Swatchin'

It occurred to me the other day that I hadn't made swatches for my growing collection of Simon Hurley create Dye Inks, so clearly that had to be done! Of course, there is an entire section of the Ranger website dedicated to Organizing your Ranger Products, and it includes color charts and labels, so I didn't actually NEED to make my own little tag book. But I happened to have some new inks and some new stencils... Oh ok, yeah, true confession: I was looking for an excuse to play with my new stuff, lol.  

I don't have any rules for making swatch books, but I nearly always use a single ring to bind them, to make it easy to add or subtract colors as needed. I'd also highly suggest NOT using the same stamp or stencil on every single page; in future you might like the freedom to swap out and play with new products. I also try to make the pages a little bit footloose and funky because if you really USE your swatches (which I do!) the pages may get wrinkled or smudged or whatever... and built-in imperfection helps accommodate that. Plus... it's just so much more FUN!!! 

Stencils used in this project include: The Loo!, Pretty Petals Layering set, Deco Diamonds, Candles Layering set, Grand Greenery and Sweater Weather. See all the Simon Hurley Ink Colors and Stencil Sets on the Ranger website!

It's ICAD Time Again

Thursday is June first which means the Index Card a day Challenge, devised and hosted by Tammy Garcia, will kick off its thirteenth season! You don't need ANYTHING special to participate, just some index cards and a way of making marks of some description upon them. This is my twelfth year participating and since I happen to enjoy making little books (and having a dedicated little book for each year's index card art has kept me motivated!) I converted my favorite ever Wendy Vecchi card into a cover; admittedly mostly so I could keep the card for myself! :)

Let me address one really common question right up front: YES, the index cards you work on really should be the cheap, flimsy kind from the office supply store and not high-quality watercolor paper trimmed down to the correct size. This event is about showing up for yourself and doing SOMETHING creative every day, to establish or re-boot your daily art practice. This is about PROCESS more than OUTCOME... and a big part of the point is that you really truly do not need fancy supplies to participate. You also don't need to achieve a finished, polished piece of art each day. Think mark-making, think ink-swatching, think random collage; consider trying a new technique, or getting out those watercolor pens, or inking up those stamps that are still in their packages. Visit the ICAD Base page at Daisy Yellow Art for lots of pre-season activities as well as tips, techniques, badges, ideas and (once we kick off) there will be (100% OPTIONAL) weekly themes and daily prompts for those days when you don't have something in mind. One of the pre-season activities is to make a title card, and here's mine:

Another excellent idea is to assemble a little group of supplies that can sit in a basket or box or tray that you can easily access each day. Because, if you're anything like me, when you suddenly remember ICAD at 9:30pm and you have to go and find your index cards, your pens and your adhesive... that's going to seriously take the wind out of your sails. Since my niece, nephew, sister and mom have all participated in ICAD for the last few years, we've amassed and shared quite a few styles of index cards and dividers, so I have choices! Some years I've focused on one style or technique: collage, lettering, doodles, etc; but mostly I go with the flow. I use the prompts when they appeal to me, though generally not on their specific day; if I really love a prompt I might do it a few times... some I don't do at all.

If you're thinking about joining the fun (it IS fun, I promise!) you really should visit the ICAD Base at Daisy Yellow, and I also humbly recommend this "tips and advice" post that I wrote a couple of years ago. You might like to follow Tammy G on Instagram (she's @gypsy999) for lots of inspiration and for advance peeks at the prompts. If you post on IG, the best hashtag is #dyicad2023 and I think you'll be delighted at the sense of community and camaraderie that surrounds this inspiring event. Oh and yes, I post my cards daily on IG (I'm llaurenb) and then do a weekly round up here on the blog.

Make Your Own Rainbow!

Flashing back to the autumn of 2012: Hurricane Sandy left us without electricity for eleven days, and pretty much the only thing I could accomplish in the evenings, by candlelight, were very simple (and BRIGHT!) crochet projects, so I made a few of Caitlin Walker's beautiful Rainy Day Scarves from a free pattern she had posted on her blog. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the pattern again in one of my yarncraft notebooks and thought it was exactly what I wanted to make for my niece Maddie's birthday. So I did.

I changed the clouds from grey to white... less realistic, but better with this lighter palette, I thought. One my Maddie's favorite colors is aqua, so I chose the other shades to incorporate it. Lion Brad's Vanna's Choice is a medium weight acrylic with a huge palette, so it tends to be my go-to for amigurumis and other colorful projects. In this case I used Periwinkle, Colonial Blue, Aquamarine, Radiant Lime, Mustard, Goldfish and Raspberry for the rainbow and a J hook to keep the stitches loose and the fabric comfortably pliant.

