MM43

It's a Very Vecchi Mandala Monday featuring the adorable kitty from Wendy's Halloween Add-On stamp and die set in Spellbinders' NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection. I haven't quite used alllllll the dies from this impressively substantial set, but I did manage to work in the cat, spider web, spiders, tri-color candy corn, smaller iced candies, stars, and it wouldn't be Halloween without bats, now would it? I cut nearly everything from scraps of cardstock and apart from the dies I only needed a supplemental scattering of Liquid Pearls dots (leftover from the fun Treat Bags last week) to complete this 5.5" square card design!

I hope your week is off to a good start and that you'll get the chance to do something creative today! ♥

You're Not the (EM-)Boss of Me!

Flashing back to Wendy Vecchi's first collection for Spellbinders (The Garden Collection) and specifically playing with the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder with a selection of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger. I've used a bunch of different techniques that Wendy has shown off in various Tip Tuesday posts, such as inking and spritzing the emboss- or deboss-side before embossing; painting the flowers with diluted Archival Reinkers from the back or front; applying ink directly from the Archival Ink Pad (on the emboss- or deboss-side); and inking, stenciling, stamping (with some older Studio 490 stamps) and/or doodling on top. I love how you can get so many completely different variations with the same embossing folder, but they're all equally beautiful!

PINK Christmas: Week 2

It's the second week of our gala PINK CHRISTMAS celebration at Jingle Belles, in which we are asking YOU to make holiday cards that are predominantly pink and WE will donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each card that gets linked up! Visit the original PINK CHRISTMAS post at Jingle Belles for all the details as well as the Linky Tool to add your cards. Meanwhile, here's what I made this week:

I raided my happy little stash of Doodlebug Design papers, journal tags and stickers to make this sweet (in every sense, lol) little card that's mostly pink... with touches of tan gingerbread and reindeer; as well as some fun green Christmas tree cookies. I used an ancient pink background paper with a strong horizontal element to it, which made lining up the decorative strips super-easy!

Link your gorgeous PINK CHRISTMAS creations (because YES, you definitely can make as many as you'd like!) on the original post at Jingle Belles. This challenge (#JB2421) runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October 23rd. 

Dia de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead (November 1st) is a remembrance and celebration of friends and family who have passed away and Sugar Skulls are one of the day's most beautiful symbols. This card features Eyelet Outlet Sugar Skull Brads, as well as Rose Brads, a Sunflower Brad and some Mini Bees; with Skull and Bones Washi Tape serving as the perfect background.

Shopping List:

Sugar Skull Brads

Rose Brads

Sunflower Brad

Mini Bees

Skull and Bones Washi Tape 

The Eyelet Outlet Online Store has all the brads, tapes, bling and enamels you could possibly wish for, whether you celebrate Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, Thanksgiving or all of the above!

Halloween Treat Bags

Halloween is just around the corner and what could be more seasonally appropriate than some "boo-tiful" little treat bags. There's a complete step by step tutorial showing how I made some on the Ranger Project Page, using Ranger Archival Inks, Transparent Gloss Texture Paste and Liquid Pearls; I'd love for you to pop over and take a look!

Mandala Monday

Douglas Adams' fans will be (mildly) excited to learn that this is Mandala Monday number 42 for the year; and while it does not (as far as I know) solve the mysteries of life, the universe and everything, it's brightly colored and (mostly) symmetrical; as well as being contained in the tiny library catalog card journal that my friend Mary (@millwoodstudioart) made for me!

Pink Christmas!

It's that time again at Jingle Belles, our favorite prompt of the year: PINK CHRISTMAS! In which you make and link new holiday cards that are predominantly PINK and we (Stephanie and Lauren) donate $2 (apiece!) per card to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation! Yes, you can link as many cards as you'd like to and no, your cards don't need to be entirely PINK but we'd like the pink to be the main color. Options regarding size, shape, themes and additional colors added in with the PINK are up to you! 

