Bloom!

Eyelet Outlet Flower Brads are ALWAYS a good choice for adding color and charm to a card, plus they pair really well with stamped or diecut vases, jars and planters; in this case Honey Bee Stamps' Bud Vase Die Set. Here we have a vase full of Rose Brads and one of White Daisy Brads which have attracted the attention of a Mini Bee Brad. The background is Wide Sky Washi; the sentiment is diecut from Grass Tape; and the base of the planter is a single strip of Wood Tape. A scatter of white Round Sequins completes the design. 

Visit the Eyelet Outlet Online Store to see ALL of the amazing brads, washi tape, bling, sequins, enamels and more! 

PS: I'm currently obsessed with Ranger's Cottontail Embossing Powder which gives LOADS of subtle texture to the background without being overpowering.

Elegant Embossed Bookmarks

I'm always pleased to be on the Ranger Project Page, and today it's with a step-by-step tutorial for making these beautiful and useful embossed bookmarks. I've used a pretty palette of Ranger Embossing Powders (there are more than 60 varieties!) with Simon Hurley's Floral Borders Stamp Set and you can read all about it by clicking -->THIS LINK<--! 

SOS528: Color Challenge

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we have a fun color palette challenge featuring blush pink, rich red and camel; plus you can use neutrals, as well, if you like:

Here's what I made: 

I have a new obsession: imperfect embossing on textured cardstock! (I know, I know, we spend a couple of decades and a bunch of money on the best products & techniques in order to execute perfectly smooth embossing... and then... some of us decide to go completely in the other direction, lol!) This technique was partially inspired by my lovely blogging friend Jan R who often stamps and colors with pencils on textured cardstock and it looks VERY cool; so I wondered if it would be cool to try a similar idea with embossing and imo it came out really well, a bit like faded vintage linens. For best results, I recommend a biggish cover/background stamp (this is an older Impression Obsession Cover a Card called Peony Pattern) and you definitely want a fairly solid pattern, as opposed to just outlines. Then, just stamp using clear embossing ink and emboss as usual and the textured cardstock will the do work of "distressing" for you because the powder will stick to the bumpy parts but not get down into the crevices. The bottom layer of my card pairs My Colors Cardstock in Chamois with Ranger's White Embossing Powder. The top layer is Blush Pink cardstock and to increase the faded/distressed look of the design I used Rose Quartz mixed with Love Letter and a tiny sprinkle of Cranberry for a sort of stippled effect. Since I put so much effort into getting a cool look, I didn't want to cover my background up too much, so I added a bit of inking to the edges of both panels, matted them on the darker red color from our palette and sewed around the edges. A few ancient mulberry paper flowers and an oversized Eyelet Outlet Pearl Brad complete the design.

This color challenge (SOS528) will run until the evening of Monday, August 26th. Head over to Shopping Our Stash and be inspired by the lovely cards our creative Crew have made!

Mission: EMBOSS-able!

As you may remember, your mission, this fortnight, should you decide to accept it, is to join the Jingle Belles in creating a holiday card that features heat and/or texture embossing. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's gorgeous card, and in the meantime here's how I went all EMBOSS-ible this week: 

I stumbled upon this background panel, which, at some unremembered point in the past year or so, I had (apparently) embossed using Memory Box's Poinsettia Corner e/f, colored the raised design with Wendy Vecchi's Leaf Green Ink and Sunflower Liquid Pearls and then set it aside. But this is a very good illustration of why I am a Setter-Aside rather than a Thrower-Out (ok apart from mild hoarding tendencies) and that is because although this did not originally meet whatever my goal or requirements might've been at the time, it was a beautiful background which seriously helped me out on a crowded and busy week. All I had to do to make the panel into a card was add Penny Black Poinsettia and Joy diecuts, plus a couple of coordinating mats et voila! Job done!

My Sweet EMBOSS-able You

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you to create holiday cards that feature EMBOSSING... either pressure embossing OR heat embossing... or BOTH if you're an over-achiever! 

