Dream of the Red Chamber

Shout out to my friend Liz, a lifelong teacher and scholar of both Chinese and English with whom I have shared many meals, adventures and reading lists over the course of the last thirty years or so. Knowing my love of collage and interesting vintage papers, Liz kindly shares with me Chinese texts or flashcards she has finished using. When we met up last week she gifted me an older, three-volume paperback copy of "Hong Lou Meng" (Dream of the Red Chamber) an 18th century Chinese work that is amongst the first novels ever written which still exist. Of course, I don't read Chinese, so, fascinating as the story is both IN and OF the book itself, I was more interested in the beautiful text papers, illustrations and characters, which I've mixed with pretty papers from Pearl River Mart (one of my favorite stores in NYC's Chinatown) and woven into a multi-layered collage in my art journal.

Bells and Belles

 Over at Jingle Belles we're still creating holiday cards featuring Bells this week. Here's what I made:

This holiday bell sticker was the last in a pack from... ok, I confess it's so old I don't know WHERE it came from, but it was perfect to pair with this bell-themed Simple Stories journal card plus papers from Basic Grey and Authentique. There are some Eyelet Outlet Poinsettia and Holly Brads to add texture and interest; plus those golden mats are a bit shimmery in real life!

Remember, you have until 6pm EST on Wednesday (5/21) to link-up and join the fun; there's even a little prize for one lucky random cardmaker, you should probably check it out! ;)

Birthday Grumplings

Some folks enjoy celebrating their birthday... Grumplings enjoy NOT enjoying celebrating their birthday! Luckily Eyelet Outlet Birthday Brads and Washi Tape always look good. This card features Happy Birthday Foil Washi Tape, Pastel Banner Brads, Party Hat, Candle, Stitched Flower Brads, Cupcake Swirl, Pinata Brads, Heart Brads and an Ice Cream Brad.

Grumpy Birthday Shopping List:

Pastel Banner Brads

Party Hat Brads

Candle Brads

Stitched Flower Brads

Cupcake Swirl Brads

Pinata Brads

Heart Brads

Ice Cream Brads

Happy Birthday Foil Washi Tape

All the embellies you could possibly need to make your next birthday, anniversary or all-occasion card are available in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

Texture Paste plus Summer Vibe

Ranger Texture Pastes add dimension and interest to cards, journals and more. Whether you're looking for gloss, matte, opaque, transparent or crackle, you can find the perfect option for every project. Add a few drops of a Ranger Reinker to any variety and your options expand even further. Head over to the Ranger Project Tutorials Page and follow along as I use Transparent Gloss, Opaque Matte and Transparent Matte Texture Pastes on this colorful card inspired by Summer Adventures... past and future! 

My childhood vacations involved my brother, sister and myself sharing the backseat of the family car (semi-harmoniously), spotting license plates from as many states as possible, and looking forward to our destination. The adorable critters in Simon Hurley's "Road Trip" Stamp Set capture that excitement and nostalgia; Ranger Texture Pastes and Archival Inks let me convey the feeling in full color!

Coincidentally these three varieties are available in a Texture Paste Sampler Pack in case you'd like to try them out before choosing full sizes!

Classic Basic Grey Tribute Mandala

It's a very simple card this Mandala Monday featuring some of my well-hoarded classic basic Grey patterned papers (from Lollipop Shop, Urban Prairie and Out of Print for those who remember BG from "back in the day"!) with the petals and circles diecut using Hero Arts' Heart and Circle Infinity Dies.

ABC's of Art Journaling

Or perhaps Art Journaling with ABC's would be a more accurate title. This double page in my Dina Wakley Ledger Journal started the same way a lot of my late night "recreational" pages do: without a plan; and featuring the supplies that were already out on my worktable.

In this case that included a bunch of bright and blend-able Distress Oxide Inks, some Dina Wakley MEdia Stencils and a little puddle of leftover White Gesso that needed to be used up before it dried out.

There's no particular focal point to this, but it feels finished to me, at the moment, anyway. I hope you'll find time this weekend to make some recreational art!