Sound good? Then without further ado, here's my card:

You know how it is when you have NEW crafty goodies: you just cannot wait to use them, then you can't stop, right? I am currently obsessed with Wendy Vecchi's NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders, so for this card I broke out the Christmas Add-On Stamp and Die Set and used the triple holly leaf die to very quickly cut lots of layers from textured pink cardstock; which I then inked and stacked, in two five-petal layers for each flower, into poinsettias, finishing off with the three berry cluster at the center, and finally a few tiny stick-on pearls plus a few cuts of the beautiful, delicate greenery die. I used the sentiment stamps from the set and a Build-a-Plaid background made with the second smallest stencil and Pink Peony Archival. A little bit of lace, some darker pink mats and a bit of machine stitching and I was good to go! There's a little more detail about the making of the poinsettias and the use of the Build-a-Plaid Stencils on my blog.!

The poinsettia-making process is made much easier by starting out with a 3/4" circle of adhesive cardstock, upon which you stack your first layer of five poinsettia petals; then you add five more petals... (staggered between each pair on the first round) ...and make them immobile with a second 3/4" circle of adhesive cardstock on the back.

Speaking of EASY: of course you can use the Build-a-Plaid Layering Stencils without any special equipment but... IF you happen to have the MAKE ART Stay-tion, not only do you never have to worry about securing the stencil edges with any sort of adhesive, you can also do things like an evenly spaced diagonal plaid background with NO measuring or worrying about keeping the stripes parallel. I do like to place a small tape loop behind my paper before I begin, so that it doesn't shift as I change stencil directions, but other than that the four super-strong, never-pinchy magnets that come with the Stay-tion are more than adequate to the task of holding the stencils no matter how many times you re-arrange them.

I do hope you'll head on over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's gorgeous PINK CHRISTMAS creation and then start planning what you'll link up with us this time. This challenge (#JB2421) runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Scaredy Cat?

There's no need to fear! Fun and fabulous Halloween cards are easy as (pumpkin) pie with Eyelet Outlet Small Eye Brads, Spider Brads, Spider Washi and Glitter Black Tape paired with the sweet kitty, spider webs and sentiment from the Halloween Add-On to Wendy Vecchi's Not Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders.

And YES, the Build-a-Plaid Layering Stencil Set continues to be very addictive (in a GOOD way!); this time I've used Cactus Flower, Petunia, Violet, Orange Blossom, Tea Rose, Fern Green and Prickly Pear Archival Inks from Wendy's Designer Series Line at Ranger. I love that they are translucent so that you get different tones in the places they overlap!

SOS532: Halloween

It's time for a brand new, super-timely challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This fortnight's theme is Halloween, so you can either rock that holiday OR go your own way but use Halloween colors: orange, black, green, lime and/or purple. I went with the former, so that I could work in one of my own favorite Halloween colors: PINK!

I actually had an entirely different plan, but when I got out my Halloween stuff, I discovered a little un-remembered cache of Frank Garcia's Luna collection from Prima Marketing a few years ago, so obviously I immediately switched gears! The witchy and webby papers only needed a bit of distressing; the pumpkins, ghost and sentiments I fussy-cut from a few journal cards that were in the set. I added a Hero Arts' diecut black cat and half a dozen (sadly discontinued) Eyelet Outlet Mini Spider Brads and called it good.

This challenge (SOS532) runs until the evening of Monday, October 21st. I hope you'll hop over to SOS to see what the other Boo Crew Members have made to inspire you!

Stuck on Stickers

I haven't made a sticker mandala in ages, but I had so much fun with this, I predict you'll be seeing additional ones fairly soon! I used my Helix Circle Tool to draw some concentric circles and a Letter It Fineliner from Ranger for the smaller shapes that hold the puffy animal stickers. Reinforcement circles (cut in halves) and tiny triangles give the design more structure and tiny flowers have a bit of sparkle irl. In the center the sweet kitty from Dina Wakley's Pocket Circles Stamp Set is the perfect mascot!

