JB2320: A Christmas Story

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to create a card inspired by the many holiday books or movies that we all adored in childhood (and likely still adore them today). So whether you love “A Christmas Carol”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “It's a Wonderful Life” we're asking you to create a card inspired by your favorite holiday book or movie. Here's what I made:

Growing up, my favorite holiday story was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" so much so that my mother absolutely swears I could recite the entire thing when I was two and a half; I think that's a teeeeeeeny bit of an exaggeration but I certainly had memorized it before I learned to read, and it's one of the very few things I still know by heart all these years later. Over the years I've found or been gifted a number of editions, all of which I treasure. A few years ago, I scanned some of my favorite illustrations and reduced them so that I could use them on cards. Here I've paired a Santa page with a (digital) Jenni Bowlin Holiday Bingo Card, a small cardstock tree diecut and some coordinated patterned papers from my stash. Three Eyelet Outlet Peppermint Candies and a scrap of embossed cardstock add a little extra texture.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's awesome card (it *might* be inspired by the film "A Christmas Story") and then start planning what film, tv special or book will inspire YOUR card.

Best Fishes

Eyelet Outlet Fish Brads are the perfect aquatic stars of a masculine birthday greeting, especially when paired with Ocean and Sky Washi Tapes, and Water Splat Brads, as you can SEA on this fun and punny card!

The Eyelet Outlet Store has all the Best Fishes... and every other animal you'd like to put on your next card or scrapbook page, as well!

Mandala Monday

It's a Moody Blue Mandala Monday featuring made with Tombow Dual Brush pens and a waterbrush. New Jersey is getting the tail end of Hurricane Lee today, which thankfully seems like it's just going to be a moderate amount of rain, which makes the day and the mandala match... they're both a bit splashy!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like SKETCH-mas

At Jingle Belles, we're still making holiday cards based on this fabulous sketch designed by Stephanie, and you still have time to join the fun. 

Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes, just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch! Here's what I made this week:

This week I've gone VERY literal, thanks to a set of Hero Arts' Hexagon Infinity Dies I got recently at Paper Anthology and couldn't wait to use! The Santa image, tree sticker, heart and sentiment strip are all Doodlebug, from a few different collections. I've added Eyelet Outlet Wreath, Gift and Star dies, as well as a bunch of random EO enamel dots. The texty background of this A6 card is from Carta Bella's Christmas Cheer collection.

Link your sketch-centric cards on the original post at Jingle Belles. Challenge ends next Wednesday, September 20th. 

Aparrotly, It's Your Birthday

Puns and brads go together like... well, in this case, like the Parrots from Eyelet Outlet's Tropical Bird Brads (the set has Toucans, as well) and watercolory diecut foliage. The diecut palm and sentiment circle hold three handsome parrots, a Sun and Cloud Brad peep from behind the fronds, there's a scattering of white Sequins for extra texture, and a mat of Giraffe Washi to frame the whole thing.

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store for more birds, reptiles, dogs, cats, farm animals and jungle critters to make your next card as wild and wonderful as the person to whom you'll send it!

Shake It Up!

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're celebrating my very favorite type of interactive greeting: the mighty Shaker Card! It can be plain or fancy, themed or all-occasion, any color, shape, size or style you'd like, just make sure you Shake It Up!    

I needed a card for a fellow book-lover, and was in the mood to color (!) so I grabbed my Tombows and Avery Elle's Feels Like Home Add On set, which I only got last year at Paper Anthology, but... those Nestabilities Ovals have to be 15+ years old; the Eyelet Outlet Book Brads and Book Tape date back to circa 2017 (admittedly I've restocked both, more than once) and the texty paper is so old I'm not sure whose it was anymore (it's paper-weight though, and not cardstock, which is a clue that it's got some age, lol). I had a hard time choosing between the text as background and Simple Stories' whimsical cloud paper, so I decided to split the difference, cut out the clouds and added them atop the text.

I built the shaker window upwards by cutting five or six frames with the nested oval dies and stacking them. The acetate oval is sandwiched between the top two frame layers and cardstock covered with strips of Book Tape seals in the EO Star Sequins.

Head over to Shopping Our Stash to see the super-inspiring cards the rest of the Crew have made, then start planning how YOU will Shake It Up! This challenge runs until Monday evening, September 25th.

Vroom! Vroom!

It's a Library Car(d) Mandala Monday combining collage mode (vintage library card, funky auto and book paper) with doodle mode (hand drawn mandala rings) and a random diecut that just happened to be sitting on my worktable when I wanted one more element.

