Hello crafty frieds! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend some time with at least some of the people that you care the most about. 

We're experiencing some cold weather in the Charlotte area and it got me to thinking of warmer days and trips to tropical places we've visited in our past. I love that no matter the theme, Eyelet Outlet has the topic covered. Today is a perfect example. I decuded  to do a jungle themed card because I have a great stamp set from Hero Arts in that theme that I could leverage. And of course Eyelet Outlet had the perfect brads and washi tape for what I had in mind.

I started by applying Giraffe Washi Tape on a kraft 4" x 5 1/4" panel in strips until it was covered. To get smooth edges, I folded over the raw tape edges to the back of the panel. Then I wanted to create circles to hold the elephant, giraffe and ape brads from the Jungle Mix Brad Set. I covered a small piece of white cardstock with Safari Foil Washi tape and cut 3/4" circles out of it. Then I set one of the animal brads in each circle. 

The next steps were to cut the sentiment pieces out of green cardstock and vellum and heat emboss them with Hero Arts detail black and white embossing powders. I cut a long rectangle out of a piece of jungle leaf cardstock I had on hand and a 1" strip out of green metallic papers using my deckle edge cutting blade. I stacked these together on the right side of the card. On top of that, I attached the rest of the pieces. I thought the lower left corner looked a little bare so I stamped and cut out a couple tropical plants from the same jungle stamp set that I got the sentiments from. Any jungle-looking die cut or stamp would work for this.

I hope you enjoyed a tropical themed card after all the Christmas projects. I know it felt pretty good to do something a little different for a change.

Have a great week and Happy New Year to you! 

- Janet

Happy New Year!

Hello craft friends. I'm sure you'll agree that we are all thankful that 2020 is soon on the way out. As a wise person said, 2020 stinks, stank, stunk! Time to move on to what is sure to be a much better year.

To make this card, I started by covering a panel with the very pretty Glitter Star Tape and then I cut out the ray pattern using a die from Hero Arts. I also cut out a branch from a die in my collection and a red sentiment label from cardstock. Assembly was really easy. I glued the glittered piece on to a silver foil card base. The center oval piece cuts out with the die so I was able to separately work with the center. I glued the branch down on the oval and placed the Cardinal Profile Brad on the branch and then glued the finished oval to the center of the card. I stamped and heat embossed a white new year greeting on the red label and put Red Mini Round Brads on each side before mounting it on the card with foam tape. The last touches were two white and one red sequin. There are so many things you can do with this basic ray pattern. 

Check out the Eyelet Outlet Store for all your brad, washi tape and bling supplies! Have a wonderful week!

Janet

Hello CutCardStock fans! Do you dream of a white Christmas? I live in the Carolinas so snow for Christmas is highly unlikely but I was born and raised in the upper Midwest and know what I'm missing - the good, bad and ugly of snow!

My project today highlights what I envision is the peace and happiness a soft white layer of snow can offer along with a welcoming door where friends, family or others we know and love will greet us. This year, more than ever, being among those we love the most is a real challenge. The door set in a snowy scene is my tribute to all those I love and the fact that I know they are just waiting behind a door that will soon fling wide open and envelope me in love and fellowship. I feel confident that most of us are anxiously waiting for that time to come.

Tropical Christmas Tree

Not all Chistmases have snow. This tropical Christmas card has me thinking of warm breezes and sand between my toes. Sounds heavenly right now.

This A2 sized card was created using cardstock from the Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow Christmas pad. The palm tree was cut on my Cricut with a free file from Printable Cuttable Creatables called Christmas Palm Tree. I cut all the pieces out and put two slits in the sand piece and inserted the bottles from the Beer Brad set. Then I covered the sand piece with embossing ink and heat embossed it with Sand powder from Hero Arts. Then I glued everything down on the back ground and inserted the Holiday Light brads. I also used a Holly brad near the coconuts. I printed the sentiment on photo paper, cut and matted it on matching cardstock.

I was inspired to do this card by the Corona beer commercial where it's a dark night and you hear a guy whistling Oh Christmas Tree. Then suddenly a single lighted palm tree brightens the picture. I love that commercial and the beer isn't too bad either! LOL! 

The inside sentiment continues the "warm" vibe. I colored this with Wink of Stella Fine Glitter Pens.

After doing many traditional Christmas cards, this one was a breath of fresh air. I hope it took you on a quick magical trip to the tropics too!

Have a greet week!

Janet

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Clean and Simple Paper Piecing and Inlay Techniques

Have you noticed that striped cardstock backgrounds are popping up everywhere in the card design world? It's such a simple technique and gives a fresh clean architectural look. This 5" x 7" card uses CutCardstock's Stardream Metallic Cardstocks to create a beautiful background and as inlay for chunky outline dies along with CCS Silver Glitter Cardstock and CCS Bright Silver Foil cardstocks.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my absolute favorite colors for Christmas is traditional red, green and white. Once in while, I have to switch it out and go to pastels for something just a little different and a bit more contemporary. This cardstyle with varying strips of color and chunky outline words & shapes are really well suited to a more modern palette.