Five Faves from 2024: Jingle Belles Edition

December is an excellent time to look back on the crafty year; so without further ado, here are some of my favorite Jingle Belles cards!

JB2404: Text Me

Stephanie gave me this awesome Uniko Christmas Block Party stamp and although I don't use it nearly enough, I always LOVE the results when I do. Oh and it's great with Eyelet Outlet Brads and Bling, too!

JB2408: Peace on Earth Day

One of my favorite prompts each year is our Earth Day Special for which, I confess, I specifically "save up" bits of pretty tissue or giftwrap, plastic packaging, old greeting cards, etc; in order to have a pool of awesome ingredients from which to choose. In this case, I also had Sunny Studio's Holiday Hugs Bear and made a shaker card, which took the whole thing over the top, if I do say so myself. 

(& apparently... I do, lol!)

JB2413: Get in SHAPE for the Holidays

Sad but true: I tend to struggle with shaped cards. A few years ago I used clipart to make a mitten-card template, which is a lot of fun to assemble layers for, especially from my well-hoarded stash of ancient Basic Grey holiday papers and diecuts. Plus there's the opportunity to add ribbon, trimmings and buttons... hard to resist, really!

JB2421: While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

When I sat down to make a punny narwhal card, I immediately grabbed my go-to: Lawn Fawn's Winter Narwhal. But in the same drawer I also found a sadly neglected LF Critters in the Arctic set, as well as Jen Long's Tons of Love Sizzix stamp and die set, AND Rubber Moon's adorable Nerdy Narwhal. And thus the entire paper-pieced pod made their debut on this A7 card.

JB2424: Banner Holiday

My favorite release of 2024 has to be Wendy Vecchi's NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders. This card uses the Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set and the Christmas Add-On Stamp and Die Set with all my favorite xmassy Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink shades. All I needed to add were a few pops of gold et voila!

Holiday Sampler

Nothing says, "Warm Holiday Wishes" quite as well as Simon Hurley's Nordic Knit stamped in red, green and neutral Archival Inks from Ranger, then studded with LOTS of beautiful holiday-themed Eyelet Outlet Brads! This card has thirty-seven (37!) brads from eight different brad styles... can you spot them all? Scroll down for a hint!

Working from top to bottom: 1/16" Round Brads (Brown Mix); Poinsettia Brads; more 1/16" Round Brads (Brown Mix) as reindeer eyes; Heart Brads; Pine Cone Brads; 1/16" Round Brads (Red Mix); Cardinal, Cardinal Profile and Female Cardinal Brads; Snowy Trees and finally 1/16" Round Brads (White). And in case you're wondering, "Did you really pierce a hole, place the brad, and secure the prongs for every single one?" Check out the photo below, which shows the back of the design panel.

Check out the Eyelet Outlet Store for all the holiday embellishments you could possibly need!

SOS537: My Precious

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash miiiiiiight be slightly more challenging than usual. This fortnight we want you to use something on your card that you're been hoarding in your craft supplies for way too long... it might be a piece of specialty paper, some vintage lace, or a fancy embellishment. We're asking you to be strong and give it a home on a card or project.

I have had this Doodlebug Doodlepop typewriter sticker literally for YEARS... it was actually displayed in my Art Lair! But I have a friend who loves vintage typewriters as much as I do and I wanted to make her an extra-special birthday card, so I bit the bullet and actually UNWRAPPED said adorable 3D sticker and used it and I loooooove how my card came out. The only thing older than the typewriter itself is that yellow notebook paper scrap which is absolutely ancient "Love, Elsie" from American Crafts. I wasn't actually hoarding it on purpose, but not only was the color and style perfect, it was pretty much exactly the right size for my A6 card. I think the Tim Holtz "Typo" alphabet dies are out of print, but I still love my set and was happy to break them out to fashion an appropriate custom background. Those pink Eyelet Outlet Heart Brads come in a set with red and white ones in two sizes. Sadly, they're going to be going out of print, but until they sell out, they're ON SALE in the EO Store!

Check out the design team inspiration at Shopping Our Stash and then start thinking what precious item YOU can use to make a card you link up with us this time. SOS537: My Precious runs until Monday evening, December 30th.

Dyamond Board Doodle Trees

It's a TREE-mendous Mandala Monday featuring a terrific TREE-o of Dylusions Dyamond Board Small Trees, doodled with Letter It Fineliners and then tinted with all my favorite green shades of Simon Hurley create Dye Inks. 

To make the trees into a card, I embossed Simon's Stitched Snowflakes background with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder, applied Breakup Blue ink on top, then cleaned the excess ink off the embossed flakes.

