Use ALL the Colors

This *might* be the most colorful art journal page I've ever made... and thus it's currently my favorite! I used ALL of the new Ranger Archivals and all of the new Liquid Pearls; some of the Make-It Stamps and Stencils, plus lots of lovely Dina Wakley MEdia Collage Sparks.

There are eight brand new varieties of shimmery Liquid Pearls (Firecracker, Sweet Potato, Rubber Duck, Kiwi, Emerald, Blue Velvet, Royalty and Truffle) and the reason they've been applied quite randomly on a double page in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal, is that I'd been using them on other projects, and this is what I did with the extra Liquid Pearls I dispensed. I often use up extra paint, ink, paste or watercolor on a journal page rather than throw them out. Sometimes they add up to an interesting background... as I felt they did here; sometimes they just make mud and later I cover them up.

As for the six new shades of Archival Ink (Avocado Toast, Sweet Treat, Big Plans, Dark Roast, Best Dressed and Sandcastle); some was applied randomly when I cleaned off my Pegboard and Sprinkle Hearts Stencils; some got there quite deliberately when I stamped the numerals from the Make-It Chic Birthday Stamp Set and the big stars from the Charmed Set, to which I added some White Gesso. I also used an ink blending tool to splash a little extra color over any areas that were blank, so the entire page would be covered. 

At the very end, I felt like there needed to be some larger elements across the center of the spread, so I raided my collection of Dina's Collage Sparks and cut out lots of circles and hearts that had similar colors. PS: If you're thinking that I *should* have taken a photo before I embarked on the intentional portion of the pages, I agree!!! But alas, I forgot. Next time!

RED-dy or Not

It's time for week two of the Rudolph the RED Nosed Reindeer prompt at Jingle Belles; for which, as you may recall, the brief is to make a card that's predominantly RED!

I am fairly proud of how many scraps of RED patterned paper I combined to make this card (for the record, it's nine); and also the fact that I unearthed and used not one, not two, not three... but FOUR ancient border punches to do so!

There are also eight (RED!) stickers; three (RED!) Eyelet Outlet brads and two (RED!) circle diecuts involved. I sewed around the perimeter to keep the edges on all those borders from curling up and called it a day.

JB2604: Rudolph the RED Nosed Reindeer runs until the evening of Wednesday, February 25th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card and link up one (or more!) of your own.

Swatching and Storing: New Archival Inks and Liquid Pearls

Yesterday I showed off the colorful new release from Ranger: six new shades of Archival Ink and eight brand new varieties of shimmery Liquid Pearls! The new Archivals are:  Avocado Toast, Sweet Treat, Big Plans, Dark Roast, Best Dressed and Sandcastle.

One of the best things I've ever made just for myself is my Ranger Archival Swatch Book. Not only does it satisfy that craving to USE brand new inks as soon as they arrive; it's also a very practical resource that I constantly refer to when picking and/or matching colors. The pages are 3" squares of sturdy watercolor paper and I stamp or stencil* each shade, then do some funky outlining and write the color name. I made simple chipboard covers and held the whole thing together with a single book ring, making it easy to add, subtract or re-arrange shades as needed. 

With regard to storage: I keep my Liquid Pearls in a Ranger Alcohol Ink Storage Tin** (technically, now in TWO tins because my collection has expanded!) in more or less rainbow order. Until now I haven't officially made a swatch book (because the bottles are clear) but when I start a project using kraft or black cardstock, I usually take time to try out the various shades and see which ones I like best on a colored substrate, so at some point I might make a more permanent record. 

The new LP shades are: Firecracker, Sweet Potato, Rubber Duck, Kiwi, Emerald, Blue Velvet, Royalty and Truffle. Hop over to the Ranger Store to get your own gorgeous new rainbow of shades and check out the classics as well! ♥

**********

*When making swatch books, I highly recommend using a variety of different stamps and stencils; being uncritical if you don't get a perfect impression; and labeling them in your own handwriting. The simpler and more whimsical your design, the better the chances that you'll keep it as a long-term resource and update it as necessary. Plus, you'll never feel the need to re-do the entire thing because you no longer have the stamp you used when you started out!

