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.

SOS529: Just Because

Did you know that August 27th is National Just Because Day? If so, you've probably already guessed that we're looking for all-occasion, no-particular-reason cards this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash! Which means we can get right to my card, perhaps the most flat-but-layered thing I've ever made?

I raided my big box of unused backgrounds for the bluey-green panel (composed of blended Oxide Inks, lots of over-stamping and Taylored Expressions' Rosy Posey Embossing Folder) added a torn strip of bright white sheet music onto which I applied LOTS of 49 and Market Kaleidoscope Rub-on Transfers; a cluster of diecuts (also 49 and Market) and I even lucked into a pre-colored Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 flower sprig in exactly the right shades (Night Sky, Garden Patinga and Leaf Green Archival Inks). I finished off with a whole bunch of distressed edges and a bit of machine stitching; whereupon this A6 card was complete.

Be sure to venture over to SOS to see what the rest of the Crew have made and start planning your own "Just Because" card. This challenge runs until the evening of Monday, September 9th.

Double Page Dina Wakley Journal

It's an extra-wide Mandala Monday, taking place across two pages of my Dina Wakley MEdia 6x6 Kraft Journal!

Basic shapes and black embellies drawn with my Letter It Fineliners, I love the set of three in black which are the perfect sizes (.1, .4 and .9) for a variety of line weights.

Colored lines and accents added with Posca Paint Pens in white, pale green, and metallic pink. Splattery bits are White Glossy Spray, flicked on with a wet paint brush.

Collagey corners composed of torn sections of Typed Ledgers, layered with Collage Paper and finally pieces of Dina's colorful Collage Sparks.

Crochet Can You See

Just a few yarn-centric gifts I've made so far this summer:

 Finn Diesel is a goldfish cracker who loves cheesy jokes, cheesy fries and... well, pretty much anything cheesy! He's just gone back to college where he's majoring in Ichthyology and minoring in (you guessed it!) Cheese. He's met his roommate (my niece Maddie, pictured below) and they're already BFFFs: Best Fishy Friends Forever.

Goldie the Fish no-sew crochet pattern from Crochet Code AU Etsy Shop made up VERY quickly thanks to excellent design and a clear, well-illustrated pattern; Crocheted with an M hook in Bernat's Blanket Brights Yarn, Carrot Orange.

Mister Beary Berger is a handsome entree, looking for lunch in all the wrong places. He'd like to meet some outgoing french fries (preferably crocheted, but knitted would be ok) to share his plate!

Hamburger crochet pattern by Joyce Overheul from Vliegende Hollander Ravelry Shop; with snoot and ear adaptations downloaded a couple of years ago from a blog that sadly no longer exists. Crocheted with a G hook in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Yarn, Honey, Beige, Chocolate, Mustard, Sweet Pea and Scarlet.

Finally, meet Fleur, a tiny crocheted watering can full of flowers who's bloomin' happy to be here. 

 Excellent and easy -to-follow Kawaii Watering Can pattern by Olga Novytska of Aradiya Toys with LOTS of detailed photos; crocheted with a G hook in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Yarn, Silver Heather, Sea Spray Mist, Raspberry and Magenta.

A Very Vintage Xmas

We're still celebrating a vintage/retro vibe at Jingle Belles and since there's a nice little prize of holiday vintage goodies from my Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, you might like to join the fun.

This week my card is composed of nearly all genuine vintage and found papers, similar to those that are in the Deluxe Christmas Assortments in my Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff; in fact, the reason I started my shop was because I had collected such an extensive stash of goodies, it seemed like I should probably try to share a few of those, lol. For my card, I made a largely random collage of vintage text paper and sheet music, though I confess that I did take care to let the title of "The Holly and the Ivy" have a prominent position. A bit of foliage cut from a vintage illustration and some lovely torn Christmas seals from 1957 complete the background, which I lightly edged with Antique Linen Distress Ink and matted on both red and white cardstock before machine stitching around the perimeter. The handsome cardinal is from a piece of giftwrap I saved last December; I backed it with plain white cardstock before fussy-cutting, then popped it up on a bit of foam tape for extra dimension.