I am currently somewhat re-obsessed with the emboss/resist technique, so I chose to go with heat embossing. I stamped the gorgeous oversized Snowflake Spin background from Stampendous in Ranger's Clear Emboss It Ink, sprinkled with White e/p and once it was cool I applied a combination of Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo and Spun Sugar Oxide Inks, which I splattered lightly with a waterbrush for even more variation of shades. The "Merry" die is so old I'm actually not sure who made it, but I love how it looks cut from magenta glitter paper and mounted on some coordinating May Arts ribbon. 

This challenge runs until Wednesday evening, July 17th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card and start thinking about how you'll approach this Emboss-able Mission!

JB2411: Tic-Tac-Toe

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're playing a game of Tree Skirt Tic-Tac-Toe, which is kind of like "Beach Blanket Bingo" but... you know... more Christmassy; and with LOTS more embellishments! We'd love for you to join the fun, all you have to do is pick a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) and a create a lovely new holiday card featuring all three elements in that row. There are loads of possibilities, so let's get started.

Here's what I made:

I chose the center column and thus had Embossing + Red or Green + Diecuts to work with. I broke out the Big Box of Bits and Bobs and lucked into the grocer's kraft panel (Simon Hurley Evergreens embossed in a combination of Ranger's Lime Tinsel and matte Green Embossing Powders, with a couple of Raspberry Liquid Pearl hearts on top); the glossy mat with the green stamped foliage from Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Holiday set, and all of those diecut Penny Black Layered Poinsettias to which I've added green Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Bling. 

JB2411: Tree Skirt Tic-Tac-Toe runs until Wednesday evening, June 5th; so head over to Jingle Belles now and see Stephanie's gorgeous card and start planning what you'll link up with us!

Taking (Card)Stock

It's week two of our Jingle Belles celebration of Cardstock Christmas for which absolutely NO patterned paper is allowed. I usually semi-panic at times like these, but luckily my Wendy Vecchi stamps, Chippies and 3D Embossing Folder stepped in to save the day!

I stamped half a dozen poinsettias from Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Christmas Stamp Set and a bunch of holly leaves from the Doodle Holiday set, embossing them in Ranger Lilac Pearl and White Embossing Powders, respectively. I colored them with Petunia, Peat Moss and English Ivy Archival Inks, then did a bit of fussy-cutting before adding Sunflower Liquid Pearls to the centers. I stamped the large swag of greenery from Doodle Holiday in English Ivy across the chunky chipboard "Joy" from Wendy's Statements Chippies; then mounted all of the above on a cardstock panel to which I gave quite an impressive bit of dimension with Spellbinders' Flowers & Foliage 3D Embossing Folder. One skinny Petunia mat later, my 5.5" square card was complete!

You still have until next Wednesday evening (5/22/24) to join our Jingle Belles' Cardstock Christmas fun, which we hope you will!

It's Wendy's Day on Thursday

Does anyone know if there's a twelve-step program for embossing? Because I seem to be addicted to embossing with Ranger White Embossing Powder on white Perfect Cardstock... then blending various shades of Wendy Vecchi's Designer Series Archival Inks on top.

This card has a rainbow of Archival Inks (Pink Peony, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Bluebird and Cactus Flower) over Wendy's Perfectly Plaid background stamp; and Cactus Flower over her Polka Dots (both are from the Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 collection). I used the Vintage Florals Die Set from Spellbinders' In the Garden collection to diecut a cascade of flowers, leaves and a sentiment. 

I'd write more, but I have a few additional ideas for emboss/resist, so I think I'll sign off for now!

SOS518: Spring Has Sprung

As you may already have guessed from the title of this post, the brief this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is to create a Spring or Easter card! I chose the former:

This creation incorporates every age of my (considerable!) Wendy Vecchi stash from her Studio 490 days (Perfectly Plaid Background and Wild Rose Collage Stamp & Stencil combo) to her Ranger collection (A Million Thanks Stamp, Die and Stencil Set plus Archival Inks and Embossing Powders) right up to this year's beautiful In the Garden Collection from Spellbinders (Vintage Florals Die Set). I stamped and embossed the two backgrounds (in White and Watering Can Powders); stamped the big Lily once in Rosey Posey and once in Leaf Green; added color to all the images with the coordinating stencils and Archival Inks; did a little diecutting, outlining, machine-stitching and matting.... et voila! 

I hope you'll hop over to SOS to see the gorgeous cards from the rest of The Crew, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

BLING It On!

