Wildflower Collage

A Clean Up Collage for a dreary (but not yet raining) Saturday, consisting of torn scraps of vintage map, index and sheet music; lots of S&H Greenstamps; and a framed transparency loaded with watercolored wildflower diecuts and Eyelet Outlet Bling (it's on clearance!) in my 6 x 6" square Dina Wakley Kraft Journal from Ranger.

Fingers crossed that the rain holds off long enough for me to take a walk outside after lunch, woohoo!

Dashing Through the Snow

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you create projects that celebrate the white fluffy flakes of snow. You might choose snowmen, snowflakes, a snowscape, or snowfall; just include some snow on your card. Like this:

I still have a few well-hoarded Penny Black Masterpieces Made Simple journal-style cards and this one fit the prompt perfectly. I gave Scrapaholics' Elegant Frame a quick coat of white Dina Wakley MEdia Acrylic Paint, added it to my snowscape, adorned the whole thing with Eyelet Outlet 1.5" Snowflake Bling* and popped it onto a piece of Photoplay's Solids + paper with earth-toned snowflakes, et voila!

JB2610: Dashing Through the Snow runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 20th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card, a photo of the fun (SNOWY!) little prize pack one lucky random cardmaker will score just for linking up with us this time, and to link up your own snow-centric design(s)!

*Just a reminder that ALL Eyelet Outlet Bling is currently on clearance for $1.00 each! Stock up now, because when it's gone... it's gone for good!

Mother's Day Bouquet

Mother's Day is this Sunday in the USA, so here is a fast and simple card idea featuring a colorful bouquet Eyelet Outlet Tulip Brads with embroidered stems, surrounded by some sweet Mini Butterfly Brads.

Bright and Beautiful Shopping List:

Eyelet Outlet Tulip Brads

Mini Butterfly Brads

Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments you need for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation and beyond! Don't forget the big Bling Liquidation Sale: ALL Eyelet Outlet Bling is just ONE DOLLAR... while supplies last!

SOS573: Man's Best Friend

We're celebrating PETS this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, so we'd like to see a card featuring a critter you might designate as such. Before you see my card and think, "I doubt anyone has bears and giraffes as pets, Lauren!" please note, there is a doggy in the back seat! 

One of my favorite things about SOS is the fact that older products are not only ok, but actively encouraged! Having said that, I didn't realize that Simon Hurley's (2020ish) Road Trip stamp set was out of print at Ranger* until I started writing this up; but I still love it and it fits the challenge. I like to paper-piece the car, but to color the critters; so I stamped the whole thing twice... (once on plaid paper** backed with cardstock and once on plain white cardstock) ...and layered the finished pieces. I'm pretty confident ALL of the scraps and partial pieces of patterned paper I used are out of print, too, actually. Muppets fans may enjoy the fact that, being in a hurry, these guys are traveling by map!!!

You, however, don't need to hurry, because SOS573: Man's Best Friend runs until the evening of Monday, May 18th. Hop over to SOS to see what the rest of the Crew have made and to link your own pet-centric creation! ♥

*I did still see a few available in various online stores, so if you love the cute critters in their little retro car, you might be in luck.

**Note to auto manufacturers worldwide: I would happily buy an ACTUAL plaid car. Just puttin' it out there...

MM18: Bold Shapes

It's possible that I am the only crafter who, upon seeing Ranger's new Make-It Bold Birthday Stamp Set and Bold Shapes Stencil, immediately thought, "Those would make a FAB mandala!" but I did think that, and I stand by my opinion. See?

For the most part, I stenciled the big shapes, outlined them with a medium tipped Fineliner, and cut them out with scissors. Then I added details and embellishments with the stamps; using (mostly) pale to medium shades of Archival Ink for the bases, and darker shades for the detail. At the very end, I came in with some additional Fineliner details and a White Posca Pen. I cut out a large circle of black cardstock to help me arrange the shapes more symmetrically, intending to discard it once the spacing was complete... but then I quite liked the way it grounded everything, so it stayed, lol!