Christmas Bells, Those Christmas Bells

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you to break out your Bells for the Belles and create a card that includes some sort of bell. Here's what I made:

I got out my Impression Obsession Retro Ornaments die set (because one of the ornaments is bell-shaped) as well as my tan/gold/neutral scraps folder and had a lot of fun putting together a set of sparkly ornaments, dangling from pearl bling. And what could be a better background for a bell-themed card than a re-sized color copy of the sheet music for "Jingle Bells"?!

Be sure to check out Stephanie's beautiful Bell card at Jingle Belles, as well as the appropriately Bell-related prize that one lucky cardmaker is going to score, just for linking up with us this fortnight. JB2510: Christmas Bells, Those Christmas Bells runs until the evening of Wednesday, May 21st.

Roses in Bloom

There are few Spring sights prettier than roses, in full bloom, climbing up a trellis. If they're Eyelet Outlet Rose Brads and Yellow Rose Brads, climbing up a cardstock trellis, they are every bit as beautiful, far more mail-able, and completely non-allergenic! With extra wide Sky Washi and Brick Tape creating the background and green Leaf Brads clustered among the blooms, it's no wonder that some Mini Butterfly Brads have gathered to enjoy the scene.

Bloomin' Beautiful Shopping List

Rose Brads

Yellow Rose Brads

Leaf Brads

 Mini Butterfly Brads

Sky Washi

Brick Tape

There's flora and fauna galore in the Eyelet Outlet Store; and don't forget to check the Tradeshow Schedule to see when the EO Booth will be traveling to a town near you!

SOS547: Red, Red Wine

Time for a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and for "Red, Red Wine" we'd like you to use red as your primary color; OR use wine (or another beverage) as your theme; OR mix it up and do both!

As you can see, I went with option one: using red as my main color. I've got a background of paper from 49 and Market's Spectrum Gardenia collection, loaded up with layers of (mostly) red ephemera from the same collection (flowers and butterflies); from my stash of real vintage goodies (tickets and trading stamps); and from a very fun book of reproduction ephemera (various labels). 

Be sure to check out the gorgeous makes from the rest of our talented crew and then start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight. SOS547: Red, Red Wine runs until the evening of Monday, May 19th. 

Scribble Sticks & Texture Paste

It's a Mixed Media Mandala Monday featuring Dina Wakley MEdia Scribble Sticks, one of Dina's fabulous Coaster Stencils and some Ranger Metallic White Texture Paste.

The awesome Dina Ledger Journal is currently out of stock, but... if you go to the product page and click the "Email Me" button, you'll be amongst the first to know when it's available again!

Bonnie Lassie

It's another cascade-style collage in my Dina Wakley MEdia Ledger Journal. The ingredients are (approximately) 1/3 actual vintage goodies; 1/3 vintage label repros from a collage ephemera book I got at a yard sale many moons ago; and 1/3 ancient rub-on transfers. I'm finding that collage is an awesome place to use up old rub-ons because it's win win: if they go on smoothly, woohoo! if they go on somewhat incompletely... still cool; sometimes even cooler like an instant distress effect! 

JB2509: Week 2

It's the second week of our Ornamental Color Challenge at Jingle Belles, and here's a reminder of the palette; of which we'd like to see you use three (or more!) colors:

And here's my card:

This week, I was inspired by the inspiration photo itself, so I made an ink-blended background using Distress Oxide Inks in the shades closest (imo) to the top three colors in the palette: Uncharted Mariner, Broken China and Speckled Egg. Then I embossed the panel using Spellbinders' Forevergreen e/f and flicked some watered down Liquid Pearls (in White Opal and Gold Pearl) on top. I made a large snowflake stack to stand in for the fancy bauble in the photo and finished the whole thing with some clear gems that look a bit like the bokeh fairy lights.

Check out Stephanie's card and the little prize one lucky random cardmaker will score by linking up with us at Jingle Belles this fortnight. JB2509: Ornamental Color Challenge runs until the evening of Wednesday, May 7th.

Holiday Jumpstart: Joy to All Kit (w/Stamps!)

 Brand new in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop...

...it's Holiday Jumpstart: Joy to All Card Making Kit (with Stamps!) Paper Anthology's newest holiday card kit, which features (and includes!) Lawn Fawn's adorable "Joy to All" stamp set, featuring twenty-nine high quality photopolymer stamps. Use them to complete the five cards in the kit… then keep using them in your own designs for years to come.

