Gift Card Holder

Welcome to our Paper Anthology World Cardmaking Day (or in this case Weekend!) Online Crop. We've got ten inspiring challenges that will roll out over the next three days, plus trivia quizzes, chats and more. Be sure to visit the Paper Anthology Facebook Page for all the details. This challenge might be self-explanatory, as the name implies, we'd like to see gift card holders. With the holiday season approaching, we'll all need at least a few of these ubiquitous items, and frankly the store-bought variety are just too expensive and not cute enough, imo! (PS: your holder need not be seasonal; any theme from wedding to birthday to all-occasion is fine!)

There are lots of dies and templates for making clever gift card holders with pop-ups, fun shapes and other cool interactive features. But sometimes we need something FAST and the ones I've made (basically just a small card with a built-in pocket) require only a 7.5 x 4.5" piece of double-sided patterned paper, a coordinating 7.25 x 1.5" strip, a scoring tool and a few embellishments. 

To make the folder, score your 7.5 x 4.5" paper at the 1.5" mark (of the long edge) and again at the 4.5" mark. 

Fold on both score lines and place a very thin line of dry adhesive (I've used 1/8" Scor-Tape) at the very edges of the 1.5" flap, to create the pocket. Of course you can move on to embellishing at this stage, and hold the little folder closed with ribbon, velcro, or a magnet closure. But I chose to make a little slide from a scrap of coordinating paper.

To make the slide-off band, score your 7.25 x 1.5" paper on the long side at the 1" point and again at the 4 + 1/8" point... yes... that makes the space inside your slide 1/*" larger than your gift card folder... which is why you can slide it on and off without tearing or getting stuck. 

Figure out where your overlap is going to be and add your adhesive there only. Slide it onto the folder and you are good to go!

Once you've got the folder and slide made, you can embellish it in any way you like. Though I suggest keeping whatever you add to the front of the folder quite flat, and making sure the decorations on the band are adhered securely. I stamped and colored four adorable Lawn Fawn Critters, stamped matching sentiments on four diecut Tiny Tags and accessorized with some diecut trees and snowflakes. 

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own version of this very easy and flexible gift card folder! Don't forget to join us on the Paper Anthology Facebook Page for challenges and other fun stuff all weekend long!

Seeing Stars (and Half Stars, Too)

This week I've been playing with Rinea's 3D Rolled Star Die Set and a variety of their beautiful metallic foiled papers and the possibilities are nearly endless. Read all about it on The Ink Pad Blog!

Hyacinth Bouquet

My favorite papercrafting category is definitely cards, but sometimes it's nice to make something a bit more substantial, and this fun bouquet of hyacinths fits the bill. I'm using Rinea's 3-D Hyacinth Die Set and some of their beautiful foils from The Ink Pad.

For the flowers I chose a soft turquoise foil with a little bit of a pattern and cut two of the curling flower shape (it looks a bit like a hair comb) for each large flower and one for each small flower. The die that looks like a crown is the leafy section which rolls up around the base of each flower. I chose double sided foil that is boldly green on one side and gold on the other.

There are instructions for assembling the flowers on the package, or you can find excellent videos on Rinea's website as well as YouTube. For my large flowers, I followed the directions exactly, except that instead of removing the long wooden skewer I used to form the flowers, leaves and stems into their spirals, I used Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive to adhere my diecuts to the skewers, so they had an extra-sturdy construction. I also found that I preferred to cover my stems with green washi tape rather than foil; but try both ways and see which you prefer.

When my flowers were assembled I "planted" them in a small Mason jar with clear floral beads to hold them up, but these would also work well on top of a package or glued to a pretty gift bag; there are more creative ideas for using this die set on Rinea's website and social media, too!