 

Let's Go Gecko

What's grey and green and hilarious and good at typing? Gordon the Amigurumi Gecko, of course! Made especially for Nephew Matthew's birthday. 

This pattern is called Gayle the Crested Gecko Amigurumi; it was designed by Charlyn Smith and is available in her Etsy Shop, Critterific Crochet. You can see lots more cute/realistic crocheted critters on her IG account @critterific_crochet.

I used (sadly discontinued) Mani Pedi yarn from Lion Brand in the Yoga colorway; though I "stacked the deck" by using the grey and green sections I had skipped over when making ami fishes a while back. I enjoyed making this and would recommend this well-written, intermediate level pattern (with LOTS of great photos and even links to some helpful videos) to anyone who is moderately skilled at crochet and likes lizards. 

Gettin' Sketchy

Stephanie and I are still making cards based on her awesome card sketch this week at Jingle Belles and you're still invited to join the fun! First here's a reminder of the sketch:

And now, here's my card:

I went a bit vintagey this week; actually I went almost entirely vintagey! Only my sentiment is cut from a modern Simple Stories mini journal card... oh and there's a silver metallic cardstock layer... but otherwise the background collage is all vintage paper; the postcard is scanned and re-sized but it's from my IRL collection of vintage postcards. Maybe my favorite things are those beautiful vintage Plaid Trading Stamps that Stephanie found and gifted to me!

You've got until next Wednesday evening (10-9-24) to link your sketch-inspired cards at Jingle Belles; remember you can flip it, stretch it, rotate it, smoosh it or change shapes; just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your card!

Witch Way to the Candy?!

Nothing says, "Happy Halloween" as well as a witch-shaped shaker card full of Eyelet Outlet Pumpkin Sequins, am I right? Especially one that features the fab new Black Cat and Candy Corn Brads, as well as Spider and Pumpkin Brads not to mention that beautiful new Spider Washi Tape.

Shopping List:

Pumpkin Sequins

Black Cat Brads

Candy Corn Brads

Spider Brads

Pumpkin Brads

Spider Washi Tape

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store for all the creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky Halloween Brads, Tapes and Sequins you could possibly desire! 

MM40 (and 39!)

It's a Many Splendored Mandala Monday, once again working in my Dina Wakley 6x6 Journal* and letting the kraft pages shine. This time I did most of the basic shapes with a few different sizes and colors of Posca paint pens; then outlined everything with a Ranger Letter It Fineliner.

Last week's mandala was just lines, and a bit smaller, but probably as close to symmetrical as I'm ever going to get, so I was pretty pleased:

I hope your week is off to a good start and that you'll find time to do something creative and fun this week! ♥

*Sadly the Dina 6x6" Kraft Journal is discontinued, but you can still get a larger Dina kraft version; or an 8x8 Dylusions Journal in kraft, ledger or black; or lots of other cool journals and accessories from Ranger!

Happy PURR-thday!

The Halloween Add-On Stamp and Die Set from Wendy Vecchi's latest Spellbinders release, Not Your Ordinary Card Collection is indeed outstanding for Halloween but... it's not JUST for that holiday.* Case in point:

A little bit of a warning: when you start paper-piecing the adorable kitties, you should probably allow a little bit of extra time and cardstock because once you start, you will likely not be able to stop at just ONE cat! For that matter, the Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set is also quite addictive. This time I chose to go with some of the softer shades from Wendy's Ranger Archival Inks, so I used Leaf Green, Sky Blue and Pink Peony. Of course it's entirely possible to work with any stencil set without the MAKE ART Stay-tion, but it's so incredibly helpful that I'd hate to be without it at this point. I used a few of the dies from the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to make the main portion of the sentiment; and some of the accessories are from the Christmas Add-On set.

