Favorite Mug

Everyone probably has a favorite mug for drinking their morning coffee or tea, but if you stamp your own with Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Mug Art Stamp Set and use Eyelet Outlet Brads and Tapes to decorate them, EVERY mug can be your favorite!

In the photo above, the combinations are as follows: Popcorn and Ticket Brads paired with Movie Brads on a background of Ticket Washi Tape; a handsome Toucan from the Tropical Birds set atop Cloud Washi and Funky Bird Tape; a Flamingo and two Cactus Brads on Cactus and Flamingo Tape with a border of Pink Dot Washi; Beer Brads and a Lizard from the Reptile Set over Wood and Gear Washi Tapes; Colored Daisy Brads and a Mini Ladybug on gorgeous Wide Sunflower Tape; and finally a Unicorn Brad on a rainbow canvas of Multi Color Dot Washi.

The Eyelet Outlet Store is bound to have a Brad and Washi Tape combination that will be YOUR favorite! 

SOS521: Water, Water, Everywhere!

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, we'd like for you to create a card with a large body of water; like an ocean, lake or river, if you SEA what we mean, lol! Here's what I made:

As soon as we start talking about water and those that dwell within, I'm usually already getting out my collection of Lawn Fawn sea creatures, of which I have quite a few, stretching back at least ten years. Quite often I paper-piece the little dudes for maximum cuteness; plus it's a brilliant way to use up patterned paper scraps, so that's what I've done here. I used stamps from Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Sea set as well as two mini sets, Seahorsin' Around and I Like You (A Lotl). I stamped two of the sentiments from those sets but spelled out "Birthday" using letters from Henry's ABC's die set. My "ocean" is part of a map-centric patterned paper from 49 and Market's Sunburst collection and the filmstrip is an older die from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

The "Water, Water, Everywhere" Challenge (SOS 521) runs until the evening of Monday, May 20th. Why not check out what the fabulous Crew have made to inspire you, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

Bold & Bright

It's a coolish, greyish day in central New Jersey, which seems like the perfect time for a big, bold Mandala to brighten up your Monday! This one features Wendy Vecchi's Garden Party stamps from Spellbinders; radiant, radiating, rainbow shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger; and a whole lot of MAKE ART and Studio 490 stamps and stencils applied over and under the hand-drawn mandala shapes I rendered with my Letter It Fineliners. 

I work on mandalas in many different ways to keep things interesting, but for those interested in process, this piece went... roughly... like this:

• Lightly pencil-sketch a few concentric circles, centered on an 11x11" piece of bristol board. An old school compass is good for this, you can even trace rolls of tape or your nested circle dies, but I do also love the Helix Circle Tool!
• Apply Archival Inks with a Mini Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foams, working in rings from the center outwards and allowing them to blend wherever they overlap. Colors are: Prickly Pear, Bluebird, Night Sky, Cactus Flower, Rosey Posey, Peachy Keen, and Sunflower... then around again to Prickly Pear, etc.
• Stamp the large floral cluster from the Garden Party set in the center in Watering Can Archival.
• Add background patterns by stamping a variety of small elements and portions of large background stamps more or less randomly, in coordinating colors.
• Draw the basic structural lines with a .01 or .04 Letter It Fineliner, again working from the center outwards; starting with the two large concentric circles, adding large petal shapes and large circles between the petals.
• Add detail lines and shapes such as the rings of smaller circles and petals, plus the secondary "shadow" lines inside or outside the larger shapes.
• Using sticky notes to mask if necessary, neaten up the loose rings of color with Ranger Detail Blending Tools; for example I applied more Bluebird ink to the area around the Garden Party florals so the circle border is a darker green; I pulled more Peachy Keen out into the large hand-drawn petals; darkened the ring of smaller circles around the center, etc.
• Add more definition with a white paint pen in the form of lines, dots and small hearts, then outline with a .01 Fineliner.
• One final neatening up of shapes and shadow lines with coordinating brush pens wherever necessary.

Santa Claus...