Paper Anthology’s Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit is our pre-packaged kit that includes everything you need (except ink and adhesive) to complete FIVE copies of this new original holiday card design. This edition is called “Joy to All” based on the super-cute stamp set included in the kit.

Don’t we all adore the IDEA of making holiday cards throughout the year, instead being overloaded in November and December? But sometimes it’s hard to be inspired during the “off-season”. This pre-packaged kit features everything you need (except ink and adhesive) to complete five adorable Christmas morning scenes in card form. Kit includes complete written instructions (not pictured, but included!) and a nice big photo for reference.

This kit contains: Lawn Fawn's "Joy to All" stamp set; Five pre-diecut white woodgrain frames; Five red cherry background panels; Five festive plaid "wallpaper" panels; Five woodgrain "floor" pieces; Five tiny pre-diecut brown woodgrain frames; Five tiny pre-stamped Santa images to color; One 4.25 x 11" heavy cardstock panel for stamping characters and presents; One 3 x 3.75" white panel for stamping sentiments; Five red cherry mats for sentiments; Small piece of tan cardstock for stamping puppies; Panels of green, red and woodgrain for paper-piecing trees; Five pre-punched stars; Enough bauble, peppermint and heart embellies for five trees; Complete step-by-step instruction sheet with large color photo; Five white side-fold A2 cards. 

Visit the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop to purchase the Holiday Jumpstart: Joy to All Kit and check out the other Holiday, Birthday and Thank You Jumpstarts; plus three-card Class in a Kits and lots more!

Life's a Beach!

Summer is on its way and even if you can't get to the beach, you can create a tiny sandscape of your own in card form! This one features Eyelet Outlet Shell Brads, Sea Shore Brads, Sun and Clouds, Sandcastles, Tall Palm Trees, Seagulls and Sunglass Brads. The postage trend is awesome for combining a bunch of related items and Shell Washi Tape makes the perfect backdrop.

Sunny Sea Shore Shopping List:

Shell Brads

Sea Shore Brads

Sun and Cloud Brads

Sandcastle Brads

Tall Palm Tree Brads

Seagull Brads

Sunglass Brads

Shell Washi Tape

Whether your perfect summer day is at the beach, on a camping trip, in the garden, or baking up some yummy treats, the Eyelet Outlet Online Store has all the brads, tapes and bling you could possibly need!

MM17: Collage +

Collage elements plus paint pens plus Letter It Fineliners plus Dina Wakley Kraft Journal equals... Mandala Monday #17 of 2025!

Round and Round

My Aunt Judie recently took home a huge stack of pretty flowers and birds to cut out for me to use in collages. And obviously, as soon as she brought back all of those glorious goodies, I HAD TO immediately make a collage in my Dina Wakley Ledger Journal. Guess how many of those beautiful, cutouts I used? Hint: NONE! How did that even happen?! Apparently, I went off on a tangent. So obviously, I need to go back and make another collage, ASAP!

In the meantime, I still have to show off all those beauties:

Stay tuned for a collage with more flowers and less circles. Coming soon. (Probably!)

JB2509: Ornamental Color Challenge

It's time for a festive color challenge at Jingle Belles and thus we present a lovely and inspiring palette. This fortnight we'd like to see cards which incorporate at least three of these five colors:

Your card can be of any style, shape or holiday theme, you just need to work with some... (or all, if you're feeling brave?!) ...of these shades! Here's what I made:

As I was puzzling over what I wanted to make, it suddenly occurred to me that one of the things I liked in the inspiration pic is the sidebar with the colors stacked together. I was pretty sure I had scraps of cardstock in all of those colors, and sure enough I did! I found the sentiment on a mini journal card and diecut a Hero Arts Snowflake Cluster from glossy white cardstock to emphasize the winter/holiday aspect.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and check out the little prize that one lucky random cardmaker will score this fortnight. JB2509: Ornamental Color Challenge runs until the evening of Wednesday, May 7th.

