A Random Collage

Sometimes you just have to sit and cut up or tear pretty/interesting vintage papers and stamps and things, then quite randomly glue them together. If this activity happens to take place on a snow-free weekend, in the company of a fun artist friend like @futureperfect321 and you get to eat lots of yummy Thai food before or afterwards, so much the better!

On a side note, I was hoping to participate in #februllage2026 and I'm adoring all of the amazing creations people are posting to that thread. Maybe I'll get to jump in later this month...

New Stamps and Stencils (WOOHOO!)

I'm so excited to get my hands on Ranger's new line of Make-It Stamps and Stencils. There are (so far) three high-quality photopolymer stamp sets and three nice sturdy 6x8" stencils. The stencils are: Pegboard, Bow Lattice, and Sprinkle Hearts. The stamp sets are called: Chic Birthday, Charmed and Wild Hearts. I made some ATCs to test drive them.

I decided to make one ATC for each stamp set, without mixing them, so you could see that each set has more than enough images and sentiments to make a bunch of different projects. I did add some stenciled details in the backgrounds, though.

Here are the full sets; as you can see I barely scratched the surface, there are many ways to use each of them!

I did a rainbow version of each stencil so you could really see the patterns well. I love the size of these (6x8") as I often make A6 or A7 cards; and I have a couple of biggish art journals. But as you can see, the scale is still great for smaller items like ATCs. You could even add pattern to the front and back of an A2 card.

One of my favorite things on the "Cheers" ATC is the rounded panel under the martini. I made it by stenciling the Bow Lattice, moving it slightly and changing colors over and over; until I got a pattern that reminds me of funky "space age" 1960's Formica. 

Stay tuned for more ideas coming soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out the full line of Make-It items as well as all the inspiration on the @ranger_ink Instagram Page!

Sunshine Mandala

It's a bold and beautiful SUNSHINE Mandala Monday... on a library card; thus combining a bunch of my favorite things together in a conveniently portable 3x5" format.

Hope your week is off to a sunshiney start! ♥♥♥

In Winter...

...you have to paint your own flowers. So I did! In my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal from Ranger. It's got really sturdy watercolor paper that has jusssssssst enough texture and stands up to watercolor, inks, glosses, pastes... basically anything you can throw, spray, scribble or brush onto it!

I smooshed some Simon Hurley Stellar Inks onto the craft sheet and used a waterbrush to paint swirls of pink and triangles of green; with a few splatters of both because I can never resist, lol! When the page was dry, I drew swirly rose(ish) shapes with a Letter It Fineliner and  et voila!

Wishing you a warm(ish) and wonderful day in which you get to take a little time out to play with your art supplies! ♥

Mid Century Modern Christmas

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we've got a fabulous photo inspiration based on this beautiful
Mid Century Modern Holiday Decor photo from Edward George. You don't necessarily have to embody the Mid/Mod vibe... but you can if you'd like to. Basically, you can take inspiration from ANY aspect(s) of the photo you like: the fun little Santas; the unique patterns and colors on the Christmas trees; the wealth of woodgrain; even the reindeer collection or the gold star on the top of the Christmas tree. Just make sure you tell us how you were inspired in your post.

Here's my card:

The first thing I noticed in the photo was alllllllllll of that beautiful blonde wood. The walls, the mantel, even the small glimpses of the floor and ceiling we can see at the edges of the picture are covered in it. And since one of the "niche" collections inside my massive papercrafting stash happens to be woodgrain papers, I was pretty sure I could find one (or as it turned out three) woodgrain papers that would/WOOD work! I also stumbled upon some *ancient* Daisy D's retro-themed holiday paper which I cut into little shapes with my Hero Arts Fancy Ornament Infinity Dies, surrounded by shimmering stars and a (woodgrain, of course!) sentiment.

JB2613: Mid Century Modern Christmas runs until the evening of Wednesday, February 11th.

There's GNOME One Like You

Eyelet Outlet Gnome Brads and Girl Gnome Brads are the perfect couple for Valentines, Anniversary cards or any other happy occasion you can imagine. This punny compound sentiment is stamped, with the key word of "Gnome" in letters diecut from Gnome Mushroom Butterfly Washi. Bright Fresh Flowers, Hearts and Mini Butterfly Brads complete this happy little scene.

Gnomish Shopping List:

Gnome Brads 2

Girl Gnome Brads 

Bright Fresh Flower Brads

Heart Brads

Mini Butterfly Brads

Gnome Mushroom Butterfly Washi

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Store for more brads, embellishments and inspiration! 

SOS566: Love Me Do

The theme this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is Love, so we'd like you to make a love-themed project.  Here's my card:

I've got LOTS of hearts and lots of color and lots of love, as befits the occasion of my (grown up) niece who was born on Valentine's Day. Being a scrap-saver, I had plenty of small patterned paper pieces from which I could diecut hearts, then handcut two layers of wonky squares to complete my grid design. Believe it or not, the most difficult part of this card was choosing a sentiment die of the right size and shape, then finding a shade of cardstock that stood out well enough on top of All. That. Color!

SOS566: Love Me Do runs until the evening of Monday, February 12th.