...is Comin' to Town! Metaphorically speaking, that is, this fortnight at Jingle Belles; as we continue our celebration of "The Man With the Bag"! Here's what I made this week:

I treated myself to a couple of 49 and Market paper packs, including Christmas Spectacular 2023 from which came all of the papers above. I had to force myself to stop at four layers, lol! The frame around that Authentique Santa journal card is from a set of Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vignette Covers which I bought specifically to use as frames on cards. The burlap poinsettia is the last of a pack from Petaloo. I may have gone a teeny bit overboard in terms of both distressing and machine stitching but... nahhhhhhh... I love it! :)

This challenge runs at Jingle Belles through next Wednesday, May 8th, so you still have time to join our Santa-centric fun, which I hope you will!

Bloomin' Beauties

I'm constantly inspired by Wendy Vecchi and Cassie Lynch, especially when it comes to the building of "flat layers" by which I mean adding lots of inking, stamping and stenciling in a "collagey" style... thereby achieving the appearance of dimension and texture WITHOUT the bulk or weight of physical layers. I'm still practicing at this skill, but I think today's background is pretty good!

I "smooshed" several shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger (Bluebird and Prickly Pear to be precise) onto the Craft Mat attached to the back of my MAKE ART Stay-tion, spritzed with rubbing alcohol, then picked up the result with a panel of cardstock. When it was dry (which is nearly immediate using alcohol and Archivals) I added a cascade of stamped leaves in Leaf Green; some text in Night Sky and a few stenciled dots in Bluebird. When my flat background was complete, I added a few torn strips of Wendy's Washi Tape, and added flowers from the Spellbinders' Vintage Florals Die Set, which I stamped Perfectly Plaid in Tea Rose and added some Sunflower Ink on top. I started out with leaves and centers that were Fern Green and Bluebird, respectively, but at the last minute I swapped them for plain which which somehow simultaneously made them blend in AND stand out better?!

If you are not following @wendyvecchi and @mk_knits on Instagram you are missing some VERY good stuff, I tell ya! Additionally, Facebook users will enjoy the Make Art with Wendy Vecchi Group, where you can get lots of ideas and inspiration from fellow Vecchians, as well as post your own Wendy-centric creations. Either way, be sure to catch Tip Tuesdays which are absolutely always full of beauty and practical tips!

Happy Birdie

Eyelet Outlet Bird Brads of a feather flock together to make the sunniest and happiest of birthday cards! Our Bluebird and Robin Brads share the stage with a handsome Profile Cardinal on stacked backgrounds of Wide Sky Washi and Music Note Tape. Yellow Colored Daisy Brads provide a nice snack for a Mini Ladybug, while a Mini Bee Brad heads home to his hive.

The Birds and the Bees.. not to mention Ladybugs, Dragonflies and LOTS of other critters can be found in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

Celebrating MOM!

Here in the USA we'll celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, May 12th; so this is the time to go all-out for our favorite ladies! Today I'm up on the Ranger Project Page using bold and beautiful Ranger Archival Ink shades with Dina Wakley Pocket Circle Stamps, Simon Hurley Sunrays Layering Stencils and Letter It Sentiment Stamps in STARRING roles, I'd love for you to head over there and see the full tutorial!

Magic Pencil Mandala Monday

A few years ago, Stephanie gave me this amazing set of @kohinoor_hardtmuth Tri-Tone Pencils, which I don't use nearrrrrrrly enough, but when I do, it's always a lot of fun. I like to combine them with my original Koh-i-noor Magic Pencil and I often pop in a little more structure by adding outlines with my Letter It Fineliners from Ranger. This creation is in my Dina Wakley 6x6 Kraft Journal which I love for its sturdy, square pages!

Hey, Santa Claus!*

Everybody’s waitin' for the man with the bag** this fortnight at Jingle Belles, as we celebrate Santa Claus, aka Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, Pere Noel... ok, you get the idea, lol. Here’s what I made:

I've said this before, but it bears repeating: Doodlebug has really never made a collection I didn’t love; and that goes double for Christmas! I’ve combined a bunch of different Doodlebug elements: the Santa, tree and a few presents are cut from journal cards; the presents and candies are stickers; the sentiment is from a the super-useful page full of tags and sentiments that most D-bug collections come with. The red text paper is Elle's Studio... I think... it’s ancient, and was in the scrap box so I'm not positive. The blue graph paper is Photoplay. There are Eyelet Outlet Enamel Dots and an Enamel Star on the cute Christmas tree and a Matte Dot on Santa's hat.

This challenge runs until May 8th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie’s made and start planning your own Santa-centric masterpiece. 

