More Holiday Whimsy

As we mentioned at Jingle Belles last week, "Whimsical" describes something, "Playfully quaint, fanciful, imaginative and slightly odd; often suggesting a lighthearted, unpredictable or charmingly unusual quality not based on strict logic." So this fortnight we're asking you to use that definition and make a Whimsical holiday card… it might be mice decorating the holiday tree, a space-age midcentury modern wreath, some fun little holiday gnomes, or maybe even adorable tiny reindeer driving a red plaid car* loaded with festively wrapped holiday gifts!

I probably only use my Lawn Fawn Car Critters + Holiday Add-On stamp sets a couple of times a year. I nearly always paper-piece the little guys and use the curvy road template I made when I first got the sets; so it's a pretty similar version each time, but it always makes me smile, so I see no reason to stop now. Most of the paper used here was scrap pieces I stamped on or punched. The trees background was a freebie from Flow Magazine; the red is Carta Bella. I stamped a Lawn Fawn sentiment on graph paper and colored the gifts with Tombows.

JB2607: Walking in a Whimsical Wonderland will run until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 8th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's amazing card and link up your own.

*In case there are any auto manufacturers reading this: I would absolutely buy a red plaid car. Just sayin'...

Hip Hop Bunnies

These adorable Eyelet Outlet Rabbit Brads are helping the Easter Bunny hide Colored Eggs in preparation for the big day. White Daisy Brads are in the mix; and while Macaron Washi Tape isn't technically holiday-related, it does have sweet treats of exactly the right colors!

Hippity Hoppity Shopping List:

Rabbit Brads

Colored Egg Brads

White Daisy Brads

Macaron Washi Tape

The Eyelet Outlet Online Store has all the cutest cardmaking embellishments you could possibly need!

It's a Big BIG Mandala Monday

I have to confess this started out as an ordinary-sized Mandala; it grew to cover about half of my two-page Dina Ledger Journal spread; and finally I thought, "Just fill both pages!" So I did. All of which happened on three or four evenings over the course of maybe two weeks.  For the record, most of my mandalas are not completed in a single sitting; I typically have 20-30 minutes at the end of the evening for "freestyle" art and usually I start a mandala or a collage... or a collaged mandala if I can't decide which, lol.

I used a Mini Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foams to apply rainbow shades of Archival Inks in concentric circles; then added black Letter It Fineliner details; then some messy stenciling with Dina's Coaster Stencils. At the end, I got out some Posca Pens and used a detail blender or marker to tidy up some of the rounds if the colors split in a weird way.

The biggest impulse to keep going came NOT from something I did well; au contraire. Actually, it was a Big Mistake! When I was about halfway across both pages... (around where the ring of purple tabs with white hearts are... though they didn't have much detail yet) ...I added those 1-inch blue and green circles with Letter It's Polka Dotting Stencil. And I haaaaaaaaaaaaated them. I added more colors, tried to blend them out, tried to disguise with white, etc... nothing really worked. I closed the book and mentally added this one to the "unfinished" pile. 

But the next time I saw the unfinished spread, I remembered that when you can't manage to cover up something you hate, the answer might be (rather counter-intuitively!) to ADD MORE OF IT. Yep, I know it sounds nuts but... sometimes the "ugly" thing just needs more context. And in this case, I do believe it worked! Which is not to say that I love those dots but... I like them more and was able to finish the page. And thus another Mandala Monday is complete. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Sunny Days Ahead

I had a bunch of printed images leftover from the hybrid layouts and cards I made this week using the fabulous digital/printable papercrafting kit my friend, Carol Porter, designed. In case you missed it, this kit is called Tiny Tales Collection: Rainy Night; it’s going to be a multi-part adventure (hooray!) but Chapter One is called “The Walk Home” and is now available in Carol's NaysWorld Etsy Shop; btw, you can get there via the link in her @naysworld8 profile. I recommend hopping over to her account, because both she and her granddaughter have made some FAB creations with this kit that you don't want to miss!

