Christmas Bells, Those Christmas Bells

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you to break out your Bells for the Belles and create a card that includes some sort of bell. Here's what I made:

I got out my Impression Obsession Retro Ornaments die set (because one of the ornaments is bell-shaped) as well as my tan/gold/neutral scraps folder and had a lot of fun putting together a set of sparkly ornaments, dangling from pearl bling. And what could be a better background for a bell-themed card than a re-sized color copy of the sheet music for "Jingle Bells"?!

Be sure to check out Stephanie's beautiful Bell card at Jingle Belles, as well as the appropriately Bell-related prize that one lucky cardmaker is going to score, just for linking up with us this fortnight. JB2510: Christmas Bells, Those Christmas Bells runs until the evening of Wednesday, May 21st.

SOS536: Winter Wishes

Here's a December challenge with a TWIST from Shopping Our Stash: Make a card with a winter theme but... NOT Holiday!!! Here's what I made:

I went with a snowy theme so I could use my older-but-still-beloved Taylored Expressions Winter Wishes stamp set for the sentiment. The rest of the card is just diecuts from scraps of specialty cardstock: Impression Obsession's awesome Birch Trees and Deer Trio have to be 15 years old, but I still use them a lot; The woodgrain frame is from a set of Hero Arts Infinity Dies from maybe three or four years ago. The Simon Hurley Stitched Snowflakes Background Stamp (the very bottom layer of the collage) is probably only a year or so old, but already feels like a permanent "go-to" item. I embossed it with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder which puffs up a bit more than ordinary white e/p and a matte/spongy texture that I love. The snowy ombre blue sky was made by blending Prize Ribbon, Uncharted Mariner and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxides really well; then splashing clear water on top, waiting thirty seconds and blotting it off with a tissue. I'm thinking about making a few more versions of this in different colorways, so that when it's time to write those post-holiday thank you notes, I'll be READY! 

SOS536: Winter (But NOT Holiday) Challenge runs until Monday evening, December 16th and we'd love for you to join us. Why not check out what the rest of The Crew have made, then start planning your own Wintery masterpiece?

Got Candy? (YES!)

Be sure to stock up on Eyelet Outlet's new Candy Corn Brads, just in case some adorable Trick or Treaters show up a little early this year. These monsters have donned Witch Hat Brads and can spot any stray candy from far away, thanks to their two (or more!) Eye Brads.

There are Ghosts and Monsters and Scarecrows galore in the Holiday Section of the Eyelet Outlet Online Store; check them out today... if you dare!

SOS525: NBUS

In case you're wondering, NBUS stands for Never Before Used Stuff; and this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, we're asking you to create a card that features items in your stash which are more than one year old, but haven't, for whatever reason, been used yet. Here's my card:

In the photo below you can see my Never Before Used item: a fabulous IO stamp set called "Aloha" which Stephanie gave me for my birthday last year (or possibly the year before?!) which I absolutely LOVE but somehow, despite the fact that I've gotten it out periodically and re-admired it, I had still never inked up?! I did my own variation of "spotlight stamping" by using the MISTI (also a gift from Stephanie, quite a few years ago, which I do actually use ALL the time!) to stamp a panel of tropical flowers and leaves. Then I carefully lined up my Altenew Bold Alpha dies to spell "ALOHA" and cut them from the background. I left the surrounding area plain, but used my Tombows to color the flowers and leaves of the diecuts, which I then shadowed with a second set of diecut letters in bold blue, before placing them back in the holes from which they came. I added tiny (ancient!) Prima paper flowers with Eyelet Outlet Pearl centers; added a bold blue mat and a surrounding panel of 49 and Market's Sunburst collection and called it a (sunshine-y, tropical) day!

Take a look over at SOS at what the rest of the Crew have made, then dust off one (or more!) of your Never Before Used items and make a card to link up with us! The NBUS Challenge runs through Monday evening, July 15th.

All Around the Town

Impression Obsession's Slim Scenes Large Town stamp set is both beautiful and useful for themes like a new home, a new job, a milestone at work, or trips into and out of your favorite city. The set has both a solid skyline stamp and an outline one, so of course I wanted to test-drive both! I've paired them with Picket Fence Studios' Slimline Nested Rectangles die set and Fancy Congratulations Sentiments stamp set; and added color with my Karin Brushmarkers. The results... in both slimline and A2 card form... are on The Ink Pad Blog today.

Prepare to DIE(cut)!

We're still celebrating dies and punches at Jingle Belles and you have until Wednesday evening to join the fun! 

Since diecutting can result in both positive and negative images to work with (the diecut itself, as well as the hole it made) and since I always have trouble making up my mind, I've got a two-fer this week! The card to the left was made using ancient nested diamond dies to create two layered mats, which I filled with Impression Obsession's Deer Trio and Birch Trees. Then, I took the diamonds I discarded while making those frames, stacked them, and added more deer plus some Fiskars punched trees. I layered the whole thing onto an alternate background I made last week with the Hero Arts Holly Confetti die et voila, a second card!

Hop over to Jingle Belles and see what Stephanie has made, then link up your own punched or diecut masterpiece!

Spring Has Sprung!

Impression Obsession's line of Slim Scenes stamps are made to mix and match OR you can use them one at a time. You could, of course, use them on any sized project, but they're ideal for making beautiful slimline designs, which are still the hottest trend in cardmaking. The Spring release includes Wildflowers, Spring Sentiments, a Meadow and even a few Bunnies in Grass! Lots more pics of my three cards, plus a bit about my letterpress-inspired stamping technique on The Ink Pad Blog!

One Die, Three Cards

This Wacky Box Die from Dare 2B Artzy can be probably used in a nearly infinite number of ways; but here are three cards, incorporating rainbow colors in different ways, just for starters. Read more about them on The Ink Pad Blog today!

Stacked Squares

It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that a cardmaker will never, ever, regret having plenty of options for making birthday cards. So a set like these simple but beautiful Happy BirthdayClear Stamps from Impression Obsession are a very good choice, since they c​an be used over and over again in just about ANY style and color palette imaginable. In this case I chose ink-blending for my style and RAINBOW for my palette. Read all about it (& see another version!) on The Ink Pad Blog today!

Old and New, Redux

We're still mixing our brand new holiday goodies with old favorites from our stash at Jingle Belles and you're still invited to join the fun! Here's what I made this week:

 

Stephanie gave me a fabulous set of Retro Ornament dies from Impression Obsession, which I used on scraps of my well-hoarded Basic Grey 25th and Pine paper pack, with little touches of glittery and metallic papers for the accents. A few assorted Eyelet Outlet gems serve as finishing touches, as well as hangers for the baubles to dangle from. My sentiment is from another "new" acquisition, a stamp set called Deck the Halls from Gina K Designs.

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and to link up your own!

It's Mandala Monday

And what better way to celebrate the happiest day of the week than with some amazing new Mandala Cling Stamps from Impression Obsession, available at The Ink Pad and appearing today on TIP Blog.