A Christmas Story (Week 2)

Over at Jingle Belles we're still making cards inspired by our favorite Christmas movies, tv specials and books. Like everyone else, I have probably seen a few dozen movie and tv versions of "A Christmas Carol" (including the classic film starring Alastair Sim AND a musical version featuring the Muppets!) but I don't think I had ever read Dickens' novella until about fifteen years ago. Now I re-read it each year, either in print or via audiobook, and this week it is the inspiration for my card.

The oversized journal card is from Graphic 45, the sheet music is from my stash, the paper flower is ancient Prima and the washi tape is October Afternoon.

I hope you'll click over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and to peruse the Readers' Gallery, where you might be inspired to link up your own masterpiece!

Fall Sweet Fall

The new Autumn 2023 Eyelet Outlet Fall Brads have hit the online store and in addition to super-festive Pinata Brads and beautiful Sugar Skulls there's also an Acorn and Squirrel set that I couldn't help but FALL for! On this card, the sweet squirrel  as collected a few Acorns and is resting beneath a diecut tree, from which a few Mini Leaf Brads are gently descending. The background is a combination of Script Washi and extra wide Leaf Washi that really sets the scene. 

No matter what the season or the reason, Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments you need to make YOUR next card! 

SOS506: Color Me Beautiful

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're busting out our favorite coloring techniques (watercolors, pencils, markers, etc.) and using them to make fun and fanciful cards. Here's mine:

I have several favorite coloring techniques, but my go-to is to "basecoat" the images with the lightest possible shade of Tombow Dual Brush Pen, then add a little shading and detail with my Prismacolor Pencils. For this card I've used all of the above on one of my favorite stamp sets, Taylored Expressions' Mythical Grumplings. I've used mostly scraps of patterned paper, all of a goodly age... for example... that paper with the candles and also the one with the cupcakes are both from Junkitz, which, if you remember them, you may have been a papercrafter for as long as I have! ;)

Be sure to check out what the crew have made at Shopping Our Stash, then start planning how YOU will "Color Me Beautiful"!

"Painting" with Ranger Embossing Powders

Do you remember the first time you saw heat embossing demonstrated? I remember being in a rubber stamp store, circa 1990, with my cousin Richard, and we were both jaw-droppingly impressed. I've learned a few more things about both embossing and cardmaking since then, and for this card I've chosen a beautiful autumnal combination of Ranger Embossing Powders (Marigold, Bubbly, Terra Cotta and Love Letter to be precise!) and used them both separately and together, along with Simon Hurley's Funky Chevron Background and Sentimental Flowers Clear Stamp Set, to make a friendship card I hope you'll "FALL" for. Visit the Ranger Project Page to see the full, step-by-step photo tutorial!

JB2320: A Christmas Story

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to create a card inspired by the many holiday books or movies that we all adored in childhood (and likely still adore them today). So whether you love “A Christmas Carol”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “It's a Wonderful Life” we're asking you to create a card inspired by your favorite holiday book or movie. Here's what I made:

Growing up, my favorite holiday story was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" so much so that my mother absolutely swears I could recite the entire thing when I was two and a half; I think that's a teeeeeeeny bit of an exaggeration but I certainly had memorized it before I learned to read, and it's one of the very few things I still know by heart all these years later. Over the years I've found or been gifted a number of editions, all of which I treasure. A few years ago, I scanned some of my favorite illustrations and reduced them so that I could use them on cards. Here I've paired a Santa page with a (digital) Jenni Bowlin Holiday Bingo Card, a small cardstock tree diecut and some coordinated patterned papers from my stash. Three Eyelet Outlet Peppermint Candies and a scrap of embossed cardstock add a little extra texture.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's awesome card (it *might* be inspired by the film "A Christmas Story") and then start planning what film, tv special or book will inspire YOUR card.

Best Fishes

Eyelet Outlet Fish Brads are the perfect aquatic stars of a masculine birthday greeting, especially when paired with Ocean and Sky Washi Tapes, and Water Splat Brads, as you can SEA on this fun and punny card!

The Eyelet Outlet Store has all the Best Fishes... and every other animal you'd like to put on your next card or scrapbook page, as well!

Mandala Monday

It's a Moody Blue Mandala Monday featuring made with Tombow Dual Brush pens and a waterbrush. New Jersey is getting the tail end of Hurricane Lee today, which thankfully seems like it's just going to be a moderate amount of rain, which makes the day and the mandala match... they're both a bit splashy!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like SKETCH-mas

At Jingle Belles, we're still making holiday cards based on this fabulous sketch designed by Stephanie, and you still have time to join the fun. 

Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes, just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch! Here's what I made this week:

This week I've gone VERY literal, thanks to a set of Hero Arts' Hexagon Infinity Dies I got recently at Paper Anthology and couldn't wait to use! The Santa image, tree sticker, heart and sentiment strip are all Doodlebug, from a few different collections. I've added Eyelet Outlet Wreath, Gift and Star dies, as well as a bunch of random EO enamel dots. The texty background of this A6 card is from Carta Bella's Christmas Cheer collection.

Link your sketch-centric cards on the original post at Jingle Belles. Challenge ends next Wednesday, September 20th. 

