I'm having a lot of fun choosing my "Five Favorites" from the cards and projects I made this year in various categories; today seems like the perfect time to post my Eyelet Outlet faves. Please note that the caption under each picture is linked to the original post on the EO Blog, where you can find individual links to every single product I've used.
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Inspired by Stephanie, who does "Five Favorites" posts in various categories each December, I'm looking back at all forty-eight weeks of my Jingle Belles cards for the year and choosing some highlights. Here they are, in no particular order:
This being the last Mandala Monday of 2022, it seems like a good time to look back on all the mandalas I made this year and pick some faves. It was considerably harder than I thought, but here are five, in random order:
...with a fun ornament card! Ornament shapes make a wonderful home for pretty much ANY style of Eyelet Outlet Brad you love, but our Poinsettia Brads look especially pretty on a background of tiny flowers (some diecut from our Sparkle Red Glitter Tape!) and foliage. Music Note Washi instantly puts a holiday tune into our head, and a stamped plaid background set off by mats of more Sparkle Red Glitter Tape really shines!
You may already have guessed from the title that the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to feature presents on your card OR make a Thank You card for gifts you've received. Both of these lend themselves nicely to holiday themes, but having realized that I would need a kiddo birthday card early in January, I decided to get a jump on that occasion instead.
My presents are stamped on scraps of patterned paper using Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Celebration set, which only debuted last summer, but... all the other items used on this card are at least a few years old and some are distinctly elderly. For example, my sparkly animals are fussycut from a Creative Imaginations paper I bought when my nieces (now college aged) were small; the flowers are Scenic Route, which I think closed nearly a decade ago; and the colorful faux polaroids are Echo Park circa 2017. I've rounded up a few older brads for extra texture and turned the entire thing into an oversized slimline card.
Be sure to visit SOS to see what the other designers have made to inspire you!
It's a Soft and Snowy Mandala Monday... that is, the MANDALA is soft and snowy, whilst thankfully the Monday is sunny, clear and cold. Hope that the week before Christmas (or the week OF Hanukkah) is treating you well!
Every December I love reading "Favorites" posts on blogs and social media... you know, when people do a round up of the projects they loved most during the year. I always think to myself, "Someday I'm gonna do that!" and it looks like this might be the year! In honor of the fact that yesterday was Wendy Vecchi's birthday, I think I'll start with my favorite Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART projects... in more or less chronological order. (Click the links below each photo to see the original posts with all of the specific product details.)
Or rather, it's ON the bag! And, for that matter, other surface you'd like to decorate; because Eyelet Outlet brads and washi tape are wonderful for adding a festive holiday vibe to so much more than just cards! Like, for example, this plain white bag from the big box store:
The Eyelet Outlet Store has brads, tapes, bling, enamels and sequins for literally ANY occasion you'd care to celebrate!
It's a Simply Symmetrical Mandala Monday with a hope that your week is off to a smooth start!
The Eyelet Outlet Caroler Brads are out on the town, singing their joyful holiday song!
This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're celebrating Christmas plants and greenery such as fir trees, poinsettias, evergreen boughs, mistletoe and of course, holly and ivy! I've got a little bit of all of the above lol!
Those Sticko Poinsettias have to be five or six years old, though having found a small cache of them and been re-smitten, I will likely use them up pretty sharpish. There are two Simple Stories washi tapes with botanical themes that came in a fab birthday box from my friend Gina this summer; some tiny (ancient!) enamel holly stickers of unknown origin; stamped holly leaves from Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Holiday stamp set; and pretty much EVERY smaller holiday sentiment stamp I own making up the background, including some Hero Arts that have to be ten years old, some Pretty Pink Posh that are four or five years old and a couple from Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Christmas which is not very old, but is a huge current fave with me. I was slightly shocked to learn that the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous alphabet stamps making up the large "MERRY" debuted in 2004?? I don't think I've had my set as long as that but... the older I get the faster the years seem to roll past so I guess it's possible. Just a warning that I really enjoyed this "stamped collage" technique, so you will definitely be seeing more cards in this style!
Meanwhile, do pop over to SOS to see amazing cards from the design team in LOTS of styles... one of them, at least, is bound to inspire YOU!