Slightly tangentially to the above, is an idea about keeping a record of one's yarn creations. If, like me, you're a crocheter or knitter who makes mostly gift items, you probably already photograph and post your projects, so it might seem silly to also PRINT the pics and put them all in a little book together. but... I highly recommend it! Not only is it fun to look back on allllllllllllllllllll the things you've made, but it's incredibly helpful for remembering what you've made for whom and when; as well as what pattern you used, which yarn and needle/hook size, and any changes or adjustments you made to the pattern; specific colorways, etc.

You obviously don't need to make a special ATC book (hey... I'm a papercrafter... it's what I do, lol) it could be as simple as pasting pictures into a blank book and writing the date with a few notes, or using index or rolodex cards in a little filing system, but I believe you will find it as helpful and inspiring as I do to have ALL of your previous projects in one handy place! 

I'd write more about this idea, but it'd be taking away time from working on my next yarn creation, which is an amigurumi ice cream cone! ♥

PS: Blogger is another great record-keeping tool, especially since it's searchable; a quick check of tags reveals that I originally made and posted this Ami Minibook in August of 2010 and you can read all about it right HERE! :) 

Pink Lemonade Minibook

My friend Gina is one of the most creative people I know and absolutely the best at drawing recognizable creatures (a fact which I envy A LOT!) people, plants and pretty much everything else. Lately she's been firing up her Redbubble, Etsy and Zazzle shops and filling them with the most beautiful digitally collaged stickers and printables for planners, cardmaking and more; not to mention pillows, mugs and other cool accessories. They are DEFINITELY worth a look if you're looking for any kind of custom gift or just some fabulous eye candy for yourself. A few months ago, Gina sent me a bunch of printed sheets with fish, cats, bunnies, portraits and more. I love absolutely ALL of them, but the jungle animals done in PINK were (surprise!) my favorites. For her birthday, I decided to make them into a minibook. Gina made a video of it, which is very cool indeed. My still photos aren't quiiiiite as impressive but... I still love them.

Tag-a-Palooza!

Sometimes when I start making tags, I find it hard to stop! Especially when I've got my entire stash of Eyelet Outlet holiday brads and tapes to choose from. For this set, I planned to make tags featuring all the new EO Brads: Santa and Deer, Gnomes 2, Trees- Snowy and Carolers... but then... I just kept going! Luckily I managed to fit them all on a two inch book ring from the office supply store.

I used Sunny Studio's Build a Tag #2 die set to create tags, toppers and reinforcements cut from cardstock covered with my favorite EO holiday tapes, such as Poinsettia Tape, Santa Tape, Twig Tape, Santa- Green Washi, Garland Tape, Tree Tape, Cardinal Washi, Skinny Vertical Tree Tape, Gingerbread Washi, Red Santa and Winter Characters Tape; with accents of Wood Tape, Brick Tape, Music Note Tape, Green Damask Washi, and of course I couldn't resist breaking out a bunch of Glitter Tapes (we have over two dozen styles... and counting!)

After all my tape tags were created, I used circle punches of several sizes to make a little home for the brads on each tag. I used: Cardinal and Female Cardinals, Gift Brads, Snowy Trees and Snowflakes, Santa and Deer Brads, a Sleigh, Wreath and Poinsettia Brads, Holly, the Gnew Gnomes, a Gingerbread Couple, Candy Cane, Caroler Brads, and a Snowman on a Sled.

If you'd like to see ALL of these lovely Eyelet Outlet goodies (and lots more!) in person, check out our Trade Show Schedule to see if the EO Booth will be coming to your town!

More Rainbow Ramblings

It's the second week of my (Lauren's) Eyelet Outlet Rainbow Brad project, and this time we're embracing all things Brown, Yellow, Purple and Black!

The brads for each color are as follows:

BROWN: A Compass, a Lion from the Lion, Tiger, Zebra set hanging out with a Monkey and Giraffe from the Jungle Mix, the Doghouse from our Kennel Mix, plus a few sweet Puppy Brads, a Sandcastle and Shell Corner, a vintage Fan from the Telephone and Fan set and a pair of Champagne flutes from the Wedding set. Two strips of Wood Washi and a Skinny Glitter Tape in dark copper.

YELLOW: A background strip of Tape Measure Washi and Chicken Tape holds Work Trucks, Tissues from the TP & Tissues set, a School Bus, the Sun from our Sun and Cloud Brads, a happy little Chick, a Birthday Candle, a Party Hat and finally a Sunflower.