JB2318: Merry Sketch-mas!

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we have a fabulous sketch designed by Stephanie!

Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes, just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch! Here's my card:

As you can see, I changed the shapes, but other than that I've been quite faithful. I used my ancient Spellbinders' Nestabilities Labels Eight die set (one of the very first I ever bought, which I still use all the time!) for the hex shape (it's an Authentique journal card) and the large rectangle; added a Hero Arts' "joy" diecut in place of the sentiment strip and dangled a little My Mind's Eye taglet from the Idea-ology flair which is my circle element. As always, I love working with a sketch because it makes life easier; and I love Stephanie's sketches because they're always so flexible!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made; then link your own gorgeous sketch card(s) by Wednesday, September 20th.

Wendy Vecchi: Time for Cake!

Few things say, "Happy Birthday" better than flowers and cake; for most of my childhood birthdays that meant 

tiger lillies and chocolate cake! I'd love for you to visit the Ranger Project Page and follow along as I use Wendy Vecchi's beautiful MAKE ART Birthday Bash and A Million Thanks Stamp, Die and Stencil sets plus lots of her gorgeous Designer Series Archival Inks and the Wreaths Chippies set to add both to this yummy birthday card.

Flour Power!

Nothing says, "Happy Birthday" as well as cake, but since that's kind of hard to fit into an envelope, how about a card featuring Eyelet Outlet Cupcake Swirl Brads and baking accoutrements like Mixer and Cup Brads, Pan and Rolling Pin, Baking Brads, the oven mitt from our Cooking Brads set, a Heart Brad and coordinating vertical Heart Washi Tape.

Whether you're into baking, fishing, driving, camping, eating or... well, pretty much anything else, Eyelet Outlet has all the brads, tapes and embellishments you need!

Sunsplash Labor Day Mandala Monday

If you'd like A LOT of verrrrrrry intense color ASAP, it's hard to beat Dylusions Ink Sprays, imo. I've only used three (Bubblegum Pink, Squeezed Orange and Lemon Zest) of the three dozen or so colors; and honestly I only gave two or three good sprays of each! I did go back in with more Lemon Zest on a paint brush, just to fill in any voids inside the main design area; but then I missed the white, so I flicked on some White Dina Wakley Gloss Spray and added a few details with a paint pen, then outlined everything with several sizes of Letter It Fineliner. 

Wishing a very safe, happy and not-too-hot Labor Day to my fellow Americans; or just an especially nice Monday to the rest of the world!

A Very Vintage Christmas

At Jingle Belles we're still creating with the theme of Christmas Past; incorporating vintage elements and/or vintage or retro style into our holiday cards. There's even a little vintage prize from My  Etsy Shop Just Enough Stuff for one lucky cardmaker who links up with us this fortnight. Meanwhile, here's what I made this week:

I found half a sheet of vintage-themed circle icons from a Ciao Bella holiday collection several years ago, which I matted out with several circle mats, added an older Prima flower in sage green, a wooden snowflake, and a chipboard snowflake circle, then made a background from this gorgeous white Photoplay woodgrain paper and added a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment and a kraft card base. And I cannot tell a lie... I really love how this turned out!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and check out the prize, as well as the Readers' Gallery, which is full of inspiration!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Flower Brads are never out of season, and Eyelet Outlet Rose Brads make any card a bit more elegant. These are mixed with Mini Leaf Brads and climbing up a fancy diecut greenhouse, which is layered on foam tape over a panel of Garden Mushroom Washi Tape to give the illusion of depth. Near the sentiment are some Garden Tool Brads and hovering just above, a beautiful Butterfly Brad.

Peer inside to see all of the gorgeous plants and flowers on that Garden Mushroom Washi, which has been trimmed and layered to give the impression of one big scene.

Eyelet Outlet has brads, tapes, bling, flowers and more; every embellishment you could wish, for every card you dream of making!

SOS504: Welcome to the Jungle

If you've guessed that this fortnight's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to create a card or project which features ANY wild animal, then hurray, I can skip right to the part where I show you my card:

I had nearly forgotten about these adorable Stampendous Peeking Pals, but when I found them again I couldn't wait to stamp and color them. I chose an ancient cloud paper to make a background, cut it into a heart for them to "peek" out of, then added a few coordinating mats and lots of Lawn Fawn Tropical Leaves which I diecut from scraps. The sentiment is a Dina Wakley "Happy Birthday" stamp combined with a Taylored Expressions Simple Strip.