*Hey, Santa Claus by the Moonglows is a cool R&B holiday song that I really love. Just sayin'... ♥

**For the record The Chenille Sisters do my favorite version of The Man with the Bag in case you need a little extra mojo.

Garden Trio

Spring has emphatically sprung in the Northeastern United States, so luckily there are Eyelet Outlet Brads (& Washi Tape!) to celebrate all of the best aspects of this bloomin' beautiful season!

To "BEE Happy" it helps to have Mini Bee Brads, Colored Daisies and a Heart Brad; with a background of diagonally arranged Flower Washi.

Life IS a Garden, and to DIG it, Garden Tool Brads come in especially handy. Here they're paired with green Leaf Brads and a Ladybug as well as a Mini Ladybug, set atop bold daisy Flower Washi Tape.

As a matter of fact. my favorite color is RAINBOW... but sunshine is also quite wonderful. Sun and Cloud Brads have teamed up with a rainbow from the Unicorn and Rainbow set; and a pair of stylish Sunglasses is perfect for checking out the fab Flamingo. Pink Checked Tape, arranged in an offset pattern, sets the scene.

Whatever YOUR favorite color, style or theme, Eyelet Outlet has the perfect embellishments to create a card that celebrates the season!

SOS520: Mamma Mia

Mother's Day (USA version) is just around the corner, so this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we've got a challenge called, "Mamma Mia" for which we'd like you to create a Mother's Day greeting or a card for any other special woman in your life. Here's what I made

My mom is a keen gardener, a backyard birdwatcher. a proficient seamstress, she loves travel (especially Paris) and absolutely no form of bling has ever been made that she would not enjoy! I've gathered some ancient Pink Paislee and Photoplay stickers; leftover bits of Eyelet Outlet and Prima bling; and layered it all on top of the last few scraps of Blue Fern Studio's Bird Waltz paper; then finished off with a few pretty poppies cut from a paper that is so old I cannot even remember acquiring it!

SOS520: Mamma Mia runs through Monday evening, May 6th. I hope you'll hop over and see what the amazing Crew have made... then start planning a special card for a special lady in your life!

MM17

This Mandala Monday it's just a Whole Lotta Lines... made with my @ranger_ink Letter It Fineliners in my tiny library catalog card book from @millwoodstudioart ♥

Recycling Redux

At Jingle Belles, we're still celebrating EARTH DAY by creating cards featuring recycled materials. We also encourage you to check out your local Earth Day events on and around April 22nd.

Meanwhile, here's how I recycled this week:

Unfortunately I can't remember who gave me the gorgeous holiday-themed napkin which is the centerpiece of my card. I carefully peeled apart the layers, stuck it to a piece of Xyron-ed cardstock, and then discovered that there was ONE MORE layer I'd been unaware of. Having (even more carefully) peeled that one off, it turned out I had a semi-translucent layer of those lovely, whimsical critters, to which I (very VERY carefully) applied gluestick and stuck to a piece of navy-blue sheet music from an old Christmas Ideals magazine. A patterned paper mat, metallic diecut snowflakes and a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment complete the design of this not-quite-A7 card.

Link your recycling-centric cards on the original Earth Day post at Jingle Belles and be sure to check out the inspiring cards in the Readers' Gallery. 

It's Wendy's Day on Thursday

Does anyone know if there's a twelve-step program for embossing? Because I seem to be addicted to embossing with Ranger White Embossing Powder on white Perfect Cardstock... then blending various shades of Wendy Vecchi's Designer Series Archival Inks on top.

This card has a rainbow of Archival Inks (Pink Peony, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Bluebird and Cactus Flower) over Wendy's Perfectly Plaid background stamp; and Cactus Flower over her Polka Dots (both are from the Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 collection). I used the Vintage Florals Die Set from Spellbinders' In the Garden collection to diecut a cascade of flowers, leaves and a sentiment. 

I'd write more, but I have a few additional ideas for emboss/resist, so I think I'll sign off for now!

Celebrate!

Eyelet Outlet's huge selection of birthday-themed brads and tapes is definitely reason to celebrate! This card features Candle Brads (with Heart Pearl flames); an Old-Style Cupcake (they're on sale!); a Rainbow from the Unicorn and Rainbow Set; Sun and Cloud Brads, Lollipops and Pastel Banner Brads (both also on sale!); plus fabulously festive Happy Birthday Foil Tape and Green Sprinkle Washi.