Liquid Pearls Mother's Day Card

Ranger's Liquid Pearls come in thirty-six beautiful shimmery shades, coordinate well with the Archival Ink range, and can be used to paint with, to "resist" other media, and to create dimensional effects. Having recently discovered that dried Liquid Pearls act as a fabulous "resist" for painting with diluted Liquid Pearls, I wondered if stenciling with White Opal Liquid Pearls on white cardstock would create an interesting and shimmery effect as well as highlighting the "negative" space of the stencil. Spoiler Alert: It totally does!!! Check out the full tutorial for this soft and shimmery Mother's Day Card on the Ranger Project Tutorials Page!

A Bouquet for Mom

Mother's Day is just a few weeks away, and what could be more appropriate for our favorite lady than a huge bouquet of beautiful original Eyelet Outlet Rose Brads (in reds and pinks) plus some gorgeous new Yellow Roses. These are flanked by green Leaf Brads; arranged in a vase made from Green Pattern Washi Tape; and have attracted the attention of a trio of adorable Mini Butterfly Brads.

Bloomin' Beautiful Shopping List:

Rose Brads

Yellow Rose Brads

Leaf Brads

Mini Butterfly Brads

 Green Pattern Washi Tape

All of these embellishments (and a whole lot more!) are available in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store; why not visit today?

SOS546: Outta This World

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we've gone absolutely universal and thus we'd like to see cards featuring Aliens (or Monsters), Stars, Moon or Planets. Here's my card:

I've raided my happily hoarded stash of classic Basic Grey papers, including Oh Baby Boy (from which I've fussycut the fab retro rockets and small stars) and Color Me Silly (used to diecut the large stars). Most of the other items in my space-themed collage card came from an equally ancient set of October Afternoon's Rocket Age ephemera and papers. The tiny blue star brads are from... ok, I have to confess those are so old I have no idea whence they came but they were perfect for this. The sentiment is computer generated in a free font called Dear Sunshine.

Be sure to check out the rest of the SOS Crew's cards, which really are "Outta This World". This challenge (Sos546) runs at Shopping Our Stash until the evening of Monday, May 5th.

MM16: Bloomin'

Stretching the concept of Mandala Monday to include Zen Doodle flowers with mandala(ish!) motifs. Because there are 50+ Mandala Mondays in a year and we gotta keep it fresh, right?! 

BLOOM!

Whether you are celebrating Easter, Passover, or just some lovely spring weather, I wish you a bloomin' beautiful weekend!

Handcut flowers, leaves, letters and clouds in my Dina Wakley Ledger Journal. 

Also featuring Dina's Collage Paper, Archival Inks and Letter It Fineliners... all of which (and lots more, too!) are available from the fab folk at Ranger Ink.

Whatever else you're doing this weekend, I hope you can sneak in a little time to be creative! ♥

Trash to Treasure... Holiday Style

It's the second week of our Earth Day Special at Jingle Belles; for which we are making new holiday cards that include at least one re-used, re-cycled or up-cycled element. Here's what I made this week:

And now for a shocking true confession that will be no surprise to most of my fellow crafties: If someone hands me a present wrapped in beautiful paper which has a smooth, un-wrinkled, un-taped area that's card-sized or larger, I will be saving that giftwrap! I like to immediately back it with lightweight cardstock (I use my Xyron or a good gluestick for all-over coverage) trim it to size and then store it with my regular patterned paper. This card has two such saves from this past Xmas: the white snowflake background piece and the torn tan snowflake piece. The snowglobe is a dimensional sticker which was part of a gift tag; I *think* it was on the package wrapped in the white snowflake paper. In addition to these recycled items, I've got a scrap of lace, a bit of washi tape, part of an embossed snowflake panel and a couple of diecut snowflakes. The "joy" sentiment was cut from a larger (and frankly kind of ugly, imo) dimensional embellishment, because it was the perfect size, color and vibe for this card.

JB2508: Peace on EARTH DAY will run at Jingle Belles until the evening of Wednesday, April 23rd. Why not find some trash YOU could treasure and join the fun!

Happy (Hoppy) Easter

Eyelet Outlet makes Easter cards EASY! We've got Colored Egg Brads, Bright Stitched Flowers, adorable Chicks and Pastel Rabbits (or brown Rabbits if you prefer) add them to a background of patterned paper strips, choose a sentiment and a focal point et voila!

