Gift Wrap Wrap-Up

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again, but here it is now: Papercrafting supplies are AWESOME for wrapping gifts! Washi tape, journal cards, scraps of patterned paper or wrapping paper, ribbon, florals, chipboard shapes... they are all outstanding items to make your gifts truly unique!

(There's a tutorial for these Dylusions Dyamond Board ornaments on the Ranger Project Page!)

Dyamond Board Doodle Trees

It's a TREE-mendous Mandala Monday featuring a terrific TREE-o of Dylusions Dyamond Board Small Trees, doodled with Letter It Fineliners and then tinted with all my favorite green shades of Simon Hurley create Dye Inks. 

To make the trees into a card, I embossed Simon's Stitched Snowflakes background with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder, applied Breakup Blue ink on top, then cleaned the excess ink off the embossed flakes.

A mat of dark blue cardstock, a sentiment from the Sketched Snowmen stamp set, and a little machine stitching complete the design.

As we cruise into the final full week of holiday preparations, I hope you're having fun getting ready for the big day (if you celebrate Christmas) or the big night (if you celebrate Hanukkah)!

Dylusions Dyamond Board Ornaments

Just in time for the holidays, Dyan Reaveley has designed Dylusions Dyamond Boards in festive shapes like baubles, stars and trees; available in two sizes for extra variety. Perfect for making garlands, place settings, gift tags and more. Follow along on the Ranger Project Tutorials Page as I decorate them with Letter It stamps and stencils, Ranger Archival Inks and Stickles Glitter Gels to create super-colorful multi-layer Christmas tree ornaments...

...which also make awesome package decorations or name tags!

I cannot tell a lie: I really LOVE this project; I hope you'll check it out! ♥

Halloween Treat Bags

Halloween is just around the corner and what could be more seasonally appropriate than some "boo-tiful" little treat bags. There's a complete step by step tutorial showing how I made some on the Ranger Project Page, using Ranger Archival Inks, Transparent Gloss Texture Paste and Liquid Pearls; I'd love for you to pop over and take a look!

Bring On the COLOR!

It's a Deeply DYLUSION-al Mandala Monday, featuring a rainbow* of Dylusions Ink Sprays which I've used as liquid watercolors by spritzing them onto my craft sheet and picking up the color with a paintbrush. Lines and dots via Letter It Fineliners in black. Detail added with a white paint pen. Water drops splashed on and blotted off randomly at every stage.

The Dylusions Sprays in question are: Bubblegum Pink, Squeezed Orange, Lemon Zest, Cut Grass, London Blue and Funky Fuchsia; all of which (plus 30 more!) can be found at Ranger's Online Store!

SOS510: Splish, Splash

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're celebrating wet media, such as watercolor, acrylic paint, etc; but if that isn't your thing, you could swap out and use an image featuring water.

I made a vibrant watercolor background by spritzing my craft sheet with Dylusions Ink Sprays in London Blue and Cut Grass, diluting them slightly with clear water, then placing my watercolor panel face down to absorb the colors. When my background dried, I stamped, in collage style, portions of some of my favorite older Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 Backgrounds, including Herringbone (embossed with Ranger Turquoise Powder), Perfectly Plaid and Botanical Register (embossed in White). Around the edges I overstamped the stars from Wendy's Doodle Holiday Stamp Set embossed in Blue Neon. I added Night Sky Archival around the edges and machine stitched the panel to a white 5.5" square card. The focal flower is from Wendy's A Million Thank Stamp, Die and Stencil set; it's been stamped once in Leaf Green and once in Rosey Posey, with the additional shades of Prickly Pear and Pink Peony Archival added for detail.

The "Splish, Splash" challenge runs at Shopping Our Stash until December 4th. Be sure to check out all of the inspiring cards the Crew have made, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

Sunsplash Labor Day Mandala Monday

If you'd like A LOT of verrrrrrry intense color ASAP, it's hard to beat Dylusions Ink Sprays, imo. I've only used three (Bubblegum Pink, Squeezed Orange and Lemon Zest) of the three dozen or so colors; and honestly I only gave two or three good sprays of each! I did go back in with more Lemon Zest on a paint brush, just to fill in any voids inside the main design area; but then I missed the white, so I flicked on some White Dina Wakley Gloss Spray and added a few details with a paint pen, then outlined everything with several sizes of Letter It Fineliner. 

Wishing a very safe, happy and not-too-hot Labor Day to my fellow Americans; or just an especially nice Monday to the rest of the world!

Stamps + Doodles = Joy

Do you always have a firm plan when you sit down to make a card? I usually have a fairly strong idea, but sometimes I just start playing with some fun products --like Rubbermoon's fab and funky Gustav Inspired and Eccentric Concentric stamps-- and a card just sort of evolves organically, like this one, which is on The Ink Pad Blog today!

Sequins and Sarcasm

What do you get when you combine Dyan Reavley's signature snark with super-glam Pretty Pink Posh embellies? A card that's elegant and fun ...and on The Ink Pad Blog today!