Remember that even though the challenge is called, "Welcome to the Jungle" your card can feature ANY type of wild animal. This challenge runs until Monday evening, September 11th. Why not hop over to SOS to see the inspiring cards the rest of the crew have made!

Splish, Splash!

It's a Deconstructed Mandala Monday with lots of extra-splashy watercolor goodness thanks to my Tombow Dual Brush Pens (applied with a waterbrush) and Ranger's Letter It Fineliners; plus a few white Posca Pen accents. Hope your week is off to a pretty good start!

New Class: Paper Pieced Posies

New Jersey crafters, join me for a three card class at Paper Anthololgy, featuring bold blossoms from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Inspired by Carta Bella's Farmhouse Summer collection, the color palette splits the difference between Summer and Autumn, and the Altenew Painted Encouragement Sentiments make these all-occasion cards super-sendable! We'll stamp the blooms on patterned paper, add a little shading with Tombows, fussy-cut, add Penny Black foliage accents, et voila! Details, dates and sign-up info on the Paper Anthology Blog.

The Spirit of Christmas Past

Our newest challenge at Jingle Belles is all about ringing in the OLD... which is to say, we're creating cards with a vintage or retro vibe. That could mean incorporating actual vintage elements, using new products that have a vintage style, or using stamps or images that convey a retro vibe; whatever says vintage to you.

I recently found a little stash of well-hoarded German Scrap that I had put aside, including these gorgeous Father Christmas images. I've made a distressed background from vintage sheet music, accented with red and green patterned papers, set off by a strip of Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape that features images of vintage postcards.

As an extra incentive to play along, one randomly selected cardmaker who links up with us this time will receive: A Deluxe Christmas Assortment of holiday-themed vintage and found papers from my Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, plus a set of Christmas Word Art clear stamps, some very fun holiday Stickpins, and a collection of doilies in various shapes, sizes and colors. 

This challenge runs through 6pm on Wednesday, September 6th at Jingle Belles. 

Happy, Happy Birthday

Tags are a fun alternative... or addition to... the traditional birthday card, and Eyelet Outlet has all the birthday-themed embellishments you could wish for! This coordinated set features Balloon Brads (the Pastel set is on sale!); Birthday Candles; Banner Brads (both Brights and Pastels are on sale!); and an Emotion Brad wearing a Party Hat. A sprinkling of silver Star Sequins adds a little extra magic to the mix.

New Jersey crafters, if you're attending the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Edison this week, be sure to stop by the Eyelet Outlet Booth and say hi! Non-New Jersians, check out our complete Tradeshow Schedule to see when we'll be visiting YOUR town.

MM35: Wendy Vecchi Inks and Stamps

It's a Very Vecchi Mandala Monday, thanks to my well-loved collection of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger and her beauteous background stamps which I've used in quite a random manner. 

In the spirit of full disclosure: I sat down to paint the basic shapes in Archival shades with a waterbrush full of Isopropyl Alcohol and my little spritzer bottle of the same... and as I worked, my sketchbook page started to warp. This NEVER happens with rubbing alcohol, only with water, so I was a bit perplexed. As it turned out, my spritzer was NOT full of isopropyl, it was filled with water! I thought about starting over, but then decided to keep going, rolled with the slight patchiness of the color, added lots of grungy stamping and voila... this fun and funky mandala is the result.

TREE-Mendous

At Jingle Belles we're still celebrating the iconic evergreen in bough, branch or tree form; and you're invited to join the fun!

My card features Honey Bee Stamps' Layering Holiday Bells diecut in pink and gold, dangling from an evergreen bough, on a pierced background made with Pinkfresh Studio's Ornate Medallions Coverplate die, with a fun accent of pink argyle washi tape. Coincidentally, this card is the sample for August's Paper Anthology Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit, which you can read about HERE. ;)

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and then start planning what YOU will link up with us!

The Sweetest and the Coolest

Cardmaking doen't have to be complicated; all you really need is a great sentiment, a couple of Eyelet Outlet Brads and a few coordinating tapes, et voila! This pair of thank you cards play on the words "Sweetest" (with an EO Cupcake Swirl) and "Coolest" (featuring an Ice Cream Brad) set into small diecut hearts, with a tape stack consisting of Pink Checked Tape, Skinny Hearts from the Valentine Set, multicolor Chevron Tape, adorably whimsical Elephant Washi and some Tiny Hearts. Mats of Pink and White Dot Tape and Pink Checked Tape complete the design.

Need a brad to complement YOUR favorite sentiment? I'm pretty confident that the Eyelet Outlet Online Store has exactly what you're looking for!