**Storage PS: I also use the AI Tins for my Stickles and Reinkers... they all come in exactly the same sized bottles!

NEW Ranger Liquid Pearls and Archival Ink Shades

Ranger is warming up our winter with LOTS of bold color. There are six new shades of Archival Ink and eight brand new varieties of shimmery Liquid Pearls! The new LP shades are: Firecracker, Sweet Potato, Rubber Duck, Kiwi, Emerald, Blue Velvet, Royalty and Truffle; and I've used all but Truffle on this fun and funky rainbow card.  

The new Archival Inks are: Avocado Toast, Sweet Treat, Big Plans, Dark Roast, Best Dressed and Sandcastle. I only used the first three on this particular card, but I assure you they are all beautiful, useful shades that enhance the already fabulous line up.

To make this bold rainbow shaker card I painted all of the colorful Liquid Pearl shades in a swoosh across sturdy cardstock, allowing them to overlap at the edges. I left a space in the center of the card towards the top to cut a hole that I backed with clear acrylic and filled with shimmery dots made from the same colors; then topped it with the large heart and small flower from the new Ranger Make-It Wild Hearts Stamp Set. I colored the flower with Sweet Treat Archival and the leaves with Avocado Toast; and added skinny mats of Sweet Treat and Big Plans. 

Since I always find the making of Liquid Pearl dots quite soothing and hypnotic, I generally make waaayyyyy too many... and this session was no exception. Instead of saving the extras, though, I decided to add as many as possible to the rainbow swoosh. As it turned out, there was room for LOTS of dots, which I attached with clear-drying Dina Wakley MEdia Glue.

I'm sure you already know that the Ranger website has many excellent Tutorials and resources. I used the Stickles Confetti Tutorial (it works equally well with Liquid Pearls and also Enamel Accents!) and the Stickles and Liquid Pearls Template (I laminated mine because I use it quite a bit) to make the dots and let them dry overnight.

Hop over to the Ranger Store to get your own gorgeous new rainbow of shades and check out the classics as well. While you're there, take a look at the new Make-It line of clear stamps and stencils, I think you'll love them as much as I do!

Aparrotly... it's Your Birthday

I can never resist a diabolical pun, or an excuse to break out my beautiful, colorful Eyelet Outlet Tropical Bird Brads, so here's a card that features both! Sun and Cloud Brads set the scene, along with a Party Hat Brad and letters diecut from Cloud Washi Tape.

If Tropical Birds aren't your thing, there are also Lizards, Cats, Dogs, Farm Animals, Fish, Crabs, Lobsters, Jungle Critters, Chicks, Bunnies and so much more in the Animals category of the Eyelet Outlet Store.

Bird is the Word...

...this Presidents’ Day Mandala Monday, on which I’m celebrating the fact that last night’s snow is being effortlessly vanquished by today’s 40f+ temps, wahey! BTW, the bird in question is a handsome cockatoo (I think?) from my friend Gina; you can get your own awesome copy of her beautiful clipart book by clicking THIS LINK!

Blue Roses

Happy Valentine's Day! If you're allergy-ridden like me, your favorite flowers are probably the ones you paint yourself, lol. Additionally on the plus side, the painted ones can be any color, any shape, any size you want; and they'll never fade or die or drop petals all over!

Blue Roses painted with Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors in my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal from Ranger.

Rudolph the RED Nosed Reindeer

It's time for another new prompt at Jingle Belles and this time we're solidly IN THE RED... but in a *good* way! To be more specific: In honor of Valentine's Day, the brief is to make a card that's predominantly... you guessed it... RED! ♥

I love using the holly dies from Wendy Vecchi's Christmas Add-On Set for her Essential Envelopes to construct double-layer poinsettias. Then I added foliage and hearts from the same set and a couple of Eyelet Outlet Poinsettia Brads to the centers. I placed all of the above on top of a stacked-diamond background pattern made from lots of RED patterned paper scraps that I built on top of some ancient (RED!) My Mind's Eye patterned paper.