I hope your week is off to a BOLD start. And May the Fourth be with you, Star Wars fans!

Deja Moo!

Last year I made not one, but two Crocheted Highland Cows...they were (obviously!) outstanding in their field. And now here's another one, made for our grand-niece, Gracie's birthday. 

Gracie's mom was sweet enough to send some fun pics!

The pattern for this shaggy beauty is called Highland Cow Crochet Pattern and is available in the Knot Nook Etsy Shop.

I used Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice Yarn in Honey; with Black hooves and Beige horns and snoot.  

This time out I invented a new way to create and attach the tail. I've awarded myself bonus points for remembering to write it down on the pattern sheet!

Fun fact: the shaggy coat is composed of approximately 450 five-inch lengths of yarn. Uncle Jeff has become a master at producing these en masse. Jeff is also in charge of setting the safety eyes for all creatures... because they are kind of hard to click! 

Recycling... Again!

Over at Jingle Belles, we're back for round two of our EARTH DAY prompt featuring RECYCLING, where we'd like you to create a holiday card that features re-cycled, re-used or up-cycled elements.  You know you've got that stash of things that you saved because they were just too pretty to throw away... break them out and create with them! In the past we've used everything from Kleenex Boxes & Soda Cans to Gift Wrap and we *always* have a lot of fun making our own cards and admiring yours!

A couple of years ago, I bought this fun yeti gift wrap. I used most of it to wrap presents; but whenever I had scraps, I saved however many intact yeti photos there were, backed them with cardstock, and set them aside to fussycut and use on cards. The grey paper with stars came as a free gift with a craft magazine. (Not exactly recycling, but a sort of related field, I feel.) This is definitely not the fanciest card I've ever made, but it makes me smile! Also it's flattish and flexible, which means I can mail it for a reasonable price. So I'm callin' it a WIN!

Jump over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and check out the fabulous Readers' Gallery. JB2609: Peace on EARTH DAY runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 6th and we cannot wait to see what you will make! 

Gettin' Beachy

I'm loving ALL of the new Make-It Stencils and Stamps from Ranger, but I confess that the Beach Vibes set especially appeals to me right now. I stamped a bunch of the elements from the set (the chair and surfboard; the umbrella and sand; the sun and the sentiment) onto my go-to Simon Hurley create. Stark White Cardstock, embossed in Ranger Black E/P and then "watercolored" them with some of my favorite beachy shades of Archival Ink. 

There are quotes around "watercolored" because you cannot technically WATERcolor with Archivals since they are oil based... (you know what they say about oil and water, right?!) ...but you can do the same sort of technique by using a waterbrush full of Isopropyl Alcohol. You can dispense Archival Reinkers into a palette and dilute them; OR just smoosh the colors from the ink pads onto your craft sheet and pick them up from there. I generally do the latter, and this tag was no exception.

Since I was working on a #8 Dina Tag, I found it helpful to cut apart the chair from the surfboard, and the umbrella from the sand, for a slightly more compact arrangement. I stamped and embossed the seagulls right on the tag, then painted the background using the same method as the rest of the elements.

Check out the entire Make-It Collection at Ranger.com, where you'll also find all the inks, tools, tags and papers you could possibly need for your next project and beyond!

Roses and (CLEARANCE!) Bling

Did you know that Eyelet Outlet is liquidating their entire stock of bling?! There are soooooo many varieties, and while supplies last, each item is just $1.00... how can you beat it? One of my absolute favorites happens to be Clear Swirl Bling, which is echoing the fancy swirls of this patterned paper. I've also studded the design with Rose Brads and Mini Butterflies... with everything clustered around a few pretty circular sentiment stickers. What else could you possibly need for a beautiful and elegant greeting?

Beautifully Blingy Shopping List:

Clear Swirl Bling

Rose Brads 

Mini Butterfliy Brads.