Check out all the brads, washi tape, bling, pearls sequins and more at Eyelet Outlet.

MM16: 101 Polkas

For today's Mandala Monday, I set out to make a mandala with a bit of collage; but wound up with a collage that's reminiscent of a mandala. Having said that, I really love the finished product; both for itself and also because it's another page in the tiny library catalog-card journal that my friend Mary @millwoodstudioart made for me. I wish you a week that's full of creativity, successful acquisition of cabbage (real or metaphorical) and... if you like that sorta thing... 101 polkas!

Too Many Prints? (...naaaahhhh...)

I may have gotten slightly carried away combining Wendy Vecchi's Vintage Florals die set (from Spellbinders' In the Garden Collection) with some of her older Studio 490 background stamps (Herringbone and Perfectly Plaid to name just two!) and of course I had to try a few experiments with inking the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder before running it through the diecutter... but... it's finally Spring and our gardens are full of a riot of real-life colors, shapes and patterns, right? (Not to mention what feels like record-setting amounts of POLLEN; but that's a completely different issue...) 

Peace on Earth Day!

April 22, 2024 marks the 54th celebration of Earth Day, so this fortnight we Jingle Belles are asking you to help us celebrate by creating holiday cards that feature at least one recycled element.

Here's how I recycled this week: 

I managed to incorporate quite a few recycled items into my card, and am thus feeling quite obnoxiously proud of myself: the pink leopard tissue and snowflake paper were saved from holiday gifts (I backed them with plain white cardstock run through my Xyron machine to make them sturdier); the white and silver layer is the front of a greeting card I received last year; and I made a shaker box using Hero Arts' Woodgrain Frame Infinity Dies cut from the backs of old greeting cards, covered with a piece of clear plastic packaging. In fact, the stamped Sunny Studio Holiday Hugs bear and cup, ancient glitter snowflake, and Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads (plus Sequins) are the only new items I've used.

I'm linking up with the Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge's April event (#CCCC28) Coffee or Cocoa since my bear is drinking a delicious cup of hot chocolate, with a candy cane!

Need more inspiration? Check out the Jingle Belles Earth Day thread to see what we've made for this theme in years past! Then create your own masterpiece featuring a recycled element and link it on the Earth Day post at Jingle Belles by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 24th. 

Cruisin' Into Your Birthday... In Style!

Eyelet Outlet Classic Car Brads let you cruise into any birthday or occasion in fine style! Paired with our Driving Brads and set atop Tire Track Washi, Road Tape, Wide Map Tape and Car Washi, you've got a card that's ready to race off to your favorite Birthday Guy... or Gal!

Check out all the fabulous embellishments in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store and consult our Tradeshow Schedule to see when we'll be visiting a town near YOU!

SOS519: Shower Me With Sunshine

You may well have guessed, from the title, "Shower Me With Sunshine" that the brief this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is to make a Bridal Shower or Baby Shower card. I chose the latter, see?

This is indeed the stashiest of cards, I don't think a single item is less than two or three years old. I know the green gingham background was from a line P13 did a few years ago; most of the other bits and bobs are much older. I *think* the white knitted paper and the one with the blocks were purchased to make a card welcoming our grandnephew, Hudson (he was born in 2018, which seems like five minutes ago but he's nearly SIX years old!) and I know I've had the three styles of Eyelet Outlet Brads long enough for them to have gone out of print. The baby clothes were cut from small pieces of patterned paper I stole (AHEM!) rescued (that's better!) from the Paper Anthology scrap bag. The miniscule buttons and star were in the Box of Miscellaneous Tiny Things I might need someday.*

I'd love for you to hop over to SOS to see the magnificent makes our clever Crew have whipped up to inspire you; then start thinking of the Baby Shower or Wedding Shower card YOU will link up with us. The "Shower Me With Sunshine" challenge (SOS519) runs until Monday evening, April 22nd.

*Pretty sure EVERY papercrafter has a Box of Miscellaneous Tiny Things, am I right? No? Just me??! 