G Through L

Would this be a good time to show of the next five pages (and six letters!) of the Eyelet Outlet Alphabetical Brad Book? Oh and I've made a cover for it too, but more about that in a minute. Meanwhile, here's Part Two:

As with the first set, these pages are ATC-sized (2.5 x 3.5") and built on top of an older, incomplete deck of playing cards to which I've added not-quite-solid patterned papers in a variety of colors. The brads representing the letter G are: Graduation Hat, a Giraffe from the Jungle Mix, a flying Gull from our Seagull Brads, all three varieties of Grape and a glass of red from our Wine Brads, and a Gnome, who is on sale!

The letter H consists of: Headphones from the Computer and Headphones set, Hair Style items from our Brush and Hair Dryer Brads, Hand Sanitizer from our Co-Vid themed Mask, Hand Sanitizer and Soap set, wood Hanger Brads, and a Handbag from the Shoe and Purse set.

From the start, I knew I'd have to double up a few letters, because there just are not nearly as many I and J styles as there are in more frequently used letters like H, M and S. Throughout the project, I've taken a few liberties with names to get a better mix; so I've made sure to use the exact titles and place direct links to make each brad style easy to find in the EO Store! 

The letter I features: Ice Cream, Italy in the form of Colosseum and Pisa Brads (which are on sale!) and an i-Phone from the Selfie set. Representing J we've got: a Java aka Coffee Brad, Jeans from the Jeans and Tee Shirt set and a Sneaker Brad I've re-named as Jogging.

On to the letter K: Kris Kringle is part of the Santa and Mrs. Claus power couple, Knitting Brads are one of my all-time faves (and they're on sale!), our Kitten Brads packs have three shapes and are divided into half white and half black, but I tend to save the latter for Halloween; Mr. Koala comes from the Sloth and Koala set and Kitchenware is a bit of a cheat, since I combined items from the Cooking Brads and Baking Brads sets.

Representing the letter L: Lights technically called Holiday Lights, a Lion from the second Jungle Mix, called Lion Tiger and Zebra Brads, Lobsters from the Crab and Lobster set, a Lure from the Fishing Lure Brads, and Lightning from our Wizard Hat and Lightning Bolt Brads.

One of my favorite things about any minibook project is making the cover. I used a similar set of leatherette alphabet stickers, but in lower case, which are a bit smaller (also I was out of uppercase B's!) Since I wanted the typed title to stand out, I didn't label each brad, but I did manage to work in nine styles, which are: Antler Brads (I adore these and they're on sale), an Apple and an Ant; Book Brads, a Butterfly Profile (which is sadly out of print, but we still have regular Butterfly Brads) and a Broom from the Vacuum and Broom set; A Classic Car, a Cupcake (which is on sale) and a Candy Corn Brad.

We're only halfway through the alphabet, so I'll be back in the next few weeks with the letters M through Z; meanwhile, whatever letter you need a brad for, I can assure you we have one at Eyelet Outlet! 

PS: If you'd like to see the letters A through F, you can find them in this post!

It's Alpha-BRAD-ical

Some people ignore their crazier craft ideas, but I like to run with them! Lately on Instagram, I've seen some really beautiful illustrated and embroidered alphabet samplers, and I started thinking it would be fun to make something similar with Eyelet Outlet Brads. I considered making a single large piece, like a sampler (and I might still do that, lol!) but then it occurred to me that an ATC-sized minibook would give me room to use several brads for each letter, so that's what I decided to do. Here are the first six pages, which I plan on adding to over the next few months:

I used an incomplete deck of playing cards as the base for each 2.5 x 3.5" page of my minibook. I covered the numeral sides with nearly solid, brightly colored papers and added the appropriate chunky leatherette alphabet sticker to each page. I typed a label for each brad. Many of the names are the same as their titles in the official Eyelet Outlet store, but in some cases I had to be a little more creative to make enough brads fit each letter. 

The letter A: has Apple Brads, an Ace from the Playing Card Brads, Ale from our Beer Brads, Ants (technically Mini Ant Brads), and an Airplane from the Travel Brad set.

The letter B: has Bees from the Funky Bee Brads (they're on sale!), a Bear Brad, a Bicycle Brad, the colorful version of Book Brads, and a (School) Bus.