Pop over to Jingle Belles to see the gorgeous card Stephanie made, check out the Readers' Gallery and take a look at our fun prize, which will be awarded randomly. This challenge runs till next Wednesday evening, August 28th.

What's Up, Pup?

If you're having a RUFF day, the cure is probably Eyelet Outlet Puppy Brads! This fun all-occasion card pairs them with Paw Brad corners and the bones from our Kennel Mix, as well as Paw Washi and a background of Wide Brick Tape.

Shopping List:

Puppy Brads

Paw Brads

Kennel Mix Brads

Paw Washi

Wide Brick Tape

Be sure to check out ALL the Cute Critter Brads in the Eyelet Outlet Online Shop and, if you're going to the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Edison, NJ this Friday or Saturday (August 23-24) be sure to stop by the EO Booth to see ALL the fine products... plus more beautiful brad-bedecked card samples than you've probably ever seen in one place! (PS: Say hi to Suzanne and Tony, too!)  

Elegant Embossed Bookmarks

I'm always pleased to be on the Ranger Project Page, and today it's with a step-by-step tutorial for making these beautiful and useful embossed bookmarks. I've used a pretty palette of Ranger Embossing Powders (there are more than 60 varieties!) with Simon Hurley's Floral Borders Stamp Set and you can read all about it by clicking -->THIS LINK<--! 

MM34

It's wet and wild Mandala Monday featuring watercolored shapes courtesy of my Tombows, lines by Letter It Fineliners and accents in a few shades of Posca pens.

Collaged Bookmarks

I love collage, generally; vintage collage especially; and vintage collage bookmarks, most of all! These were made by special request, with a small wishlist of potential elements, including gnomes, fairies, toads, woodland and fairy tales. I *think* I covered all of the above.

I was excited to find a pretty forest scene illustration in a falling-apart childrens' book that was wide enough to cover the backs of both 2.5 x 7.5" bookmarks.

Luckily, I also had an extra fairy and gnome which I hadn't been able to fit on the fronts... I love the way they look like they belong in the forest!

The poppies, mushrooms and butterflies came from various well-beaten-up vintage field guides, which can often be found quite cheaply at garage sales and book sales. 

I'm linking my bookmarks up with Becca S's Heart's Quest Fantasy Challenge Blog (formerly The Fairy and the Unicorn) where fairies, gnomes, unicorns, mermaids, elves, yetis and dragons are ALWAYS welcome! ♥

JB2417: The Spirit of Christmas Past

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're celebrating the Spirit of Christmas Past, which means creating a card with a vintage feeling. That could mean incorporating actual vintage elements, OR using new products that have a vintage style, OR using stamps or images that convey a vintage vibe... whatever says vintage to you. 

And to add a little extra incentive to your endeavors, this week we're sponsored by my very own Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, so there's a sweet little pack of vintage Christmassy things for one lucky random cardmaker who links-up their vintage design; be sure to check that out over at Jingle Belles!

Meanwhile, here's what I made:

This week, I elected to go use new (well, new-ish, lol) commercial products that have a vintage/retro flair. My journal card and patterned papers are Authentique, the sentiment is Simple Stories and those luscious velvet holly leaves are absolutely ancient 7 Gypsies. I did lots of distressed edges and a bit of machine stitching to add to the worn, old-fashioned feeling.

Be sure to check out Stephanie's beautiful collage card, plus the cool little prize that's on offer this time at Jingle Belles!

Plantastic!

Grow your card stash with the latest Class in a Kit Selection in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop: PLANTASTIC! In which you'll receive all the supplies, pre-cut and ready to assemble into a bloomin' beautiful trio of unbe-LEAF-able greetings! 

These cards are built around the lovely containers in Honeybee Stamps' Bud Vases die set, which have all been pre-cut for you from gold metallic and brushed silver cardstock as well as real wood veneer. Likewise, the pierced and embossed panels, diecut sentiments and pretty label shapes are all ready to roll; you can skip right to the FUN parts: arranging, assembling and attaching all the elements into some of the fastest greetings ever. 