Mandala Monday: Painting With Archival Inks

It's a Marvelously Modular Mandala Monday featuring three of my favorite new Ranger Archival shades... Aubergine, Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake. I painted one large mandala using my Archival Reinkers and a waterbrush filled with rubbing alcohol; added random patterns with Dina Wakley Coaster Stencils; did some outlining with Letter It Fineliners; used the leftover diluted ink to add splatters galore; et voila!

Did you know that you can use Archival Inks do many of your favorite waterbased ink techniques, including paint with them? The secret is to use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol instead of water; because, of course, Ranger Archivals are alcohol-based. If you "smoosh" an Archival Ink Pad onto your craft sheet or dispense a few drops from a Reinker plus a few drops of alcohol onto a plastic-coated paper plate, you can then pick up the result with a brush. Please note that Archival Inks ARE permanent, but they do clean off of your craft mat with Alcohol Wipes. If you take the same precautions from staining as you do when using Alcohol Inks, you'll be fine!

After I finished the one big mandala, I sliced it into four ATC-sized quarters, added a few color-coordinated mats and made them into four A2 cards. 

I hope your second week of April is off to a nice start and that you find time to do something creative today!

PS: You still have until this Wednesday (4/10/24) to visit SCT Magazine's New & Noteworthy feature on the new Ranger Archival shades and leave a comment on their post for a chance to win ALL the new colors (& coordinating Stickles) plus a $50 Ranger Giftcard!

Snow Much Fun!

Say hello to Paper Anthology's April Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit: SNOW Much Fun, named for the adorable snowperson and sentiment! Jumpstart your holiday card-making with our latest kit; all of the composing, compiling and diecutting are already done; YOU jump right to the fun part: Assembling the sweet snowpersons and deciding to whom you will send them!

Paper Anthology’s Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit is our pre-packaged kit that includes everything you need (except adhesives) to complete FIVE copies of this new original holiday card design. It’s called “Snow Much Fun” because the star of the show is the adorable frosty friend made with Spellbinders' Huggable Snowman  die set. Bright colors and fun patterns make this the sweetest snowperson on the block! Visit the Product Page for all the details!

More Cookies? (Yes, Please!)

Over at Jingle Belles, we're still creating holiday cards inspired by this fabulous collection of holiday cookies from Kristen's Cookies, and you're still invited to join the fun. Remember, when you share your card, we'd like for you to let us know which cookie you chose, and how it inspired you! 

This week I went with the pink cookie (how could I not?!) with the cute Santa...

...and once again my inspiration was partially informed by the fact that I was convinced I had a very similar Santa image. As it turns out, I had a Doodlebug Santa that was in a completely different style, but... it was already on a PINK journal card, so I just went with the flow! I began with the intention of going super-minimal and using a plain pink background with rounded corners, but then I remembered I'm *ME* lol, so I threw in a few pink patterned paper layers and added in the sentiment that I had cropped off of the journal card.

Head over to Jingle Belles to see the fabulous Readers' Gallery so far and start planning your own cookie-centric card!

Archival Inks and Stickles All Occasion Card by Lauren Bergold

Did you know that Ranger Archival Inks emboss beautifully? Not that there aren't enough gorgeous Ranger Embossing Powder shades for nearly every project, but if you want to use a specific Archival color (like my current favorite Graphite!) being able to emboss with Clear Powder gives you even more options. Ranger's six bold new Archival Ink Shades (Cayenne, Wine Cellar, Mountain Lake, Beach Cruiser, Aubergine and Graphite) with coordinating Stickles Glitter Glues are bound to inspire lots of beautiful palettes. I'd love for you to hop over to the Ranger Project Page to see a card tutorial in which I've paired Beach Cruiser and Aubergine (with YES, plenty of Graphite!) to create a bold all-occasion card; be sure to read all the way to the end, there's a surprise involving a few extra shades, as well. Oh and don't forget to visit Scrapbook & Cards Today's feature on the new Archivals for a chance to win the complete set AND a $50 Ranger giftcard!

SCT Magazine & Ranger: GIVEAWAY!

Would *YOU* like to win a $50 Ranger giftcard AND the six gorgeous new Archival Inks (& Stickles) shades?! (Who wouldn't, right?) Check out my tutorial on the Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog and be sure to leave a comment on their post naming your FAVE of the new colors! (Giveaway ends NEXT Wednesday 4/10.) 

But First... Coffee!

