Ombre (Again)

It's the second week of celebrating OMBRE at Jingle Bells and thus we're looking for holiday cards that feature blends or gradients of one or more colors.

This week I've taken the ultimate ombre short cut: I've diecut my tiny trees from paint chip color cards! My Perfect Pearls background has a bit of gradient to it... radiating outwards from the center; whether it's actually ombre is up for debate, but I thought it made a nice "sky" for my funky scene. I cut some snowy hills from sheet music and diecut my sentiment from another Perfect Pearls experiment that has a beautiful shade of blue so soft you admittedly can't actually see it in the photo. Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads and Sticky Back Pearl Bling adorn the sky; a skinny blue mat and some machine stitching complete the design.

JB2611: Ombre Wonderland runs until the evening of Wednesday, June 3rd. Link up your Ombre card(s) today!

ICAD: Title Card

The Index Card a Day project starts on Monday, June 1st; the start of 61 days of making art on... you guessed it... index cards! Our hostess, Tammy G, usually posts some entirely optional "warm Up" prompts, one of which is to make a title page for this year's cards. You obviously don't need to make a book to hold your cards, but that's how I like to store mine and I find it motivational to watch the book fill up as I add a card each day.

This sweet little bus has been sitting in my collage fodder box for agggggggggggges, just waiting to be used for something cool; and that "something" has finally arrived! Its origin is a falling apart children's dictionary that I got at a garage sale some years ago. 

I built my tiny collage on an index card divider with my initial on it; I think I'd like to finish the book with the "B" tabbed card!

Happy Birdy

Eyelet Outlet Bluebird and Robin Brads are the centerpiece of this bold and punny birthday card. They're perched on diecut branches adorned with Mini Leaf Brads and joined by some Mini Bee Brads, who can never resist a celebration!

Beautiful Birdie Shopping List:

Bluebird and Robin Brads

Mini Leaf Brads

Mini Bee Brads

Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments you need, including ALL Bling selections for $1 each and all Enamel Dots, Spots and Shapes for just $1.50. Stock up today, while supplies last!

Color + Pattern

It's a bold and bright Memorial Day Mandala Monday featuring lots of gorgeous Archival Inks, a few of my favorite Make-It Stencils, and plenty of Posca Pen and Letter It Fineliner details... all in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal.

If you're having a cookout today... save me a burger, k? ♥

Big Big Collage

With two months of small-format, index card art on the horizon after ICAD starts on June first , there's time for one more BIG collage in my Dina Wakley MEdia Ledger Journal from Ranger. With pages just under 7.5 x 12" there's room for LOTS of vintage goodies like sheet music, part of an old map, S&H Green Stamps, glossy calendar page flowers, and phonebook paper; as well as some of my favorite Dina Wakley Collage Papers.

JB2611: Ombre Wonderland

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to walk in an Ombré Wonderland with us, by creating a card that features an Ombré blend. Ombré is literally French for "shaded"; a gradient effect where colors smoothly blend into each other, usually transitioning from light to dark or between different hues. 

When I found a white-embossed snowflake panel in my UFOs box, I immediately knew it'd make the perfect start to an ombre emboss/resist background. I blended four shades of Simon Hurley pink inks (Piggyback, Rosy Cheeks, Stupid Cupid and Prom Queen) over the embossing; added some Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads and then loaded on lots of adorable Doodlebug Design stickers. Job done!

JB2611: Ombre Wonderland runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, June 3rd. Hop over to Jingle Belles to link your Ombre Offerings!

Index Card a Day: 2026

We're coming up on June 1, which, in the Index Card a Day community, is known as ICAD Day! The first of 61 consecutive days on which we'll make art of some description on an index card. This fun and inspiring annual event was devised by Tammy Garcia in 2011; and I've been participating since 2012. You can read more about it on this year's Intro Page at Daisy Yellow Art.