We're heading into our second week of our super-sparkly BLING-centric theme at Jingle Belles and you're invited to join us. Just make a brand new holiday card that has some jewels, gems, pearls, stickles, glitter paper or any other sparkly element and link it up with us for a chance at a fun little random prize.

I applied Izink Diamond Glitter Paint (in a luscious shade called Rose Foudre) through an older TCW snowflake stencil, let it dry, then matted it on white Non-Shed Glitter Paper, I added multiple fussycut layers of a snowflake-looking Stamplistic Mandala stamp, each of which I had embossed with a different Ranger Embossing Powder (Love Letter, Gold Tinsel, Pink Tinsel and Copper, to be precise) and then I stacked up and adorned with sticky-back rhinestones.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see the Readers' Gallery and of course Stephanie's beautiful card; then start planning your own sparkly, BLING-y masterpiece!

Aubergine, Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake

The six brand new (gorgeous!) Ranger Archival Colors came out on Monday, and I cannot stop playing with them in various combinations. My first card used all six shades and there's a full step-by-step tutorial on the Ranger Project Page. This card uses just the two blues (Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake) with Aubergine and Graphite accents; though once again I've stenciled OVER a white-embossed stamped background, in exactly the same way as the tutorial card.

This time I white-embossed Simon Hurley's Handwritten Background Stamp* and used Simon's In Bloom layering stencil set to apply the Beach Cruiser, Mountain Lake and Aubergine Archivals on top; then I wiped off the excess inks with a rubbing alcohol wet wipe, to keep the background embossing nice and bright. On the second panel, I did the same white embossing, but just used a Mini Ink Blending tool to add the inks on top, without the secondary pattern from a stencil. Finally, I used the new shades to stamp some of the blooms (and a sentiment) from the Watercolor Flowers clear stamp set, which I cut out and added some coordinating Stickles** with the super-useful new Angled Brushes as a sparkly accent.

Of course, the very first thing I do with new inks is SWATCH them! Above you can see a little 3x3" ring-bound book I made to hold all of my Archival Inks, as well as the new pages I made for these six colors. I find swatches very handy indeed, because you can compare every color to every other shade and see how they relate to each other. If you embark on a swatching project of your own... this may sound weird and counter-intuitive... I highly recommend using more than one stamp or stencil and also, don't make your pages too perfect! Because if you add and/or subtract colors in future you don't want to pressurize yourself to spend ages finding the stamps you used last time or to make the pages exactly the same or perfectly aligned; these are SWATCHES, they're there to work for you! Save any perfectionist tendencies for your projects or better yet, let them go and just have FUN!

Here's one more shot of today's card, just because I took some extra pics, so of course I want to use them, lol. I hope your week has been fun and creative but if not, take heart... the weekend is nearly here!

*The Handwritten Background Stamp is out of stock as a single item, but can still be purchased as part of Simon's new Release Bundle; though if you missed it, any background stamp with small to medium text will work, as will any fairly dense background, for that matter!

**All of the new colors also have Reinkers and coordinating Stickles, which you can purchase separately or as bundles... check out the Ranger New Product Page to see all the different combos.

NEW Ranger Archival Colors!

Today at Ranger we're celebrating the debut of SIX gorgeous new Archival Ink Colors: Wine Cellar  (a deep rich red); Cayenne (a medium-hued red with orange undertones); Beach Cruiser and Mountain Lake (two lovely medium blues that go with everything); Aubergine (a gorgeous purple that perfectly splits the difference between red- and blue-toned); and Graphite (perhaps the most beautiful and useful shade of grey EVER?!) Oh and did I mention that not only are there Ranger Archival Reinkers for all of the above, there are coordinating Stickles for each shade, as well!

I'm up on the Ranger Project Page with my first make to feature these fantastic new shades; it's a card on which I've white-embossed Simon Hurley's Bitty Botanicals background, then used Simon's The Loo! stencil on top, to make a very detailed multi-color ombre tile effect... with accents of glittery Stickles, of course! I'd love for you to jump over there and read all about it.

BLING On the Holidays!

