The Halloween season is creeping up on us, and nothing is creepier (in a very CUTE way!) than Eyelet Outlet Monster Brads! On this colorful card they've brought along some diecut monster friends sporting Small Eye Brads and a couple of Bat Brads have swooped in to join the party.
If you'd like to make your Halloween cards more creepy, kooky, mysterious or spooky, visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store!
There's a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. For "The Cat is in the Bag" we'd like you to feature any kind of bag (purse, backpack, beach bag) and/or a cat; so there are LOTS of ways to go this time! I chose the "cat" option, as you can see:
I have several different "cat" options, but my favorite is this adorable guy from the Halloween Add-On to Wendy Vecchi's Essential Envelopes set. Since I had the bin out, I also used two of the Pinking Edge Frames and sentiment from the Birthday Add-On to her Not Your Ordinary Card Collection from Spellbinders; and one of the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops frames as well as the Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder, which are both part of From the Garden Collection. I love piecing the cat using sticky-back black felt, it's hard to tell in a photo, but IRL it has lots of texture. I split the birthday diecuts and added "PURR" in velvetty pink letters to make the whole thing a tiny bit punny. ;)
SOS556: The Cat is in the Bag will run at SOS until the evening of Monday, September 22nd. Be sure to hop over to Shopping Our Stash and see the inspiring cards the Crew have made!
It's a Wibbly-Wobbly Mandala Monday which I cannot say I'm in love with... but it was fun to make and it's a colorful beginning to my latest sketchbook; it's the 12th one, I believe.
Handcut grungy patterned paper shapes at the center; more shapes added with brush pens further out towards the edge; lots of Fineliner and Posca Pen details throughout.
Over at Jingle Belles, Stephanie and I are still celebrating Cardstock Christmas by making holiday cards with absolutely no designer/patterned paper. (Yikes!)
Not only is this card entirely free of patterned paper, I've used mostly scraps and leftovers! When I was making the Dressed to Chill kits last week, I made a few different versions of the sign and the happy snowperson from Simon Hurley's Spellbinders North Pole Sentiments Die Set; the white-embossed watercolor panel (made with Hero Arts' Christmas Rose cover stamp) was made probably a year ago and (mysteriously?!) never used; the sparkly snowflakes were in my diecut organizer; and the background is made of thin, random-width strips of coordinating pink cardstock, stuck to an adhesive sheet and stitched around the edges.
JB2518: Cardstock Christmas runs until next Wednesday evening, September 10th, so there's still time to join the fun!
Here in the Northeastern US, the week after Labor Day is the traditional time for kids (and grown-ups!) to go back to school. Here's a card featuring Eyelet Outlet School Bus Brads, Book Brads, Eye Glass Brads, Sun and Cloud Brads and even a Mini Ladybug.
The three-day Labor Day weekend surely deserves not one, not two, but THREE Mandalas, don't you think?
Since I knew I was going to make mandalas, I smooshed my first couple of inks for each piece into circle(ish) shapes to have a starting point. I recommend smooshing one shade at a time to avoid contaminating your ink pads. I also like to pick up any leftover ink with a paintbrush and flick it onto the wet paper to get the cool random splatter pattern. This is the first time I've outlined the splatters, but I like how they came out.
When the backgrounds were dry (you can use a heat tool to expedite) I went in with my Letter It Fineliners to add all the basic shapes, petals and details. When necessary, I added additional coordinating colors to some of the shapes, so they'd blend in... or stand out from... the rest of the marks. At the very end I got a bit dotty with a white Posca Pen.
Wishing all who are celebrating a very happy, safe and burger-centric Labor Day!!! ♥
This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're celebrating Cardstock Christmas, which means we're asking you to step away from the patterned paper... (scary, I KNOW!!!) ...put it away, there's NONE allowed! We're creating cards using only cardstock. You can tear it, ink it, stamp it, spray it, emboss it … but stick to only cardstock for your holiday card design!
SOS555: On or In the Water runs until the evening of Monday, September 8th. Be sure to check out the inspiring cards from the SOS Crew and then start planning your own watery wondrousness.
It's a reggae rainbow Mandala Monday with ALL the colors blending together for maximum joy and happiness. Hope your week is off to a good start!
Be sure to check out Stephanie's card at Jingle Belles and take a look at the vintage holiday ephemera pack that one lucky random cardmaker will score this fortnight... just for linking up with us! JB2517: The Spirit of Christmas Past runs until the evening of Wednesday, August 27th.
Eyelet Outlet's Adorable new Camper Brads pair beautifully with our Camping Brads. This outdoorsy card is also accessorized with Pine Tree Brads, white Stars, a Sketched Owl and a Compass Brad; as well as an accent of Wood Washi.
It’s a Micro Mini Mandala Monday featuring 1… 2… 3… 4 (!) tiny one-inch square mandalas, built around the circles made with my Zig Dot markers, purchased many moons ago at @theinkpadnyc which I still really REALLLLLY miss! ♥♥♥
Hope your week is off to a good start, but if not, there are only 4.5 more days until the weekend! ;)
It's been a while since I posted any fancy giftwrapping, and since I found a couple of un-pubbed older photos, as well as the new retro-space-themed one I just made, this seemed like the perfect time to do so.
In December, this card will either be given in person or added into a holiday package, because it weighs about a pound and would be fairly expensive to mail!
Be sure to check out Stephanie's beautiful vintage collage card at Jingle Belles and take a look at the vintage holiday ephemera pack that one lucky random cardmaker will score this fortngiht... just for linking up with us! JB2517: The Spirit of Christmas Past runs until the evening of Wednesday, August 27th.