BTW, Swirl Bling also comes in six additional shades AND there are Pearl Bling Swirls, too. In addition there's Bling Strips, Flower Bling, Heart Bling, Bumpy Bling, Holiday-Themed Bling, Snowflakes and  more. Check it out ASAP, because at this price, they're selling pretty quickly; and when they're gone... they're gone for good. Stock up today!

Make-It Stencil Page

What's the first thing you do with new stencils? If you're anything like me, you want to try ALL of them IMMEDIATELY. Which is how I came up with the idea of a stencil page. Just lay those babies out, one by one, choose a few common colors... or go crazy with random shades! No need for a particular plan or even a solid idea, but the patchwork effect makes it all come together.

The new Make-It Stencils are: Bold Shapes, Bubble Mix, Slanted and Wavy Lines, and every single one is fun, fab and (maybe my favorite part!) very useful.

I used a bunch of my favorite Archival Ink shades, and did a little blending within the stencils. Then I did some outlining with a black Letter It Fineliner. I love how some of the printing on the pages of Dina Wakley's Ledger Journal shows underneath the translucent colors.

Check out ALL of the new Make-It Stencils and Stamp Sets... (ooh and there's a new, perfectly-sized Acrylic Block in the collection now, as well!) ...in the Ranger Online Store!

NEW Make-It Stamps and Stencils from Ranger

The first set of fab products from Ranger's new Make-It line debuted earlier this year; and now here is the second wave of beautiful and super-useful stencils and stamps:

The stamp sets are: Beach Vibes, Fun with Fruit and Bold Birthday.    

The stencils are: Slanted, Bubble Mix, old Shapes, and Wavy Lines.

I'll be showing off projects using all of these fun goodies over the next week or so, but to start out with I couldn't resist the Fun with Fruit Stamp Set, which has solid and outline images of five different fruits, plus lots of excellent punny sentiments to go with: 

I had a hard time choosing which fruit to use first, so I just made ATCs with each of them!

I used some of the newest Archival Ink shades (Sweet Treat, Avocado Toast, Sandcastle, Best Dressed) plus a bunch of the old faves (Aubergine, Vivid Chartreuse, Bright Tangelo, Aquamarine, Wine Cellar) for maximum colorful impact.

Stay tuned for more projects and in the meantime, be sure to check out Ranger.com and @ranger_ink for more info and inspiration!

ALL the Colors!

Using (nearly) ALL the colors of my Tombow Dual Brush Pens... with lots of splashy blending and messy outlines... across two pages of my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal from Ranger. Wishing you a bright and beautiful week! ♥ 

Peace on EARTH DAY!

Those of you who have followed Jingle Belles over the years know that Stephanie and I have a special place in our hearts for EARTH DAY.

So our "Peace on EARTH DAY" prompt each year has been all about RECYCLING, and thus, once again, we'd like you to create a holiday card that features re-cycled, re-used or up-cycled elements. You know you've got that stash of things that you saved because they were just too pretty to throw away: pretty packaging, super-cute gift wrap, holiday cards you've received, pages from magazines or catalogs (you get the idea, right?!); this is the perfect time to break them out and create with them. In the past we've seen everything from Kleenex Boxes & Soda Cans to Gift Wrap and plastic salad containers; and we *always* have a lot of fun making our own cards and admiring yours!

Here's what I made this week:

I was lucky enough to get not one but TWO Amazon Giftcards that came in these adorable reindeer-bedecked holders, so OF COURSE my first thought was, "I'm making these into cards" which... as you can see... I did! I cut off the logo-ed flaps and used Tim Holtz wordfetti style stickers to cover up the slot in the middle which held the flap closed. The design was already so cute that I only added a few diecut snowflakes, my favorite Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads and a couple of mats. The red layer is patterned paper, but the tan consists of a few smallish scraps of leftover giftwrap that I confess I saved especially for this challenge. ;)  

JB2609: Peace on EARTH DAY runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 6th and we cannot wait to see what you will make!