This kit includes everything you need (except adhesive!) to create all three cards as pictured, as well as step-by-step instructions and a nice big color photo to help with placement. All the joy of a gorgeous garden, with no green thumb needed!

Visit the Paper Anthology Etsy Shop, Paper Anthology Design, to check out all of the fabulous kits available now; and stay tuned because we're coming up with new ideas all the time!

Got Candy? (YES!)

Be sure to stock up on Eyelet Outlet's new Candy Corn Brads, just in case some adorable Trick or Treaters show up a little early this year. These monsters have donned Witch Hat Brads and can spot any stray candy from far away, thanks to their two (or more!) Eye Brads.

There are Ghosts and Monsters and Scarecrows galore in the Holiday Section of the Eyelet Outlet Online Store; check them out today... if you dare!

SOS528: Color Challenge

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we have a fun color palette challenge featuring blush pink, rich red and camel; plus you can use neutrals, as well, if you like:

Here's what I made: 

I have a new obsession: imperfect embossing on textured cardstock! (I know, I know, we spend a couple of decades and a bunch of money on the best products & techniques in order to execute perfectly smooth embossing... and then... some of us decide to go completely in the other direction, lol!) This technique was partially inspired by my lovely blogging friend Jan R who often stamps and colors with pencils on textured cardstock and it looks VERY cool; so I wondered if it would be cool to try a similar idea with embossing and imo it came out really well, a bit like faded vintage linens. For best results, I recommend a biggish cover/background stamp (this is an older Impression Obsession Cover a Card called Peony Pattern) and you definitely want a fairly solid pattern, as opposed to just outlines. Then, just stamp using clear embossing ink and emboss as usual and the textured cardstock will the do work of "distressing" for you because the powder will stick to the bumpy parts but not get down into the crevices. The bottom layer of my card pairs My Colors Cardstock in Chamois with Ranger's White Embossing Powder. The top layer is Blush Pink cardstock and to increase the faded/distressed look of the design I used Rose Quartz mixed with Love Letter and a tiny sprinkle of Cranberry for a sort of stippled effect. Since I put so much effort into getting a cool look, I didn't want to cover my background up too much, so I added a bit of inking to the edges of both panels, matted them on the darker red color from our palette and sewed around the edges. A few ancient mulberry paper flowers and an oversized Eyelet Outlet Pearl Brad complete the design.

This color challenge (SOS528) will run until the evening of Monday, August 26th. Head over to Shopping Our Stash and be inspired by the lovely cards our creative Crew have made!

It's a Manhole Cover Mandala Monday?

Yes! Well, sort of. Today's pair of mandala cards were built around a piece of carstock I had used to blot off one of the fun geometric Dina Wakley Coaster Stencils I used for my Ranger Liquid Pearls Tutorial last month, and though the shimmery, glittery pattern was not perfect, it was too pretty to throw away, so I decided to draw on top of it with my Letter It Fineliners. Then I smooshed some Archival Ink on top (Aubergine and Beach Cruiser, diluted with a spritz of rubbing alcohol) and finally I double matted both cards and sewed around the edges.

Journal Cover

I've been working off and on in my Dina Wakley 6x6 Kraft Journal from Ranger for several months, but I hadn't gotten around to decorating the cover... until NOW! 

Of course I raided all of my favorite Dina Wakley MEdia goodies: Fly High Stamps, Collage Sparks, Transparencies, Typed Ledgers and Collage Paper; not to mention a bit of Marine Gloss Spray mixed with White Gesso, which added color to the tissue and transparency pieces as well as adhering them to the journal cover.

And now it's even more inspiring to work INSIDE the journal, so I think I will!

More Leftovers? Yes, Please!

We're still endeavoring to use up some of our (crafty) Holiday Leftovers at Jingle Belles and if, like Stephanie and I, you have envelopes full of extra diecuts, little stacks of pre-embossed backgrounds or offcuts of patterned paper too pretty to throw away, you should probably join us!