A mat of dark blue cardstock, a sentiment from the Sketched Snowmen stamp set, and a little machine stitching complete the design.

As we cruise into the final full week of holiday preparations, I hope you're having fun getting ready for the big day (if you celebrate Christmas) or the big night (if you celebrate Hanukkah)!

Dim Sum Inspired Amigurumi

My latest amigurumi ornament creation is a Laureny "wing it" special: a simple bao-style bun with safety eyes, piggie ears and a little snout. Scroll down to see the inspiration!

These sweet piggie buns are one of our must-haves at my favorite NJ dim sum palace, Qin Dynasty in Parsippany. On the menu they're called Steamed Custard Buns and they have the texture of a Steamed Pork Bun, with a filling of pineapple-y custard. 

When I had them for the first time, I not only knew that I wanted to eat them again the next time we were there, but also that I was pretty sure I knew how to make a crocheted version (...like ya do, lol...) as holiday ornaments! So (as you can see) I did. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Fisherman and Pink. The edible buns sadly don't have twirly piggie tails, but I was able to correct this oversight for the crocheted ones!

If you happen to live within driving distance of Parsippany, I highly recommend Qin Dynasty. They only have cart service on Saturdays and Sundays; but their full menu of dim sum dishes is available to order at anytime for lunch, dinner or takeout. As always, the perfect number of friends to share dim sum is THREE and these two (Elisabeth and Duke) make up the ultimate festive lunch posse:

As you can see, the meal made us so happy, we got a little blurry, lol! ♥♥♥

Build-a-Plaid Bags

Wendy Vecchi's NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders is entirely awesome, but if I had to pick just *one* element that I love the very most, it miiiiiight be the Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set. Mostly because it is SO fun to use and you can make a different design every single time! Or in this case two similar but different designs:

I've used my favorite holiday-centric Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks from Ranger to create one bold holiday plaid in green, and one in red. I used the Christmas Add-On Stamp and Die Set to make layered poinsettias in coordinating colors and accented them with foliage from the set. Fancy ribbon tied to the bags' handles completes the design, while spreading cheer... and, alas, tiny showers of golden glitter... all over the land! :)

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 25th and here's a card that celebrates the Festival of Lights featuring Eyelet Outlet Blue Tear Drop Bling as candle flames; a Heart Brad on the Menorah; blue and white Star Brads in the background; and 1... 2... 3... 4 EO Tapes: Sparkle Gold Glitter Tape; the beautiful blue and gold snowflake tape from the Holiday Washi Set; Sparkle White Glitter Tape and Glitter Tall Trees Tape! 

Super Sparkly Shopping List:

Blue Tear Drop Bling

Heart Brads

Red, White and Blue Star Brads

Holiday Washi Tape Set

Sparkle Gold Glitter Tape

Sparkle White Glitter Tape

Glitter Tall Trees Tape

The Eyelet Outlet Store is full of beautiful embellishments to make all of your holiday cards extra special! ♥

Mandala Monday #50 of 2024

Getting straight to the POINT(settia) this Mandala Monday with a funky, splashy, zendoodle-y holiday bloom that I made into a 5.5" square card on a base of adoringly hoarded Hambly transparency from the Olden Days of papercrafting.

Watercolor effect with Tombow Dual Brush Pens; Outlined in Letter It Fineliners; gold details via ancient metallic paint pen. 

Another Year of Holiday Cards...

...in the bag! Ok technically, they're on the floor at the moment, so I could get the traditional group photo of ALL my Jingle Belles cards from 2024 as the season comes to a close. Next up: pairing them with envelopes, adding sentiments and deciding about which card I'll send to whom!

Many thanks to everyone who played along throughout the year; whether you made a couple of cards or finished your entire list, we hope that starting early helped you beat a little bit of December stress. Stephanie and I will be back at Jingle Belles on January 1, 2025 to start a brand new season of inspiration and fun! ♥

Dylusions Dyamond Board Ornaments

Just in time for the holidays, Dyan Reaveley has designed Dylusions Dyamond Boards in festive shapes like baubles, stars and trees; available in two sizes for extra variety. Perfect for making garlands, place settings, gift tags and more. Follow along on the Ranger Project Tutorials Page as I decorate them with Letter It stamps and stencils, Ranger Archival Inks and Stickles Glitter Gels to create super-colorful multi-layer Christmas tree ornaments...

...which also make awesome package decorations or name tags!

I cannot tell a lie: I really LOVE this project; I hope you'll check it out! ♥

Peace On Earth

Can you hear the Eyelet Outlet Angel Brads singing a joyful holiday tune? 