Rainbow Mandala LIVE at Ranger

Today I was honored to be invited to Ranger HQ in Tinton Falls, NJ to draw mandalas with Ranger's Social Media/ Education Specialist Patti Behan during a Ranger LIVE Video. We had lots of fun (Thank you Patti and Asia!) and if you'd like to watch the whole thing it is archived HERE as part of the Ranger YouTube Channel. Meanwhile, I had written up a basic tutorial in advance so that I would remember all the steps (b/c I was Nervous with a capital N, lol!) and if, like me, you sometimes find still photos helpful in a learning context, I'm posting it here... so Read On! ♥

Materials: 

Of course this method will work with your favorite inks, pens and paper but... I'm linking up the Ranger items I used in the samples and during the "Live". (They genuinely are my GO-TO items which I love and use every single day.)

Ranger Archival Inks in Sweet Treat, Bright Tangelo, Sun Dazed, Avocado Toast and Aquamarine (OR your own five favorite blend-friendly shades)

Mini Ink Blending Tool and five Domed Foams (During the vid we mentioned a storage tin project... you can find that HERE!)

Letter It Fineliners, Black 3-pack (assorted tips: 01, 04, and 09)

4.25 x 6" panel of Stark White Cardstock 

Large, medium and small circle stencils, templates or dies; sample uses one of Dina's Coaster Stencils, a roll of washi tape and Letter It's Polka Dotting Stencil

Pencil for tracing; ruler if you want to measure points (the sample was made by eye)

Optional Extras: Liquid Pearls, Posca Pens 

********************

Quick reminder of the Color Spectrum: 

ROYGBIV is a handy acronym you may remember from Junior High; it stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. If you blend colors that are next to each other (aka "analogous" colors; they are also consecutive on a color wheel) you'll never make mud. Alternatively, Dyan Reaveley's advice about choosing either a warm or cool color palette is handy. If you do wind up with unexpected brown, ink the edges with Dark Roast Archival and call it rustic!!! :)

********************

A word about creating smooth, perfect lines: 

This is called line control. Please be advised that MOST people do not naturally start out with perfect line control, BUT it really does develop as you work and practice. Some people find they have better control when pulling the pen towards them or when pushing it away, and it's worth experimenting to see if that helps you. To get best results, you will probably want to rotate the paper as you work. Dotted lines, dots, faux stitching, etc, are all strategies that help disguise this factor. But also: part of the point of drawing mandalas is to help develop line control. 

Procedure:

Step 1: On one corner of a 4.25 x 6" panel of Stark White Cardstock, lightly trace a small circle, and a larger one further into the page, so that the centers of the circles are in the same place, and more or less at the corner of the paper. Start adding concentric rings of color with the Mini Ink Blending Tool and a Domed Foam for each color. (If you try to follow the contour of the two penciled circles across the panel, this will help to keep your design on track without having to measure each set of petals!)

Step 2: The sample is in spectrum order: Sweet Treat, Bright Tangelo, Sun Dazed, Avocado Toast and Aquamarine; then we reverse the order (Avocado, Sun Dazed, Tangelo, Sweet) and keep adding color until the page is filled. Try to make some rings thicker and some thinner; remember that Archival Inks are translucent so you can get interesting effects by letting them overlap a bit.

Step 3: Start adding the basic shapes with a medium (.4) Fineliner. Outline the corner circle, use a small circle template to make round scallops, use the bands of Archival color to make your petals and rings about the same size. YES, if you prefer, you can draw every line in pencil and ink over them later. Some people (ok, ME, lol) find that process more tedious than just drawing with the pen and correcting, disguising or living with any mistakes; it's a personal choice. The more mandalas or zendoodles you draw, the more you will develop your own way to work.

