What's Green and Orange...

...and Purple and Blue and COVERED IN MONSTERS? Today's Halloween card, on The Ink Pad Blog, o'course! Oh and there's some handlettering tips and tricks. And free candy. Ok, technically, that last bit is a lie. There isn't actually any free candy, because it's a blog post. But it's Halloween so there's bound to be lots of treats around, right? And there really are lettering tips and adorable monsters, so you'll like it, I promise! ♥

You Call Me a Witch

A couple of weeks ago I saw a Halloween card with this sentiment on it and literally laughed out loud. Of course, I'm bound to say I think a version which includes Eyelet Outlet Witch Hat and Witch Leg Brads is even better, right?

I made my focal point sentiment with my trusty Dymo Labelmaker, but swapped out the word "witch" in favor of some glamorous enamel and rhinestone letter stickers. I added a Witch Hat Brad to the sweet little patterned paper icon, and affixed my Witch Leg Brads to the background underneath where the circle would go. I couldn't resist the finishing touch of a Spider Brad in one corner and a pair of Mini Spider Brads dangling from machine stitches in the other.

Wishing you a very Happy Halloween if you're celebrating tomorrow, or just an especially nice Thursday if you're not. ♥

I'll Take Manhattan

To paraphrase Sir Mix-a-Lot, "I like big cards, and I cannot lie"! Case in point the A9 that's featured on The Ink Pad Blog for Stencil Sunday. It features not one, not two, but three of Michelle Ward's beautiful New York City themed stencils made exclusively for The Ink Pad. Prefer stamps to stencils? She's designed some of them too. You should probably check it out! ♥

have a narly holiday

this fortnight at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we're celebrating the real heroes of christmas with a theme we like to call "rudolph and friends". because let's face it, santa's sleigh is not going anywhere without those guys, is he? but to make it even more fun, we're opening it up to include ANY animal, or even a creature. so to sum up: look through your stash for reindeer, moose, elk, caribou, camels, cardinals, robins, doves, penguins, foxes, house mice, cats, dogs, flamingos, yeti, monsters... ok, you get it right? and let's not forget the ever popular christmas narwhal!!!

narwhal, sentiment and "jolly holly" paper: lawn fawn; animal and snowflake papers: doodlebug design; white paper: bella buddies from bella blvd; snowflake brads: eyelet outlet; ink: gina k black amalgam; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape 

one of my favorite things about paper anthology is that elisabeth really really KNOWS her peeps! so if, for example, she is unpacking a box with a whole lotta brand new lawn fawn goodies and there happens to be a narwhal, a certain someone (like... oh i dunno... ME) might get a text announcing that fact! and seriously HOW CUTE is he?! if i hadn't already loved narwhals, this guy would've been enough to start me on the path, lol. to paper-piece, i stamped him on several shades of white patterned paper and once on a fun blue plaid, then let him join some adorable seal, walrus and husky friends on this fun doodlebug design paper. a few mats, a stamped sentiment from the narwhal mini-set and a couple of eyelet outlet snowflake brads and i was good to go!

fly, swim, trot or gallop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see the fun card stephanie made to inspire you; then start thinking about what creature YOU will feature!

Sunshine and Typewriters...

...are a surprisingly good combination! That's something I discovered when I made today's card for The Ink Pad Blog. The sunshine is in the form of some lovely Eyelet Outlet Sunflower Brads, while the typewriter was used to make my very own *custom* text patterned paper. Read all about it --and see the rest of the card-- on The Ink Pad Blog! ♥

Another Year Races By

I may be slightly obsessed with the new Eyelet Outlet Classic Car Brads, so please forgive me if I overuse them! For today I just have two cards, which seems manageable, right?

A great many of my cards start with a sentiment. In this case, my first idea was inspired by the fact that the Classic Car Brads look pretty sporty, which made me think of racing, and of course the older I get the faster the years race by! I printed my sentiment in a font called Cafe Rojo on a clear inkjet label and stuck it to a little paper flag. I made a fun background from a slightly distressed green patterned paper that I adorned with randomly placed strips of Tire Track Washi Tape, and punched a few 1" circles in the panel. Then I affixed the Car Brads to scraps of vintage map that i had backed with some plain white cardstock and adhered those BEHIND the punched circles, so my cars appeared through the windows.

My second idea was inspired by the Revved Up Gift Set I made this summer. It featured a vintage car illustration cut from an old falling apart book, but it occurred to me that if I scaled everything down to a smaller size, the same basic idea would work with the Classic Car Brads. I diecut some small nested label shapes and set my Car Brads, along with a Compass Brad. Then I set about building a card to hold them!

Nearly everything I used was also featured in the Gift Set, I just made it all a bit smaller to fit an A2 card. I placed artfully torn Brick Tape and strips of Sparkle Copper Foil Tape in a horizontal band across the card. I layered on some blueprint-inspired patterned paper, then added more tape: the Tire Track Washi and some fun Map Tape. I used another computer printed sentiment, this one in my favorite typewriter font, which reads, "You're a Classic"!

I hope you'll be inspired to RACE over to the Eyelet Outlet Store and grab some Classic Car Brads for yourself! ♥

SOS407: Halloween

There's just over a week until Halloween, so if you're making cards and haven't finished them yet, it's time to get moving! Luckily you'll have a place to link them up since this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we are ALL ABOUT Halloween!

blendy background made with distress oxides and picket fence studio life changing brushes; zen doodle drawn with several sizes of pitt artist pen by faber-castell; spider and mini spider brads from eyelet outlet; alphabet stamps: inkadinkado and american crafts; glossy black cardstock: ranger; stamping ink: gina k amalgam ink; shadows drawn with tombow N60 dualbrush (arguably the best grey ever!); adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, sewing machine

I've made at least one *PINK* Halloween card each year for the last several years, because I love to join the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers P is for Pink Halloween challenge!

My Pink Halloween cards are almost always a zen doodle spider webs, because I love drawing those and let's face it there aren't that many occasions for which they are appropriate! This year's version features some adorable Eyelet Outlet Spider and Mini Spider Brads. It's set on top of a super-blendy background made with several pink and orangey shades of Distress Oxides and the Picket Fence Studio Brushes I finally caved and purchased at Paper Anthology. Everyone who had them before me (which is pretty much EVERYONE lol) swore they were the best thing ever and honestly I cannot argue with that. I've got a stamped sentiment using one older alpha set I've had for years and a second one I just scooped up at the Paper Anthology Paper Crafters' Garage Sale in September. I wish I had planned my second line of text better because it kinda looks like "Haltoween" but other than that I'm happy with the results.

Be sure to hop over to SOS and check out all the fabulous inspiration from the design team! ♥