The letter C: is wearing a Crown from the Crown and Tiara set, a Crab from our Crab and Lobster Brads, a Chicken, some Candy Corn Brads and the Computer from the Computer and Headphones set.

The letter D: consists of two out of three Donut Brads, a Deer, one of the three Dinosaur Brads, a couple of Dress Brads and a (Long) Dog (those are on sale!)

The letter E: has an Elephant from the Jungle Mix, Easter Eggs (technically called Colored Eggs), an Envelope from the Mail Brad set, the flying version of our Eagle Brads and some Emojis from the Emotion Brads and Mini Emotion Brads.

The letter F: includes two flying Fairy Brads, a Faucet (from the Pipe Brads set), a Film (and clapper... technically called Movie Brads), a Frog and a Fish Brad.

As I was choosing brads for each page, it occurred to me that when I get to the lesser-used letters, (like I and J; or X, Y and Z) I'm may have to double up. But I think, with a little creativity, I can make this work for all 26 letters. Stay tuned to the Eyelet Outlet Blog and see!

Blingy Birdhouse

Eyelet Outlet Bling and Flowers are obviously awesome finishing touches to cards, layouts and giftwrapping;  but they are equally nice when they come off the page and onto 3D projects. Like a super-fancy Bijou Bird Boutique!

This project started life as a plain balsa birdhouse from the big box crafting store, and the sitting tenant is a small bird from the floral department. I dabbed white paint along the edges and added panels of collaged vintage paper (accented with old-school paper doilies) to the front, back, sides and roof. Then it was time to embellish!

I made two stacks using all three sizes of white Paper Flowers with Bumpy Heart Bling centers, to accent the righthand slope of the roof.

I used an entire pack of clear Swirl Bling! But by trimming the pieces apart carefully, I was able to place a large flourish, covering most of the lefthand slope of the roof AND still have enough pieces to add bling to every surface of the house. To make them appear even more substantial, I split the smaller flourishes into halves or thirds, so that they seem to "wrap around" the corners of the house.

Swirl Bling comes in seven jewel colors (Clear, Red, Green, Pink, Purple Black and Champagne) and four pearl colors (Black, White, Gold and Silver); no matter what style of project you're dreaming up, Eyelet Outlet has Bling, Sequins or Enamels that will embellish it beautifully!

It's in the Bag!

I love giving super-fancy presents to my friends and family for holidays and birthdays, but I definitely don't like paying fancy prices for giftwrap and bags; especially when I have lots of lovely Eyelet Outlet Bling and Washi Tape to make my gifts stand out! 

For these gifts I wanted a really elegant winter and festive feeling, without embracing any particular holiday, so I went with lots of blue, silver and white. I used Glitter Winter Washi on my first bag, and surrounded it with Glitter Silver Star Tape plus Silver Foil Skinny Tape. My diecut snowflakes are topped with 1 1/2" Snowflake Bling and Bumpy Heart Bling and I've scattered some Blue Pearl Bling and Snowflake Sequins around for good measure. My second design features Glitter Tall Tree Tape surrounded by White Foil and Twig Tape. 

Whatever colors, themes and holidays you love, I bet there are Eyelet Outlet Brads, Bling, Tapes and Sequins to make your gifts as beautifully individual as you are! ♥

Sequins, Clearly Seen

Eyelet Outlet Sequins come in Round, Star-Shaped and Snowflakes, in a whole rainbow of colors. Usually they are the finishing touches on a holiday project, but I wanted to make them the center of attention this time! 

I cannot take credit for this concept, because I am sure I saw ornaments similar to the little tree on Instagram; but when I went back to find them, they proved elusive. The idea is pretty simple, though: cut two shapes out of clear plastic, fill them with sequins, and stitch them shut.

About the plastic: it needs to be sturdy but flexible! I cut up a heavy duty clear plastic sleeve like the kind used for storing craft dies. Speaking of dies, I used a medium sized heart and a medium sized star from two sets of nested dies. You definitely want to stick with simple shapes, and it's easiest to cut them one at a time and roll through the machine more than once.