I had been planning to use the cool pocket and some of the dies in the Essential Envelope Set, but by the time I was up to three cats I couldn't just choose ONE so I made a larger (not quite A7) card they could all inhabit!

*I do actually have some fab Halloween ideas for the set, as well, and they'll be coming along in a future post!

SKETCH-tivus for the Rest of Us

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to get SKETCH-y with us. Take a peek at the inspiring sketch Stephanie has created for us and feel free to flip it, stretch it, rotate it, smoosh it or change shapes; just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your card!

Here's my card:

A frame is a nice choice for the focal element in the sketch, and since this one was oriented vertically, I chose to rotate the sketch 90 degrees counterclockwise, but otherwise my card is quite faithful to the original. I filled said frame with sheet music and some supercute stickers, added various washi strips to the beautiful 49 and Market background panel, did a little stitching, et voila!

Link your sketch cards on the Sketchtivus post at Jingle Belles by 6pm (eastern) on Wednesday, October 9th. 

Best Fishes...

...for a FINTASTIC Birthday! This fun and punny card features Eyelet Outlet Shark Brads, Fish Brads (they're on sale!) and Water Splat Brads as well as three styles of tape: Ocean Washi and extra wide Water Tape are torn and layered to give a feeling of movement and a mat of Glitter Gold Tape that sets off the gold metallic highlights in the Ocean Tape.

Shopping List:

Shark Brads

Fish Brads 

Water Splat Brads 

Ocean Washi

 Water Tape

Glitter Gold Tape

WATER you waiting for? Swim over to the Eyelet Outlet Store to SEA all of these FIN-tastic items... and so much more!

Customized Notebook

I'm happy to be up on the Ranger Project Page with a very fun and funky composition book I altered using some of my favorite products: Ranger Archival Inks, Liquid Pearls, Stickles and more! I'd love for you to CLICK THIS LINK and visit the step-by-step tutorial! ♥

Unbe-LEAF-able!

It's time for Challenge #531 at Shopping Our Stash. This one's called, "I'm LEAF-ing It Up to You" and, as you may already have guessed, we'd like you to create a card that features leaves. This being the first week of Fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, you may well choose to make a card that features the rich seasonal shades of browns, reds, yellows and oranges. Or... maybe not...?

The other night I happened to stumble upon a folder full of watercolor paper panels: some were painted a single shade, some had splashes or blended colors, others were obviously just using up whatever paints I happened to have been using that session; which I'd saved to use later for stamping or diecutting. The best thing I discovered was this 5" square which was painted half sky blue and half grass green. There was also a set of chunky Altenew diecut letters painted similarly half and half. I have NO idea what I'd intended to do with them or why I never did whatever it was, but I was excited to find them and instantly shifted gears to favor tropical foliage instead of the autumnal sort I had been considering. I used my beloved Lawn Fawn Tropical Leaves die set and got to work... et voila! A few tiny flowers, coordinating mats and a secondary sentiment later, I was finished.

Head on over to Shopping Our Stash to see the unbe-LEAF-ably inspiring cards from the rest of the team and start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight. SOS531: I'm LEAF-ing It Up to You runs until Monday evening, October 7th.

It's In the Bag

I needed a fast giftbag for a birthday dude, so of course I couldn't resist using Wendy Vecchi's "Not Your Ordinary Card Collection" dies from Spellbinders. This time I chose a more masculine palette of Archival Inks to use with the Build-a-Plaid Layering Stencils (English Ivy, Tiger Lily, Peat Moss and Monarch Orange) with which I adorned an Essential Envelope pocket and also a small kraft gift bag from the big box store. 

I used the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On to make a card to tuck into the pocket, which, as it turns out, was also just big enough to hold a medium-sized candy bar. I added a few strips of Wendy's Washi Tape Assortment 1 and a bit of ribbon and twine and called it good.

