Happy Independence Day

It's nearly time to celebrate the USA's birthday. Eyelet Outlet Flag and Hat Brads take center stage with Red, White and Blue Star Brads as well as accents of Red Dot Washi and Blue Star Tape.

All the embellishments you need for every occasion you celebrate can be found in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

SOS551: Red, White and Blue

As you may already have guessed from the title, the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to make a card which predominantly features red, white, blue, or some combination thereof. Which means you could make an awesomely patriotic card... or... NOT!

I made a fun stamped-collage background using some ancient and sadly neglected 7 Gypsies stamps, with a few other text and patterns thrown in, all stamped in Cobalt Archival Ink from Ranger. Then I added red, white and blue seashore ephemera from 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Sunburst collection, distressed the edges, messily machine stitched around the whole thing, et voila!

SOS551: Red, White and Blue runs until the evening of Bastille Day (aka Monday, July 14th); link your cards at Shopping Our Stash!

(Another) ICAD Round-Up

Celebrating another week of hot weather and cool index cards! ♥

Day 30: Mandala Monday

Off-prompt today, the last Mandala Monday of June. I've gone with a very funky, deconstructed version of a mandala, for which I had a lot of fun filling in the doodles with my Letter It Fineliners and doing some shading on the bands of color with my sadly neglected Prismacolor pencils. 

(Bonus Discovery: It turns out said pencils make a pretty cool photo backdrop... just sayin'...)

Day 29: Sunrise

Going a bit tangentially from sunrise (a time of day I dislike seeing) to sunny side up... a type of egg I very much enjoy eating. Handcut and paper-pieced from the Big Box of Scraps.

Day 28: Dinosaur

I'm calling this one, "Unsung Heroes of the English Restoration" a joke which literally nobody but myself will get and I'm fine with that. 

Day 27: Pink

Super scrap-tastic PINK flowers, for which loosely drawing, hand-cutting and pattern stacking are pivotal. The background is a white gridded card which looked so stark next to the vivid blooms that I felt compelled to make a super-fast plaid with some pink brush pens!

Day 26: Fog

Debating between weather fog and brain fog... I wound up splitting the difference. Several shades of blended Ranger Distress Oxide Inks over white embossed text with stenciled letters cut out and popped up.

Day 25: Licorice or Lollipops

Here's a very very tangential take on LOLLIPOPS... they don't have sticks and look more like the swirly peppermint candies which can only be found (as far as I know) next to the cash register in an old-fashioned, family-owned pizza place.

We have an outstanding, creative and delicious local pizza place; if you ever drive 202 in Branchburg NJ you should stop at @dominicks_njboardwalkpizza ♥ They have 6-10 different pies by the slice each day; we especially love their brisket, buffalo chicken and mushroom slices, yum yum!

Day 24: Gemstone

Not the fanciest card I've ever made, but a tiny personal triumph: I've tried time after time after time to draw faceted-looking gemstones and somehow I could never do it... and finally... I can do it! In fact, after the first two, I didn't even need to look at the clipart drawing I Googled to use as a reference! Go, me!

Pink Alexandrites (my birthstone) drawn with a Letter It Fineliner from Ranger; colored with Perfect Pearls (in Blush) and a waterbrush; shadowed and highlighted with pens.

♥♥♥♥♥

Wishing you a wonderful, fun and creative start to the month of July; keep cool and craft on! 

Big Big Fishy

Last year for my niece Maddie's birthday I made her an XL amigurumi goldfish cracker using Bernat's Big Blanket yarn and The Crochet Code's Goldie the Fish pattern. This year I've literally doubled down and made an even bigger version!

Details for crocheters: To make a big(ish) goldfish amigurumi, use one strand of Bernat's Big Blanket yarn in orange and an M hook; to make a big BIG goldfish, use two strands of the same yarn and a Q hook.

JB2513: Festive Frames

Over at Jingle Belles we're still making cards that incorporate at least one frame as part of the design. This week my fancy frame dies helped me to rescue a beautiful-but-damaged vintage postcard!

