SOS559: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Time for a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this one is super-seasonal! For Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice we'd like to see cards and projects which reflect however you interpret the changing Autumn Season: Pumpkin Spice Latte, Thanksgiving, Changing Leaves, etc; the choice is yours. I have to confess that irl, I don't care for anything with the pumpkin spice flavor profile, but... that didn't stop me from making a card I love:

This sweet fox journal card is from an autumn-themed paper collection we had at Paper Anthology a few years ago, from Photoplay, I think; but it had been cut out of the sheet and so I can't be absolutely sure. I know that I've looked at it and thought about using it quite a few times and (for mysterious reasons) it never happened until now. The background is a found piece of collaged vintage paper that I had watercolored with autumn-leafy shades and then (again, mysteriously) did not use. When I found it, I knew it was exactly the right thing, but to fancy it up even more, I had some brand new 49 and Market Irresistible Times white Rub-On Transfers from the Ranger Online Store that I've been dying for an excuse to open up, so I did. I used my ancient set of Cuttlebug Leaves Dies (possibly the first die set I ever purchased?) to cut out a few leaves from bright white text paper backed with cardstock and matted both the fox and the large background on rich brown self-adhesive felt sheets that I'm slightly obsessed with. I thought about adding a sentiment, but nothing I tried jumped out at me, so I decided to wait. (I have often found it helpful to have a few "uncommitted" cards in my stash... you never know what sort of card you might need at short notice and it's nice to have options.

SOS559: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice will run until the evening of Monday, November 3rd. Check out the fabulous cards our talented Crew have made to inspire you at Shopping Our Stash.

Tiger, Tiger

It's a Wild and Wonderful Mandala Monday, featuring one of the beautiful jungle cat illustrations from my @ginaisarty Cut and Glue Book, paired with foliage, hearts and background patterns from the book; augmented with some of my own gel prints cut into hearts, tear drops and circles.

If you'd like to see a flip through of every single page of Gina's book, you can do that ON THIS POST on Instagram! (Warning: If you're a cardmaker, journaler, collage artist or planner chick you are going to WANT this book!!!)

More cards on the way. In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful week! ♥

Unbe-LEAF-able

Here's a mini-make featuring a little stash of diecut leaves I found in my crafty leftovers. They were beautifully watercolored, but slightly boring... so I used Wendy Vecchi's Polka Dot and Posy Duo and Thank You Bouquet Embossing Folders from Spellbinders to add texture and some Potting Soil Archival Ink from Ranger to emphasize the texture et voila! Perfect for dressing up a plain gift bag and envelope!

You can find the entire Tabbed Classics Collection and so much more Wendy Vecchi goodness at Spellbinders!

Happy Birdie(s) to You!

On Wednesday, my friend Gina's Fabulous Clipart Book went live on Amazon and I couldn't be more excited or proud! I was lucky enough to get an advance copy a few months ago, so I posted a round-up of a few smaller pieces I made over the summer (you can see that post HERE) but now I'm excited to make all new stuff... starting with this fun and funky birthday card featuring just three of the beautiful fanciful birds in the book! I used gelprints for the background, vellum for the clouds and my trusty Dymo for the punny sentiment.

Of course, there are lots of other flora and fauna in the book. There are fish, reptiles, cats, dogs, jungle beasts, plants, flowers, foliage and... well a little bit of everything, really; all in Gina's signature funky, colorful, whimsical style. Here's a reminder of what the book looks like, it's available from THIS LINK on Amazon

You can find lots more of Gina's art on Instagram @ginaisarty and there is plenty of fab merch in her Redbubble, Tee Public and Zazzle Shops!

PINK Christmas (week 2)

It's the second week of Pink Christmas at Jingle Belles; the annual event where we ask YOU to make and link up as many predominantly PINK holiday cards as you possibly can, because WE (Stephanie and Lauren) are each going to donate $2 per card to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation! So how can you participate? Just make as many new cards as you'd like, each with a winter holiday theme, which feature PINK prominently. Then link them on the Pink Christmas post at Jingle Belles. Easy peasy!