Visit Spellbinders to see the entire "Not Your Ordinary Card Collection" as well as Wendy's previous Garden Collection! And you should definitely check out the Facebook Group, Make Art with Wendy Vecchi where you can see lots of Wendy's makes and videos, as well as checking out what other crafters are doing AND you can post your own Vecchi-centric creations, too!

Don't Make Me Laugh!

Unless you're participating in this fortnight's Jingle Belles challenge, "Ho Ha Ha" in which case, making us laugh, chuckle or smile is EXACTLY what we'd like you to do; by making a card that's funny, punny, silly or snarky. Here's what I made this week:

I loved Stephanie's Taylored Expressions Grumpling card from last week, and it reminded me that I own the Mythical Grumplings stamp set, with it's supercute sourpuss of a yeti, to whom I've given an Eyelet Outlet Santa Hat Brad. I used my (sadly out of print) Stamplorations' "Jingle All the Way" die for the top part of my sentiment panel, and computer-generated the rest, using a free font called Bohemian Typewriter. I used a nice big Nestabilities label die on the panel and matted it on coordinating cardstock; then added the whole thing to a piece of offset chevron patterned paper... (so ancient I have no idea who made it) ...which I augmented with some skinny washi tape strips.

You still have until next Wednesday evening (9-25) to link up your own humorous holiday card(s) at Jingle Belles!

Hello, Fall!

Looking forward to all the joys of autumn, especially colorful leaves, crisp air and cooler temps! Here's a pair of fall cards featuring Eyelet Outlet Leaf Brads, Sunflower Brads and a bunch of autumnal-inspired tapes including Wide Sunflower and Wide Leaf Tapes, plus Brick and Wood Washi as well as intricate and delicate Nature Tape.

Shopping List:

Leaf Brads

Sunflower Brads

Wide Sunflowe Washi

Wide Leaf Tape

Brick Tape 

Wood Washi 

Nature Tape

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store to find all of this and lots more; better yet, check out the Tradeshow Schedule to see if the EO Booth will be coming to your town this fall!

Not Your Ordinary Card Collection

I'm thrilled to get my hands on Wendy Vecchi's new collection from Spellbinders, which is called “Not Your Ordinary Card Collection” and I assure you, it totally lives up to its name. I couldn't wait to dive into the Essential Envelope Die Set, which has TWENTY dies, including this cool style of open envelope, which is a bit like a library pocket, so of course I was onboard as soon as I heard that, lol! I've also used all of the flowers, most of the leaves and the sentiment from the set, and for my first project I just diecut colored cardstock to which I added very minimal shading with Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger.

The Build a Plaid Layering Stencil Set is also outstanding; it features five 6x6" stencils, each with a different size of parallel stripes, so you can (as the name implies, lol) literally build a different plaid pattern every time. I chose to make a very loose, multi-color design featuring some of my favorite Archival shades including Rosy Posey, Pink Peony, Leaf Green and Sunflower.

For the interior card I used the medium sized frame die from the Pinking Edge Birthday Add-On set, which has three different pinked panels and some cool birthday accessories like a multi-layer cake, as well as the perfect "Happy Birthday" sentiment that you can cut with or without a shadow. 

I'm excited to play with more of the birthday accessories later; oh and there's a very cool Halloween Add-On with stamps and dies (and the cutest cat everrrrrr!) as well as a Christmas Add-On... all of which I will be digging into SOON, so stay tuned! Meanwhile all of these items are available separately or as a bundle on the Spellbinders website as well as fine papercrafting stores everywhere!  

Diamonds (& Speckles) Are a Mandala's Best Friend

It's a 6x6... (plus a little bit extra!) ...Mandala Monday in my Dina Wakley Kraft Journal, with Letter It Fineliners laying down the basic shapes; a combination of inks, markers and paint pens adding color; and a finishing touch of splattered White Gloss Spray.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead! ♥

New Kit: Happy Haunting

With Halloween on it's way, Paper Anthology Design has put the focus on hocus pocus! It's not just WITCH-ful thinking, our newest Class in a Kit, Happy Haunting, really is creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky; not to mention cute as can be, and thus these cards are suitable for sending to boys and ghouls of all ages. The designs are built around some of our favorite seasonal stamps and dies from Impression Obsession, Lawn Fawn, Hero Arts and more; but here's the best part: ALL of the diecuts have been pre-cut for you; and all of the sentiments pre-stamped! You get to skip right to the FUN parts: arranging, assembling and attaching all the elements into some of the fastest (and cutest!) Halloween cards ever.

