Leftover Inchies

At Jingle Belles, we're still seeking out our crafty leftovers for making holiday cards and this week I was especially excited to find the last dozen or so extremely ancient Artchix Studio Inchies and then I stumbled upon the perfect sketch to use them up!

I was excited to be one of the top three at Sketch Saturday last week and even more excited that the new sketch (#724) is arguably the best ever for incorporating inchies! I matted the inchies on a leftover scrap of green cardstock, then planted them on that strip of stripey Basic Grey that almost became the bellyband for my SOS froggy card, but was ultimately swapped out. I also used up a couple of Joy diecuts that were sitting on my worktable. As you can see, I rotated the sketch and then made one card with the strip on the right and one on the left. I popped on a few Eyelet Outlet Holly Brads just for extra texture and interest.

By the time you read this, Sketch Saturday #724 will be closed out, but there will be a brand new one on (as the name implies!) Saturday morning!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and be inspired by the Holiday Leftovers Readers' Gallery. You've still got until next Wednesday evening (May 3rd) to join the fun!

Down on the Farm

Have you HERD the news? The legen-DAIRY Eyelet Outlet Farm Brads have gathered together (no KID-ing!) to make a quartet of cards especially for EWE! Whether your favorites are the Cow and Goat Brads or the Pig and Sheep Set, these brads were BARN to be wild! 

Paired with Farm Animal Washi and Mountain Tape, backgrounds of Brick and wide Wood Tape and finishing off the scenes with Sun and Cloud Brads, Mini Bees and Mini Ladybugs these adorable critters are outstanding in their field.

I'm linking up with my lovely FB friend Becca's FarmQuest General Store Challenge Blog, where any farm-themed papercrafts are always welcome; there are some fabulous DT cards over there and the current challenge (#3) runs until May 5th. Becca also has a FarmQuest Challenge Blog, with themed challenges where they are currently featuring #27: Dandelions, through May 13th!

Wendy Vecchi #1 Mom Card

Mother's Day is just around the corner so I'm up on the Ranger Project Page using my Wendy Vecchi Bravo and Award Winning Stamp, Die and Stencil sets to create a bouquet for Mom that will last forever; I'd love for you to head over and see the full tutorial!

SOS495: Fold It Up!

It's a fun and creative challenge this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash. For "Fold It Up" we'd like you to create a card that features a non-standard Fun Fold design (easel card, gatefold, stair step, side step, trifold, etc) OR a card with interactive elements (shaker, mechanical, spinner... you get the idea...) If you need inspiration or tutorials to get you started, check out This Pinterest Page! Being emphatically NOT an engineer myself, I usually make a shaker card on these occasions; but when I clicked the link in the last sentence I stumbled upon something called an Angled Gatefold and it's funky design called to me. Ok, yeah... and the fact that I realized I could basically wing it and not do lots of measuring and things helped too. So here's what I made:

Two of my favorite kiddos who happen to be siblings both have birthdays in April, so I generally mail their presents and cards at the same time. It's not like they HAVE TO coordinate, but if I can swing it, I always think it's a bit more fun. I broke out some of my all-time favorite, well-hoarded, classic Basic Grey papers (from Skate Shoppe, Lollipop Shoppe and Out of Print) to make the cards, then a bellyband for each in a coordinating pattern, and finally a fussy-cut motif to be the focal point. Often I'm fairly lazy about decorating the insides of cards, but having used double-sided cardstock for the bases, they were kind of half done already, so I printed appropriately punny sentiments and called it a day.

I'm joining Inspire.Create.Challenges #141: Fancy Folds, you should check it out because the DT cards are very inspiring! Then, head over to Shopping Our Stash to see what the rest of the Crew have made and start thinking what YOU will link up with us this time!

Hello Monday, Let's Flamin-GO!

I had started drawing this mandala in my sketchbook and I was thinking I'd like a fun graphic to go in the large circle, when my Aunt Judie showed up with this supercute flamingo decal... chalk one up for serendipity, eh?

Mandala drawn with Pitt Artist Pens and colored with Tombow Dual Brush Pens 

and a waterbrush in my Canson Mixed Media Sketchbook. Flamingo decal of unknown origin.

Holiday Leftovers

No, I'm not talking about the ham salad and deviled eggs we all enjoyed after Easter, but the new Jingle Belles challenge, for which we'd like to see put to use those stamped images you colored but didn't use; the diecuts that were surplus to requirements; those last three stickers in the pack you've had for a couple of years. In short, we're gathering up our CRAFTY leftovers and seeing what we can make with them. Here's a little pile I started out with:

Ok so obviously even I could not fit ALL of that on one card, but I knew for sure I wanted to paper piece the Lawn Fawn Car Critters probably in a little "landscape" on a blue shape (heart or circle?) with snowy hills and then maybe add an ancient chipboard sentiment and some rhinestone snowflakes? Well... some of that happened...