Just in case anyone needs a bit of advice for celebrating the happiest of birthdays, Eyelet Outlet has exactly the right brads and tapes for the job. A background of foiled Happy Birthday Washi sets the scene; while Cupcake Swirl, Computer & Headphone and Pinata Brads illustrate the important elements of treats, downtime and fun!
It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and if you've already guessed that the title, "Hot, Hot, Hot!" means we want you to make a card inspired by something HOT, such as weather, food, fire, etc; then you are absolutely right, and we can't wait to see your interpretation. I went with weather, as you can see:
I've had Honeybee's Flippin Fabulous stamp set for two or three years and I've used all the shells and most of the sentiments LOTS of times, but somehow never inked up those fab flipflops? How is that even possible? To make up for lost time, I stamped them twice (on blue floral and yellow geometric patterned papers) then cut them out and paper pieced them. Oh and I added a couple of Eyelet Outlet Colored Daisy Brads to make them extra fancy. In the storage envelope with the stamps I found a bunch of pre-stamped shells and a couple of hibiscus flowers (from a different set) that were pre-stamped and pre-watercolored; so I basically had my whole focal collage. I raided 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Sunburst collection and found the perfect background; then added the sentiment, inked and machine stitched around the edge, and called it good.
SOS554: Hot, Hot, Hot runs until the evening of Monday, August 25th and we'd love for you to link up with us. Meanwhile, check out the inspiring cards from our uber-talented Crew at Shopping Our Stash.
After two months of Index Cards, working in an art journal feels big; and working in my (12x7"ish) Dina Wakley Ledger Journal (back in stock at Ranger!) feels realllllly big... in a good way!
The mandala center, scattered hearts and first two rounds of petals are cut from Dina's Collage Sparks compilations. The petals further out are painted with Gloss Spray, then adorned with a white Posca Pen, and outlined with Letter It Fineliners. I added some transparency ladies from Focals Set 1, which are out of print, but there are lots more cool Dina Transparencies from which to choose.
Wishing you a week with LOTS of creativity and productivity; but not too much humidity! ♥
The adorably whimsical new Eyelet Outlet Hippo Brads definitely know how to make any occasion more fun, more fab, and more colorful! On this birthday card, they dance among letters diecut from Heart Tape and adorned with birthday Balloons, a Party Hat and a fun Candle Brad swapped out for the "I" in the sentiment. A background of perfectly coordinated pink and grey Zig Zag Tape completes the design.
Technically ICAD ended on July 31st, but I couldn't resist making one last index card mandala for my 2025 collection!
I (sequentially) smooshed a few favorite shades of Simon Hurley STELLAR Inks from Ranger onto my craft sheet, misted them with isopropyl alcohol* and picked up the ink with an unlined index card. When I had covered the card in a tie-dye-ish series of colors, I dried it with my heat tool and then added outlines with my Letter It Fineliners and details with a white Posca pen.
*Simon's STELLAR inks are water-based, but something I learned from the very clever and always inspiring Wendy Vecchi is that using rubbing alcohol to "watercolor" with dye based inks works pretty much exactly the same as using water, except the alcohol will not warp or pill your cardstock, no matter how wet you get it! Thanks, Wendy!!! ♥
...and all through the blog, we're busy making new holiday cards based on this clever and inspiring layout by our own Jingle Belles Sketch Diva, Stephanie!
As always, you can interpret the sketch using any colors, stamps, papers or supplies; and you can flip, rotate, stretch or smoosh it; even swap the circle for a different shape... just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your design!
And here's my card:
What's better than Simon Hurley's beautiful Zesty set of twenty-one citrus-themed clear stamps with lots of uplifting sentiments? His coordinating Lemon Branch Layering Stencil Set that makes it easy-peasy to add realistic dimension with Ranger Opaque Matte Texture Paste and Archival Reinkers! Making even better than that, the Lemon Branch Stencils are ON SALE! And if you need an idea for how to use it, follow along on the Ranger Project Tutorials page as I show you step-by-step how I made this bold, bright encouragement card. ♥
Holiday Jumpstart: Winter Wonderland is Paper Anthology's newest holiday card kit, which features peaceful winter woodland diecuts, serene color palette, and a vibe that perfectly fits any winter holiday your friends and family celebrate. Grab yours today in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop.
Paper Anthology’s Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit is our 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 “Winter Wonderland” based on the sweet seasonal forest vignette.
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 bold, beautiful, colorful cards; including complete written instructions (not pictured, but included!) and a nice big photo for reference.
Check out the Holiday Jumpstart: Winter Wonderland page in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop
This kit contains:
Five embossed and scalloped periwinkle panels
Five pre-diecut tan forest squares
Five pre-diecut white birch tree squares
Five green shimmer pine boughs
Five large two-layer diecut pinecones
Five small two-layer diecut pinecones
Five pre-diecut "peace" sentiments
Fifteen clear dew drops
Complete step-by-step instruction sheet with large color photo
Five white topfold A2 cards
Here are TWO versions of a cute and snarky cat card: one featuring beautiful, realistic Eyelet Outlet Feline Brads; and the other spotlighting our adorable Kitty Brads. Comical Cat Tape and Wood Washi are pitching in to make the perfect backgrounds.
The Eyelet Outlet Store also stocks Black Cat Brads and Silhouette Kitten Brads as well as lots of other critters from the backyard, the farm, the beach, and even the jungle. Check out the Animal Brads section today or better yet, check the Tradeshow Schedule to find out when the EO Booth will be coming to a town near you!