Step 4: Continue adding the basic shapes, without much detail, until the panel is filled. Don't get too bogged down with any mistakes or imperfections, they can be addressed in the next step. A big part of the reason for starting with a single size of pen and NOT adding detail in this step is that, if we have any little inconsistencies to "cover up" that will help us decide where the details will go! Somewhat counter-intuitively, it's usually best to start each new ring in the CENTER of the last one and then work to the right and left; if possible, we want the "meat" of the design to literally take center stage.

Step 5: In this step, plan to be swapping between the thinner (.1) and thicker (.9) Fineliners. Start out by looking for mistakes. "Wonky" lines can be covered up with a thicker pen, or doubled to look intentionally funky. If your petals are very different sizes, you can add additional lines to pad out the small ones. Or you can opt to be really radical and add scribbles, splotches and other intentional "messy" details to create a vibe in which there are no mistakes... just exuberant mark making!

Step 6: Add white... and/or additional colors... with paint pens, liquid pearls, or markers. At this point you could also add stamps, stickers, rub-on transfers, a bit of stenciled pattern, or collage elements. It's your mandala, it can be anything you want! 

What can you do with a completed mandala? Add it to your art journal, frame it, or make it into a card. You may not be 100% in love with your first mandala, but PLEASE don't throw it away... some day you will look back and see how far you've come, you'll be happy to have saved those early ones!

Want to see more of my Mandala Monday posts? Click this link to scroll backwards through that category here on the bog; OR... drop by my Instagram account @llaurenb every Monday! Meanwhile, if you'd like to see the entire video of Patti Behan and myself drawing mandalas in real time, head over to the Ranger YouTube Channel and watch THIS VID.

Life is Better at the Beach

Maybe you can't actually spend today at the beach, but... you can use Eyelet Outlet Shell Brads, Sea Shore Brads and Sea Gulls to make a beautifully beachy card, instead. Copper Glitter Tape makes perfectly sparkly mats and, in celebration of Earth Day, the background photo was saved from a catalog cover before recycling!

Beautiful Beachy Shopping List:

Shell Brads

Sea Shore Brads

Sea Gull Brads

Copper Glitter Tape

Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments you need to make your next card a SHORE thing!

SOS572: Up, Up and Away

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, the challenge is to make a card that contains something you'd see in the sky. Such as? Well, there are birds, butterflies, balloons, airplanes, a rainbow, the sun, the moon, satellites, or... in this case... clouds!

Having decided on clouds, I had some trouble choosing WHICH of the many well-hoarded, cloud-bedecked patterned papers I should use, so I finally chose two for the card and one to stage with. I broke out one of my all-time favorite classic stamp sets (and yes, by "classic" I mean "OLD" lol!) My Favorite Things' Polynesian Paradise, colored the adorable hula girl, a pineapple, some flowers and YES, why not add a handsome toucan for one more sky-centric element.

 Hop over to SOS to see what the rest of the crew have made to inspire you. Challenge 572: Up, Up and Away runs until the evening of Monday May 4th, so you have lots of time to join the fun.

Fruity Sticker Mandala

The Ranger Shop recently added a bunch of fabulous journaling and planner items including LOTS of these Bande Washi Stickers. I only allowed myself to choose three varieties (so far!) but I'm pretty sure they're going to become an obsession. So I'll say "You're welcome" or "Sorry" in advance, lol. I've used two of my choices in this fruity mandala: Sliced Fruit & Vegetables and Strawberry Wreath. 

I added a central circle and punched hearts to beef up the design; and a few miscellaneous star stickers on the outside ring.

Bird is the Word

This is the very last page in my 6" Dina Wakley Kraft Journal, although I think there *might* be an unfinished mandala or two that needs completing before I can declare the volume officially finished. 

Some time ago, I made these little slide mounts filled with trading stamps and tiny critters cut from some of the border pages in my friend Gina's awesome Clip Art Book; I just re-found them and decided they'd be perfect to go in the very back of the book. I cut out a few of Gina's larger whimsical birds to accompany them and made a background of torn paper (English dictionary paper, Chinese dictionary paper, part of a map and part of the map's index) plus some glorious Greenstamps and called it a day

You can get your very own copy of the fabulous Gina is Arty Clipart Book on Amazon; a purchase I can highly recommend if you love collage, cardmaking, cute critters or mixed media art!

