old + new = exponentially more awesome

this week's challenge at shopping our stash is impressively new-year-centric. for "out with the old, in with the new" we'd like you to use something super old from your stash AND something not quite so old - new even! since that is one of my favorite things to do at any time, i was pretty psyched. here's what i made:

sentiment stamps: stampin' up; patterned paper: dcwv; rub-ons: prima (roses), american crafts (pink flowers, tiny circle flowers and red asterisks), fancy pants (red stars) and dove of the east (butterflies); vintage bits from my stash: trading stamps and torn stirps of red numerals from an old typing book; label die: nestabilities by spellbinders; glossy white cardstock: the paper cut; ink: ranger archival (black) and colorbox chalk (red); tri-tone colored pencils: koh-i-noor hardtmuth; adhesives: scotch brand gluestick, elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

ok, so, what's old and what's new? the stampin' up "you're delightful" set is new (from stephanie, my favorite SU demonstrator!); the map and ledger stack is fairly new (on sale at the big box crafting store just before xmas); all of the rub-on transfers are ancient (but i still love them); and the trading stamps which form the second-to-bottom layer of the collage (which are thus difficult to see, sorry!) are kind of both, in that they are obviously vintage, BUT... i've only had them for two weeks... they were part of my xmas gift from stephanie, who is amazingly good at finding things that will make me literally *gasp* when i open the package!

here's a shocking true confession for ya: i LOVED rub-on transfers. still love them, in fact. maybe more than rubber stamps, which i know are many cardmakers' favorite supply. the problem with rub-ons, though-- and i suspect this is why they are no longer very popular-- is that the quality varied considerably; in fact, it was possible to bring home a full-price, brand-new, name-brand package and have them entirely fail to rub-on properly. admittedly a huge drawback. unless... you're using them in a collage context (as i have been recently in my instagram collages) in which case, having them go on imperfectly is kind of weirdly cool.

this is the first time i've built a full sized (A7) card around a collage of vintage bits + rub-ons, but it won't be the last because i really like how it turned out. of course, as murphy's law dictates, seeing as how i was counting on the largest rub-on (the roses, which are prima, and probably 7 or 8 years old) going on in a rather funky, intermittent manner, OF COURSE it transferred PERFECTLY, lol! but luckily my idea still worked. and, to make up for that, some of the tiniest ones, which were a bit newer, that i thought i'd "fill in" any blank spots with, went on very badly indeed. the funny thing is, you cannot just say, "well this manufacturer just made an inferior product" because i've used several other varieties from the same company, bought around the same time, and stored exactly the same way, which went on well. go figure.

the final new thing i've used on this card is the set of koh-i-noor hardtmuth tritone "magic" pencils that santa brought me. so far, i've used them to do some line doodles, but this is the first time i've colored something in with them. and yes, all of the letters were done with one pencil, so you can see where there really are three shades in each, and you get a nice variety as you go along.

speaking of a nice variety, as always, my design team sisters at SOS have outdone themselves when it comes to providing inspiration for you. be sure to check that out, as soon as possible, k? ♥

(not quite) mandala monday

technically speaking, it won't be mandala monday for almost another twelve hours, but i just finished listing some fun mini sketchbooks and watercolor sketchbooks that i made. they're in my etsy shop, just enough stuff, and i really couldn't wait to show them off!

the books are different sizes, shapes and have various paper types, so click the caption beneath each photo to read the complete details in the listing!

orangeade mandala journal

this one is just over 4x6", has blank, white, light-cardstock pages, and a hand-drawn, ink-colored mandala split between the front and back covers

blueberry mandala mini sketchbook

a smaller book, just about 5" square, this one's pages are made of canson mixed media sketchbook paper, which is my favorite type of general-use paper and it's great for collage, sketching, etc; you can even do a bit of watercoloring if you don't get too very watery, lol

 

rainbow mandala sketchbook

the biggest book of this lot, it's nearly 5x7" and has pages of the same mixed media sketchbook paper as above

pink lemonade mandala watercolor sketchbook

just about 5" square, this one is filled with strathmore cold press watercolor paper, which is a really nice, middle quality choice-- sturdy enough to stand up to real watercolor painting, but not so fancy that you can't just play without feeling guilty

sunflower mandala watercolor sketchbook

very similar to the one above, but a slightly more rectangular page. both of the last two are top-bound because i find that sometimes i'm fighting the binding when it's on the side, so i thought i'd see if this helps (and i think it really does!)