Here's this week's card:

This week I unintentionally did something that I'm secretly a bit proud of: if you look at this card carefully, you'll see that I haven't actually used ANY official Christmas/holiday product! In fact, all of the papers (except the background) were from my scrap box. The adorable narwhal is an older Doodlebug 3D Sticker* and the little fishes plus the hearts were part of the set. I made the sentiment using some older Lawn Fawn alphabet dies and my trusty Dymo Labelmaker. 

We'd love for you to join us in celebrating PINK CHRISTMAS and of course it's for a very good cause, so start making and linking those PINK holiday cards today! JB2521: I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October22nd.

*I tend to display beloved craft supplies for a bit before using them, so this Doodle-pops set is a few years old and seemingly now out of print. There are LOTS MORE varieties, though, from Doodlebug. 

Stenciling on Perforated Paper

One of the coolest ways Wendy Vecchi has been using her new Thank You Bouquet Bundle Stencils from Spellbinders is stenciling them on that perforated paper you can use for needlework. The question that raises is: HOW do you attach such a panel to your card? Of course you can use spray mount or any other invisible adhesive; or you can add a couple of diecuts on top of the design and hide a visible adhesive behind them. But... you can also "show your work" as they used to say in math class, and here are a couple of ideas for doing that:

Idea #1: Brads! I've added three Eyelet Outlet Dragonfly Brads, pretty evenly spaced, towards the center of this panel. I placed my stenciled flower panel on top of the pale blue mat, secured it very lightly with low-tack tape at the corners, then pierced holes through the holes of the perforated paper, threaded the brads through and opened the prongs at the back. Job done. Secure your thread ends at the back of the cardstock panel with tape.

Idea #2: Stitches! Perforated paper was literally designed to be used for stitching, and if you happen to have some laying around, chances are you have some embroidery floss, too. This time I didn't need to secure the corners because I had my brads in place, but if stitches are going to be your only attachment, you will want to keep the panel from wiggling while you pierce your holes.

Bonus Tip: How to pierce holes for stitching or brads if you don't have a paper piercer: A push pin is absolutely perfect for this, and you almost certainly already have one somewhere in your home or office. Pointed tweezers also work. Spellbinders' Tool n One (more commonly used for poking diecuts out of intricate dies) is good, as well. I actually have an ancient Heidi Swap Paper Piercer and I use it ALOT atop a piece of an old mouse mat that I saved especially, but any piece of semi-stiff foam or an old padded envelope works well to put underneath. 

(Just FYI: Yes, you really do need to pierce holes; a needle or the brads' prongs will probably not be able to go through your backing cardstock without bending or marring it. Ask me how I know!!!)

A few other ideas that I haven't shown here: Staples, either regular or decorative (especially cool with a grunge aesthetic); Eyelets; Machine stitching; and possibly... I haven't tested this but I suspect it will work... A wax seal applied on top of your design? Experiment and have fun!

Gina is Arty Clipart Book

If you love collage, bold colors and clipart I have the PERFECT book for you: Gina is Arty Colorful Cut and Glue Book of Illustrations is now available at Amazon and it is absolutely glorious! And I'm not just saying that because the artist, Gina Cunningham, is my friend (though I'm quite proud that she is!) but seriously, every illustration is her original art, so the book is full of fanciful animals, birds, fish, flowers, etc; then there are practical things for makers like journal spots, numerals and borders. There's a little bit of everything here, every page is glossy and extra vivid. Oh and I should mention that if you happen to find a page you don't like (hard to imagine, but I guess it's possible) the BACK of every page is one of Gina's beautiful, unique gel prints, so you can diecut, make backgrounds, even wrap tiny presents! 

I was lucky enough to get a preview copy of this beauty earlier this year, so here are just a few things I've made using Gina's beautiful illustrations. Many of these shots are staged on top of the reverse pages, so you can see they are quite useful as backdrops. 

Get YOUR COPY today!

♥♥♥♥♥