A few years ago I purchased a set of holiday postcards that were not in good condition, but since I wanted to use them on Christmas cards, that was fine with me. This one was the most battered of the lot:  it had several very large creases and was entirely missing its lower righthand corner. But luckily, by finding two frame dies of just the right size, I was able to select the nicest bits, frame them up, and showcase them in a collage of Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Pocket Cards, 7 Gypsies velvet holly leaves and assorted festive washi tape in coordinating colors.

Be sure to check out Stephanie's card at Jingle Belles, where you will also find all the info you need to link up your own Framed masterpieces! This challenge runs until next Wednesday evening, July 2nd.

#FLAMINGOALS

Eyelet Outlet Flamingo Brads are flocking together for this fun and colorful all-occasion card. They're paired with Sun and Cloud Brads, a Tall Palm Tree and a bright and bouncy background of Pink Dot Washi Tape. The perfect card to welcome Summer!

Shopping List:

Flamingo Brads

Sun and Cloud Brads

Tall Palm Tree 

Pink Dot Washi Tape.

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store for all the best brads, tapes, flowers and bling... in every season!

ICAD: Round-Up #3

The weeks are flying past as they do, we're officially into SUMMER and New Jersey is busy setting records for temps and humidity... the only possible reaction is to stay indoors and make art on index cards!

Day 23: Mondrian Mandala Monday

Off-prompt in favor of Mondrian Mandala Monday; continuing a thread started by my Facebook friend Becca Sadler. Becca does a weekly art journal page inspired by the Dutch utopian/abstract artist Piet Mondrian, and I loved the idea so much I've been trying to do a similar style of mandala once a month or so. In this case, @smilynstef had shown me an outstanding piece of sketchbook art (stupidly I didn't save it to give credit, sorry!) with concentric circles of these geometric "dangles" and we both immediately thought it would be perfect for MMM! I used Piet's palette of primary colors and added a few more squares and rectangles of solid color et voila!

Day 22: Aviary

Here's a pretty good example of a card I loved winging it (sorry, for once the pun is unintentional, honest!) but in retrospect wish I had planned/measured a bit better; or possibly made a fold-out double card that would've held my handcut letters in a single line. On the other hand, #ICAD is 100% about process and experimentation so WOOHOO that makes this a big success! 

PS: Those beautiful clipart birds are designed by my friend @ginaisarty and you can find lots of other critters, plants and people in her Redbubble, Zazzle and Teepublic shops; there's a LinkTree in her profile; just sayin'...

Day 21: Onomotopoeia

"Squeak!!!" says the mouse; which in this case means either, "Hooray, I have found the best lunch ever!" or, "Oh dear, I don't think this reed is really strong enough!" Fun fact: "onomotopoeia" neither means nor is spelled the way it sounds!

 

Day 20: Reverse

For which, slightly tangentially, I’ve swapped around my usual convention of a pale/plain background and colorful/detailed focal image. It’s not perfect but it’s interesting… 

Day 18: Turtle

Test-driving a sort of abstract/stylized turtle shell pattern. I painted concentric shapes with a waterbrush and diluted Perfect Pearls pearlescent pigment powders from Ranger (in Perfect Gold, Blue Patina and Forever Green); then after the sturdy divider card (letter "T" o'course) was dry I outlined the shapes with a Letter It Fineliner and added a few details with a white paint pen.

Day 17: Memento

Ok, yes, the prompt is meant to be #memento but I sort of went more #memo because I found this ancient October Afternoon patterned paper with pencils on it and I couldn't resist!

Day 17: Yellow

Circling back to yesterday's #dyicad2025 prompt of #YELLOW which I had skipped in favor of Mandala Monday. I started looking through some books and some scraps for "yellow things" and sort of assumed I would choose one and run with it. Eventually, I decided to use ALL of them... or at least... all the ones I could fit on one index card. Decision made!!! :)

♥♥♥

Have a fun and creative week!

Festive Frames: Gnomes for the Holidays

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we'd like to see cards that incorporate at least one Festive Frame as part of the design. Not to be an over-achiever, but I've got five! 

With my Hero Arts Circle Infinity Dies, it was simple to make four different sizes of circle frames (I used the smallest twice); I then used the same circle dies on some very fun Photoplay holiday gnomes journal cards. I clustered the frames, added a sentiment and some ancient coordinating circle brads, and my 5.5" square card was complete.