These angels have a sweet, slightly retro vibe that's perfect for adorning a diecut Christmas tree backed with Sparkle Gold Glitter Tape, studded with Pearl Bling and topped with a Star Brad. A mat and sentiment made from Music Note Washi completes the design. 

Shopping List:

Angel Brads

Star Brads

Sparkle Gold Glitter Tape

Music Note Washi 

Pearl Bling

The Eyelet Outlet Store has all the embellishments you need to make your holiday cards SHINE!

SOS536: Winter Wishes

Here's a December challenge with a TWIST from Shopping Our Stash: Make a card with a winter theme but... NOT Holiday!!! Here's what I made:

I went with a snowy theme so I could use my older-but-still-beloved Taylored Expressions Winter Wishes stamp set for the sentiment. The rest of the card is just diecuts from scraps of specialty cardstock: Impression Obsession's awesome Birch Trees and Deer Trio have to be 15 years old, but I still use them a lot; The woodgrain frame is from a set of Hero Arts Infinity Dies from maybe three or four years ago. The Simon Hurley Stitched Snowflakes Background Stamp (the very bottom layer of the collage) is probably only a year or so old, but already feels like a permanent "go-to" item. I embossed it with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder which puffs up a bit more than ordinary white e/p and a matte/spongy texture that I love. The snowy ombre blue sky was made by blending Prize Ribbon, Uncharted Mariner and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxides really well; then splashing clear water on top, waiting thirty seconds and blotting it off with a tissue. I'm thinking about making a few more versions of this in different colorways, so that when it's time to write those post-holiday thank you notes, I'll be READY! 

SOS536: Winter (But NOT Holiday) Challenge runs until Monday evening, December 16th and we'd love for you to join us. Why not check out what the rest of The Crew have made, then start planning your own Wintery masterpiece?

MM49: On the Map

It's a Marvelously Mappy Mandala Monday on which I wish safe and stress-free travel to all who are flying, driving, riding or sailing home after the Thanksgiving holiday! ♥

Letter It Fineliners and Posca Paint Pens on a vintage atlas page

Banner Holiday (Week 2)

It's the second week of holiday cardmaking inspired by our Jingle Belles Blog Header:

And here's my card:

This week I've made a less literal version, but I've still embraced the colors, the florals, and the red glitter and golden metallic accents. My florals are Hero Arts' Christmas Roses, embossed with Ranger Gold Embossing Powder and watercolored. The diecut sentiment is Penny Black. The tiny star sequins are Eyelet Outlet.

You have until next Wednesday evening, December 4th, to link up with us for this last 2024 Jingle Belles challenge. There's even a little poinsettia-centric prize which will be randomly awarded to one lucky cardmaker. Read all about it at Jingle Belles!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating tomorrow! This pretty wreath consists of several neutral shades of diecut cardstock, creating a grapevine-like base that can be embellished with all your favorite Eyelet Outlet autumnal brads. Yellow Paper Flowers are topped with Sunflower Brads, clustered with Colored Daisies, Butterflies and Leaf Brads.

♥♥♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Layerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs

Park your tiny car collage in the tiny car collage garage! Here's a card that has A LOT of flat layers: layers of vintage map, torn sheet music and book paper; lots of 49 and Market rub-on transfers and acetate leaves; vellum stickers, vintage trading stamps, a little bit of ink and stitching around the edges et voila!

Just a reminder that the Masculine Card Challenge at Shopping Our Stash runs until next Monday evening, December 2nd; so you still have time to join the fun!

Wet and Wild

It's a splishy-splashy, super-colorful Mandala Monday thanks to my Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils from Ranger. My current favorite way to use them is to both draw and fill in the shapes with the DRY pencils (adding more color at the edges and lighter towards the center of each shape); then take a waterbrush and "activate" the awesome watercolor blendiness (yes, that IS a word!) taking care to work from light to dark and rinse the brush whenever it starts to overblend the shades. 

At the end, it's fun to apply the wet brush directly to the pencils, create a little puddle of color, and then flick it onto the piece. As with most watercolor products, you get a lot of variation depending on: 1) how much color you pick up; 2) how big your brush/drop size is; 3) whether the piece is wet or dry when you flick at it; and 4) whether or not you blot the splatters off or let them dry on their own. With a bit of practice you can definitely learn to "steer" the piece, but there will always be a very fun serendipity factor that I love!

I used rainbow colors from Sets One, Two and Three of the Distress Watercolor Pencils; and added the outlines and details with three sizes of Letter It Fineliners after the panel was completely dry.