JB2604: Rudolph the RED Nosed Reindeer runs until the evening of Wednesday, February 25th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's fabulous (RED!) card and link up one (or more!) of your own. ♥

Hoppy Valentine's Day

Eyelet Outlet Frog Set Brads feature frogs (obviously) as well as cattails and waterlilies; everything you need to make a scene for Valentine's Day or any other "HOPPY" occasion. A pair of Mini Butterfly Brads have fluttered by to celebrate.

Hopping Shopping List:

Frog Set Brads 

Mini Butterfly Brads

Don't FROG-et to hop on over to the Eyelet Outlet Store for lots more fabulous brad styles!

Lauren Bergold

hopes your day is un-FROG-getable!

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SOS567: Bent Out of Shape

For the brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash we'd like you to make a Shaped Card, by which we mean no squares or rectangles allowed. But round, oval, diamond, hexagonal or... my personal fave... CUPCAKE-SHAPED are all excellent choices!

I don't use my Stephanie Barnard Cupcake Fold-Its die set often enough, but to compensate, whenever it's out, I rarely stop at one cupcake-shaped card. This time I made a trio of treatos, in appropriately cupcakey colors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. I used scraps for all of the layers except the cardbases, for which you actually need 4.5 x 12" piece of sturdy cardstock.

SOS567: Bent Out of Shape runs until the evening of Monday, February 23rd. Be sure to check out all the fab shaped cards the Crew have made to inspire you at Shopping Our Stash!

MM06: Stencil Cleaning Background

When I'm using stencils and Ranger Archival Inks* I use alcohol wipes to clean the ink off the stencils. If my sketchbook or journal happens to be close at hand, I often turn to a blank page and wipe the ink off quite randomly onto the page. After a few repeats, depending on the colors and patterns, sometimes you have a random-but-interesting melange; sometimes you just have a grungy layer of more or less mud. Either way, your page is no longer blank. Occasionally, such a background might even turn out to be the start of something bizarrely cool, which is what happened here.

I had been using the three new Ranger Make-It Stencils (Bow Lattice, Peg Board and Sprinkle Hearts) with a palette of rainbow-inspired Archival Inks, so there are a lot of random shades. A few are the pure ink colors, but most are the mingling of two or more shades. I decided to draw a very loose mandala on top, and eventually instead of traditional petals I started adding swirls and flourishes and... tentacles? 

After all the shapes were on board I added doodles and some additional color. Feel free to hum along to Octopus' Garden... or any other silly, whimsical tune you like! I wish you a warm and colorful week! ♥

*This idea works with any type of ink, paint, spray or paste; but the heavier the consistency, the sturdier the journal or paper you use as the "clean up" page should be. Luckily, Dina Wakley's Mixed Media Watercolor Journal stands up to pretty much ANYTHING!

Here Fishy Fishy

Here's another collage I started last weekend when my friend Devon @futureperfect321 was here; I had made the background while we were together...

...then later I added the focal elements (fishies + cat) which I cut out from my friend Gina's @ginaisarty Clip Art Book.

I hope this weekend you'll get to hang out with friends, and/or make some art, and/or devour a delicious Thai takeaway! (Feel free to substitute your favorite people, activities and foodstuffs to create your own Perfect Day Scenario!)

Another Year Wiser

Ranger's new Make-It line of Stencils and Stamps, combine brilliantly with my favorite shades of Archival Ink, to totally streamline the cardmaking process. 

This card features the Bow Lattice Stencil applied in rainbow diagonals of Vibrant Fuchsia, Coastal Coral, Sun Dazed, Sea Grass, Aquamarine and Aubergine. Then the numerals from the Chic Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set were added in the same colors, between the bows, for even more color and detail.

The sentiment, candle and tiny hearts were all stamped in Emboss It Clear Ink and embossed with Ranger White E/P; then covered with a nice bold coat of Aubergine Archival that was flicked with Isopropyl Alcohol to create a fun mottled effect that's duplicated on the background mat. The rose stamp is the only element that isn't included in the Chic Birthday Set; it's from the Wild Hearts Set and is embossed in Magenta Powder on scraps of Stark White Cardstock, then cut out and scattered around the card. 