Be sure to check out Stephanie's gorgeous card at Jingle Belles, where you will also find all the info you need to link up your own Framed masterpieces!

Kind of a Big Deal

The new Eyelet Outlet Card Suit Brads are beautiful and useful; to prove it, here's a PAIR of entirely SUIT-able cards! 

For "You're Kind of a Big Deal" the sentiment is printed in a free font called Dear Sunshine. The Card Suit Brads are placed in a square configuration and the background is a panel filled with neatly lined-up strips of Playing Card Washi.

The "Marriage" sentiment (adapted from a Sign Guy meme on social media) is printed in a typewriter font, then the Card Suit Brads were added above, and a pair of Playing Card Brads affixed below. The background panel is Heart Washi.     

Big Deal Shopping List:

 Card Suit Brads 

Playing Card Brads 

Heart Washi

Playing Card Washi

All of the new Summer 2025 brad releases are available in the EO Online Store; plus the EO Booth will be traveling to Trade Shows all summer long; check the Schedule to find out when we're visiting in YOUR town!

SOS550: A Stitch in Time

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this one will keep you in stitches! As you've probably already guessed, we want to see stitching on your card or project: it can be done with a sewing machine, hand-stitching, cross stitch, faux stitching with a pen, a die, etc; the choice is yours.

 

I chose a 49 and Market patterned paper that already had some faux stitching detail as part of its pattern; to which I added additional stitched rub-on transfers and, finally, some actual machine stitching on top. I stacked several frames made with Memory Box's Nested Globes die set over 49 & Market tropical foliage; added a little collage of ephemera; and aged everything down a bit with raw edges and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

Visit Shopping Our Stash to see the gorgeous cards the Crew have made and to link up your Stitch-centric masterpieces! SOS550: A Stitch in Time runs until the evening of Monday, June 29th.

Week 2: Index Card a Day

Time for another retrospective of ICADs, starting with today's extra punny MAN-dala Monday:

Day 16: MANdala Monday

This tiny illustration was on some junk mail last week and I immediately thought, "MAN-dala Monday!" I layered some trading stamps, a frilly round sticker, and my hand drawn rings and petals on a vintage library pocket card for an eclectic (verging on eccentric) take on an ICAD mandala.

Day 15: Off Prompt

Here's a MODIFIED One Staple Collage: The text label, embroidery pattern, trading stamps and roses (they're connected to each other) are all held on by a single staple. The words have been glued onto the label, and the background is rub-on transfers which worked as a resist for some Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

Day 14: Leopard

Here's a card that (imo) epitomizes the "process over outcome" beauty of ICAD. For Day 14's prompt of #leopard I decided to hand-cut two-toned leopard spots from scrap cardstock, ink the edges, layer them, and attach them to the unlined back of a blue index card. I loved making this and I now feel I can confidently reproduce a leopard pattern at any time... but... it's not all that impressive as a finished piece. And I'm fine with that!

Day 13: Iridescent

It's hard to tell from the photo, but under the collage elements and over the mixed media background of stamped/ inked/ rub-on elements there is some gorgeous Ranger Metallic White Texture Paste spread through one of my favorite Dina Wakley Coaster Stencils.

Day 12: Twig

This illustration, which I cut out of an old falling-apart copy of a children's dictionary from the 70's, seems perfect for today's optional #dyicad2025 prompt of #twig and I'm kind of happy with my stylized background of green and leafy washi tapes plus a small frame (also washi).

Day 11: Tide Pool

I've already mentioned how much I love the sea creatures that my friend Gina @ginaisarty designs; so it seemed only right to create a little gelli print #tidepool for them to inhabit.

Day 10: Arrow

About as literal a take on the (optional) theme of #arrow as you could possibly imagine; rendered in hand-cut patterned paper scraps, on a reproduction library pocket card.

♥♥♥

For lots more info and inspiration regarding this fun annual project, check out the ICAD Base page at Daisy Yellow Art or the @indexcardaday account and the #dyicad2025 hashtag on Instagram.

Fa-La-La-La-La (Week 2)

It's the second week of our music-inspired challenge at Jingle Belles, so once again we're asking to see cards that incorporate sheet music, instruments or holiday song lyrics.  