JB2424: Banner Holiday

It's hard to believe we're heading into the last official 2024* Jingle Belles challenge; hasn't this year flown past?! We're wrapping up the year with an inspiration challenge; we'd like to see new holiday cards based on any aspect of the 2024 Jingle Belles Blog Header that inspires you. Maybe it's the glittery letters and frame; the red poinsettias and candy canes; the jingle belles (or jingle bells, lol) ...just make sure you include what inspired you in your post.

And here's my Banner-Inspired card:

For my inspiration I chose the poinsettias, the foliage, and the red + green + gold color palette. I used Wendy Vecchi's Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencils and the Christmas Add-On Stamp and Die Set (both from her 2024 Spellbinders' NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection) to make the background and focal point, respectively. For the plaid I used Wendy's Archival Inks in Carnation, Red Geranium, Fern Green and Sunflower, with a little extra sparkle from a glittery gold pen.

Here's how I used the triple holly leaf die to build the diecut poinsettias, if you'd like more detail:

Step 1: Diecut five deep red holly leaves, five medium red holly leaves and one golden cluster of berries. (By using a double layer of cardstock you'll get SIX leaves in one pass, so it's very quick!)

Step 2: Punch a small circle of sticker paper or scrap cardstock that has edge-to-edge adhesive. Peel the release paper and place the circle on your worktop with the ADHESIVE UP. Add the five dark red holly leaves to the circle, so that their points meet at the center.

Step 3: Add the five medium red holly leaves in between the dark red ones. I like to use slivers of foam tape for this round, so the flowers have some dimension, but you can put them on flat if you prefer.

Step 4: Adhere the golden berry cluster to the center of the flower, and gently curve the petals a bit for a more realistic look.

TA-DA you've got a poinsettia in exactly the right shade to match your project! ♥

Head on over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and a photo of the prize that one lucky random cardmaker will snag, just by linking up with us this fortnight. JB2424: Banner Holiday runs until the evening of Wednesday, December 4th.

*Just to be clear, this is only the end of the 2024 season; Jingle Belles will be back for a brand new year of holiday cardmaking, starting January 1, 2025! ♥

Hanukkah Jumpstart

Hanukkah Jumpstart is the newest holiday card kit, available only from the Paper Anthology  Etsy Shop, Paper Anthology Design. This elegant card features the beautiful Menorah from Taylored Expressions’ Bright Hanukkah Stamp Set, gold embossed for you on white cardstock; with candles, flames and a sentiment added before being diecut into a neat oval that’s ready to mat on the navy blue ovals included. There are five white A2 gatefold cardbases, with an embossed belly band made of gold shimmer cardstock for each; as well as panels which have been pressure embossed with Sunny Studio’s Moroccan Circles Embossing Folder.

Paper Anthology’s Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit is a pre-packaged kit that includes everything you need (except adhesive) to complete FIVE copies of this new original holiday card design. This edition is called “Hanukkah Jumpstart” for obvious reasons.

 

Don’t we all adore the IDEA of making holiday cards throughout the year, instead being overloaded in November and December? But sometimes it’s hard to be inspired during the “off-season”. This pre-packaged kit features everything you need (except adhesive) to complete five beautiful, elegant Hanukkah cards, including complete written instructions and a nice big photo for reference.

This kit contains:

Five pre-stamped & gold embossed oval Menorah focal points
Five navy oval mats
Five pre-stamped Stars of David
Five embossed gold shimmer cardstock belly bands
Five sky blue embossed panels
Complete step-by-step instruction sheet with large color photo
Five white gatefold-fold A2 cards

Get your copy today, ONLY in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop; then be sure to check out the other Holiday and Birthday Jumpstarts, plus our multi-card Class in a Kit selections.

Give Thanks

It's a week before Thanksgiving, but there's still time to send out some quick, easy cards! This super-simple CAS design features Eyelet Outlet Leaf and Mini Leaf Brads layered over stenciled leaves in fall colors. The background and diecut sentiment are made from beautifully neutral Nature Washi Tape. Change up the sentiment and this design could be used for literally ANY autumnal occasion.

Speaking of stencils: Did you know that you can easily make your own custom stencils using ANY simple craft dies you love? In this case, I've taken the three sizes of leaves from the Essential Envelope Die Set in Wendy Vecchi's NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders and blended my favorite fall shades of Wendy's Archival colors from Ranger through them before adding the Leaf Brads and a simple sentiment. Job done! I made my stencils from glossy cardstock which is pretty sturdy; but to make them last forever cut the shapes out of stencil plastic. Don't forget to leave a bit of distance around each shape so that you have room to blend without accidentally getting stray ink on other areas of your project.