I used Sketch Saturday #723 to guide my placement of images, which definitely helped me narrow down the choices! I was really taken by the cool combination of shapes in the lower lefthand corner, so I chose to focus the design elements there. I did combine several of the cars, I inset the blue circle into the larger blue panel and I found a scrap of tree paper that coordinated with one of my leftover punched trees. I decided the chipboard was just a little too big, so I stamped one of the sentiments that came in the Car Critters Add-On stamps set, matted the strips and added them to the top right. Eyelet Outlet Enamel Hearts are always a nice addition, imo, so I finished off with a couple in bold red.

I hope you'll hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's gorgeous card and then start gathering up a few of your crafty leftovers and see what you can make!

Windows and Flowers

Playing in my Dina Wakley Media Blue Edition Journal from Ranger. I love how the windows from Dina's beautiful "Everyone Is Welcome" stamp set look stamped in Wendy Vecchi's Peat Moss Archival atop a vintage paper collage that I was not in love with; I matted them on dark green patterned paper to make them stand out better. Collage background built from Dina's Typed Ledgers layered with Gridded Collage Paper; then finished off with some roses cut from an older, falling-apart book advertising Cath Kidston fabrics. I feel a little bad leaving that heavyweight cotton paper un-altered since it handles paint, ink, stain and literally any type of wet media one throws at it so superbly; maybe it'll see a bit more action when I work on the facing page...

Bird Brads of a Feather, Flock Together

In this case our Eyelet Outlet Tropical Bird Brads are flocking together on a Happy Bird-Day card and tag, atop backgrounds of Sky Washi and Cloud Tape, respectively; there's a border of fun and funky Giraffe Tape on the card and the vintage birdcages have been diecut from EO Wide Wood Washi. On the tag, the cage is cut from Glitter Gold Washi and there's a Cloud Brad and a Mini Bee to keep the cute toucan company.

If Tropical Birds aren't your favorite, check out lots of other Feathered Friends in the EO Store, including Owls both colorful and realistic, Eagles, Seagulls, Bluebirds & Robins, lots of Cardinals as well as colorful Flying Birds and Mini Birds. (PS: There are plenty of Bird Tape Styles, too!) 

Yay! New Stencils!

It's a New Stencil Mandala Monday; and since they're new Dina Wakley Coaster Stencils from Ranger, of course I couldn't wait to try them out! I blended a few shades of Simon Hurley Dye Inks (Prom Queen, Guppy, Remember Me, Love Struck & Overzealous, to be precise) through three of the stencils, then used the last with a solid color (Shooting Star) to fill in the background of my sketchbook page. I had actually planned to add lots more doodles and accents to the circles, but it was a busy week and frankly, I just ran out of time. So if you see another version of this thing again in a couple of weeks... act surprised, k? (Thanks!)

Earth Day Special (Week 2)

At Jingle Belles we're still making cards that feature a recycled, reused or upcycled element, and you're still invited to join the fun. Here are my recycled ingredients for this week: some poinsettia giftwrap that I backed with cardstock, part of a box from a cool tea-themed advent calendar my neighbor Deb gave me, and the cover of a random holiday catalog I saved.

And here's my card:

I glued the catalog cover to some cardstock, then fussycut the handsome nutcracker, making him a little bit shorter so that my finished card will fit into a #10 envelope. I used the tea box and the giftwrap just like regular patterned paper, adding gold mats to make them stand out more. I found a glittery sentiment flag in a pack of cardstock ephemera pieces (from Carta Bella a couple of years ago, I think) and added it on little slivers of foam tape et voila... my design is complete!

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and to check out the Readers' Gallery which is definitely worth the trip! 

It's a SHELL-ebration!

Join me at Paper Anthology for a new three-card class that’s BEACHY keen! 

We’ll color images from Honey Bee’s Seashells stamp set with Distress Watercolor Pencils (wait until you try them!); and add sentiments from Honey Bee’s Flippin’ Fabulous set. Make a splash with papers from Photoplay’s Beach Vibes collection, fall in love again with old-school round eyelets when paired with May Arts Burlap String, then finish off with colorful diecut foliage and golden sequins. The only question is, will you send these sunkissed cards to your favorite folk, or be SHELLFISH and keep them?

Visit the Paper Anthology Blog for details of dates, times, etc.; I'd love to see you there!

Life *IS* Better at the Beach

But if you can't make it there this week, here's a little bit of beach in card form. Featuring Eyelet Outlet Shells, Shell Corners and Sea Shore Brads, clustered with stamped shells and diecut coral, augmented by elegant White Pearl Swirl Bling. A double helping of washi tape backgrounds complete the design, with Wood Washi and Shell Tape teaming up for the perfect finish.

Be sure to check out all the Vacation and Summer Themed Brads in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store, and check out our Tradeshow Schedule to see if the EO Booth will be coming to your town!