PURPLE: Unicorns from the Unicorn and Rainbow set, some Butterflies and a Mini Butterfly, Grape Brads and a glass of Red from the Wine set, a Fairy Brad and some Water Lillies from the Frog set. The washi selection is Purple Check Tape, plus purple glitter from the Skinny Glitter Tape set and purple flowers from the Skinny Foil Tape set.

BLACK: Our adorable Sushi Washi is flanked by Black and White Check Tape, over which we have a Zebra from the second Jungle Mix, an old-school Telephone, Eye Glass and Sunglass Brads, Music Notes, a Graduation Hat, Video Games and a handsome Spider.

And here's a snap of how our extended rainbow is shaping up so far:

Next week I'll be back to finish up with the good old Red, White and Blue! Until then, brads and tapes of every conceivable color, shape and style can be found in the Eyelet Outlet Store.

It's an EO Rainbow

Would this be a good time for some Eyelet Outlet Brads, arranged by color? If so, here are some fab brads that are Pink, Green, Grey and Orange; and there's some coordinating EO Washi Tape, as well.

The brads on each of my 5 x 3.5" cards are as follows:

PINK: A Tiara from the Crown and Tiara set, a Flamingo, a Colored Daisy, an Easter Egg, some Flip Flops, two happy porkers from the Pig and Sheep set, a Heart Brad and a Cupcake Swirl; plus a bit of Unicorn Tape and Pink Dots Washi.

GREEN: There's a lovely base of a newer wide Grass Washi, on which we have a Frog and some Cat Tails from the Frog Set, a Tractor Brad, a Chameleon from the Reptiles set, some Beer, green Thread, and a pair of lovely Summer Trees.

GREY: A Dress Form, some Scissors (because silver counts as grey in the Laurniverse!), a Ring from the Wedding set, some Pipes, an Elephant from the Jungle Mix, a Laptop from the Computer and Headphones set, a Saw from the Saw and Toolbox set, a Wrench from our Tool Brads and a handsome Sketched Owl; with Road Tape and Silver Star Glitter Washi.

ORANGE: Ticket Washi and Orange Fan Tape make a base for: a handsome Ginger Cat from the Feline Brads, a Dinosaur, a Ticket from the Popcorn and Ticket set, Tigers from the second Jungle Mix, Leaf and Mini Leaf Brads, a Witch Hat, a Pumpkin and some yummy Candy Corn.

Stay tuned for four more awesome colors next week. In the meantime, all of these and MANY more are available in the Eyelet Outlet Online Store, or can be found in a trade show booth coming somewhere near you this summer! Complete list of dates and venues can be found HERE!

Hello, ICAD!

Tomorrow is June first, or as I like to think of it, ICAD day! Once again, Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow Art is hosting sixty-one days of creativity, as we embark upon the 2022 version of the Index Card a Day project! You can follow along on Tammy's Instagram account, Gypsy999, which is well worth the trip at any time of year, but especially fun in June and July.

You really don't need anything special to participate in this project, besides some index cards (and yes, they really should be actual, cheap, flimsy index cards from the office supply store; as opposed to pieces of high quality watercolor paper cut to size!) and some way to make marks upon them. You can collage, draw, doodle, write poems or haiku, make lists, swatch your markers or paints, practice handlettering or do a little bit of everything. The point of the exercise is to do SOMETHING creative, for a few minutes a day, for two months in a row. But... having said all of that... I've done this for the last ten summers, and I've discovered that having a little purpose-made minibook to hold all of my cards is a huge boost to my moral and my commitment.   

I think the 2022 version miiiiight be my favorite ICAD book ever and I can't wait to start working on some of Tammy Garcia's inspiring (optional!) prompts!

My plan is to post daily index cards on Instagram (my feed is llaurenb) starting tomorrow, and then do weekly round-ups right here, so stay tuned it you love small format art!

Evolution of a Mandala

I've just discovered Simon Hurley's create. dye inks from Ranger and I'm fairly smitten. I've used five of my favorite bold shades (prom queen, guppy, shooting star, overzealous and remember me) to watercolor this week's mandala; by "smooshing" some of each color onto my craft mat, then picking it up with a waterbrush. And yes, I love to throw some spatters of each color on, as well! When I was done painting, I had something which looked a bit like this:

Once all the basic shapes were in place and the inks had dried completely, I went in with Letter It Fineliners and outlined everything. Then I started adding details: shapes within shapes, double outlines, scallops and faux stitching. Finally, I grabbed a few markers and a white paint pen to add the finishing touches.  