Vintage (wk 2)

We're still celebrating all things with a vintage or retro vibe at Jingle Belles and we'd love for you to come Walking in a Vintage Wonderland, by which we mean creating a card with a vintage or retro design. Either by incorporating actual vintage/retro 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, 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 card maker who links-up their vintage design.

This week, I made quite a random collage of torn and layered vintage and found papers including: some sheet music; a dictionary page with a reindeer (technically a caribou but work with me!); an order form and an advertisement from a vintage Christmas Ideals magazine; some rather splendid S&H Green Stamps and... ok, I think that's it, lol. Since the background is quite busy, I only needed a fussycut Authentique bauble (which luckily had a bold sentiment!) and a few Katie Pertiet Christmas Collageable Banners that I machine stitched while I was doing the edges.

JB2608: Walkin' in a Vintage Wonderland runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 22nd. Hop over to the original post at Jingle Belles to see the prize and link your own vintage/retro masterpiece(s).

Stellar Blooms

Simon Hurley's Stellar Inks from Ranger are, of course, outstanding for stamping and stenciling, but I also love to use them for watercoloring! I painted these big bold blooms by (sequentially) smooshing Stellar Ink (in Rosy Cheeks, Prom Queen, Slippery When Wet, Later Gator and Fore!) onto my craft mat, picking the color up with a waterbrush, and splashing it around on Simon's smooth, bright-white Watercolor Paper. When my blooms were dry, I added a dotty background plus a few outlines and details in similar shades of marker. 

HERD It's Your Birthday

If farm cards are your jam, Eyelet Outlet has all the brads you could possibly wish for. This scene features the cows from our Cow and Goat set; plus Sun and Cloud Brads, not to mention a soaring Eagle and a Tractor Brad; all set inside a border of Farm Animal Washi Tape. The Old Barn and Tree are from an older Art Impressions stamp set that I painted with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors.

Down on the Farm Shopping List:

Cow and Goat Brads

Sun and Cloud Brads

Eagle Brads

Tractor Brads

Farm Animal Washi Tape

There are also Pig and Sheep Brads, Horse and Pony Brads, Chickens, Roosters, Llamas and more. Check out the entire selection of farm animals, jungle beasts, pets, reptiles, dinosaurs and pretty much every critter you can name... all in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

Perfect Pearls Mandala Monday

I don't always fill an entire page in my Dina Wakley MEdia Watercolor Journal, but this time I was having so much mixing Perfect Pearls powders with clear water and painting shimmery concentric rings, that before I knew it I had gone from the bottom right all the way up to the top left corner.

After my rings were dry, I added lots of lines, dots, scallops, hearts and faux stitching with my Letter It Fineliners et voila: another Mandala Monday in the books!

Stencil Testing Pages

If you're anything like me, when you get new supplies you want to use them IMMEDIATELY upon unpacking... which is often considerably before you've actually got a plan as to HOW you want to use them. So here's my solution: the stencil testing journal page! 

This could not be easier, because it's literally just stencils in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal. Yes, I made an attempt to line them up somewhat neatly; and yes, I used shades of ink from the same family; so it makes the double-page spread look quite decorative. 

Technically, only three of these Simon Hurley Layering Stencil Sets are brand new, namely: Happy Arches, Star Tile and Trellis. I filled in the rest of the page with some older sets: Geo Leaves, Geo Circles, Deco Diamonds and Tiny Diamonds, to be exact. To make the page look more cohesive, I used Archival Inks in greens and blues: Avocado Toast, Olive, Emerald, Best Dressed, Beach Cruiser and Seafarer... with a little bit of Graphite to anchor them.

Next time you open that box of new goodies, have a journal or sketchbook handy and have some fun!

