Happy Anniversary

I've heard it said that North American Cardinals mate for life, so our lovely and popular cardinal brads seemed a perfect choice for the anniversary card I made recently.

In addition to using both the male and female cardinal brads, I used some of our gorgeous wide washi tape for the background.  This one is called Flowers Vintage.  I also embellished the card with some pearl swirl bling.  

Enjoy the day and happy crafting!

Boating Beauty!

 

Hello EO fans! Today I have a card made with a quartet of good things from the store. I cut a large stitched tag using a die in my stash and the decorated it up with the new Boat and Lighthouse brad set. I stacked a white and yellow paper flower together and used a Ship Wheel brad for the center. I use pearl bling to create some motion on this. It really reminds me of currents. It's surprising sometimes what bling can do and there's so much to choose from at the EO store! 

Do you like the water? Don't forget all the water and beach themed brads at the store. You will not be disappointed! 

SHOPPING LIST:

Boat and Lighthouse Brad Set

Ships Wheel Brad Set

Swirl Bling in Pearl

White and Yellow Paper Flowers

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you are having a great day!

Happy Creating Everyone!

 Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

A little spring in your step!

Look a head to spring and new life!

Eyelet Outlet is here to help with Swirl Bling,

Colored Egg Brads, Chick bRads and of course...WASHI tape in amazing colors, widths and textures!

You'll be doing the bunny hop when your order arrives.

So, skip on over to the Eyelet Outlet website...

and fill up your basket with the sweetness of spring!

This chick is doing fine!

Dawn Mercedes, of Sunnyside Up

Wish Big!

Have you seen the new Eyelet Outlet Fairy Brads? They are one of my (Lauren's) favorites from the Spring release. And I can envision them working in so many ways, but this being the height of summer gardening season, I decided to go a bit nature-y!

Both of my cards are built on trimmed-down journal cards from Prima Marketing's Havana collection. I loved the way the soft foliage colors made the fairies blend in just a tiny bit... because fairies like to hide! For my first card I added three Fairies, in pink and green, and let them flitter around the card. (Each pack has an assortment of pink, green, blue and purple fairies.) I added bits of white Pearl Swirl Bling to convey movement and magic. There was a pre-printed sentiment at the top left of the card, so I covered that with Sun and Cloud Brads, and added my own words, lower down, via alphabet stickers... probably my favorite craft supply after brads and paper, lol!

We also have fun new Crown and Tiara Brads, and as soon as I thought of the sentiment, "Wish Big" I knew that I had to put a crown on a Frog Brad and surround him with a few more Fairies. Again, the Pearl Swirls are meant to imply that the fairies just miiiiiiiight be in the process of working a little bit of magic... or possibly mischief? It's sometimes hard to tell with fairies!

Whether you're into Fairies or Frogs or BOTH... the Eyelet Outlet Online Store (and Tradeshow Booth!) has brads style to make all your crafty wishes come true!

Lauren Bergold

lives in a magical land

known as New Jersey.

Waving Hello

My sister just returned from a week at the Jersey Shore, and thanks to the wonders of technology and social media, I (Lauren) was able to follow along while she and her family had fun at the beach, thus I was properly jealous! Alas, I don't have a seaside trip scheduled any time soon, but luckily I do have Eyelet Outlet Shell Brads and Pearl Swirls, so I was able to make my own little ocean scene, in card form!

I get cardmaking inspiration from all sorts of places, but it's not very often that a whole entire idea pops into my head fully formed. This was one of those times, though, so I was very excited to get to work. My thought was to make "waves" of torn paper that would overlap a neutral colored beach on which lots of Eyelet Outlet Sea Shore Brads, Shells and Shell Corners had washed up. As I was getting out my supplies, I spotted some white Pearl Swirl Bling and it sort of reminded me of the way seafoam makes little designs on the sand. So I tucked some snippets in and around my shells, starfish and sand dollars.

Here's a little behind-the-scenes process that typically doesn't make it into my post, but I've talked about "dry fitting" the elements of a card fairly often, and this pic really shows what I mean. Before I've poked a single hole to set a brad, before I've even touched the adhesive, I lay out every element I'm going to use, in the place I think it should go. And then... (this is vital!) ...I snap a photo with my phone, so I remember where it all went. As you can see, I've trimmed all the papers (which are from various Prima Marketing collections, including Georgia Blues, Misty Rose and Havana) roughly to size for my 6" square card. I've torn the "waves" so they overlap nicely. I've snipped my letters from their backing sheets and arranged them --for size rather than correct spelling lol. Now I am ready to assemble the layers for real!