SOS494: April Showers

For the brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash, we're creating cards that features a *Shower* element: Rain, an umbrella, a rainbow, clouds, puddles... OR you can go with a Baby Shower or Wedding Shower card. I used it as an excuse to break out my Lawn Fawn Rainy Day Bears stamp set from Paper Anthology, which is one of my favorites to color.

I've only had the bears for a year or two, so they're not super-stashy, but for this card I've also added some older Lawn Fawn Cloud paper, as well as ancient Basic Grey not-quite-solid blue background. I broke out my old-school Martha Stewart Grass border punch, too, and of course my Tombow Dual Brush Pens and Prismacolor Pencils are long-term, reliable friends; as is the trusty 1970's Sears Kenmore sewing machine (inherited from my Mom Mom) which I used to add a little extra texture around the edges.

I hope you'll head over to SOS to see what flashy, splashy creations the Crew have made to inspire YOU!

Rainbow Layers

It's a well-known fact that I can never resist anything that's rainbow themed or involves cool watercolor effects, so when I saw Honey Bee's beautiful 6x6 Team Tie Dye paper pad at Paper Anthology, OF COURSE I had to have it; and of course I couldn't wait to make something with it. So here's a very simple, but super-colorful layered mandala!

Usually when I make this type of layered mandala I cut out all the shapes individually, but this time I worked from the center out, drew each layer as one piece, cut out, and stuck the whole thing onto the next paper selection. It's a bit of a cheat, but sometimes you need to speed things up a little, lol! ;)

JB-23-08: Peace on EARTH DAY

It's April (yay!) and thus time for one of my favorite Jingle Belles challenges, our Earth Day special, for which we make holiday cards that feature at least one recycled, reused or upcycled item. A few examples to get you going: you could use that giftwrap or ribbon that was too pretty to throw away after unwrapping your presents; or maybe you saved some pretty papercraft packaging or the cover of a beautifully staged holiday catalog; or maybe you'll make a shaker window from the clear plastic box your salad came in? If past years are anything to go by, as you start looking around we're pretty sure you'll find SOMETHING cool that you can use for this challenge. Here's what I made, and I wonder if you can guess what the recycled bits are?

Of all the weird things, I often save tissue boxes. I don't know why, but the designs on them are often as pretty as commercial patterned paper and since they're made of thin but sturdy cardboard, they are absolutely perfect for diecutting. In this case, I started out with two different boxes, one with a green leopard pattern and one with wispy pine boughs. I kind of expected that one would look really nice when cut with Memory Box's Marvelous Pine die and one would not look especially good. But, as it turns out, they were both pretty cool, so I started picking papers. I chose two wood grains from Photoplay's It's a Wonderful Christmas line, again figuring one would be clearly better for the Sizzix Vintage Cabinet Card die and one would be better in the background. But again... both were quite nice in both roles. So at this point I was committed to two cards, lol! I chose two tan scraps for the sentiment (cut with Tim Holtz's Lowercase Typo alphabet dies) as well as grocer's kraft card bases, Eyelet Outlet Glitter Enamels and a bit of Pavilio White Lace Tape to die them all together. There was no real need to add machine stitching, but I was in the mood, so I did.

I hope you'll head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and that you'll keep an eye on the Readers' Gallery because I'm pretty sure there will be LOTS of inspiration to be found there!

Hippity Hoppity...

...Easter's on its way! And since Easter wouldn't be much fun without bunnies, luckily there are Eyelet Outlet Rabbi Brads, Pastel Rabbit Brads (they're on sale!) and Rabbit Tape; not to mention White Daisy Brads and Cloud Tape, which pair really well with all of the above.

Whether you're celebrating Easter, Passover, or just the arrival of Spring, I hope this first week of April will bring you sunshine, creativity and maybe a treat or two!

Wendy Vecchi Floral Easter Basket

It's the Monday before Easter and I'm happy to be back on the Ranger Project Page with a step-by-step tutorial for using the dimensional shopping bag from Wendy Vecchi's Let's Shop Stamp, Die and Stencil Set (it's on sale!) to make a tiny three-dimensional Easter Basket, which I've then filled with colorful spring flowers from Wendy's A Million Thanks set stamped in lots of luscious Archival Ink shades. I'd love for you to hop over and check it out! 

Butterflies and Foliage

It's an extra layery no-drawing-involved Mandala Monday featuring a 1960's Sewing Pattern Lady, plus loads of gorgeous 49 and Market goodies from Paper Anthology; including the soft blue-green acetate leaves and butterflies I am currently obsessed with. 

For those who'd like to try making mandalas but don't enjoy drawing, this is probably the easiest method EVER: I used an old-school compass to trace some big circles, cut them out with scissors and added punched and diecut hearts and circles around the edges. You could totally (totally!) do this!