This kit has everything you need… (except adhesives and optional ink for edging) including LOTS of googley eyes! …to create all three A2 cards as pictured, as well as step-by-step instructions and a nice big color photo to help with placement. It's all treats and no tricks. Click THIS LINK (or ANY of the bolded text in this post!) to go directly to the Happy Haunting product page in our Etsy Shop, Paper Anthology Design.

JB2419-Ho Ha Ha!

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to create Humorous Holiday Cards; they can be funny, punny, snarky or silly but make sure they induce a smile, a chuckle or a laugh. 

Here's my card:

Something I only tend to realize when a humor challenge arrives is that I don't have a vast quantity of funny stamps, especially holiday-themed; I'm not sure HOW this is possible, but there ya go! As I was considering what to do, I found this TINY (1" square) HUMBUG stamp which I think has to be 20+ years old and I wondered if I could make it into a full-sized A2 card. And it turns out, YES, though it's definitely a bit more pared down than my usual style. A little matted diecut frame, some foam Thickers, a few patterned paper panels in appropriately coordinating "Humbug Green" et voila!

Hop over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has created and start planning your own smile-worthy card to link up with us. JB2419 Ho Ha Ha will run until the evening of Wednesday, September 25th.  

Unsuccessful Chameleon?

Eyelet Outlet Reptile Brads feature both chameleons and geckos, and it would be a shame if one COULDN'T see them, since they're very handsome indeed. This chameleon is proud to be the star of a "Dad Joke" style card; he's joined by a Tall Palm Brad, and backed up with Grass Tape, Wood Washi and Wide Cactus and Flamingo Tape.

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store where there are creatures and critters galore!

SOS530: Don't Really Need Another...

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash it's time for True Confessions from the Design Team and maybe (if you dare!) from you? We're owning up to the stash items we can never resist, even when our current supply is (arguably) more than sufficient. 

I'll go first: I confess that I am AWASH in washi tape... but I have NO regrets whatsoever on this point!

When it comes to washi and deco tape, I'm in what our late great SOS DT member Leslie Hanna used to call a "S.A.B.L.E." situation; by which she meant, "Supplies Available Beyond Life Expectancy"! I've used twenty-nine (29!) different varieties on this card and I've barely scratched the surface of my collection. I've also used a bunch of paper flowers and enamel dots. It's possible that my stash in both of those categories could also have been used as my True Confession, but neither is quite as gargantuan as the washi cache, so we'll just leave it there.

Head over to SOS to see what the Crew have made and read their shocking True Confessions; then start thinking about what you might conceivably have too much of... and how you could use a bit of it to make a card you link up with us. SOS530: Don't Really Need Another runs until Monday evening, September 23rd.

PS: In case you're wondering, the trick to diecutting washi-covered shapes with NO fear at all about curling or un-stuck ends is to use a piece of cardstock covered with edge-to-edge adhesive. I like to Xyron a piece of cardstock but you can also use double-sided adhesive sheets or rolls. Then just line your tapes up neatly, burnish them a bit, and diecut like you're using patterned paper!

MM37

It's a splishy splashy Mandala Monday featuring some of my favorite shades of Tombow Dual Brush Pens with linework by Ranger's Letter It Fineliners and a few Posca Paint Pen details in white.

CASE-ing Christmas, Week 2

This week at Jingle Belles, we're still asking you to CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) any of the cards that Stephanie or I have made for any of the previous Jingle Belles prompts (yep, you've got 13 1/2 years of cards to choose from!). Be sure to link to the card that inspired you and tell us the selective edits you made to the design. Here's my inspiration... scroll down to see my version!