There's nothing better than a nice cup of coffee to start the day, unless it's a trio of Artist Trading Cards featuring Eyelet Outlet Coffee and Donut Brads studded with Heart Pearls and atop backgrounds made from Brick Tape, Giraffe Washi and Donut Tape!  

The Eyelet Outlet Store has all of the food and drink brads your projects could possibly need... plus so much more!

Krafty Mandala Monday

It's the first Mandala Monday of April, and this one is extra colorful thanks to my trusty Posca paint pens, which I think look especially nice against a rich background of grocer's kraft cardstock. I've done a bit of outlining and doodling with my Letter It Fineliners, but resisted the temptation to add bling or enamel dots, etc... at least... resisted that temptation for now! ;)

Tufted Titmouse Collage

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Mary (who posts as @millwoodstudioart on Instagram) sent me the most amazing happy mail (see second photo): notecards featuring all 29 hand-carved bird stamps she created for #feathruary as well as two stamps featuring a couple of my favorite birds (a tufted titmouse and a sandpiper) and a tiny hand-bound book made from library catalog cards, which I couldn't wait to collage in... preferably with hand-carved bird stamps! And now, finally, I have! (YAY!)

I'd write more, but it'd cut into additional bird collage time, so I'll just say THANK YOU, MARY!!!! ♥

JB2407: Cookies for Santa

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to create a card inspired by this fabulous collection of holiday cookies from Kristen's Cookies. When you share your card, make sure you let us know which cookie you chose and how it inspired you!

I chose the cookie with the Charlie Brown-ish xmas tree inside a snowglobe...

...and I have to confess that part of the reason for that choice was that when I saw it, my Cardmaker's Brain kicked in and went, 'you've got Memory Box Nested Globe dies and Spellbinders' Bottle Brush Trees!' Then, when I was retrieving said dies, I found my Honeybee Layering Holiday Bells set, which has that cool two-part bow, so all that was left to do was find some teeeeeeeny Hero Arts enamel dots, a Doodlebug sentiment and a coordinating blue scrap of patterned paper for the background!

Be sure to check out Stephanie's super sweet card at Jingle Belles and then start planning what cookie-inspired  deliciousness you'll link up with us this time!

Easter Wishes

It's the week before Easter, and here's a card featuring Eyelet Outlet Rabbit Brads and adorable Rabbit Tape; Colored Daisy Brads, a Mini Bee, Floral Square Washi and Wood Tape.

The Eyelet Outlet Online Store has all the embellishments you need, for whatever holidays and occasions you celebrate!

SOS518: Spring Has Sprung

As you may already have guessed from the title of this post, the brief this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is to create a Spring or Easter card! I chose the former:

This creation incorporates every age of my (considerable!) Wendy Vecchi stash from her Studio 490 days (Perfectly Plaid Background and Wild Rose Collage Stamp & Stencil combo) to her Ranger collection (A Million Thanks Stamp, Die and Stencil Set plus Archival Inks and Embossing Powders) right up to this year's beautiful In the Garden Collection from Spellbinders (Vintage Florals Die Set). I stamped and embossed the two backgrounds (in White and Watering Can Powders); stamped the big Lily once in Rosey Posey and once in Leaf Green; added color to all the images with the coordinating stencils and Archival Inks; did a little diecutting, outlining, machine-stitching and matting.... et voila! 

I hope you'll hop over to SOS to see the gorgeous cards from the rest of The Crew, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

New Inks + Flat Layers

I'm still fairly obsessed with the new Ranger Archival Shades (Wine Cellar, Cayenne, Mountain Lake, Beach Cruiser, Aubergine and Graphite) so it's probably no surprise that this Mandala Monday features all of them... plus the new Mountain Lake Stickles*.

The technique on this one is a little bit odd... I drew the outlines of all the big shapes first (using a .04 Black Letter It Fineliner on Watercolor Paper); then  painted them using drops from the coordinating Ranger Archival Reinkers, pretty seriously diluted with rubbing alcohol. When the panel was dry (which is FAST with alcohol; much faster than traditional watercolor!) I used a few Simon Hurley create Background Stamps (Bitty Botanicals and Handwritten) as well as several layers from Simon's Polka Dot Assortment Layering Stencil Set to selectively add more pattern and additional (undiluted) levels of the same colors.