Hippity Hoppity Shopping List:

Colored Egg Brads

Bright Stitched Flower Brads

Chick Brads

Pastel Rabbit Brads

Brown Rabbit Brads

The Eyelet Outlet Store has all of the embellishments you need for ALL of the holidays and occasions you celebrate!

Hippity Hop (week 2!)

At Shopping Our Stash we're still making cards that have bunnies or chicks or both. They don't have to be Easter Cards... but... they can be, if you like!

I'm not always in the mood to color (and it hardly ever happens two weeks in a row!) but when I am, I love to color tiny, cute critters doing human-style activities. And it's difficult to find a company who captures that vein as well as Lawn Fawn does, imo. (Their "Carrot 'Bout You" set has a tiny bunny driving a carrot car... I rest my case!) This card is a combination of several different Easter/Spring themed LF stamp sets, and also incorporates their Picket Fence and Henry's ABC's die sets as well. Once again, I've made a bunch of random items into a scene by adding two appropriately colored patterned papers to serve as sky and ground. The critters are colored with my Tombow Dual Brush Pens and shaded with Prismacolor Pencils. 

SOS545: Hippity Hop runs until next Monday evening, April 21st. Why not join us!

Mondrian Mandala Monday (part 2)

It's another Mondrian Mandala Monday, inspired by Becca Sadler's very clever Mondrian Monday journal pages. Those, in turn, are inspired by the Utopian abstraction and primary colors of the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. This time I decided to embrace the straight lines and the colors of Mondrian; but to try to vaguely draw the sequential "rings" and "petals". The latter turns out to be just sliiiightly tricky without any curves but... I quite like how it turned out! 

Collages: Art for a Cause

If you've ever visited my blog before, you'll already be aware that I LOVE making collages, so when I saw this call for original collage art on Jennifer Wilkin Penick's Instagram account, of course I wanted to participate! If you'd like to take part, keep reading for details OR visit the first pinned post in the @jenniferwilkinpenick feed on Instagram!

This call, from the Arts and Humanities Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, invites artists to make a maximum of four collages, each measuring 4" square, created on sturdy backing paper and with all of the elements firmly attached. I chose to make my collages be "a set" of four, though of course you can make all of them different, or for that matter, you only need to make one!

My collages feature crocuses (appropriately for Spring!), vintage cars, green stamps, bits of road map, solitaire diagrams, deeply patina-ed text paper, and some absolutely ancient white text rub-on transfers.

This is the second call from the Arts and Humanities Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (AHP). Works submitted to by the deadline of April 20, 2025 will be included in an online “gallery” that will open on World Collage Day (May 10th) and will later be featured in a book that will be made available for purchase. Each original collage will be attached to a blank greeting card and made available to patients, caregivers, their families, and hospital staff. Works will not be sold nor returned to the artists. Please consult the appropriate post on Jennifer's account for details as to how to label your artwork and the address in Washington, DC to which it should be mailed. 

Peace on EARTH DAY

It's time for one of the Jingle Belles' favorite holidays (apart from Christmas, obviously!) which is: Earth Day!

Each year, our EARTH DAY prompt each year is all about RECYCLING, so we'd like you to create a holiday card that features re-cycled, re-used or up-cycled elements. We know you've got that stash of things that you saved because they were just too pretty to throw away: pretty packaging, old holiday cards and tags, etc etc; it's time to break them out and create with them! In the past we've used everything from Kleenex Boxes & Soda Cans to Gift Wrap and we *always* have a lot of fun making our own cards and admiring yours!

Here's how I recycled this time:

In December, we received an advertising mailer from a local bank that was about 5x9", made of sturdy cardstock, and bright teal with beautifully dimensional-looking snowflakes on it; so OF COURSE I saved it. Later that month, a second and third mailer arrived and I put those aside too. And here they are, trimmed down and paired with a plaid from Dare 2B Artzy's Snow Much Fun collection. I added strips of foil washi tape, the last two sentiment stickers in a pack bought circa 1998 (ok they may not be that old; but they're OLD!) plus some red metallic poinsettias and TA-DA! A pair of mini slimline greetings that I don't think anyone will know are partially composed of recycled advertising postcards.