♥♥♥

i do hope you're having a wonderful day and that you'll get to spend at least part of it doing something creative and FUN, darlings!

♥♥♥

how is it possible...

...to have arguably the best die ever for making ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ cards, own it for an entire year, and never have used it??! this is the question i asked myself repeatedly over the weekend, and frankly the answer is just totally depressing: apparently when i put away this awesome cut-plorations "jingle all the way" die after receiving it for xmas 2016 from santa stephanie, it had slid down to the bottom of the flip-thru storage box i use for my holiday dies. and since i couldn't see it, it just ceased to exist. but no more, because LOOK:

patterned paper: stampin' up + vintage sheet music; santa tag from target, saved from xmas 2016; "jingle all the way" die from cutplorations, the diecutting dept of STAMPlorations; heart sticker: doodlebug design; scraps of glitter and glossy black cardstock from my stash; tartan ribbon: michaels; glossy white cardstock base: the paper cut; adhesives: stick it by ken oliver crafts, elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

ok, yeah, this might be my favorite die now, so i apologize in advance for over-using it during the next six months, lol! this time i cut it from red glitter paper backed with stick-it adhesive from ken oliver crafts and layered it onto a second cut from a scrap of glossy black cardstock. then i off-set the two just slightly, so that the black layer acts as a sort of "drop shadow" to the red glitter, making it stand out more against the red ribbon on my card. other brand new bits i'm showing off are more gorgeous 6x6" papers from the stampin' up set, "quilted christmas" which also came from stephanie, my favorite stampin' up demonstrator!

speaking of stephanie, she also has another beautiful card to show off, using some of the goodies santa brought her this christmas, you should really go check that out at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ shouldn't you, darlings?

a cure for the january blahs

the first paper anthology newsletter of 2018 is out and it's chock full of crafty goodness, including the date for this month's junk journal junkies' meeting (jan 26!) and loads of awesome classes to banish the winter doldrums. the list includes these two that i'll be teaching, so if you're within driving distance* of morris county, nj, i hope you'll come along and say HI!

collage for cardmakers: peekaboo layers

this class puts kind of a different spin on traditional collage. we're still using vintage papers and images, (and yes OF COURSE there is a doily involved, lol!) but instead of handcutting or tearing our layers, we'll use interesting background dies to create a fun and funky peekaboo effect. 

diamonds are a girl's best friend

i've been slightly obsessed with making my own argyle patterns for about a year. it started with this tape and bling version on the eyelet outlet blog for mother's day last year; then i made this one in may, and most recently this floral version. at that point, i finally realized i was (apparently) going to want to do this periodically, and asked elisabeth if the ancient set of diamond-shaped nesties i remembered seeing online was still available. it was, which led to more-- and much, much logistically easier, lol-- experiments. (bc, YES, up until then, i was just measuring and making my own diamond-shape templates which i would then trace and cut by hand!) this is all a very long and drawn out way of explaining that my second class for january and february is called "diamonds are a girl's best friend". we'll make three different versions of argyle-inspired patterns, combining paper-piecing, embossing, stacking, sanding, and more. each student will get to choose their own color- and pattern-scheme, so your finished cards could range from quite masculine, to uber-feminine, or even go in a baby-centric or valentine-y direction if you'd like!

complete details, dates and times for these classes as well as some totally amazing ones taught by elisabeth, anna and georgia, are on the class page of the paper anthology website!

*paper anthology is located at 717 us highway 46 in kenvil, nj 07847, with easy access from routes 80, 10 and 206. here is a map for you. :) 

Maybe I'm a-MAZE-d

It's the first Wednesday of 2018, and thus I'm up on the Eyelet Outlet Blog again, with some fun and a-MAZE-ing ideas for Valentine cards!

But first, a shocking true confession: somewhere in my home there is a small book of maze puzzles that I got at a garage sale last summer for making exactly this sort of awesomely punny card. Alas, I could not find it anywhere. So I did the next best thing, I googled "copyright free clipart maze" and was spoilt for choice. I sized my favorite maze to fit an A2 card and printed out several copies on plain white cardstock, along with a few different sentiments, so I could experiment with multiple ideas. In the end, my two finished cards use one of my all-time most loved free fonts ("Mom's Typewriter") with the "MAZE" in the first card highlighted in good old "Arial". Once the nuts and bolts were taken care of, it was time for The Fun Part: playing with my Eyelet Outlet goodies.

I decided to make my own patterned paper background using this beautifully bold and graphic Love Tape. I cut a panel of plain white cardstock to 4 x 5.25" and set about covering it with neat strips of tape, staggering the words a bit to make an attractive pattern, and folding the ends of the tape around to the back of the panel to make a nice neat edge.

When my background was completed, I used a template to trim my maze into a heart shape, backing it (and my sentiment strip) with a skinny mat of glossy black cardstock. Then I outlined a white Heart Brad with thick black permanent marker to make it stand out more, and affixed it to the center of the maze, with some Car Brads driving along towards it, and a few bright Heart Enamels scattered throughout the design.

My second card also started out as an A2 but eventually I decided I wanted this one to be more symmetrical, so the finished card is actually a 4.75" square. (I'll either mail it in a slightly oversized A7 envelope, or tuck it into a package or gift bag.) I used the same technique as above to cover a panel in Red Dot Tape, then combined my printed sentiment with just one word from the Love Tape, which I adhered to white cardstock, trimmed neatly and affixed with foam tape for a bit of dimension. I added the gorgeous red Heart Jewel Bling, added a couple of mats, et voila!

Be sure to check back on the Eyelet Outlet Blog each day, for more brand new, freshly made inspiration from my awesome fellow EO designers!!! ♥

grungy + happy

this week's challenge at shopping our stash is called, "watercolor" so you'll probably already have guessed that we'd like to see a bit of watercoloring on your project. btw, we count watercolor techniques that use distress inks, or water-based markers in this category too; then of course there are actual watercolor paints, and my favorite: colorburst pigment powders!

i love to use my colorbursts for traditional watercolor painting, as well as trying out the cool CB-specific "spritz and sprinkle" techniques that ken oliver shows off on facebook and youtube. something you'll discover pretty quickly no matter what type of watercolor you use, is that there is a serious "serendipity factor" involved. sometimes this means you get unexpectedly AMAZING results! sometimes... not so much, lol. the good news is that whatever the circumstance or quality of leftovers you wind up with, you'll be in great shape to make your own colorful custom diecut elements for cards!

in this case, i've used my very first set of ancient provocraft alphabet dies on some leftover blues, greens and purples to make a fab sentiment. after i cut and arranged my letters, i used a few older pattern stamps from hero arts, stampin' up and cherry arte to grunge them up a bit. i mounted the letters on foam tape over a torn paper collage, stitched the panel to a leftover scrap of gelli print background, then made the whole thing into a "tall card" that will fit perfectly into a #10 envelope. i added some star stickers from the late, great, fancy pants designs and called it good to go!  

and now i hope you'll head on over to SOS and see what amazing creations my DT darlings have cooked up to inspire you! ♥

happy new year... let's make xmas cards!

let's start 2018 off right, with a christmas card to kick off our eighth season at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! the very first prompt of the year is called, "look what santa brought me" so this seems like a great time to break out those goodies you were given (or perhaps treated yourself to?!) over the holidays. if santa somehow neglected to bring you anything crafty, you can either use something that you've had for a bit and never opened... OR... consider this your pass to hit the after-xmas sales for a bargain or two! here's my first card of the year:

patterned paper: stampin' up, love elsie, basic grey; stickers: american crafts, october afternoon, hambly; kraft cardstock: recollections; glossy white cardstock: the paper cut; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

my ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ partner and crafty bff stephanie (who is also a stampin' up representative) gave me a gorgeous double-sided SU collection called, "quilted christmas" which i just couldn't wait to use! i'm not sure how both the green stitchy pattern and the glorious red gingham wound up as mats, but i love how they look. meanwhile, those handsome reindeer and the fun holiday trees are from an american crafts sticker sheet that came in a big bundle of xmas stickers i bought from one of my favorite daily deal sites... just a little too late to use in the 2017 JB season. i've added in some ancient love, elsie paper and hambly snowflake stickers to round off this fun winter scene.

it's NEVER too early to start thinking about christmas, especially if you'd like to spend december enjoying all of those fun holiday events instead of mass-producing cards. why not join stephanie and me at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and have a great time all year long? we'd love to see you there! ♥