 

At the very end, I added some white paint pen doodles (to sharpen the divisions between shapes), neatened up my outlines, and filled in a few more details before using a fabulously helpful Angled Brush to add Stickles, then calling it good. I hope this Mandala Monday finds you well and with lots of ideas for sneaking in creative time this week!

*Of course, all of the new colors are also available as Stickles; but this time I only used the deep blue of Mountain Lake.

Aall & Create for One and Aall!

New Jersey crafters, I'd love for you to come and get INKY with me at Paper Anthology! In my new class, "Let's Get INKY" we’ll blend Ranger's Distress Oxide Inks on plain cardstock, through a stencil and atop white-embossing; then we’ll stamp, we’ll stencil, we’ll overstamp in Ranger Archivals, we’ll stencil a bit more, we’ll do a little bit of coloring (with Tombow Dual Brush Pens), we’ll diecut and… well, we will generally celebrate all the stamping techniques that made us love this hobby, but we’ll revisit them in new ways for a fresh, eclectic look. This class features stamps, stencils, dies and gorgeous butterfly ephemera from Aall & Create as well as Ranger Inks. Details dates and sign-up info on the Paper Anthology Blog!

BLING It On!

We're heading into our second week of our super-sparkly BLING-centric theme at Jingle Belles and you're invited to join us. Just make a brand new holiday card that has some jewels, gems, pearls, stickles, glitter paper or any other sparkly element and link it up with us for a chance at a fun little random prize.

I applied Izink Diamond Glitter Paint (in a luscious shade called Rose Foudre) through an older TCW snowflake stencil, let it dry, then matted it on white Non-Shed Glitter Paper, I added multiple fussycut layers of a snowflake-looking Stamplistic Mandala stamp, each of which I had embossed with a different Ranger Embossing Powder (Love Letter, Gold Tinsel, Pink Tinsel and Copper, to be precise) and then I stacked up and adorned with sticky-back rhinestones.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see the Readers' Gallery and of course Stephanie's beautiful card; then start planning your own sparkly, BLING-y masterpiece!

Aubergine, Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake

The six brand new (gorgeous!) Ranger Archival Colors came out on Monday, and I cannot stop playing with them in various combinations. My first card used all six shades and there's a full step-by-step tutorial on the Ranger Project Page. This card uses just the two blues (Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake) with Aubergine and Graphite accents; though once again I've stenciled OVER a white-embossed stamped background, in exactly the same way as the tutorial card.

This time I white-embossed Simon Hurley's Handwritten Background Stamp* and used Simon's In Bloom layering stencil set to apply the Beach Cruiser, Mountain Lake and Aubergine Archivals on top; then I wiped off the excess inks with a rubbing alcohol wet wipe, to keep the background embossing nice and bright. On the second panel, I did the same white embossing, but just used a Mini Ink Blending tool to add the inks on top, without the secondary pattern from a stencil. Finally, I used the new shades to stamp some of the blooms (and a sentiment) from the Watercolor Flowers clear stamp set, which I cut out and added some coordinating Stickles** with the super-useful new Angled Brushes as a sparkly accent.

Of course, the very first thing I do with new inks is SWATCH them! Above you can see a little 3x3" ring-bound book I made to hold all of my Archival Inks, as well as the new pages I made for these six colors. I find swatches very handy indeed, because you can compare every color to every other shade and see how they relate to each other. If you embark on a swatching project of your own... this may sound weird and counter-intuitive... I highly recommend using more than one stamp or stencil and also, don't make your pages too perfect! Because if you add and/or subtract colors in future you don't want to pressurize yourself to spend ages finding the stamps you used last time or to make the pages exactly the same or perfectly aligned; these are SWATCHES, they're there to work for you! Save any perfectionist tendencies for your projects or better yet, let them go and just have FUN!

Here's one more shot of today's card, just because I took some extra pics, so of course I want to use them, lol. I hope your week has been fun and creative but if not, take heart... the weekend is nearly here!

*The Handwritten Background Stamp is out of stock as a single item, but can still be purchased as part of Simon's new Release Bundle; though if you missed it, any background stamp with small to medium text will work, as will any fairly dense background, for that matter!

**All of the new colors also have Reinkers and coordinating Stickles, which you can purchase separately or as bundles... check out the Ranger New Product Page to see all the different combos.