JB2608: Walkin' in a Vintage Wonderland

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're Walking in a Vintage Wonderland, which means creating a card with a vintage or retro design. 

That could mean incorporating actual vintage/retro 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 are sponsored by my very own Etsy Shop... Just Enough Stuff, so there's a sweet little pack of vintage Christmassy things for one lucky card member who links-up their vintage design.

My card is a mix of actual vintage and vintage-inspired papercrafting products, it breaks down like this: Background paper, mailbox, sentiment and holly are 49 and Market; the funky steampunk Santa and present are Graphic 45; I've added real vintage sheet music and S&H Green Stamps to bump it up a bit. Then I did loads of edge-distressing on everything and a bit of wonky machine-stitching to finish off. Not to brag or anything, but I love this card, lol!

JB2608: Walkin' in a Vintage Wonderland runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 22nd. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's gorgeous vintage-inspired card and check out the little vintage holiday prize pack!

Got Maps?

Before you recycle your paper maps, you should know that they are the perfect background for Eyelet Outlet Classic Car and Driving Brads! As well as cards, old maps work brilliantly as gift wrap; which, in this case, has been adorned with some EO Road Washi Tape to continue the car theme. 

Revved Up Shopping List:

Classic Car Brads

Driving Brads

Road Washi Tape

Whatever plans you have for your next card, Eyelet Outlet has the brads to drive you stylishly to the finish line!

(For map nerd only: this is a 1976 edition of Alexandria Maps' Street Maps of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; part of an astonishingly cool collection of my dad's that was recently gifted by my mom... who, when she saw this card, decided she miiiiiiiiiight want some of 'em back!!!) :)

SOS571: Sparkle, Sparkle!

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "I don't Sweat, I Sparkle" and if you've already guessed that we want to see projects that feature gems, glitter, sequins or bling, WELL DONE! Let's get right to the card:

I actually made TWO cards for this challenge because the first one (might show it next week) didn't look very bling-y at all in the photo. Possibly because I started with my design and then added bling around it. So I decided to try again, but this time START with the bling... a nice big swirl of black crystals from Eyelet Outlet. Or, more precisely, several smaller half-swirls that I Frankenstein-ed and re-arranged so they'd nicely fill up the area around the butterfly. My background was a collage-look paper from 49 and Market to which I added real tickets, vintage postage and tiny fussycut butterflies. Speaking of butterflies, that big chipboard one in the center is actually accented with glitter that you absolutely CANNOT see, but... just thought I'd mention, lol.

Oh and speaking of Eyelet Outlet, ALL their bling is currently on sale for just $1 a pack! But... when it's gone, it's gone, so get a-shoppin'! 

And be sure to check out the fabulous array of sparkliness at Shopping Our Stash and start planning what you'll link up with us!

Pudgie Budgie Mandala Monday

This might be my most unusual Mandala ever... it's at least in the Top Ten, don't you think? I found this majestic (or possibly just annoyed, lol) bird-in-a-circle illustration in a fanciful coloring book I discovered at a garage sale. Pretty sure I must've ignored this guy before when leafing through the book, but for some reason when I saw him this time I thought, "Mandala Centerpiece"! So I trimmed the circle in half (there was a lot of white space) and glued him at the edge of a page in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal. I glued on some of the abstract swirls and leafy designs from the back of the page; then went to town with my Letter It Fineliners.

I was inspired by both the pointy feathers of the bird, and also by the very swirly, detailed leaves that were outside the circle. I guess I was inspired by the whole vibe of the book, which is actually really cool and quite funky. I used my watercolor journal because I had imagined adding lots of color with either inks or paints; but the longer I worked, the more I realized that I wanted to stay with just black and white.

If you ever go to book sales or garage sales, I highly recommend checking for a box or shelf that says, "FREE". If you take the time to look, there might be something weird and wonderful that will inspire a piece of art you wouldn't have thought of any other way.