You can see that I did make one or two changes during the assembly process. As I was sticking down the letters I realized that "comes in waves" would fit on one line, rather than two, and I liked it better that way. When I decided to add machine stitching to the layers of waves, I knew the sewing process would be much easier if all the pearls were on the beach. I also decided that a little more sparkle was in order, so I made a mat by adding strips of Glitter Gold Tape to the edges of plain white cardstock cut just 1/4" larger than the central panel.

Whether you are headed to the beach, the farm or the zoo this summer, Eyelet Outlet has brads and tape that will work for ANY destination! ♥

Lauren Bergold

could really use some Vitamin Sea!

Magic is on the Cards...

...thanks to the fab new Eyelet Outlet Wizard Set Brads, as well as the Wizard Hat and Lightning Bolt, which I (Lauren) have used on today's cards!

The Wizard Set features wands, round glasses and scarves of green and white, as well as the burgundy and mustard that I have used for "You're My Favorite Muggle". In addition to using both the Wizard Hat and (Gold) Lightning Bolt from that set (which also contains black lightning bolts as well) I've added a handsome Sketched Owl.

For the "Magical Birthday" card I've combined the hat from the Wizard Hat and Lightning Set with the wand from the Wizard Set, and added in bits of white Pearl Swirl Bling. To make the flourish fit better in the space above the "I" in "Magical", I cut the swirl apart and stuck bits of it back together a little more compactly. Because it's reallllly nice to have options, right?

I hope you're having a Magical day already, but if not, I bet a little stroll through some of the New Brad Styles in the EO Store will cheer you right up! ♥

Lauren Bergold

can magically make all of your 

chocolate treats disappear!

Let's Flamin-GO!!!

I suppose there must be people somewhere who dislike flamingos, but I (Lauren) have luckily never met them! And the new Eyelet Outlet Flamingo Brads are especially appealing, in my opinion!

To show this handsome guy off to best advantage, I've chosen a palette of pinks, yellows and peach. This meant I could pull in some Sun and Cloud Brads, too; as well as a Heart Brad. With all that color in the little medallion shapes, I chose quite a neutral palette of text paper, with my favorite Leafy Coloring Book Washi Tape (left uncolored, however) and some Pearl Silver Swirl Bling.

This card was so much fun to make, I decided to use the leftovers to make an ATC, as well. I've used the same palette, and similar products, including another super-cute Flamingo Brad, obviously!

If flamingos aren't your thing, there's lots of other inspiration here on the Eyelet Outlet Blog. Why not scroll down and see what my design team sister, Carri, has to show you today? ♥

Lauren Bergold

blogs a few times a week at

"...all the *GOOD* blog names were taken..."

♥♥♥

Really Big Cards...

...need really big envelopes, it stands to reason, doesn't it? You might see this as a hassle, but I (Lauren) consider it an opportunity to go really big with beautiful Eyelet Outlet embellishments, such as Solid Color Paper Flowers, 15mm Pearl Brads, and elegant Pearl Swirl Bling. A bit like this:

The card for which I made this particular envelope measures 5x10", so yeah... it's BIG! I like to make collages, and when you're working with original vintage items, they are whatever size they are. Luckily, it's super-easy to construct a custom-sized envelope. I started with a piece of vintage wallpaper measuring about 11x16", but you could use any oversized sheet of giftwrap, kraft paper from a roll, or even an old map. 

Neatly fold and crease one side so that it's slightly shorter than your card... this will be the pocket into which we slide the card. Next make another fold a couple of inches from the opposite end... this is just decorative, to give the top flap a nice clean edge. Finally, make a nice crisp fold just about in the center between the other two... and that's it! 

Secure each side of the pocket with adhesive, or machine stitch along each edge. Line the inner flap if you'd like to. Use a tiny bit of velcro, a magnetic closure, or some pretty ribbon to hold your envelope closed. And that's it! Now it's time for the fun part: EMBELLISHING!

I made a little cluster of  Solid Color Paper Flowers. Since each packet has three different sizes of blossom, and a total of 40 flowers, I could afford to be a bit lavish and stack some of them, securing the centers of the larger blooms with 15mm Pearl Brads, and the smaller ones with 5mm Pearl Brads. At the edges of the arrangement I used some gorgeous creamy Pearl Swirl Bling. These are absolutely beautiful right out of the package, but in this case, the flourishes were not quiiiiiite the right shape, so again, I went with the "customized" option. I left the swirls attached to their clear backing sheet, but snipped the swirls apart and re-arranged them. Once I had exactly the right positioning, I peeled them off their backer and added them to the design. Et voila! One special collage card in a very fancy presentation envelope!