Periodically, I get in the mood to make these sort of quiltish, paper-pieced strip backgrounds, so I'll make a bunch, use a few, put the rest aside, and... forget all about them, lol. So in a way, this is a story about DOUBLE leftovers, because the background itself was made from offcut strips; and then it, too, became a leftover! On top of the background I've got a blue patterned paper offcut from last week's card; some poinsettias embossed with Ranger's Red Glitter Embossing Powder; the last three brads from an ancient My Mind's Eye brad set; and a glossy red metallic Cut-plorations' Jingle Bells diecut. I added all of the above to a white A6 card, machine-stitched around the whole thing et voila!

Visit Jingle Belles to see the Holiday Leftovers Readers' Gallery and link your own masterpiece!

Books. Cats.

The new (adorable!) Eyelet Outlet Black Cat Brads are not just for Halloween, they add feline festiveness to any card and can be found peeking around stamped or diecut corners of any description. This happy little scene also features Book Brads and Book Washi; the yellow flower from our Frog Set. 

There's a sweet bunny reading in a Green Pattern Tape armchair, which is sitting on a Strawberry Tape throw rug... stamps are from Avery Elle's Feels Like Home set, stamped in Ranger's Jet Black Archival and set atop a Wood Washi floor. The coordinating envelope also has a strip of Cat Tape.

You'll find all of the above (and so much more) in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store; and don't forget to check the Trade Show Schedule to see when the Eyelet Outlet Booth will be visiting your town this summer!

Watermelon Mandala?

It's a sweet summertime Mandala Monday with the simplest of mandalas, built from a cute patterned paper circle, punched hearts and tiny heart enamels, finished off by petals and embellishments drawn with a Letter It Fineliner and Posca paint pens.

Speaking of Watermelon: if it's as hot as New Jersey is right now where you are, like us, you are probably eating A LOT of salads? May I suggest adding this savory-sweet Watermelon Salad to your repertoire? We add tomatoes, as well... which sounds crazy... but trust me, if you even remotely enjoy watermelon and tomato separately, you'll love them together! :)

JB-24-16: Holiday Leftovers

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're celebrating Holiday Leftovers... by creating cards using all of those little leftover pieces of papers, alphabet letters, stickers, ribbon; you know, all of thosebits and bobs we've saved because they were just too lovely to throw away or recycle. It's time to retrieve those (well, a few of 'em, anyway!) and use them to make some fun holiday leftover cards. 

Here's my batch of leftovers:

As you can see, I had an already paper-pieced version of Spellbinders' Snowman Hugs die set; a background where I stamped and masked with several different Wendy Vecchi background stamps and her gorgeous Leaf Green Archival Ink; a few paper strips that had been border-punched; and the de-bossed side of a panel of green cardstock on which I had inked the em-bossed side... but then not liked it. And here's my finished card:

All I had to do to make the "leftovers" into the card was round the corners on the two panels, add one more layer of patterned paper and machine-stitch around the edges. Easy, peasy!

Be sure to head over to Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made and then start thinking up what YOU will link up! This "Holiday Leftovers" challenge runs until the evening of Wednesday, August 14th.

Car Card, Redux

Here's another version of the "One Door Closes" card I made for an Eyelet Outlet post about a month ago. I have a few "Car Guys" on my birthday list and coincidentally, two of them happen to celebrate within a week of each other, though they've never met. This is why I always save the file when I've formatted a sentiment on the computer; I might want to revisit an awesome idea! 

In this case, it's just the sentiment and a bit of (now sadly out of print) Eyelet Outlet Tire Track Tape, with a background of actual vintage maps; mounted on a glossy black A6 card. Oh and I found an illustration of a vintage Volvo, which is personal to the recipient, and he noticed immediately. 

As you may know, I LOVE fancy giftwrapping, and here's a bit of a cheat on that score. I wrapped coordinating map paper around the gift (it's a dvd as you can probably tell) and added the card (sans envelope) to act as decoration. A bit of measuring tape twill and some twine et voila!