Aparrotly, It's Your Birthday

Puns and brads go together like... well, in this case, like the Parrots from Eyelet Outlet's Tropical Bird Brads (the set has Toucans, as well) and watercolory diecut foliage. The diecut palm and sentiment circle hold three handsome parrots, a Sun and Cloud Brad peep from behind the fronds, there's a scattering of white Sequins for extra texture, and a mat of Giraffe Washi to frame the whole thing.

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store for more birds, reptiles, dogs, cats, farm animals and jungle critters to make your next card as wild and wonderful as the person to whom you'll send it!

Shake It Up!

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're celebrating my very favorite type of interactive greeting: the mighty Shaker Card! It can be plain or fancy, themed or all-occasion, any color, shape, size or style you'd like, just make sure you Shake It Up!    

I needed a card for a fellow book-lover, and was in the mood to color (!) so I grabbed my Tombows and Avery Elle's Feels Like Home Add On set, which I only got last year at Paper Anthology, but... those Nestabilities Ovals have to be 15+ years old; the Eyelet Outlet Book Brads and Book Tape date back to circa 2017 (admittedly I've restocked both, more than once) and the texty paper is so old I'm not sure whose it was anymore (it's paper-weight though, and not cardstock, which is a clue that it's got some age, lol). I had a hard time choosing between the text as background and Simple Stories' whimsical cloud paper, so I decided to split the difference, cut out the clouds and added them atop the text.

I built the shaker window upwards by cutting five or six frames with the nested oval dies and stacking them. The acetate oval is sandwiched between the top two frame layers and cardstock covered with strips of Book Tape seals in the EO Star Sequins.

Head over to Shopping Our Stash to see the super-inspiring cards the rest of the Crew have made, then start planning how YOU will Shake It Up! This challenge runs until Monday evening, September 25th.

Vroom! Vroom!

It's a Library Car(d) Mandala Monday combining collage mode (vintage library card, funky auto and book paper) with doodle mode (hand drawn mandala rings) and a random diecut that just happened to be sitting on my worktable when I wanted one more element.

JB2318: Merry Sketch-mas!

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we have a fabulous sketch designed by Stephanie!

Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes, just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch! Here's my card:

As you can see, I changed the shapes, but other than that I've been quite faithful. I used my ancient Spellbinders' Nestabilities Labels Eight die set (one of the very first I ever bought, which I still use all the time!) for the hex shape (it's an Authentique journal card) and the large rectangle; added a Hero Arts' "joy" diecut in place of the sentiment strip and dangled a little My Mind's Eye taglet from the Idea-ology flair which is my circle element. As always, I love working with a sketch because it makes life easier; and I love Stephanie's sketches because they're always so flexible!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made; then link your own gorgeous sketch card(s) by Wednesday, September 20th.

Wendy Vecchi: Time for Cake!

Few things say, "Happy Birthday" better than flowers and cake; for most of my childhood birthdays that meant 

tiger lillies and chocolate cake! I'd love for you to visit the Ranger Project Page and follow along as I use Wendy Vecchi's beautiful MAKE ART Birthday Bash and A Million Thanks Stamp, Die and Stencil sets plus lots of her gorgeous Designer Series Archival Inks and the Wreaths Chippies set to add both to this yummy birthday card.

Flour Power!

Nothing says, "Happy Birthday" as well as cake, but since that's kind of hard to fit into an envelope, how about a card featuring Eyelet Outlet Cupcake Swirl Brads and baking accoutrements like Mixer and Cup Brads, Pan and Rolling Pin, Baking Brads, the oven mitt from our Cooking Brads set, a Heart Brad and coordinating vertical Heart Washi Tape.

Whether you're into baking, fishing, driving, camping, eating or... well, pretty much anything else, Eyelet Outlet has all the brads, tapes and embellishments you need!

Sunsplash Labor Day Mandala Monday

If you'd like A LOT of verrrrrrry intense color ASAP, it's hard to beat Dylusions Ink Sprays, imo. I've only used three (Bubblegum Pink, Squeezed Orange and Lemon Zest) of the three dozen or so colors; and honestly I only gave two or three good sprays of each! I did go back in with more Lemon Zest on a paint brush, just to fill in any voids inside the main design area; but then I missed the white, so I flicked on some White Dina Wakley Gloss Spray and added a few details with a paint pen, then outlined everything with several sizes of Letter It Fineliner. 

Wishing a very safe, happy and not-too-hot Labor Day to my fellow Americans; or just an especially nice Monday to the rest of the world!

A Very Vintage Christmas

At Jingle Belles we're still creating with the theme of Christmas Past; incorporating vintage elements and/or vintage or retro style into our holiday cards. There's even a little vintage prize from My  Etsy Shop Just Enough Stuff for one lucky cardmaker who links up with us this fortnight. Meanwhile, here's what I made this week:

I found half a sheet of vintage-themed circle icons from a Ciao Bella holiday collection several years ago, which I matted out with several circle mats, added an older Prima flower in sage green, a wooden snowflake, and a chipboard snowflake circle, then made a background from this gorgeous white Photoplay woodgrain paper and added a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment and a kraft card base. And I cannot tell a lie... I really love how this turned out!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and check out the prize, as well as the Readers' Gallery, which is full of inspiration!