It's the 48th Mandala Monday of 2022 and this one is made with the leftover punched circles and hearts from a fantastic class I taught last week at Charleston Place Senior Living Apartments in Kendall Park, NJ. Many thanks for Anna Chiang and the gang at Charleston for a very fun afternoon and some extremely yummy chocolate! :)
We've finished the 2022 Jingle Belles season, and Stephanie and I hope that everyone had as much fun getting a jump on their holiday card production! Having made a few multiples during the year, I wound up with just over 60 cards. Now all I need to do is sign them, stuff them into envelopes and head down to the post office!
We've posted one last link-up for the year at Jingle Belles, you can use it to share your last-minute holiday cards and, if you have a few minutes, cruise through the other cards to be inspired and maybe leave a comment or two. Meanwhile, Stephanie and I are taking December off, but we'll be back just after the New Year rings in on January 1st to start another year of stress-free holiday cardmaking in style!
Many thanks to everyone who helped to make this year our most fun EVER; we'd love to see you back again at Jingle Belles in 2023!
It's a Really Random Mandala Monday, in sticker form! Featuring a Pepin Vintage Fashion Lady (from The Ink Pad, NYC, which I miss terribly!) surrounded by lots of Pipsticks and a few older goodies like those Mary Engelbreit flowers. Hope your Cyber Monday is off to a good start! ♥
We're still making cards inspired by our Jingle Belles Blog Banner (scroll down for a reminder of what that looks like) and here's how I interpreted that assignment this week:
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US, so this seems like the perfect time for a card that sums up the holiday, in Eyelet Outlet Brad style. Chunky diecut letters make a nice home for a combination of Pumpkin Brads, a handsome Scarecrow, a Rake, lots of Mini Leaves, and Fall Stitched Flowers with their Mini Stitched Flower friends.
Wishing the happiest of holidays to all those who are celebrating! Meanwhile, should you need a little retail therapy over this wonderful weekend for shopping, the Eyelet Outlet Online Store is open 24/7!
I think you'll agree we've got the best title ever this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, and possibly you've already guessed that you have the choice of making a card that incorporates either light source (the sun, a lightbulb, a chandelier) OR some bling. Or, if you're me, you might choose BOTH!
You would think by NOVEMBER I would remember every week to load the latest Mandala Monday onto my blog buuuuuut... nope. I'm playing catchup again, so here's this week's take followed by last week's!
For our final Jingle Belles prompt of 2022*, we're asking you to make a card inspired by our 2022 Jingle Belles Blog Banner. You can choose as many (or few) elements as you desire: maybe you love the vintage Santa, the traditional red and green color palette, the sparkly letters or the seasonal blooms? Or possibly even the "sketch" of the design, ie, the way the elements are arranged. If your choice isn't obvious, do make sure you tell us what parts of the banner inspired your card. Here's a reminder of what that looks like:
And now, here's my card:
My card was inspired by the positioning of the elements in the header (in card challenge parlance we call it the "sketch") so I concentrated my images to the bottom left and top right of the card. I incorporated Santa and some botanical images, but since they are stickers from Doodlebug Design, they have a much different mood than those on the header. I stuck (mostly) with the traditional red and green palette of the blog and I couldn't resist making the background from sheet music!
Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made this week and then start planning what you'll link up with us this time!
*Boy did this year FLY BY or what?!
New Jersey crafters, join me for a bright and cheerful class that features nearly EVERY stamp in Wendy Vecchi’s Doodle Christmas and Doodle Holiday stamp sets!
It's the second week of our, "Funny, Ho! Ho!" prompt at Jingle Belles and we're still making funny, punny, snarky or otherwise humorous cards.
This week, I knew that I wanted to use up the ugly sweaters on a sheet of older American Crafts paper, so I cut them out and was ready to roll when I realized that I didn't have a good sentiment to go with them. Luckily, I when I messaged Stephanie, she came up with a bunch of goodies that I formatted and printed out. Problem solved AND I have a bunch of "the same but different" cards to send to my nieces at college!
You've still got until next Wednesday evening to join our Jingle Belles fun... which we hope you will!
...You Gotta Wear Shades! Here's a bright and cheerful card, featuring some beachy Eyelet Outlet Brads, including a handsome Flamingo, a stately Palm Tree, a Sandcastle, and our Sun and Cloud Brads; all arranged on Penny Black's Glasses die with Cloud Washi lenses, on a background of Rainbow Tape.