Do you need a fancy little book with collaged front and back covers? NOOOOOOOO! Do you want one? Maybe. This is my 15th year participating, and I've found that it definitely helps me keep going and stay committed, knowing I have a fancy little book that I made specially. Also it's a place to keep all my cards as I finish them. Oh yeah, and it's exciting to watch the book get fatter as the challenge rolls on. Other folks use a folder, a file box, a photo album, or just a stack on the corner of their worktable. 

What do you actually *NEED* to participate in ICAD? Some index cards and a writing implement. Period. And YES, they should be actual, flimsy, junky, cheap index cards from the office supply store; because a really big part of the point is that you don't need fancy supplies, or full-fledged finished project level ideas; you just need to show up and do SOMETHING. Every day. For two months.

What kind of art can you make on an index card? You can draw, stamp, weave, doodle, stitch, color, collage, write haikus or six word stories, practice your lettering, swatch all your paints... the list might not technically be endless, but there's a lot of scope! Tammy devises daily prompts and weekly themes, which she posts on the website and the @indexcardaday feed on Instagram. The prompts and themes are 100% optional; you can do them all, or ignore them entirely. I pick and choose, focusing on the prompts that especially interest or inspire me; tending to lean more heavily into them on days when I don't have an idea in mind. The official IG hashtag is #dyicard2026 if you decide to post your art.

I generally post my cards daily on my Instagram account @llaurenb and a weekly round-up on the blog. If you'd like to see some of my ICADs from previous years, check out the ICAD strand by clicking the italic text. Hope to see you on June 1st! ♥

Unicorns Just Know These Things

Eyelet Outlet Unicorn and Rainbow Brads are perfect for pretty much ANY occasion... or for no occasion at all. And let's face it, we'd all love to get a happy, silly, colorful card in the mail just because someone was thinking of us, right?

Unique Unicorn Shopping List:

Unicorn and Rainbow Brads

1/16" Mini Round Brads- Pink Mix

All the embellishments you need for your next card... (and the one after that!) ...can be found in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

SOS574: Congratulations

Graduation and wedding season is upon us, so the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is especially timely. We'd like to see CONGRATULTIONS cards: for any occasion, in any style, using any items from your stash. Then you can congratulate yourself on being ready for the next big occasion!

I raided my stash of older Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi stamps, including Delightful Art; as well as some of my favorite shades from Wendy's signature Archival Ink collection. I found that cool green leafy overstamped panel AND the pale blue embossed piece in my box of leftover bits; the silver dragonfly brads are from The Ink Pad (♥♥♥!) years and years ago; the two yellow mats are from my stash. 

"SOS574: Congratulations" runs until the evening of Monday, June 1st. Hop over to SOS to see the inspiring Crew cards and start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

Carousel Mandala

This page in my Dina Wakley MEdia Watercolor Journal started out as a way to test my newest set of Posca Pens and also to try out some of the newer shades of Ranger's Liquid Pearls. Serendipitously, I discovered that if the mandala you started with literally NO plan in mind happens to have a lot of bright colors AND stacked sets of straight-ish, flaring petals, midway through, it is going to start looking like the top of an old-fashioned fair ground carousel. Who knew?!

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Flowery Bags Are My Bag, Baby!

I have always loved elaborate giftwrapping, stencils and inks... so here's a post that combines all of the above:

I used an ancient hollyhocks stencil on an 8 x10"(ish) white gift bag from the big box store. I applied Simon Hurley's pale pink Rosy Cheeks dye ink from Ranger to the entire flower and blended some darker pink Prom Queen into the centers. 

To make the flowers stand out more prominently, I put a soft shadow to the righthand side of each stalk with a medium grey brushmarker, then added messy outlines with a Letter It Fineliner. Sunflower Stickles centers and a scattering of Eyelet Outlet Clear Jewel Bling; because let's face it, a little bling is almost ALWAYS a good idea!

Pink ribbon, white tulle, a sparkly butterfly and a card with a coordinating envelope complete this Mother's Day gift bag design.