JB2508: Peace on EARTH DAY will run until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 23rd. Link your newly made holiday card(s) featuring at least one re-cycled, re-used or up-cycled element at Jingle Belles!

Happy Spring

The grass is getting greener, the flowers are starting to bloom... it must be Spring! Celebrate with a bright and beautiful card featuring Eyelet Outlet Chick Brads, brand new Tulip Brads, Bright Stitched Flowers, Heart Brads and a big, bold sentiment cut from Pink Dot Washi Tape!

Spring-Centric Shopping List:

Chick Brads

Tulip Brads

Bright Stitched Flowers

Heart Brads

Pink Dot Washi Tape

The Eyelet Outlet Online Store has fabulous embellishments for EVERY season!

SOS545: Hippity Hop

As you may have already guessed from the title, this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we'd like to see cards that feature bunnies; but... we'd be happy to see chicks, as well. Oh and it can be an Easter card if you want; but... it doesn't have to be. Here's what I made:

I will pretty much take any excuse to break out my Avery Elle Feels Like Home stamps and add-on sets. They are several years old (and sadly out of print, sorry) but I still adore stamping and coloring (or paper-piecing) them and making a little scene of adorable reading critters. I love how just adding a soft patterned paper print at the top two-thirds of a circle, and a brown geometric at the bottom third, makes the whole thing instantly look like a room instead of just a background; almost as much as I love stamping the armchair with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink on top of a piece of cardstock covered in Eyelet Outlet Strawberry Washi Tape. (I would seriously love to have such a chair in my home!) Please note that I have included a bunny, a chick and even A CARROT... but it's definitely not an Easter card. :)

SOS545: Hippity Hop runs until the evening of Monday, April 21st. Check out the fabulous cards the Crew have made to inspire you at Shopping Our Stash.

MM14: Fly High Mandala

I've now had three or four different Dina Wakley MEdia Journals from Ranger, and they're always my favorites because Dina actually IS an art journaler and thus knows what sizes, shapes and paper styles are going to be the best, the sturdiest and the most inspiring. The new Ledger Journal* is a reproduction of an authentic 1920s hardware store ledger (but with sturdier pages!) and is a lot of fun to work in. 

My first page in any new journal is nearly always a mandala and this is no exception. I used Dina's Fly High Stamps, Feather Chipboard Shapes and one of her fabulous Coaster Stencils to create this page. I also broke out my sadly neglected Gloss Sprays and remembered how much I enjoyed using those; though I often use them more like paints* than sprays (by dispensing a small amount into a palette and using a brush to apply) and that is mostly what I did this time, too. 

Oh yes, and before I started I randomly glued down some scraps of Gridded Collage Paper, drywall tape (from the big box home improvement store!) and a bit of the final remaining roll from my ancient, well-hoarded, original Dina Wakley Washi Set.

*The new Dina Ledger Journal seems to be out of stock at this precise moment, but there is a button on the product page you can click to be notified when it returns! In the meantime, you can add Dina's Typed Ledger Sheets to your existing journal OR try a Dylusions Ledger Journal or Square Ledger Journal with blank ledger pages as well as dots and grids 

*Apparently other folks do this, as well; there's a second line of Dina Wakely Gloss that comes with droppers instead of sprays!

Fun Folds... Mach Two

We're still making cards with Fun- or Fancy Folds at Shopping Our Stash and you're still invited to join the fun! So today I'm back with a card that's similar to, but different from, the one I posted last Tuesday.*

This card also features mostly 49 and Market papers, rub-ons and diecuts that are a couple of years old, from various collections, including Kaleidoscope, Vintage Artistry Sunburst, and Spectrum Gardenia and Spectrum Sherbet.

For the complete details and measurements of my Modified Z-Fold card design, visit my original Fun Folds post. SOS544: Fun Folds runs until the evening of Monday, April 7th; head over to Shopping Our Stash for all the challenge info!

*Because two family members who have occasions coming up both saw/loved the first card, and I am just not equipped for that level of Sophie's Choice decision-making!