Skinny green mats and a bit of wonky machine stitching complete the design of this colorful and exuberant birthday greeting!

Mid Century Modern Inspiration

At Jingle Belles we're still making cards inspired by this wonderfully intricate Mid Century Modern Holiday Decor photo and YOU are still invited to join the fun! 

Here's my card:

This week I chose to focus on that beautiful Christmas tree with its red, green and gold baubles and oversized star; which I recreated using Simon Hurley's Classic Christmas Tree Die Set from Spellbinders. I couldn't resist breaking out the woodgrain patterned paper again, and found another piece of so-old-I-can't-believe-I-have-it Daisy D's retro-inspired paper for the background.

JB2603: Mid Century Modern Christmas runs until the evening of next Wednesday, February 11th. Link your cards on the original post. 

Valentine Bouquet

Nothing says, "Happy Valentine's Day" quite as well as a classic bouquet of red roses. Unlike a real bouquet, Eyelet Outlet Rose Brads will last forever... and are much easier to fit into an envelope! A sweet Mini Ladybug Brad has arrived to investigate.

Bloomin' Beautiful Shopping List:

Rose Brads

Mini Ladybug Brads

Roses not your vibe? Visit the Eyelet Outlet Store for lots more Flower Brad Styles!

A Random Collage

Sometimes you just have to sit and cut up or tear pretty/interesting vintage papers and stamps and things, then quite randomly glue them together. If this activity happens to take place on a snow-free weekend, in the company of a fun artist friend like @futureperfect321 and you get to eat lots of yummy Thai food before or afterwards, so much the better!

On a side note, I was hoping to participate in #februllage2026 and I'm adoring all of the amazing creations people are posting to that thread. Maybe I'll get to jump in later this month...

New Stamps and Stencils (WOOHOO!)

I'm so excited to get my hands on Ranger's new line of Make-It Stamps and Stencils. There are (so far) three high-quality photopolymer stamp sets and three nice sturdy 6x8" stencils. The stencils are: Pegboard, Bow Lattice, and Sprinkle Hearts. The stamp sets are called: Chic Birthday, Charmed and Wild Hearts. I made some ATCs to test drive them.

I decided to make one ATC for each stamp set, without mixing them, so you could see that each set has more than enough images and sentiments to make a bunch of different projects. I did add some stenciled details in the backgrounds, though.

Here are the full sets; as you can see I barely scratched the surface, there are many ways to use each of them!

I did a rainbow version of each stencil so you could really see the patterns well. I love the size of these (6x8") as I often make A6 or A7 cards; and I have a couple of biggish art journals. But as you can see, the scale is still great for smaller items like ATCs. You could even add pattern to the front and back of an A2 card.

One of my favorite things on the "Cheers" ATC is the rounded panel under the martini. I made it by stenciling the Bow Lattice, moving it slightly and changing colors over and over; until I got a pattern that reminds me of funky "space age" 1960's Formica. 

Stay tuned for more ideas coming soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out the full line of Make-It items as well as all the inspiration on the @ranger_ink Instagram Page!

Sunshine Mandala

It's a bold and beautiful SUNSHINE Mandala Monday... on a library card; thus combining a bunch of my favorite things together in a conveniently portable 3x5" format.

Hope your week is off to a sunshiney start! ♥♥♥

In Winter...

...you have to paint your own flowers. So I did! In my Dina Wakley Watercolor Journal from Ranger. It's got really sturdy watercolor paper that has jusssssssst enough texture and stands up to watercolor, inks, glosses, pastes... basically anything you can throw, spray, scribble or brush onto it!

I smooshed some Simon Hurley Stellar Inks onto the craft sheet and used a waterbrush to paint swirls of pink and triangles of green; with a few splatters of both because I can never resist, lol! When the page was dry, I drew swirly rose(ish) shapes with a Letter It Fineliner and  et voila!

Wishing you a warm(ish) and wonderful day in which you get to take a little time out to play with your art supplies! ♥