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're BLING-ing on the Holidays by making cards that incorporate jewels, gems, beads, pearls, glitter, stickles or anything sparkly. Here's what I made:

This card has a lot of elements (and A LOT of sparkle!) but it came together quickly because nearly everything on it was a leftover! The background was stamped with Simon Hurley's Bold Holiday Blooms and embossed with Ranger's Green Tinsel and Lime Tinsel Embossing Powders. It was one of several panels I made while playing around with said glittery e/p's to create this post on the Ranger Project Page; (the Emerald Green Archival-Inked mat was made at the same time). The strip featuring two offcuts of green patterned paper and some Eyelet Outlet Fancy Long Bling I found in my EO box when retrieving the tiny Pearls and the Jewel Brad that's holding the silk poinsettias (I took apart an ancient poinsettia garland from the big box store a few years ago and am still enjoying the fruits of that labor) and pre-diecut glitter paper snowflakes. I have no idea where that giant pale green holly leaf came from, but it was the perfect size, shape and color so on it went!

Our Jingle Belles BLING It On challenge runs until the evening of Wednesday, March 27th. Be sure to hop over and see Stephanie's amazingly gorgeous (PINK!) Bling Tree card and start planning what you'll link up with us this time! 

The Embossable Dream

One of the best ever embossing folders has to be Wendy Vecchi's 3D Flowers and Foliage, featured in her Spellbinders' From the Garden Collection. It's nice and big; it embosses deeply; and you can turn it literally in any direction without feeling upside-down or off-kilter!

This time I embossed some grocer's kraft cardstock and a LOVE Chippie (from the Statements set), then painted all of the raised flowers and leaves with Wendy's designer series Liquid Pearls from Ranger. I diecut the smaller blossoms and leaves from the Vintage Florals set, and mounted the whole thing on a light green mat, made "edgier" by the largest frame in the Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set. Not to brag, but I LOVE how this turned out!

Seeing RED!

It's the second week of our "Rudolph the RED-Nosed Reindeer" theme at Jingle Belles, so we're still creating holiday cards that are predominantly red!

I recently got this beautiful Altenew Perfect Poinsettia 3D Embossing Folder at Paper Anthology, and I couldn't wait to use it! I embossed the design on watercolor paper, added color by scribbling all my favorite RED (plus a bit of yellow gold) Tombow Dual Brush Pens onto my craft mat, then picking them up with a waterbrush and painting the flowers. When the panel was thoroughly dry, I added some RED Metallic Rub-On to make the design stand out even more, with a bit of Sunburst Stickles on the berries. I diecut the sentiment (ancient Hero Arts) from both deep red cardstock and Red Non-Shed Glitter Paper, which I also used to mat my card. It's a poor workwoman who blames her tools, and a poor blogger who blames her camera, but I have to tell you that this photo reallllllly does not do justice to all the tones, dimension and shimmer of the original!

Be sure to hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's beautiful card (Spoiler Alert: It's RED!!!) and start planning what you'll link up with us. The challenge runs until next Wednesday evening, February 14th.

Trading Hearts Layered Embossing Cards

There's a pair of bear pairs on the Ranger Product Page today, celebrating the fact that, here in the Northern Hemisphere, Valentine's Day is a winter holiday. Though, for that matter, in places where polar bears live, Easter is also a winter holiday... and sometimes Memorial Day, too! Luckily, there are FIVE different Ranger Embossing Powders in play here (Blue, Green, Turquoise, Snowflake Tinsel and Black) and all that heat gun action is bound to warm it up a bit, right? Stamps from Simon Hurley create Winter Woodland set; layering stencils from the Dazzling Diamond and Winter Scene Maker sets. Archival Inks in Seafarer, Emerald and Jet Black also play a part. Hop over to the full post for step-by-step details!

Hello!

It's time for more goodness from Wendy Vecchi's new Garden Collection for Spellbinders. This time I'm featuring the Flowers and Foliage Embossing Folder; as well as the Vintage Florals die set. The latter are cut from plain white Perfect Cardstock panels, then painted with Liquid Pearls for a shimmery, dimensional look.

I used the embossing folder on a panel of white Perfect Cardstock and a smaller panel of deep violet cardstock, which I then lined up on top of the white to make a continuous pattern. Of course as soon as I fitted them together it occurred to me that it would've been considerably easier to have affixed the violet piece to the white AND THEN embossed... but... well, hindsight is always 20/20, right?