This week I was inspired by Stephanie's Neutral Noel collage card from June of 2021 (above) I swapped the cool "found relatives" style photo for a scanned and re-sized vintage postcard of appropriate colors that is portrait rather than landscape-shaped; and of course my collage and vintage bits are different, but I kept to the footprint of the original card and made sure to include some sheet music, some softly patterned paper, a small piece of transparency, and... my favorite... that cool wrap of twine!

Visit Jingle Belles to see ALL of the cards we've made over the last thirteen seasons, choose one you like, make your own version and link it on the original post, Love's Labor Day Lost! This prompt runs until next Wednesday evening, 9/11/24.

Back to School

Here in the USA, many kiddos will be heading back to school this week, so here's a timely greeting featuring just a few of our Eyelet Outlet school-themed items, including: a School Bus Brad, Book Brads, an Apple Brad, Leaf Brads, Computer & Headphones Brads, Eye Glass Brads, a Ladybug Brad, Calendar Tape, Days of the Week Tape and Tape Measure Washi.

 

Even if you're NOT heading back to class this week, this is a great time to treat yourself to a few school-themed supplies in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store!

Labor Day Mandala Monday

In honor of back-to-school week, this Mandala Monday is brought to you by a fab set of Faber Castell highlighters that I had somehow managed to forget I had; which is a pity because they're such beautiful, vivid colors! (No unicorn clicky pens were harmed... or indeed used... in the making of this mandala, but being such perfectly matching shades, it had to be featured in the photo, right?!)

JB2418: Love's Labor Day Lost

September 2nd will be Labor Day here in the United States, so at Jingle Belles we've decided to celebrate by saving you some work with regard to this week's card design. We're asking you to "CASE" (Copy And Selectively Edit) any of the cards that Stephanie or I have made for any of the previous Jingle Belles prompts (yep, you've got 13.5 years of cards to choose from!); be sure to link to the card that inspired you and tell us the selective edits you made to the design.

I chose this card of Stephanie's from July of 2022, featuring a Penny Black Masterpieces Made Simple illustrated panel: 

I loved the way the clean lines and the plain white card base of Stephanie's card really keeps the focus on the pretty illustration. The Eyelet Outlet Fancy Bling Strip adds just enough sparkle and the Tim Holtz sticker sentiment is charmingly apt.

I didn't have the exact same Penny Black illustration, but I did have three other horizontally oriented ones from various Masterpieces Made Simple sets, so rather than try to choose my favorite, I decided to make three cards this week. I used a different style of Eyelet Outlet Fancy Bling, but luckily it was long enough to cover all three cards, though I couldn't quite take it to the edge. I added very skinny mats in a shimmery cream cardstock and chose to put the sentiments on top of the panels instead of beneath.

Before you head over to Jingle Belles to see which card of mine Stephanie chose to inspire her, I should mention that NO, we really NEVER confer beforehand, and we're as surprised as anyone else by what each other have made. If you're wondering why I've spent an entire paragraph on this disclaimer, you might want to POP OVER and see her card... just sayin'... 

Bloom!

Eyelet Outlet Flower Brads are ALWAYS a good choice for adding color and charm to a card, plus they pair really well with stamped or diecut vases, jars and planters; in this case Honey Bee Stamps' Bud Vase Die Set. Here we have a vase full of Rose Brads and one of White Daisy Brads which have attracted the attention of a Mini Bee Brad. The background is Wide Sky Washi; the sentiment is diecut from Grass Tape; and the base of the planter is a single strip of Wood Tape. A scatter of white Round Sequins completes the design. 

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store to see ALL of the amazing brads, washi tape, bling, sequins, enamels and more! 

PS: I'm currently obsessed with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder which gives LOADS of subtle texture to the background without being overpowering.