Usually, that would be the end of the story, but since June first is just two days away, I went the extra mile and trimmed my finished sketchbook page into two 5.5 x 3.5" panels to fashion the front and back covers of my 2022 Index Card a Day* journal!

I think this might be my favorite ICAD book ever and I can't wait to start working on some of Tammy Garcia's inspiring (optional!) prompts; which can be found on the Daisy Yellow Art website, as well as Tammy's Instagram account, which is Gypsy999, and worth a look-see at any time of year, but especially fun in June and July.

Stay tuned for lots more about ICAD* and starting on Wednesday, I'll be posting my daily index card art on my own IG account (llaurenb) with weekly round-ups right here!

*If you're wondering, "what on Earth is ICAD?" you could check out this Daisy Yellow post, which is coincidentally titled, "What on Earth is ICAD?"!

Rainbow Brad Book (Part 3 of 3)

It's the final chapter in my Eyelet Outlet Rainbow Brad Book, and while there isn't a big plot twist or anything, there are some great colors, like Yellow, Black, White and Red!

YELLOW turned out to have LOTS of great brad styles, like Emotion Brads, a Party Hat, Work Trucks, Lightbulbs (they're on sale!), a Colored Daisy, a Sun Brad, a Classic Car, a School Bus, a Mini Bee Brad, a Peppermint Candy and some very cool Tape Measure Washi.

BLACK is a great place to use my favorite Music Washi, not to mention Eye Glass Brads, a Graduation Hat, a Bicycle Brad, a sweet Puppy and Paw Print, a Zebra, a Cow, the fun Video Game set, Movie Brads, a Spider and a Bat.

I was surprised to discover how many awesome choices of brad are WHITE! Kitten Brads, Toilet Paper, Clouds, another Cow (I couldn't decide if the Cows were more black or more white, so I added one to each page, lol!), a Heart, Sneaker and Water Bottle Brads, a Chicken with both Egg and Fried Egg Brads, a Ghost, some Eye Brads and a Skull. I used some Gold Script Washi as my tape for this page.

Finally, the color RED belongs at the beginning of the spectrum, and has been placed at the front of the completed book, but it was the final page I worked on. Below a strip of Red Dot Tape, it boasts Cardinal and Cardinal Profile Brads, First Responders, the Apple set, a Mini Ladybug. a Vacuum, Boat and Lighthouse Brads, an Anchor, Coffee, Holiday Coffee and Iced Coffee, plus our handsome Crab and Lobster.

Once I had all the pages complete, I placed them in (more or less) spectrum order. This shot doesn't really show the brads, but I love that because the page frames are solid cardstock in coordinating shades you get a great preview of all the colors by looking at the top of the book:

I hope you'll visit the Eyelet Outlet Blog often, to see what all of our amazing designers are up to!

Rainbow Brad Book (Part 2)

I'm still working my way through the rainbow of Eyelet Outlet Brads (and Washi!) so here are a few more pages in my Rainbow Brad Book:

The PINK page features Pigs from the Pig and Sheep set, a flowery Handbag from the Shoe and Purse set, a Stitched Flower, Thread (and Scissors), a Cupcake Swirl Brad, a Flamingo, a couple of Donuts and an Ice Cream Brad; with a strip of ZigZag Pink Tape.

The BLUE page has some gorgeous Cloud Washi, as well as Stars, Parrots from the Tropical Bird set, Mask, Hand Sanitizer and Soap Brads, Tissues, a Blue Bird from the Blue Bird and Robin set, Birthday Candles and a couple of Safety Pins.

The GREY page (technically there are no neutrals in a rainbow, but there are lots in the EO Store!) consists of: Mail Brads, Garden Tools, an Elephant from the Jungle Mix, a Muffin Pan from the Baking set and a Saucepan from our Cooking Brads, a Sketched Owl, a Koala, and some Pipe Brads; plus a bit of fun skinny Road Washi.

The GREEN Page boasts Wreath and Holly Brads, a Gecko from the Reptile set, Summer Trees, a Tractor carrying Colored Egg Brads, Wine Brads, a Dinosaur and a Tall Palm Tree; all hovering above some damask-inspired Green Pattern Tape.

Stay tuned for the final installment of the Rainbow Brad Book... next Wednesday on the Eyelet Outlet Blog!

