Mandala Monday #35 (of 2026)

I was sorting through some older (storebought) cards that folks have saved for me, and I sort of fell in love with these sprigs of blue, silver, gold and black flocked leaves... I thought they were the beginning of a collage but nope, they decided to be part of a mandala, instead!

Happy (Almost) Labor Day

Tomorrow is Labor Day here in the US, so this seemed like the perfect time to continue playing with my new Make-It Americana Stamp Set. Old Glory Red and Old Glory Blue are two brand new shades of Ranger Archival Ink and they really live up to their name. I used them with the Stars and Stripes Stencil and the Fireworks Stencil; then cut the larger panels I made into 1" squares and pieced them together into a fun tiled pattern. I had intended to fill the entire crimson square, but after I had completed these three rows (I started in the center and worked outward to get the spacing right) I really liked the look, so I stopped. It's hard to see in the photo, but I've added Christmas Red and True Blue Stickles from the new Liberty Kit to basically all of the red and blue inked bits, so IRL, it's quite sparkly.

Whether you're traveling this weekend, hosting a barbeque, or just chilling at home, I wish you a safe and happy Labor Dar Weekend!

Stuck on STICKERS

It's the second week of our Stuck on You prompt at Jingle Belles, so Stephanie and I are still making holiday cards with one of our favorite embellishments: STICKERS! Here's what I made this week:

I love the big 12x12 sticker sheets that coordinate with various holiday patterned paper collections. Shocking true confession: I don't always feel like I need the papers themselves; sometimes I just buy the sticker sheet. Case in point: Simple Stories' Snow Pine Lodge provided all of these cute stickers (that camper, tho!); the papers, which I chose by color, are all just older scraps from my stash!

JB2618: Stuck on You runs until next Wednesday evening, September 9th. Link your sticker-centric cards with us at Jingle Belles!

Here Kitty Kitty

Upcycling a birthday card that was way too cute to chuck in the recycling bin with an adorable frame of Eyelet Outlet Kitten, Cat, Star and 1/8" Round Brads for a design that's PURR-fectly delightful!

PURR-fectly Adorable Shopping List:

Kitten Brads

Cat Brads

Star Brads

1/8" Round Brads

Check out allllllllll the different styles of Animal Brads in the Eyelet Outlet Store! 

More Make-It Americana

Here's another card I made with Ranger's new Americana collection, part of their Make-It line of affordable, practical, absolutely fabulous stamps, stencils and accessories.

This card has a background made with Old Glory Blue Archival Ink and the Stars half of the Stars and Stripes Stencil. I diecut a heart on which there are multiple layers of the Fireworks Stencil: Old Glory Blue, Old Glory Red and Beachcruiser to be precise. 

I added dots of the appropriately named Firecracker, White Opal and Blue Velvet Liquid Pearls to the centers of the fireworks and adorned it with stamped balloons and sentiment from the Americana Stamp Set.

All of these new red, white and blue products are in the Ranger Store now, just waiting for you to try them out in your next papercrafting project!

New! Make-It Americana-Inspired Collection from Ranger

The newest collection from Ranger's Make-It line of stencils, stamps and accessories is quite literally celebrating the Red, White and Blue! There are two gorgeous stencils (Stars & Stripes and Fireworks); a perfectly patriotic stamp set called Americana; brand new Freedom Stickles (packed as a trio with old favorites Christmas Red and True Blue called Liberty); plus two brand new Archival Ink shades (Old Glory Blue and Old Glory Red) packed in a set of mini ink pads with Shadow Grey and Jet Black called American Made; and finally the ultimate set of coordinating Liquid Pearls: Old Glory which includes Firecracker, White Opal and Blue Velvet. 

For my first card, I've used a little bit of everything except the Liquid Pearls. A diecut heart filled in with the Stars stencil and some Old Glory Blue sits atop a small panel of the Stripes stencil in Old Glory Red. I stamped the hat twice: one in Old Glory Blue and Once in Old Glory Red, then cut the red part out and mounted it on top of the blue. The hat is worn by the handsome eagle who is stamped in Dark Roast Archival. The sentiment was placed directly on the stripes, and the whole thing is backed by a panel of Fireworks stenciled half in OG Blue and half in OG Red, then painted with Christmas Red and True Blue Stickles.

Lightly inked edges, colored pencil detailing, machine stitching and an A6 kraft cardbase complete the design.

All of these new Make-It products are available in the Ranger Store... you should probably check them out, ASAP!

Stick Around

More Stationery Zen goodness from Ranger: I fell in love with these Mind Wave Quilt Atelier sticker sheets, they come in several designs, but this one is called House Near the Lake and I couldn't wait to use it in a Mandala.

I traced and cut a large circle, then punched several sizes of hearts from Dina Wakley MEdia Typed Ledgers, so I could make a little sticker scene at the center... which travels outward at a few key points, to fit even more stickers! At the very end I added some circles around the the rest of this page of my Ledger Journal, using my current favorite paint color, Mineral.