This time I haven't done any digital wizardry, except to print several of the images (the lotuses and the newspapers) at several different sizes. Which, to me, is one of the beauty parts about using a digital kit to do traditional/ physical papercrafting: you can literally make every item as big or as small as your printer (and your 61 year old eyeballs, lol!) will allow. I used a mix of ordinary cardstock and glossy photo paper, which (serendipitously) makes it look like the main character is walking out of the rainy night-time scene and into a bright sunny day.

I, too, will be walking out into a bright sunny day; though in my case it will mostly be to clean our deck and do some yardwork. But hey, I'm not complaining, after a snow-bedecked winter, it's lovely to be outdoors doing ANYTHING that doesn't involve a snow shovel! 

Hope your Sunday is off to a good start! ♥

JB2607: Whimsical Winter Wonderland

"Whimsical" describes something, "Playfully quaint, fanciful, imaginative and slightly odd; often suggesting a lighthearted, unpredictable or charmingly unusual quality not based on strict logic." This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to use that definition and make a Whimsical holiday card… it might be mice decorating the holiday tree, a space-age midcentury modern wreath, some fun little holiday gnomes, or whatever says whimsical to you. Here's my card:

My friend Gina wrapped my holiday gifts in suuuuper-cute Hello Kitty holiday giftwrap; which of course I saved carefully and backed with cardstock. Then I cut out alllllll of those presents, trees and Kitties. (Yes, I am indeed nuts; thank you for asking.) I wanted my whole background to be that pale green snowflake paper, but alas there wasn't enough. As it turns out, I think that was a good thing, because it completely changed how I used the tiny cut out houses and trees ...for the better! The pine tree background is ancient Pebbles; the scrap of plaid is, I believe, Echo Park; and also quite elderly.

JB2607: Walking in a Whimsical Wonderland will run until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 8th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's amazing card and link up your own.

More Tiny Tales

I mentioned the other day that my friend, Carol Porter, aka @naysworld8 has designed a wonderful digital/printable papercrafting kit called Tiny Tales Collection: Rainy Night; it's going to be a multi-part adventure, with new sets to come; but Chapter One is called The Walk Home and it is now available in her NaysWorld Etsy Shop. Whether you're a digital, physical or hybrid papercrafter, I think you're going to love this kit as much as I do... which is A LOT!

The kit has a dozen gorgeous .png elements which means they have completely translucent backgrounds for effortless digital layering; plus they resize beautifully and look great whether you use them in big or small digital art. But... it's not JUST a digital kit... you can print and cut these images out to use in layouts, journals or cards. BTW, no matter what size I printed them, they looked absolutely perfect on both plain cardstock and glossy photo paper. Case in point:

I made two physical versions of this Let it Rain design: an A2 card and a larger art journal page.

I layered some of the elements digitally before printing; and added others that I printed and fussycut. For the latter, I chose to leave a very skinny white border to get maximum definition. Lotuses are one of my favorite flowers, so I printed and cut LOTS of them. I only used a few in this design, but trust me, you'll see them again!

No matter what size I used or what paper I printed on, the images were flawless, scaling perfectly and printing beautifully. I also made a pretty large all-digital collage... just because I could, lol:

I added a digital background paper that wasn't in the kit; and I also very slightly widened the city street image to fit better in the square format. As you can see, there was NO distortion or loss of clarity. 

More projects to come. In the meantime, you'll definitely want to check out Carol's work (and her sweet granddaughter's who is already quite a formidable designer!!!) via Instagram @naysworld8 as well as her Nay's World Website and NaysWorld Etsy Shop!

Best Reading Quote Ever?

Building a card around Eyelet Outlet Brads and a favorite quote is a great way to make fresh, personal cards for friends and family. Stamps and journal cards abound; or format your fave in a text document, print it out and add it to your card. This card has a base of Book Washi matted with Wood Tape; and helping set the scene for a cozy day of reading, this sweet bear is surrounded by Book Brads; a cute potted Cactus; the tissues from our TP and Tissue Set; a Heart Brad; the Sun and Cloud Set; even a Mini Ladybug has joined the fun.

Cozy Reading Shopping List:

Book Brads

Cactu Brads

Toilet Paper and Tissues Set

Heart Brads

Sun and Cloud Set

Mini Ladybug Brads

Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments to make your next card even more delightful!