 

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Store today for brads and tapes that'll work perfectly for EVERY season of your cardmaking year; and check out all of Wendy Vecchi's awesome designs from Spellbinders.

SOS535: Masculine Cards

It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that Guy Cards are harder to make than Girl Cards. Or at least many cardmakers (including ME!) think so. So this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're challenging you to make a masculine card for any occasion you'd like, I needed a birthday card, so that's what I made.

One of my additional goals on this outing was to combine an inky stamped/stenciled background with collage elements. Because I've noticed that I either do ALL collage or all inky goodness; and I quite like the way other people (including my current Art Crush Katie Pertiet) put them together. I've used a bunch of neglected stash items on this one including Simon Hurley's Leaf Prints stamps (about a year old) and Handwritten background (maybe two years); Letter It's Alternating Chevrons stencil (maybe three years); some 49 and Market Acetate Leaves and Vellum Leaf Stickers (two years?); lots of vintage sheet music, book paper, a chart from a map and some fab trading stamps, plus a vintage car illustration; and possibly my all-time favorite crafting supply that ISN'T technically a craft supply: Drywall Tape! The sentiment is part rub-on transfer and part wordfetti sticker... the latter is five or six years old. I'm a little bit proud that I managed to squeeze alllllllllllllllll of that onto an A6 card and I still left some white showing in the background.

SOS's Masculine Challenge runs through Monday evening, December 2nd. Check out the fab makes by our Crew at Shopping Our Stash then start planning what you'll link up with us!

Will It Go Round in Circles? (YES!)

It's a Multi-Tag Mandala Monday in my Dina Wakley Kraft Journal* from Ranger. I made the shapes with Letter It Fineliners, filled in soft color with pencils, and added a few extra patterned paper circles in the background. Wishing you a happy and productive week! ♥

*The 6x6 Kraft Journal is currently out of print, but there are lots of other options in kraft, in square, and well, lots more choices; you should check them out! ;)

Collaged ATCs

My friend Linda completed The 100 Day Project this year, and then she made her beautiful collection of Artist Trading Cards into groups of three and started a swap. Of course I was excited to participate! I made three "Flower Girl" ATCs and used Wendy Vecchi's Essential Envelope die set from Spellbinders' Not Your Ordinary Card Collection to make a pocket for them, and the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to create a coordinating tag.

These ATCs have LOTS of layers, including: Kanada text paper from India; a map of Manhattan; vintage flower illustrations from a children's book; tiny sewing pattern ladies and some found text from a beautifully patina-ed kiddo's chapter book.

Each ATC is backed with vintage Chinese text paper fused onto plain white cardstock (for extra strength and solidity) where I've written the name of the series as well as my signature.

I used a few older gel prints and some additional coordinated collage items to create the Essential Envelopes pocket as well as the Pinking Edge pull-out layered tag.

I love the way the coordinating pocket and tag not only keep the ATCs safe and secure, they also make them look and feel like an official SET!

These are the first ATCs I've made and traded in quite some time, but I think they've gotten me re-hooked on this fun format! ♥

Christmas Feast: Week Two

It's the second week of our Jingle Belles' celebration of holiday sweets and treats and you've still got plenty of time to join the fun, so let's get right to it!

The mini journal cards from Carta Bella's Christmas Cheer collection were absolutely perfect for this theme. I chose four, made them into a grid, rounded the outer corners, added a few stickers et voila! Job done! 

The Christmas Feast challenge (#JB2423) runs until next Wednesday evening, November 20th. You can link up on the original post at Jingle Belles.

Hello, Pumpkin

Celebrating autumn with a sweet and simple card featuring Eyelet Outlet Pumpkin Brads (they pair perfectly with the pumpkin border from Lawn Fawn's Simply Celebrate Fall stamp set; just sayin') a Squirrel from the Acorn and Squirrel set and a scattering of Mini Leaf Brads.

Pumpkin-centric Shopping List:

Pumpkin Brads

Acorn and Squirrel Brads

Mini Leaf Brads

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store and get inspired by all of the embellishments for fall, winter, holiday and more!

Embossing on Textured Cardstock

I love the crisp perfection of using Ranger Embossing Powders on smooth cardstock, but recently I've been experimenting with using them on on Ranger's Woodgrain and Cracked Leather textured cardstocks; and even on Dina's Stickyback Canvas Tape! I love the result... a beautifully soft, slightly worn effect, similar to vintage linens. Head on over to the Ranger Project Tutorials Page where I'll walk you through the process step by step using Ranger Embossing Inks and Powders, I think you'll enjoy trying this yourself!