It's a RAINBOW Brad Book

Last year I made an Alphabet Brad Book featuring as many Eyelet Outlet Brads as I could fit onto two dozen or so playing-card-sized ATCs. That project was so much fun I thought I'd do a different version: this time grouping the Brads --and a few coordinating EO Washi Tapes-- by color. So without further ado, I present my Eyelet Outlet Rainbow Brad Book!

The cover has a sticker title on top of Rainbow Washi decorated with a Rainbow Brad, a sweet blue Fairy and some white Enamel Stars. 

Eventually, I'll arrange the pages in spectrum order, but I've been working pretty randomly to choose coordinating brads, tapes and letter stickers, so at the moment, page one has all things ORANGE, including: a Pumpkin, Candy Corn, a Witch Hat, a Monster, some Foxes, a Tiger, a couple of Ducks, (...possibly a bit nervous being so close to the tiger...) Movie Brads, and the orange gecko from our Reptile Set. With a strip of Geometric Washi, to match.

Technically, a rainbow doesn't contain neutrals, but there are quite a few cool brads that are black, white, grey, and in this case, tan and BROWN, so I figured I'd add a few pages to reflect that. Here you can see: the Kennel Mix, a Paw Print, critters from the Jungle Mix and Lion, Tiger Zebra Set, a Teddy Bear, various Shell Brads, a Fan, a Sunglass Brad, Flip Flops and a refreshing Beer Brad. With a bit of Wood Washi to hold the title.

The PURPLE page boasts some yummy Grape Brads, a Butterfly, a purple Fairy, a lavender unicorn from the Unicorn and Rainbow set, Knitting Brads (they're on sale!) a Party Hat, Stitched Flowers and Mini Stitched Flowers (also on sale!) as well as Dragonflies; all atop some Checked Purple Tape.

The pages are constructed from graph paper, backed with plain white cardstock, and measure just a smidge over 3.5 x 5.5". I used my vintage typewriter to add the words on coordinating strips of paper.

There are still more colors (and more neutrals!) yet to come, so I hope you'll stop by the Eyelet Outlet Blog again next week to see more Rainbow Brad goodness!

Villainous Blends

The new Distress Ink shade, Villainous Potion, has arrived at The Ink Pad in all its glorious varieties of Ink Pads, Reinkers, Sprays, Paint and Embossing Glaze, and it may actually be the ULTIMATE Purple! My favorite Distress product is Oxide Ink, and my favorite way to get acquainted with a new color is to test out lots of blends with the existing palette to see which combinations will be my favorites. 

I like to use little ATC-sized pieces of cardstock for this exercise, and I take time after each blend to write the color names on the back in the order I used them; having learned that after ten or twelve combinations, I may not remember which red I used on which combo! When all the swatches are completely dry I punch them with my Crop-A-Dile and secure them with a brad or small book ring so that the next time I want to make a background I have some awesome ideas to start me off.

When selecting colors to try together, I generally begin with those closest to the new color and work outwards. With an intense shade like Villainous Potion, that means starting with the deepest Distress colors; and with a purple, the closest "relatives" will be the other purples, the blues and some reds. The closer the colors are in either hue or intensity, the more smoothly and seamlessly they blend. As you move further out, you increase both contrast and drama. In this case, a few "slam dunk" shades you might like to try include Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves... which let you segue into all of the reds and pinks in the line; while Prize Ribbon, Chipped Sapphire and Blueprint Sketch will serve as a bridge into lighter blue shades, as well as greens.

If you're not confident combining colors, I highly (highly!) recommend using a Color Wheel. In the meantime, remembering the order of the spectrum with the acronym ROY G. BIV: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet will at least give you a starting point, as the colors which are next to each other are always analogous, which means they're going to be blend-friendly. 

Here are the exact colors I used for my twelve favorite blends so far; working from top left to bottom right in the photo above; each blend is listed from top to bottom on its card: 1. Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple, Villainous Potion; 2. Villainous Potion, Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover; 3. Villainous Potion, Seedless Preserves, Barn Door; 4. Salvaged Patina, Salty Ocean, Villainous Potion; 5. Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Villainous Potion; 6. Villainous Potion, Aged Mahogany, Crackling Campfire; 7. Dusty Concord, Villainous Potion, Chipped Sapphire; 8. Kitsch Flamingo, Candied Apple, Villainous Potion; 9. Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion, Weathered Wood; 10. Speckled Egg, Weathered Wood, Villainous Potion; 11. Rustic Wilderness, Prize Ribbon, Villainous Potion; 12. Pickled Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion.

But don't take my word for it; grab your very own Villainous Potion Ink, Oxide, Spray, Paint or Embossing Glaze from The Ink Pad and start trying out your own combinations today!