I hope you'll be inspired to think outside the box of standard sized envelopes and give your own handmade cards the couture coverings they deserve!

Lauren Bergold lives in New Jersey,

daydreams about sparkly things,

and blogs at

"...all the GOOD blog names were taken..."

Bee Beautiful Mini Book

I am in a mini book phase, they are so fun to make and just a chance to try fun techniques and get my hands all paint covered!!!

My inspiration for this mini book was bees, I kept seeing a bee/bug and I thought Bee Beautiful, would be wonderful for a title and then I went with the theme of yellow and black.  From there it just took on a life of its own.  I used a ton of paints and mists along with some various mediums with stencils.  I then added in some fun background stamps to help enhance the feel of the book.  

Eyelet Outlet items used are Newspaper Washi, Clock Washi Tape, Bee Brads, Yellow Flowers, Yellow Oval Jewels, Pearl Swirl Bling, Grey Bling Strips, Stitched Flower Brands, Scroll Corner Brads, and Small Champagne Bumpy Bling.

 

Here is the first video which is filled with the cutting of the pages, mists, painting, stenciling, stamping, and a fun technique with the EZ Steam II material and glitter, embossing powder, and flower soft to add a great dimension and texture to the page.

From here I added in a few pictures of my little girl form this year, not many just there is room for more as the year goes along.  I also added in some fun bling, brads, and other little gems from Eyelet Outlet to enhance the entire effect.  I did not want to cover the pages up too much, I love the effect I got from all the mists, stamps, and stencils.

Here are some close up shots of some of the pages.

Supplies Used
Raw Fabric/Paper Materials - Rebekah Meier Kit
Lace & Pearls -  Rebekah Meier Kit
Paints/Mists - Tattered Angels
Mediums  - Prima & Faber-Castell & Ranger
Stencils - TCW
Thread - Coats & Clarke
Sequins
Beads - Crafts Etc
Washi Tape - Eyelet Outlet
Brads - Eyelet Outlet
Gem/Bling - Eyelet Outlet
Flowers - Eyelet Outlet
Chipboard - Creative Embellishments
Dies  - Spellbinders - Heartfelt Creations
Embossing Powder - Stampin Up
Mica - Imagination Creations
Flower Soft - Flower Soft
Glitter - Martha Stewart & Prima
Stamps - Paper Wings Productions
Ink - Prima
Brushes - Prima
Heat Gun - Marvy
Glue - Beacon

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Did you realize it's only 19 weeks until Christmas?  Have you started your holiday card stash?

I love making holiday cards all year long, and one of my favorite things to do is use adhesive Swirl Bling to decorate a Christmas Tree.

I start by die-cutting a Christmas Tree.  Since the Swirl Bling is on a clear sheet, you can lay it on top of the tree to see how the various swirls are going to fit.

Next I start performing Swirl Bling Surgery by cutting apart the individual swirls to fit my tree.

When I'm done, it looks something like this.

Every one I make is different, so it's fun to see how it will all come together.

I added a clear square jewel to the top of the tree for a *star*.

You can also decorate your tree with pearls ... the effect is a bit more muted, but still very elegant.  This tree features Gold Pearl Swirl Bling with a Champagne Gem for the star.

Here's another view.

And one last look at the cards side-by-side.

I hope I've inspired you to try decorating your own holiday trees.

• Swirl Bling - Clear
• Square Jewel - Clear
• Swirl Bling - Pearl Gold
• 12mm Bling Jewels - Champagne

Have you followed Eyelet Outlet on Twitter yet?  How about Facebook?

You can visit me in blogland at Ingenious Inkling

Elegant Frame

My in-laws have their 50th Wedding Anniversary this August and we have have a big family reunion and party to celebrate - shhhhhh it is a surprise!!  For the party I wanted to put out a picture from their wedding day, but I could not just leave it as a plain frame, I had to decorate it!

Here is a video tutorial on how I made the frame including using the washi tape to make the background.

I used the Eyelet outlet Blue Glitter Washi Tape and Pearl Sticky Back Swirls to add to the elegance of the frame.  The colors match from their wedding colors.

Here are some up close pictures of the frame.

Sometimes adding a few pearls and flowers just add that perfect touch to make an amazing gift!!

Supplies Used
Frame - Deflecto
Washi tape - Eyelet Outlet
Pearl swirls - Eyelet Outlet
Flowers - Prima
Ink - Prima
Glue - Beacon

Enjoy!