Snow Far, Snow Good

We're still creating cards that feature snow this week at Jingle Belles and we'd love for you to join us. In the meantime, here's what I made this week:

One of my favorite "specialty" mandalas is a Snowflake Mandala. Because to me, snowflakes are (in a kinda sorta way) basically natural mandalas; at least, they're an arrangement of crystals in a more or less concentric circular pattern; which lends itself to being doodled and played with as a format. I feel similarly about Spiderweb Mandalas, and make at least one per year, generally in pink; but that's another story. A few weeks ago, when I was at Ranger HQ drawing mandalas with Patti Behan, someone watching the Live Video asked if I had any ideas for mandalas that would work for Christmas/ Winter Holiday greetings and I mentioned both Snowflake Mandalas and also Poinsettia Mandalas, of which I've done fewer, but I also enjoy them because you can easily make them recognizable... without having to make them realistic. I stand by this belief, lol. 

So of course, when I realized we were featuring SNOW this fortnight, I knew this would be the perfect time for the first Snowflake Mandala of 2026. I made a nice inky background with some of my favorite blue Archival Ink shades, dried it thoroughly, and then drew lots of snowflakes with a Letter It Fineliner. I added details with a few blue markers and finally put additional white in there with a Posca Pen. Since the design is quite busy already, when I turned my mandala panels into cards, I only added bright blue mats, a chunky (sparkly!) sentiment and some small Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Bling.

Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card, check out the Readers' Gallery, and get a peek at the tiny Snow-centric prize that one lucky cardmaker will score, just for linking up with us this fortnight. JB2610: Dashing Through the Snow runs until the evening of Wednesday, May 20th.

GNOME for the Holidays (New Kit!)

Holiday Jumpstart: GNOME for the Holidays is Paper Anthology's newest holiday card kit, which features an adorable gnome, a quirky diecut sentiment, and lots of circles. It's available now 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 “GNOME for the Holidays” because of the supercute guy (or gal… it's hard to tell with gnomes!) on the lefthand side.

We all love 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”. That issue is solved by this pre-packaged kit, which features everything you need (except adhesive) to complete five copies of this original design. Also included are complete written instructions (not pictured, but included!) and a nice big photo for reference.

This kit contains:

Five sets of gnome diecuts (base, hat, beard, tunic, nose)
Five 3" green knitty circles
Five 2" festive tree circles
Five 1.25" red dotted circles
Five small green knit printed hearts
Five sets of G-N-O-M-E diecut letters
Five printed "for the holidays" sentiments
Five panels of white textured cardstock
Five white A2 cards

Get your copy of Holiday Jumpstart: GNOME for the Holidays today, available only in the Paper Anthology Design Etsy Shop. 

SHELL-ebration!

Neutral tones with pops of teal and yellow add up to a bright and beachy card featuring Eyelet Outlet Shell Brads, Sea Shore Brads, a Beach Umbrella and Sunglass Brads. A few Sticky Back Heart Pearls, 1/8" Round Eyelets in the corners, and mats of Glitter Copper Tape complete the design.

In the background are the shells and sentiment from Ranger's Make-It Beach Vibes Stamp Set, embossed in Marigold Metallic and painted with diluted Archival Inks.

Remember that ALL Eyelet Outlet Bling varieties are on CLEARANCE at just $1 each; including Sticky Back Heart Pearls! Stock up now, because when they're gone... they're GONE!

Layered Collage Mandala

The other day I was talking about Clean Up Collages, by which I mean quite random assemblies of paper scraps, tickets, and trading stamps left on my worktable at the end of a project, that I glue together instead of putting away. Occasionally, this process results in an actual finished piece that I love... (Saturday's was one such) ...but often it's more valuable as a process than an outcome. So what do I do then? I diecut the pieces and use them for something else! In this case, the heart-shaped petals surrounding the central frame are from two different Clean Up Collage panels that I didn't love on their own; but they work really well (in my opinion) in this orange, yellow, green and neutral creation, so I'm calling it a win!

I hope your Monday isn't too Mondayish, lol; and that your week in general is off to a good start.

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! ♥