About the sequins: you need to place them pretty much where you'd like them to be in the finished ornament, because they're not going to move about as much as in a shaker window. But you can't get them too near the edge or they will try to escape while you are sewing. And trust me, less is more! 

About the sewing: I machine stitched, but hand cranked the machine. Start and end at the top of the ornaments and leave long tails, so they can act as the hangers. I used the same white heavy duty upholstery thread for my bobbin and top thread. You can use a tiny piece of washi tape to secure one edge of the ornament while you start sewing, but it's kind of fiddly to remove. I found that holding the two shapes together and just working slowly and carefully was the easiest. 

My favorite thing about these little ornaments is that I got to use ALL the styles (and quite a few colors!) of Eyelet Outlet Sequins!

Stencil Sunday: Let's Play Tag

Or in this case, tags, plural, nice big ones that can hold words made with Altenew Bold Alphabet Dies and a nice portion of StencilGirl Pointed Scalloped Border Stencils and Masks. Both of which are available at The Ink Pad, as it happens. All the details on The Ink Pad Blog this morning!

Playing the Accordion

 ...or at least, playing around with the idea of accordion-folded minibooks. The Ink Pad had the very great pleasure to participate in the Collins Virtual Show last week, and we were blown away by all the classes, teachers, ideas and new products! We'll have lots of the latter coming soon to the store, so stay tuned for sneak peeks! In the meantime, many of the ideas we saw inspired us to use our existing inventory in new and interesting ways. For example, Pinkfresh Studios hosted a class in which we made adorable mini albums just by scoring and folding a page of journaling cards! Genius, right? Well, what if we translated that idea and used hand-stamped and collaged paper, to make a project that's more than a card, but less than an album? Read all about it on The Ink Pad Blog!

We're Just Being Shellfish

Which I think you'll agree is a pretty good way to celebrate the newest addition to the Eyelet Outlet lineup: Crab and Lobster Brads!

I was in the mood to make Artist Trading Cards, so I started with two pieces of watercolor paper just a hair under 2.5 x 3.5". I used a spare piece of (non-glitter) washi to mask a straight horizon line and a torn piece of wide tape to make my tide line, then I added my blendy oxide ink sky and ocean. When my backgrounds were complete I added torn strips of Glitter Gold Tape to serve as sand. I made the sentiments "Don't Be Crabby" and "Have a Clawsome Day" by combining alphabet stickers and text typed on clear label strips.

Next I made a scene... or rather, two scenes! My first ATC has two Crab Brads on the beach and a flying Seagull Brad up in the sky. The second has a Sun and Cloud in the sky, with a Lobster Brad on the beach surrounded by a few Shell Brads.

I think you'll agree with me that any project featuring Eyelet Outlet Crab and Lobster Brads is bound to be a shore thing! :)

StencilGirl: Garden Grunge Photo Journal

I'm super-excited to be the Guest Blogger today on the StencilGirl® Blog, StencilGirl® Talk. I made a super-fun photo journal for my mom's upcoming birthday, in a style I like to think of as "Garden Grunge". I used eight different stencils by six SG designers and may have set a record for most layers in one project and most photos in one blog post. I'd love for you to hop over and see the entire project at StencilGirl® Talk and while you're there, be sure to scroll around a bit because they've got AMAZING inspiration every day of the week! ♥

Rainbow Tag

I never seem to get tired of using Michelle Ward's exclusive line of stencils and stamps for The Ink Pad. Somehow new combinations of images, formats and color palettes keep popping into my head, a bit like an artistic game of Clue, lol. For example, how about: NYC Tourist Stencil with the Skyline Stamp Set, in pastel rainbow shades, on a giant tag?! :) Hop over to The Ink Pad Blog to read all about it!

It's Been a Long, Long Time...