This week I raided my stash of vintage sheet music and I chose a nicely patina-ed page to coordinate with this fun (ancient!) Basic Grey flower sticker. I added a few strips of washi tape, some inked edges, a chipboard sentiment and a shimmery red mat et voila!

JB2512: Fa-La-La-La-La runs until next Wednesday evening, June 18th. Link up your music-inspired cards at Jingle Belles.

Home and Away

The brand-new Eyelet Outlet Camper Brads are as adorable as they are inspiring. Where will you take them? This one is off to the mountains, under some Cloud Tape with Sun and Cloud Brads, surrounded by Pine Trees and framed with Wood Washi.

Happy Camper Shopping List:

Eyelet Outlet Camper Brads
 Pine Tree Brads
Sun and Cloud Brads
Cloud Tape 
 Wood Washi

All of the new Summer 2025 Eyelet Outlet brad releases are now available in the EO Store; plus the EO Booth will be visiting Trade Shows all summer; check the Schedule to find out when we'll be in YOUR town!

Smooth Sailing Father's Day Card by Lauren Bergold

Shocking True Confession: I used to find masculine cards very challenging to make, but Simon Hurley has designed so many fabulous stamps and stencils that mix and match to perfection; now it really is "Smooth Sailing"! Hop over to the Ranger Project Tutorials Page and find my step-by-step process for the thoughtful and colorful Father's Day card you "SEA" here; featuring Ranger Archival Inks, Embossing Powders and more!

ICAD 2025: First Full Week

It's Mandala Monday and time for a round-up of the first full week of ICADs... (short for Index Card a Day <--click the bold italic text to read all about it!) and here they are right now!

Day 9: Embroidery

Most of the time I go off-prompt for Mandala Monday, but in this case the official prompt of #embroidery was quite an easy fit! Vintage embroidery diagrams + some coordinating crochet photos + hand stitching + additional line drawings = joy!

Day 8: Sorbet

In retrospect, this is probably a bit more "sherbet" than "sorbet" but it's still scoops of brightness... and a good excuse to blend some Distress Oxide inks through simple circle stencils.

Day 7: Midnight

I traced one of Dina Wakley's Old School Silhouette stencils on the back of a photo of the Rosette Nebula, cut it out, then layered it onto a photo of the moon. I had planned to add a lot more layers and details, but fell in love with just the stark outlines, so I put some text on and left it there. 

Day 6: Pretzel

I've done a surface pattern of sorts by drawing a wonky-but-recognizable* pretzel on a pink index card, cutting it out, tracing it onto scraps of tan and brown patterned papers, and gluing them to a gridded card. 

*rendering is my weakest skill; my highest drawing aspiration is basically just to end up with something recognizable!

Day 5: Hydrangea

I used a waterbrush to pick up ink from a few shades of purple and green Tombows and painted my stylized blooms on an extra sturdy index card divider… the H one; obviously!

Day 4: Iguana

Fanciful lizardy letters, clouds, ground and sky… all handcut from colorful index cards.

Day 3: Cobalt(ish)

Ok technically, I just went with lots of shades of blue, because I was more interested in constructing my first #OneStapleCollage of the 2025 ICAD season. What's a One Staple Collage? Well, it's an ICAD tradition that goes back at least a decade when Tammy G. posted a brainstorming list of collage styles and one of them was "Stapled Collage" which totally intrigued me and which, for some reason, I immediately interpreted as being a collage held together with ONE staple! It's one of my favorite styles to revisit and I'd invite all ICAD-ians to try it at least once. It's a bit different than a regular collage and possibly more challenging than you think. Since there is only ONE point of attachment, you basically need to construct a stack of items with interesting edges, and try not to bury the best bits under something larger lol. In case the staple blends in a bit too well here, I will disclose that it is placed vertically at the corner of the front window of the charming vintage Lancia motorcar.

♥♥♥

Check out @indexcardaday feed on Instagram for all the official news and prompts; while the hashtag #dyicad2025 will show you what all the ICADians and ICADettes have made so far!