 

I diecut all of the flower pieces, then painted the larger ones with Cornflower Blue Liquid Pearls accented with some Night Sky. The smaller flowers are done in Violet with some Petunia towards the center and the leaves are Prickly Pear. when they were dry, I used coordinating shades of Wendy's Archival Inks from Ranger in Night Sky, Violet and Fern Green to add a little more contrast around the edges. 

I wish I could capture all of the soft shimmer that the Liquid Pearls have added to the florals, but since I did not, maybe you'll give this technique a try and see for yourself?!

Garden Mandala

It's a bloomin' beautiful Mandala Monday, thanks to Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous new Garden Collection from Spellbinders. If you're new to mandala-making I have to tell you my all-time favorite trick: Using heart dies to make the "petals" of a mandala! Since it just so happens that Wendy's new Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops set has nested heart dies, the possibilities are pretty much endless. I wanted to make a card so I only used two of the sizes, but you could go all out and make a BIG art piece, using all five sizes in sequential order.

For this project I also used the Garden Party Stencils, the Flowers and Foliage Embossing Folder, and three of the sixteen dies in the amazing Vintage Florals set. And, of course, a selection of my favorite Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks, including Pink Peony, Rosey Posey, Sunflower, Leaf Green, Prickly Pear and Tea Rose. 

The first thing I made was the floral panel, using the Garden Party Stencils, but without the coordinating stamp or die. (I should mention here that these layering stencils are super-easy to line up and use with perfect alignment to use alone OR to color the stamped image; they have registration marks on all four corners, and they're numbered too!) On this occasion, I chose to line the stencil layers up verrrrrrrry loosely and then fill in any blank space around them with extra ink. At the very end, on top of the flowers, I used Wendy's Studio 490 Plaid Flannel Background, inked with light shades of yellow and green, and spritzed with Isoproply Alcohol. I love how it gave the finished panel a sort of textural look, like vintage table linens.

To make the center medallion, I cut a medium-sized circle from one of Wendy's MAKE ART Perfect Cardstock Panels, embossed it with the Flowers & Foliage folder, then used the Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool with Domed Foam Applicators to add color to the flowers, foliage and background. In between applications, I spritzed the whole thing with rubbing alcohol to encourage the colors to blend into each other just a bit. 

I stamped another panel of white Perfect Cardstock with the Plaid Flannel Background first in Prickly Pear and then Tea Rose, and diecut a bunch of the medium-sized heart from Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops. I cut a second set of the same size from medium pink cardstock, then a set of the second-to-smallest heart in light pink, which I placed between and slightly behind the first ring of petals. I used the small double blossom die and the tiny leaf from the Vintage Florals set to add interest to both rounds of hearts. 

Here's one last picture of the center section, it's my attempt to capture the depth of the texture here. Because when Spellbinders calls something a 3D Embossing Folder they are not messing around! These products are currently available online at Spellbinders, Ranger and other fine retailers. Or, if you happen to be in Central New Jersey, these delightful goodies are also in stock at my favorite brick and mortar crafting store... Paper Anthology!

Liquid Pearls and Stickles Rainbow Thank You Card

I'm delighted to be on the Ranger Project Page today with a timely Thank You Card tutorial, featuring bright and cheerful rainbow shades of Liquid Pearls (which I've thinned down a bit and used like sheer, shimmery acrylic paint; which... afterall... is what they actually are; thank you Patti Behan for that inspiring insight!) and set off with Glittery Stickles, gorgeous bright Archival Inks and White Embossing... which always looks very fresh and clean, imo. I'd love for you to check out the full post, if you have a minute!

Embossed Holiday Treescape Tags

The holiday season is here and in my opinion, there is no such thing as too much sparkle and shine! For this project I've used Ranger's Winter Wonderland Bundle of Verdigris and Green Tinsel Embossing Powders paired with White Opal and Bahama Bay Liquid Pearls to decorate a trio of terrific treescape tags featuring Wendy Vecchi's MAKE ART Statements Chippies and Simon Hurley's create. Treescapes and Winter Wonderland stamp sets. There are step-by-step instructions on the Ranger Project Page. And while you're over there, why not check out ALL of the fabulous and inspiring Ranger Bundles?!