...since I (Lauren) have made a scrapbook layout! But my niece Maddie turned sixteen last week, and since a party (or any other social activity) was obviously out of the question, my sister came up with the rather brilliant idea of compiling a surprise scrapbook. She sent blank pages, a few supplies and postage-paid return envelopes to family and friends, and got back unbelievably beautiful and touching results. I was surprised, once I got going, not only how many ideas I had... but how many of my ideas involved Eyelet Outlet Brads! Here's maybe my favorite of the pages I made:

I love using brads to make a frame on cards, but it turns out they're even cooler around a photo! I took this picture of Maddie and her Nana (who also happens to be my mom!) when Maddie was one day old and it is still a favorite. To surround it, I chose brads and bling that either had a baby theme, or were pink, or both. I've got Heart Brads, Teddy Bears, Safety Pins, Ducks, a Colorful Lady Bug, a Butterfly,  Flower Jewels, Heart Pearls, and tiny Pearl Bling.

One of the great things about making a scrapbook for an older kid in the year 2020 is that they (and their parents) have their own social media feeds, full of pictures you know they like. So it's possible to do a bit of lurking and photo-stealing, to get shots you might not have thought to take! This beautiful selfie records the day that Madeline got her braces off. As soon as I saw that smile --and the white space above her head-- I started thinking "thought bubble". I used a combination of stickers and brads to make a little collage of a few happy things I thought she might be thinking about, like school, treats, the beach, etc. I scattered a Computer Brad, Spring Bubble, Selfie Brad, Light Bulb, Scissors, Sun and some Mini Emotion Brads around my sticker sentiment, #Sixteen.

Whether you make layouts or cards, Eyelet Outlet has the perfect embellishments for all of your projects. Check out the huge selection of Brads, Bling, Sequins, Washi Tape and more!

It's Mandala Monday Again

And we're celebrating at The Ink Pad because we have all three sets of Dina Wakley's awesome Scribble Sticks back in stock, in limited quantities, and ready to ship immediately from the NJ branch office! Including the fabulous Set #3, which has the metallic colors that Dina demonstrated in her April 30th Demo With Dina Session on The Art of Dina Wakley FaceBook page, in which The Ink Pad was featured as Store Spotlight. This project features Set #1, and there's lots more about the process as well as pics of other fabulous new Ranger Arrivals on The Ink Pad Blog today! ♥

Don't Worry, Be CRAFTY!

There's a lot of worry about right now. Understandably so. Because let's face it, even the word "pandemic" is frightening. I (Lauren) think creative people might be particularly susceptible to anxiety, because our imagination didn't come with an off switch, did it? But... sometimes it's possible to change channels, and keeping busy helps with that. Keeping busy by playing with art supplies seems to especially help me, AND at the end of it I sometimes have something pretty or fun to share with my friends. Like this:

A couple of months ago, my friend, Anna Chiang, the owner of The Ink Pad, found some really cool word art that was done on top of vintage dictionary pages. And we've both been obsessed with it ever since. So of course when I had a lettering idea I had to get out my Karin Markers and Karin DecoBrush Metallic Pens and grab some dictionary paper! I decided to make the pivotal word, "Crafty" a bit stronger and more interesting by swapping out ordinary pen letters for mixed media.

The letters are as follows:

• C: handmade paper, vintage buttons and a sequin 
• R: an experiment blending Gansai Tambi Watercolors on Canson paper
• A: skinny washi tape and two sizes of Eyelet Outlet Bee Brads
• F: origami paper stitched with embroidery floss
• T: measuring tape washi
• Y: a scrap of pink burlap, a paper flower, Eyelet Outlet Flower Brad and sequins

The lettering was done with my Karin BrushMarkers and DecoBrush Metallic pens. The outlines are Pigma Micron pen in a nice fine tip. The shadows are grey brush pen. The little pink hearts (and a few other details) are Posca Paint Pen. There are Neat and Tangled Sequins scattered about, just because I will take any excuse to scatter some sequins!

I hope that you are having a happy, hopeful day already, but if not, why not spend some quality time with your art supplies? ♥

Lauren Bergold

finds rainbow shades of ANY

media immediately comforting!