Birthday Bash in Blue

Birthday cards are always fun to make and send; which is just as well, since I'm pretty sure most cardmakers create more individual birthday cards than any other style throughout the year. I made this fun, inky version using Wendy Vecchi's Birthday Bash Stamp, Die and Stencil Set with Archival Inks and Statements Chippies. I'd love for you to hop over to the Ranger Projects Page to see the tutorial that goes with it!

Eyelets and Brads and Tapes, Oh My!

I'm having a lot of fun choosing my "Five Favorites" from the cards and projects I made this year in various categories; today seems like the perfect time to post my Eyelet Outlet faves. Please note that the caption under each picture is linked to the original post on the EO Blog, where you can find individual links to every single product I've used.

The ABC's of Eyelet Outlet 

This was one of the biggest projects I did in any category this year. It was arguably a CRAZY thing to make, which is probably why I love it so much! In a related vein, I made a Rainbow Brad Book, where I arranged all my favorite EO Brad Styles by color. If you happen to visit a crafty trade show next year, look for both of these in the Eyelet Outlet Booth!

HB to a T

Diecuts and brads are wonderful together and this Birthday T-Shirt Card is a pretty good example of that. By the way, I have additional ideas for this set of Hero Arts' T-Shirt Infinity Dies and I've also got a brande new set of Lawn Fawn Balloon Dies as well, so get ready for some BIG Brad Cards in 2023!

Witch Way to the Candy

Another crafty shortcut perfect with my EO Brads and Tapes are the sheets of journal cards that come in sets of patterned paper. This particular variety of adorable tags is from Prima's Luna collection by Frank Garcia; but all the backgrounds and accents are EO Tapes and the tags feature a bunch of seasonal brads.  

Wide Washi Sentiment

I can NEVER resist a chunky sentiment in any context and this one features the three tapes I probably used most in 2022: Wide Sky Washi, Grass Tape and Brick Washi. Plus Daisy Brads and a sweet Mini Ladybug, o'course.

Gulls Just Wanna Have Fun

Being a Cancerian, of course I love the ocean in real life and also in papercrafting form. This card features the Starfish from our Sea Shore Brads, a pair of handsome Seagulls, loose Pearl Bling and a beautiful Ocean Tape with foil accents. But Eyelet Outlet has LOTS of other beachy goodness like Fish, Sandcastles, Shells, Flamingos, Palm Trees and more!

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I've still got some EO Goodies... and Brad-centric ideas... that I haven't used yet, so I'll be ringing in the New Year on the Eyelet Outlet Blog next Wednesday, January 4, 2023!

Jingle Belles 2022 Flashback

Inspired by Stephanie, who does "Five Favorites" posts in various categories each December, I'm looking back at all forty-eight weeks of my Jingle Belles cards for the year and choosing some highlights. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. My second entry in our Jingle Belles' "Not a Creature Was Stirring" prompt features my beloved Lawn Fawn Car Critters stamps and add-ons. They're also fun to color, but I usually cannot resist a patterned car, so paper-piecing often wins out.

2. Back in May we celebrated a "Masculine Merry Christmas" and I paired Penny Black's Masterpieces Made Simple artwork from Paper Anthology with Eyelet Outlet Brads for the fastest four-card set EVER! 

3. "Peace on Earth Day" is absolutely always one of my favorite Jingle Belles themes, and this super-easy card featuring the last little bit of leftover Yeti giftwrap makes me smile.

4. I adore this Tim Holtz/Sizzix Ice Skates die, but it always takes a bit longer than I think it will to piece out all the parts; thus I use it only a few times a year. This time was for our "Winter Fun" prompt.

5. I can't possibly let any list of favorites go by without picking a collage card! This one from our vintage-centric "Old Fashioned Xmas" challenge has all my faves: sheet music, green stamps, washi tape, stickers... 

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We'll be starting up the 2023 Jingle Belles season on January first and we'd love for you to join our fun. There's no need to commit to EVERY week, but... if you do... you'll have forty-eight (48!) holiday cards completed by the beginning of next December and I think you'll enjoy the feeling of being ready (or nearly so) to stresslessly mail them out as much as Stephanie and I do each year!

Take Five!

This being the last Mandala Monday of 2022, it seems like a good time to look back on all the mandalas I made this year and pick some faves. It was considerably harder than I thought, but here are five, in random order:

1. I made this sticker mandala at the height of my obsession with season two of "Only Murders in the Building"; perhaps the New-York-iest television show EVER. It uses a lot of well-hoarded (tiny!) Pipsticks plus a few other bits and bobs.

2. Every favorites list I ever make will likely feature at least one collagey thing; this ICAD Ink-Over-Collage mandala features Wendy Vecchi's Summer 2022 release of Archival Inks in Rosey Posey, Morning Glory and Peachy Keen.

3. Thanks to Stephanie, I have several different types of Magic Pencil sets (which I don't use enough... note to self for next year!) but when I do, I think of an especially wonderful trip to NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art with my friend Paul, who bought me my first Magic Pencil in the gift shop.

5. By far the easiest type of mandala to make, with NO DRAWING required, is the kind that uses punched shapes--mostly circles and hearts. For this version, I used vintage and found papers for the layers with a nice big spray of gardening magazine peonies on top.

5. Watercolor is my go-to for coloring mandalas; whether it's using actual watercolor paints, Tombow Dual Brush Pens, or, as in this case, ink pads "smooshed" onto the Wendy Vecchi Craft Sheet that's attached to the back of my STAY-tion, where I picked up the color with a waterbrush. These beautifully luscious shades are all from Simon Hurley's create. Dye Inks collection.

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I'll be back next week with a brand new Mandala Monday design to welcome in the brand New Year! In the meantime, I hope you will be able to squeeze a little bit of art time into this last fun and hectic holiday week of 2022!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree...

...with a fun ornament card! Ornament shapes make a wonderful home for pretty much ANY style of Eyelet Outlet Brad you love, but our Poinsettia Brads look especially pretty on a background of tiny flowers (some diecut from our Sparkle Red Glitter Tape!) and foliage. Music Note Washi instantly puts a holiday tune into our head, and a stamped plaid background set off by mats of more Sparkle Red Glitter Tape really shines!

Whether you are decorating for Christmas or celebrating Hanukkah, I hope your week will be full of light, love and laughter!

SOS486: Time for Presents

You may already have guessed from the title that the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to feature presents on your card OR make a Thank You card for gifts you've received. Both of these lend themselves nicely to holiday themes, but having realized that I would need a kiddo birthday card early in January, I decided to get a jump on that occasion instead.

My presents are stamped on scraps of patterned paper using Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Celebration set, which only debuted last summer, but... all the other items used on this card are at least a few years old and some are distinctly elderly. For example, my sparkly animals are fussycut from a Creative Imaginations paper I bought when my nieces (now college aged) were small; the flowers are Scenic Route, which I think closed nearly a decade ago; and the colorful faux polaroids are Echo Park circa 2017. I've rounded up a few older brads for extra texture and turned the entire thing into an oversized slimline card.

Be sure to visit SOS to see what the other designers have made to inspire you!   

MM50: Funky Flakes

It's a Soft and Snowy Mandala Monday... that is, the MANDALA is soft and snowy, whilst thankfully the Monday is sunny, clear and cold. Hope that the week before Christmas (or the week OF Hanukkah) is treating you well! 

Ranger's Letter It Fineliners plus a few Zig Dot Markers

 and a tiny bit of watercolor in my Dina Wakley Blue Edition Journal.