an Ambulance (from the First Responders set), Aprons (from the BBQ set, which also has a Grill), and both styles of Apple Brad.

B: Bicycle Brad, Brown (Teddy) Bears, (School) Bus Brad, Bottles and a mug of Beer (all found in the Beer set), plus one handsome Bluebird from the Bluebird and Robin set.

C: Candle Brads, a Swirl Cupcake, Crown (from the Crown and Tiara set), Computer, Classic Cars and a Chicken Brad.

D: Doggos (including a Puppy Brad a Paw and the supper dish from the Kennel Mix), Dinosaur, Donut Brad and a Deer plus a Prancing Deer.

E:  Eagles, Eye Glass Brad, Emergency (technically the police car from the First Responders set), Eggs (and a Fried Egg from the Bacon, Egg and Toast set), Elephant from the Jungle Mix set.

ABC's headline: one of our two styles of Sunglass Brad, Butterfly Brad, Classic Car, Crown, Bus, Bluebird, Ring (from the Wedding set), Mini Ladybug, Beer Brad.

Stay tuned for the letters F through J, coming next week, both here and on the Eyelet Outlet Blog!

Flashy and Splashy

It's a Reggae Sunsplash Mandala Monday, featuring a base of ALL the brightest shades of Karin Markers laid down side to side in my Canson sketchbook, then blended with a waterbrush, then splashed and sprinkled with more water to add that fun tie-dye, color-lift effect. If this thing doesn't wake up your morning, you should probably just go back to bed, lol!

It's a Doodle Celebration

Showing off the third of three new Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART doodle-themed stamp sets from Ranger. On Thursday I posted about Doodle Town; yesterday I went elegantly Hawaiian with the Floral Doodles set; and today I complete the hat trick with a tag set I made with (IMO) one of the all-time best birthday stamp sets, Doodle Celebration!

I stamped all of the images in Jet Black Archival Ink on the glossy side of some Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Cardstock, then used a waterbrush to pick up some scribbled ink from my favorite bold, bright colors of Tombow Dual Brush Pens.

I fussy cut the images and added them to three different sizes of Dina Wakley MEdia White Tags that I had covered with some scraps of Dina's Typed Ledgers leftover from my Doodle Town card.

To each tag I added a strip of bold blue floral tape from Wendy Vecchi's Washi Tape Assortment 1, and layered the stamped images on top; using Wendy's Perfect Card Adhesive on some of them and Ranger White Adhesive Foam Tape on others, for extra dimension.

All of the Wendy Vecchi Doodle Stamps are available on the Ranger Website and will soon be arriving in many fine brick and mortar stores, as well. Meanwhile, ALL the Ranger Designers released fabulous new items last week, I hope you'll hop over and check them out!