JB2512: Fa-La-La-La-La

It's time for a brand new prompt at Jingle Belles, for which we are incorporating one of our all-time favorite holiday themes: Christmas Music! Thus, we're asking you to create a card that incorporates music, a musical instrument, or a holiday song title or lyrics. Here's my card:

Having decided I wanted to use musical patterned paper (as opposed to actual sheet music, of which I have MUCH lol) for this card, I was pretty excited to find a few half-sheets of absolutely ancient Love Elsie holiday papers from American Crafts! It turns out they paired really well with my fave Doodlebug character stickers and a chipboard sentiment I found in the Big Box of Miscellaneous Items! 

JB2512: Fa-La-La-La-La runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, June 18th. Link your Musical Masterpiece card(s) at Jingle Belles!

This is NOT a Drill!

Father's Day is nearly here, but luckily Eyelet Outlet has everything you need to make an awesome card for Dad. This one features: Saw and Tool Box Brads plus Tool Brads flank the sentiment; Screw Brads adorn the corners; while Wood Washi and Tape Measure Washi panels make the perfect masculine background.

Shopping List:

Saw and Tool Box Brads

Tool Brads 

Screw Brads 

Wood Washi 

Tape Measure Washi

 The Eyelet Outlet Store has ALL of the above and so much more!

Mandala Monday (on an index card)

It's June 2nd, which makes this the first Mandala Monday of #ICAD2025 as well as the first (very quick lol) Index Card a Day Round-Up.

Day 2: Mandala Monday

A rainbow of blended Simon Hurley Dye Inks on an appropriately "artsy" library catalog card (thank you @millwoodstudioart Mary!) with (mostly) symmetrical rings on top via Letter It Fineliners and a white Posca paint pen.

Day 1: Glimmer

Stars glimmer in the night sky; the fish has a glimmer in his eye! Magazine collage (and some sparkly stickers) on a gridded index card.

Day 0: Title Card

Collage of torn paper, vintage trading stamps, wide washi tape, and a flower from a junk mail catalog.

ICAD 2025 Book

Washi tape, rub-on transfers and some of @ginaisarty 's beautiful elephants on my single ring, homemade ICAD book.

Calling All Christmas Critters!

It's the second week of Animal Antics at Jingle Belles and we'd love for you to join us. Just make a card with one or more animals having some holiday fun... like this one:

Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Arctic set is probably ten years old and yet, I still find it every bit as adorable and whimsical as the first time I saw it; I'm guessing others do too as it's still available. I love coloring or (as in this case) paper-piecing those happy arctic pals; and I'm especially happy with the floral moose! I went a little more wintery than xmas, with a neutral diecut sentiment from Elizabeth Craft Designs' Winter Wishes set (also ancient and I believe out of print) since not everyone celebrates Christmas and it's nice to have a selection of cards on hand.

JB2511: Animal Antics runs until next Wednesday evening, June 4th.

Nature's Noel: NEW Holiday Jumpstart Kit

Holiday Jumpstart: Nature's Noel is Paper Anthology's newest holiday card kit, which features Stampendous' beautiful flowers, vases and chickadees pre-stamped for you to color.

Paper Anthology’s Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit is our pre-packaged kit that includes everything you need (except coloring media and adhesive) to complete FIVE copies of this new original holiday card design. This edition is called “Nature's Noel” based on the card's beautiful florals and the coordinating sentiment.

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 coloring media and adhesive) to complete five beautiful, detailed and colorful cards, including complete written instructions (not pictured, but included!) and a nice big photo for reference.

(Please note that the images in the kit were stamped with Ranger's Jet Black Archival ink, which is an alcohol-based ink formula. Thus, it's recommended to color with water-based markers or colored pencils, or BOTH! Using alcohol-ink markers like Copics or Spectrum Noir may result in the black stamped images smearing.)

This kit contains:

Five pre-stamped vases for you to color
Five pre-stamped flower clusters for you to color
Five pre-stamped chickadees for you to color
Five pre-diecut scalloped lacy patterned paper mats
Five pre-diecut green "Noel" sentiments
Complete step-by-step instruction sheet with large color photo
Coloring key listing Tombow Dual Bush Pen shades used in samples
Five grocer's kraft A2 cards

CLICK HERE to find Holiday Jumpstart: Nature's Noel in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop