the *SHAPE* of things to come

we're still making holiday cards that are NOT rectangular or square at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and you still have time to join the fun! oh and instead of an ordinary round card like usual, this time i've done something a bit more ambitious:

poinsettia and holly clusters made using heartfelt creations' stamps, dies, stamens and shaping mold; evergreen foliage die: tim holt/sizzix; ancient tag: making memories; alphabet stickers: echo park; patterned paper: basic grey; inks: ranger distress and archival; chunky glitter (and thus too big for this, next time i'll use superfine): michaels; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, beacon 3-in-1 adhesive, 3m foamtape

yes, it's a star fold card! i'm sure there are many videos and instructions, but i used this tutorial from crafting with joanie. i also got to test drive a new set of flower stamps, dies and shaping molds from heartfelt creations. elisabeth and i were blown away by these at stamp and scrap expo last weekend, so several different styles will be coming soon to paper anthology! including this set which is called poinsettia and holly clusters. if you are as much of a dimensional flower junkie as i am you will LOVE this system because not only is it super easy and much more affordable than premade blooms, you'll always have enough of exactly the right size and color for each project... because you can custom make them. the poinsettias on this card were my VERY FIRST attempt, and apart from the fact that i mistakenly used chunky glitter instead of super-fine, they look exactly like the beautiful ones we saw in the heartfelt creations booth! oh and did i mention that HC makes a variety of stems and stamens that really take these to the next level? (also coming soon to paper anthology!)

be sure to hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see stephanie's card, then link up your own shaped card masterpiece!

september/october classes

the new paper anthology newsletter is out, and *arguably* the most important date in it is the papercrafting garage sale on saturday, september 22nd. but also... there are some really great classes coming up, including these two that i'll be teaching:

Autumn Sunflower Decor Frame

We’ll construct this sturdy frame and decorative stand from diecut chipboard, then cover it in wood veneer and pretty paper. Then we’ll paper-piece a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers to fill the frame, adding textural elements such as specialty paper leaves, burlap and straw. This would make an awesome gift …IF… you're willing to part with it?

 Strip Tease

I'll teach you three new ways to construct beautiful, unique, autumnal backgrounds using nothing but leftover strips of patterned paper and adhesive. Believe it or not, there’s hardly ANY measuring or precision involved, and the methods you learn can be taken home and used with any paper you’d like to finish up. (Warning: this technique is a bit addictive, students are advised not to schedule anything very important for the day after class! :)

just a reminder that paper anthology is located on route 46 in kenvil, morris county, nj (here's a map) and that complete information about store hours, the garage sale, class dates and times, etc is on the website!

Fruit Rhymes With "CUTE"

A coincidence? Maybe not. Certainly our Eyelet Outlet Apple, Cherry and Banana Brads would seem to imply a connection. So I've made a trio of tags to celebrate!

Here's a shocking true confession: when I made these tags, I didn't realize that the Banana Brads had recently gone out of stock in the online store, so I apologize about that! On the other hand, it's great incentive to visit the Eyelet Outlet Booth at a CKC or Expo near your town. Since EO does 25-30 tradeshows per year, the odds are you'll find at least one within driving distance! The booth is a great place to find brand new items that aren't officially out yet, as well as older things with just a few left. There are also cards and samples galore, more bling that you can possibly imagine and tons of fab washi tape! Check our sidebar for this year's schedule.

Meanwhile, I can tell you that the Coloring Book Wide Flower Tape that's on all the cards is still very much available, as are many of the Skinny Tape accents and the adorable Cherry Brads!

And the Apple Brads are brand new from the Spring 2018 release. Don't you love that each packet has both pristine apples and super-cool cores? 

I hope you'll be inspired to "strive for five" servings of Fruit Brads per crafty day! ♥

quit buggin' me!

no, i'm not having a go at you, that's really the name of this week's challenge at shopping our stash. so you've probably already surmised that we'd like to see an insect of some description on your project. yes, butterflies and dragonflies totally count. (phew!) 

butterflies and journal card: studio calico; cloud and sun: simple stories; heart brad: eyelet outlet; ink: ken oliver crafts; patterned papers: american crafts, basic grey, pebbles; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

i've got a truly weird and funky mix of elderly accoutrements here, and i'm proud of it, man! the ledger-patterned butterfly stickers and flowery journal card are from two completely different, years-apart, studio calico collections. the cloud paper (of unknown origin) was exactly that size and shape when i found it, shoved in with some of my 6x6 paper pads. the sun and cloud elements was cut from another small paper pad, and just happened to feature a printed heart the exact size, shape and color of an eyelet outlet heart brad, so clearly i HAD TO add one o'those! i knew where everything should go because my lovely instagram friend claire grantham, of ham'n'mule designs, provided this sketch saturday gem to inspire us this week:

be sure to check out all the insect-based inspirational goodness at SOS for a treat, then get started on your own bug-bedecked masterpiece! ♥

shape up!

we've decided to "shape up for the holidays" this fortnight at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ but don't worry, there's no diet or exercise involved! instead we're just making shaped cards: round cards, heart or star cards, shaped like stockings or gingerbread houses or snow globes; basically anything but a standard square or rectangle is fair game! with all of those choices, you'd think i'd come up with something especially creative, right? nope. round card, like usual, lol!

patterned paper: authentique, plus a bit of crate paper woodgrain; stickers: simple stories, making memories, basic grey, american crafts; silk poinsettia: we r memory keepers; velvet holly leaves: petaloo; red cardstock mats: core'dinations; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

ok, no, i'm not one of life's natural engineers, so the fancy folds and super-cool shaped cards i love --and drool over-- on pinterest rarely become things i actually make, lol. i do have a pretty fancy idea for next week, though, i promise! in the meantime, please accept this standard 6" round card, built around authentique's gorgeous, retro-inspired, "jingle" collection that i got at my lss, paper anthology, in kenvil, nj. i should probably apologize in advance for how often you're going to be seeing these papers, because they're my favorite thing right now!

meanwhile, stephanie has an awesome card to show you as well, why not hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and treat yourself to some inspiration?!

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Or in this case, maybe better than a penny... Artist Trading Coins! I've been seeing these 2.5" circles of artsy fun all over social media, and I've been dying to try out the format. It turns out, they're VERY fun --and a bit addictive-- to make. Plus, Eyelet Outlet brads are absolutely the perfect sized embellishment. I made a set of six coins for my first time out, but I already know I'll be making more!

I've mentioned before that I come from a punny family, so I always have lots of random word play in my head. Since this is quite a small format (ATCoins are generally 2.5" circles) just a line or two of text is the perfect fit. I formatted my puns in a free font called "Tahoe" but set off a few key words in a chunky, funky script called "Cry Kitty". I generally print my text on clear inkjet labels, which I trim down and adhere to scraps of patterned paper for a little more emphasis. I made the backgrounds using scraps of more neutral papers, in torn layers, with an accent of Wide Flower Tape in an understated henna shade.

For "All's WOOL That Ends WOOL" I was able to employ both a sheep from the Pig and Sheep set, plus a ball of yarn and needles from our Knitting Brads, while a pair of lovely Chicken Brads illustrate "Just WING It".

This one's a bit of a liberty, because I've actually used a Llama Brad on my "ALPACA" card... so shhhhhhhhhh... don't tell, ok? I couldn't resist adding a couple of Mini Ant Brads because it's a picnic!

I couldn't decide which style of Fox Brad (the packets contain both) to use for "Crazy Like a FOX" so I didn't choose... I added one of each!

Another tiny cheat: technically, these are Duck Brads, but I just couldn't resist the phrase "I've Got GOOSE Bumps"!

My original idea for "Don't Worry, Be HOPPY" was to use one of our adorable Frog Brads (the set has lillies and cattails in it, too!) but as it turned out, all of the other coins were more or less neutral colors, and the bright green frogs realllllllly stood out. So I swapped them out for a pair of handsome Rabbit Brads, instead. I probably shouldn't leave them alone for long though...

I hope you'll be inspired to try your hand at a few Artist Trading Coins, starring some of *your* favorite Eyelet Outlet critters! ♥

hot, hot, hot!

it's a timely challenge this week at shopping our stash, we're feeling, "hot, hot, hot" so we'd love to see something summery/weather-related OR perhaps you prefer your heat in the kitchen (cooking or baking) OR in a restaurant via chilli peppers or other spicy treats? be creative and have fun!

colorburst backgrounds painted on strathmore watercolor paper diecut with heidi swapp's memorydex dies; pink paper scraps of far too many origins to list, but luckily ANY pink paper would work; texture sand and tiny blossoms: little birdie; crowns: jolees stickers or diecuts with eyelet outlet bling; lots and lots of random letter stickers from... well, everywhere, lol! adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, gluedots, nuvo deluxe adhesive

 
i went all beachy, mostly because i was in the mood to paint with my colorbursts AND i had an awesome new flamingo die from stephanie that i was longing to test drive! everything else is pretty ancient stash, and very mixy-matchy. my junk journal junkies group at paper anthology has been having a series of memorydex swaps, for which this month's theme was "queen bee". in this case the "bee" became "beach" (say them both fast, lol!)

if you're looking for the perfect colorburst "recipe" for the easiest watercolor beach background ever, may i suggest a nice big brush and some yellow ochre with just a teeny touch of sepia for the sand? leave a tiny hairline of dry paper (or wait for the beach to dry completely) then paint a strip of rich turquoise ocean. when that's nearly-- but not quite entirely dry-- come in from the top with a clean brush and some rather diluted cerulean sky, but let it overlap the turquoise a bit, so that you get that nice blendy horizon line. for bonus points, after everything is BONE dry, use an old brush (or your finger) to swipe a little bit of liquid adhesive (i love nuvo deluxe!) randomly across the beach and sprinkle on some texture sand! warning, this is a bit addictive, you probably won't be able to stop at ONE!

when it was time to add my flamingos, my SOS "use what you have" ethic really kicked in. so i assure you that NO large pieces of paper were cut into for this project, i just raided the pink scraps file and used up lots and lots of tiny leftover bits! then i mixed and matched the prints to assemble eight uniquely lovely "beach queens"! this spellbinders die is absolutely awesome and has just the perfect amount of detail, there are even two different styles of legs. i cut some facing in each direction-- so technically YES, some of my cuts are "backwards" --but i like the variety. my only tiny complaint is that there is no separate die for the beak, so i handcut teeny pieces of black paper. btw, did you realize that flamingos' legs are also a pinkish shade? (thank you mr. google for settling that for me!)

when it was time to add my sentiment, i realized i didn't have enough of any one type of sticker for all of them, so i mixed and matched. my crowns are half a package of jolee's stickers and a few tim holtz diecuts adorned with fancy eyelet outlet bling.  

there are lots more ideas awaiting you from the HOT MAMAS of the sos design team. why not treat yourself to some inspiration? ♥