If, like me, you can never resist a diabolical pun, the Eyelet Outlet Reptile Brads are an excellent choice. In addition to the gecko and chameleon hiding in the background foliage; the sentiment panel boasts another Chameleon, a Cactus Brad, our Sun and Cloud Brads and a Mini Butterfly.
Visit the Eyelet Outlet Store for lots more fun brads, bling, eyelets and more; and be sure to stock up on all your faves before the website retires at the end of the year!
The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is a celebration of KRAFT cardstock, woohoo! Since this is pretty self-explanatory, I'll get right to my card:
As you can plainly see, my card base is kraft. Perhaps less obviously, the panel under the butterfly is also kraft, but since I adorned it very enthusiastically with white Vicki Boutin 49 and Market rub-on transfers and Apree floral stickers, it's slightly less prominent than I thought it would be, lol. But that was actually the start of my card and it inspired the stack of ancient diecut butterflies, as well as the addition of white doily pieces and a bit of machine stitching. The pink panel, btw, is part of the packaging from the rub-ons, I love the way it softly echoes some of the images I used on the kraft.
SOS575: KRAFT-astic runs until the evening of Monday, June 15th. Head on over to Shopping Our Stash to see the Crew cards and link up your own KRAFT-astic masterpiece.
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!
We're still celebrating Christmas Music at Jingle Belles; so we're asking you to create a card (or tag, or gift card holder, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporates music, musical instruments, or even the title of a favorite Christmas Carol.
Here's my card:
I used a vertical strip of real (torn) sheet music; some horizontal music-printed washi tape; and a tiny journal card with "Deck the Halls" on it, so I think I've covered all the bases. The background paper is from 49 & Market; the ancient slide mount frame is of unknown origin; and the foliage diecuts were leftover from another project... the dies were Tim Holtz for Sizzix Christmas Greenery. I cannot tell a lie: I love how this tuned out!
JB2605: Fa-La-La-La-La runs until 6pm (Eastern) on the evening of Wednesday, March 11th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see the fun little prize one random cardmaker will score... just for linking up with us this fortnight! ♥
The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "A Few of My Favorite Things" and what we'd like you to do is make a card that uses two or more of YOUR favorite crafty ingredients... and make sure you tell us what they are and why. Sound like fun? I thought so, too! Though honestly, the hardest part for me was to focus in on just a FEW favorite things... 'cause I have lots, lol!
There are lots more inspiring cards from the Crew at SOS, and you can read about their Favorite Things as well. SOS560: A Few of My Favorite Things runs until the evening of Monday, November 17th and we'd love for you to join us!
Would this be a good time for another funny, punny, fanciful card made with my Gina is Arty Clipart? (Let's assume the answer to that was, "Yes" ok? Thanks.) I've made a few "HOPPY" cards using stamps or Eyelet Outlet Brads. The pun works excellently with frogs, beers and... as in this case... BUNNIES!
Time for a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this one is super-seasonal! For Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice we'd like to see cards and projects which reflect however you interpret the changing Autumn Season: Pumpkin Spice Latte, Thanksgiving, Changing Leaves, etc; the choice is yours. I have to confess that irl, I don't care for anything with the pumpkin spice flavor profile, but... that didn't stop me from making a card I love:
This sweet fox journal card is from an autumn-themed paper collection we had at Paper Anthology a few years ago, from Photoplay, I think; but it had been cut out of the sheet and so I can't be absolutely sure. I know that I've looked at it and thought about using it quite a few times and (for mysterious reasons) it never happened until now. The background is a found piece of collaged vintage paper that I had watercolored with autumn-leafy shades and then (again, mysteriously) did not use. When I found it, I knew it was exactly the right thing, but to fancy it up even more, I had some brand new 49 and Market Irresistible Times white Rub-On Transfers from the Ranger Online Store that I've been dying for an excuse to open up, so I did. I used my ancient set of Cuttlebug Leaves Dies (possibly the first die set I ever purchased?) to cut out a few leaves from bright white text paper backed with cardstock and matted both the fox and the large background on rich brown self-adhesive felt sheets that I'm slightly obsessed with. I thought about adding a sentiment, but nothing I tried jumped out at me, so I decided to wait. (I have often found it helpful to have a few "uncommitted" cards in my stash... you never know what sort of card you might need at short notice and it's nice to have options.
SOS559: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice will run until the evening of Monday, November 3rd. Check out the fabulous cards our talented Crew have made to inspire you at Shopping Our Stash.
It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and if you've already guessed that the title, "Hot, Hot, Hot!" means we want you to make a card inspired by something HOT, such as weather, food, fire, etc; then you are absolutely right, and we can't wait to see your interpretation. I went with weather, as you can see:
I've had Honeybee's Flippin Fabulous stamp set for two or three years and I've used all the shells and most of the sentiments LOTS of times, but somehow never inked up those fab flipflops? How is that even possible? To make up for lost time, I stamped them twice (on blue floral and yellow geometric patterned papers) then cut them out and paper pieced them. Oh and I added a couple of Eyelet Outlet Colored Daisy Brads to make them extra fancy. In the storage envelope with the stamps I found a bunch of pre-stamped shells and a couple of hibiscus flowers (from a different set) that were pre-stamped and pre-watercolored; so I basically had my whole focal collage. I raided 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Sunburst collection and found the perfect background; then added the sentiment, inked and machine stitched around the edge, and called it good.