SOS503:Hot, Hot, Hot

It's August, so we're feeling the heat at Shopping Our Stash. You could make a card that's warm-weather related, or maybe your heat will be using for cooking, grilling or baking; possibly even
spicy food...? Go with whatever says, "Hot, Hot, Hot" to you, though, as always, if it's not fairly obvious, you might like to mention the connection in your post.

I haven't colored My Favorite Things' Polynesian Paradise hula girl in a bit, so I decided to go with tropical heat: sunshine, palm trees, pineapple and of course as soon as I get that MFT set out, I can't wait to color the chameleon! I got out some of my favorite semi-grunged up, not-quite-solid classic Basic Grey papers, a few ancient Prima "Got Flowers" blooms and my oldie-but-goodie Build a Scene Palm Tree die set from Taylored Expressions. The one newish item is Honey Bee's fun Palm Frond Cover Plate Die which is perhaps the ultimate tropical background.

This challenge at Shopping Our Stash continues through Monday evening, August 28th. Why not hop over to see the amazing inspiration from the rest of the crew, then start planning what you'll make?

Did She Say, "SQUOVALS"?!

Yes. Yes, I did say, "Squovals" because Big Squovals is the name of my new favorite Dina Wakley Stencil from Ranger. I used a few of my favorite Simon Hurley create. Dye Inks (Remember Me, Love Struck, Guppy, Shooting Star and Overzealous, to be precise) to lay down squovals of intense color; then went in with my Letter It Fineliners to make this a Mini Motif Mandala Monday!

Oh Christmas Tree(s)

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're celebrating the beauty of the Christmas Tree by adding one (or more) to our cards. OR, if you prefer, you could add pine branches or evergreen boughs or... well, you get the idea, right?! Here's my card:

I've only just acquired Simon Hurley's "Treescapes" set from Ranger, but I can already predict I'll be using the heck out of it, since, in addition to this glorious stand of pine trees (which I've stamped and overstamped in three shades of Simon's Dye Inks: Overzealous, Later Gator and Tropical Tango) it also has a mixed landscape of pines and deciduous trees, as well as a gorgeous beach full of palm trees. I was so in love with the layers of color, I kept my embellies really sparse: just a diecut snowflake (and an Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brad), a simple sentiment, and a few mats of plain and patterned paper. Easy, peasy!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made to inspire you; then start thinking what you'll be linking!

Wendy Vecchi Back-to-School Notebook

As a kid, there was nothing I loved more than shopping for school supplies in August; but as it turns out, it's even more fun to use my Wendy Vecchi stamps, inks and tapes to create a one-of-a-kind notebook! Head on over to the Ranger Project Page and follow along as I use Wendy's Bravo Stamp, Die and Stencil Set, a few Archival Inks and Wendy's Washi Tape Assortments to transform an inexpensive composition book into a custom journal.

Seashore Garden Gift Set

Eyelet Outlet Brads, Washi Tape, Flowers and Bling are ideal for making cards and so much more! This gift set features Seashore Garden Washi Tape, Glitter Gold Tape, White Paper Flowers, Swirl Bling, Pearl Brads and more.

The square card also sports Sea Shore Brads, Shell Brads, Shell Corners and a yellow Pearl Swirl.

The rectangular card has all three sizes of white Paper Flowers held on with large (12mm) gold-edged purple Pearl Brads and accented with Swirl Bling in champagne. 

Whatever theme, style, colors or mood you're considering for your next card or project, Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments you need!

Lauren Bergold

is dreaming of the beach!

Blog * Instagram * Facebook 

BIG-Time Mandala Monday

After two months of index card mandalas, it's always a little bit of a shock to go BIG again, but my Dina Wakley Blue Edition Journal and Distress Watercolor Pencils definitely help with the transition!

Neutral Noel (Week 2)

We're rolling into the second week of "Neutral Noel" at Jingle Belles and here's how I embraced a neutral palette this time:

I had intended to go with more of a silver/grey/white type scheme this time, but I still had some of the tan/cream/brown items out from last week; and then I discovered an entire herd of adorable tan Impression Obsession diecut reindeer, which sort of clinched the deal. I used Penny Black's Trees and Hills dies to make a landscape and my trusty Nestabilities Diamonds to frame them up, with some highly patina-ed vintage sheet music and Carta Bella starry patterned paper to round off the design.

You can find the Linky tool at Jingle Belles, where you will also be able to check out Stephanie's beautiful Neutral Noel card too! 

You're Not Old...

...You're a Classic! Eyelet Outlet Driving Brads are the perfect accent for masculine cards. They pair beautifully with our Classic Car Brads of course and there are lots of terrific Washi Tape selections to support the theme. In this case, a panel of wide Map Washi is framed with strips of Road Tape; then that panel is offset on a slightly larger one made of Tire Track Washi framed in Glitter Black Tape. A Compass Brad is the perfect finishing touch.

Check out all of the wonderful Brads, Tapes, Bling, Flowers and more in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

SOS502: Vacation Destination

If you've already guessed that the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash involves making a card that evokes a place you'd like to visit, well done! You can go with a geographical location (Honolulu, London) OR a type of place (beach, campground) OR even a fictional place (Narnia, Emerald City) but if your destination isn't fairly obvious, please mention it in your post. I split the difference between actual and imaginary, so my card is set in Paris... circa 1935!

This card has A LOT of layers, even for me; it also has oodles of super-stashy items, certainly there's anything on it less than four or five years old and some of the rub-ons and stickers are considerably older. Roughly, from the top down we've got: K & Co camera (Life's Journey... going back a bit lol) and postcard stickers; We R Memory Keepers embossed rose stickers; Oriental Trading pocket watch and receipt stickers; ancient Paris-themed rub-ons (that amazingly still worked perfectly); some very cool 3x3" sheer, washi-like stickers whose origin is completely unknown to me; a bit of vintage sheet music and text paper (that you can't see at all but it adds to the collage irl); and some absolutely beautiful Eyelet Outlet Eiffel Tower washi tape that has (alas) gone out of print.

I'm also linking up with The Daring Cardmakers' latest challenge: Bon Voyage! 

What is your favorite Vacation Destination? Why not make a card which features it and link up with us at SOS this fortnight!

Week 9: Index Card a Day Concludes

Incredibly enough, we've (already?!) reached the end of ICAD; it seems like June and July fly by faster each and every year! Here are my cards from the past week:

Day 54: Mandala Monday

This rosy, leafy, semi-collaged mandala finds itself in Manhattan's Chinatown, at the corner of Mott and Pell Streets, which poses the deep philosophical question: Should we walk across Pell to Doyers and eat at Nom Wah Tea Parlor; or head down Mott to Chatham Square and go to Golden Unicorn? Decisions, decisions...

Day 55: Lemon or Lime

Lime, please!!!

(Handcut lime-slices made up of scraps of various green patterned papers)

Day 56: Winter

Snow and Ice (and doodle!) covered hills doodled with Tombows, outlined with a Letter It Fineliner and with sparkly bits of gel pen that utterly fail to show up in the photo!

Day 57: Bird

Inspired by all the amazing bird doodles in the Wendy Vecchi Facebook Group, I decided to make my own paper-pieced version. I may have gotten a little bit carried away...

Day 58: Illustration

This seemed like a good time to slide in one last #OneStapleCollage in this case all of the pieces in the stapled stack are vintage illustrations. From top to bottom: A 1965 Corvair; an example of hand-lettering for advertising; a gorgeous yellow rose from a gardening book; S & H Greenstamps (technically not an illustration, lol); a machinery diagram; and a black and white forest from a children's book. Attached with one staple to a funky olive green index card.

Day 59: Peaceful

There are few things that make me feel as #PEACEFUL as doodling randomly on an index card whilst watching British Mysteries on Acorn TV. Specifically, in this case, rainbow striped doodles during Brokenwood Mysteries, series nine.

Day 60: Filigree (Sorta)

I started out with the intention of doodling a #FILIGREE design for Day 60 of ICAD2023 but it morphed into more of a geometric repeating pattern in rainbow shades, so I just rolled with it... 

Day 61: Mosaic (Again... Pretty Loose)

One of my favorite things about ICAD is that you can use the prompts to get you started, but when your original idea morphs into something else entirely, it's still cool. It might, in fact, be even better than your original idea; but the main point is... you feel inspired and then can let yourself follow that inspiration WHEREVER it takes you. Maybe you'll also end up with a beautiful finished piece; even if you don't love the outcome, the process has likely given you a new idea of something to try in future. Whatever happens, you've gained something valuable. My other favorite thing is all the awesome artists I've met and interacted with over the simple act of creating art on index cards for 61 days in a row. Many thanks to everyone who has stopped by to say hi, and as always the biggest portion of my gratitude goes to Tammy Garcia, aka @gypsy999 who dreamt up this fun and inspiring shindig thirteen years ago and is still the biggest motivator and cheerleader I know. I'm already looking forward to June 1, 2024! 

♥♥♥♥♥