SOS554: Hot, Hot, Hot runs until the evening of Monday, August 25th and we'd love for you to link up with us. Meanwhile, check out the inspiring cards from our uber-talented Crew at Shopping Our Stash.
...and all through the blog, we're busy making new holiday cards based on this clever and inspiring layout by our own Jingle Belles Sketch Diva, Stephanie!
As always, you can interpret the sketch using any colors, stamps, papers or supplies; and you can flip, rotate, stretch or smoosh it; even swap the circle for a different shape... just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your design!
And here's my card:
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!
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.
Time for a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and for "Red, Red Wine" we'd like you to use red as your primary color; OR use wine (or another beverage) as your theme; OR mix it up and do both!
As you can see, I went with option one: using red as my main color. I've got a background of paper from 49 and Market's Spectrum Gardenia collection, loaded up with layers of (mostly) red ephemera from the same collection (flowers and butterflies); from my stash of real vintage goodies (tickets and trading stamps); and from a very fun book of reproduction ephemera (various labels).
Be sure to check out the gorgeous makes from the rest of our talented crew and then start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight. SOS547: Red, Red Wine runs until the evening of Monday, May 19th.
This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, we'd like to see cards that feature "Fun Folds" by which we mean something other than a regular hinge-on-one-side card. Gatefolds, Easels, Pop-Ups, Stair-Steps, Matchbooks... are all fair game. We found a FAB blog with lots of examples and tutorials, so if you need a little more inspiration or assistance, try the Fun Fold Archive at Simply Simple Stamping. Meanwhile, here's my card:
I am emphatically NOT an engineer, so this sort of challenge is... ummmm... challenging for me, lol. Before starting, I looked at A LOT of examples, read some tutorials, and then sorta/kinda went my own way afterall. This is on my own special variation of a Z-Fold Card that I'm calling a Stand-Up Diorama. It's more or less A2 sized; I cut my 8.5x11" sheet of plain white cardstock down to 4.25x11", then scored at the 5.5" mark, the 7" mark and the 7.75" mark. (In retrospect, I think I'd make that last fold a bit wider; aiming maybe for the 8" or 8.25" mark instead; but this layout definitely gives you plenty of depth!) I folded on all the creases and got on to The Fun Part of decorating all those little planes and surfaces.
I used almost entirely 49 and Market papers and diecuts that are a couple of years old, from various collections, including Kaleidoscope, Vintage Artistry Sunburst, and Spectrum Gardenia and Spectrum Sherbet; there's a little bit of EVERYTHING here... and lots of it is PINK which is always a bonus, imo!
Visit Shopping Our Stash to see the fabulous and fancy fun folds the rest of the Crew have used, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time. SOS544: Fun Folds runs until the evening of Monday, April 7th.
It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that Guy Cards are harder to make than Girl Cards. Or at least many cardmakers (including ME!) think so. So this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're challenging you to make a masculine card for any occasion you'd like, I needed a birthday card, so that's what I made.
One of my additional goals on this outing was to combine an inky stamped/stenciled background with collage elements. Because I've noticed that I either do ALL collage or all inky goodness; and I quite like the way other people (including my current Art Crush Katie Pertiet) put them together. I've used a bunch of neglected stash items on this one including Simon Hurley's Leaf Prints stamps (about a year old) and Handwritten background (maybe two years); Letter It's Alternating Chevrons stencil (maybe three years); some 49 and Market Acetate Leaves and Vellum Leaf Stickers (two years?); lots of vintage sheet music, book paper, a chart from a map and some fab trading stamps, plus a vintage car illustration; and possibly my all-time favorite crafting supply that ISN'T technically a craft supply: Drywall Tape! The sentiment is part rub-on transfer and part wordfetti sticker... the latter is five or six years old. I'm a little bit proud that I managed to squeeze alllllllllllllllll of that onto an A6 card and I still left some white showing in the background.
SOS's Masculine Challenge runs through Monday evening, December 2nd. Check out the fab makes by our Crew at Shopping Our Stash then start planning what you'll link up with us!
Did you know that August 27th is National Just Because Day? If so, you've probably already guessed that we're looking for all-occasion, no-particular-reason cards this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash! Which means we can get right to my card, perhaps the most flat-but-layered thing I've ever made?
I raided my big box of unused backgrounds for the bluey-green panel (composed of blended Oxide Inks, lots of over-stamping and Taylored Expressions' Rosy Posey Embossing Folder) added a torn strip of bright white sheet music onto which I applied LOTS of 49 and Market Kaleidoscope Rub-on Transfers; a cluster of diecuts (also 49 and Market) and I even lucked into a pre-colored Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 flower sprig in exactly the right shades (Night Sky, Garden Patinga and Leaf Green Archival Inks). I finished off with a whole bunch of distressed edges and a bit of machine stitching; whereupon this A6 card was complete.
Be sure to venture over to SOS to see what the rest of the Crew have made and start planning your own "Just Because" card. This challenge runs until the evening of Monday, September 9th.
...is Comin' to Town! Metaphorically speaking, that is, this fortnight at Jingle Belles; as we continue our celebration of "The Man With the Bag"! Here's what I made this week:
