Janet's Top 5 Cards of 2023

 It's been quite a year at the Eyelet Outlet blog. We've had some great projects over the year. As is always fitting, the team is taking a look back and showing us their five favorite cards and projects of 2023. I've picked mine but it's always hard to look through over 50 projects and choose your favorites. If you would like to be reminded of how to make these or if you wonder what products were EO's, just clink on the post links and it'll take you to the original posts. So - without further delay, here are my top five choices!

Whisking You a Happy Birthday! I love interactive and dimensional cards. This one has so many fun EO kitchen brads and I loved the colors on this one too. You can find the details HERE.

You're Palmtastic! The tropics are always a great theme and EO has so many possibilities for tropical and beachy cards. My favorite thing about this card is the Toucan taking a breather on the palm tree branches! The link to this post can be found HERE.

A Pineapple A Day Keeps Your Worry Away! This is one of my favorites because it's so cheery and bright and you can't hardly not smile when you see that pineapple with his green shades! The link to this post is HERE.

Holiday Gnome Baker! I love me some cookies and gnomes and this card puts them together. A perfect combo! He's so cute with this wooden spoon and gingerbread girl cookie brads. You can find this post HERE.

Go Vegan for Thanksgiving! This one makes me laugh and I love all the fall leaves, sunflowers, pumpkins, squirrel and acorn brads used on this one together. The post can be found HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to be back each day this week as our Design Team shows off their favorite five cards of the year. We'll be back again with new project next starting January 7th. Happy 2024 everyone!

Please visit the store for all your brads, washi tape, bling and paper flowers!

Happy Creating!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

 Have you started your Christmas shopping? These cute little shoppers have it all "wrapped" up!

I love Christmas shopping! And it looks like these cute shoppers are ready to go! In creating my slimline card, I started with my background using the "Glitter Tall Tree Washi Tape", "Glitter Black Washi Tape, and black cardstock. I then stamped my VW bug and van on cardstock and colored in with markers! After fussy cutting them out, I embellished by adding the "Caroler Brads" as my drivers and the "Gift Box Brads" to the top of the VW van! Lastly, I added my sentiment in white. 

Can't you just see these happy little gift givers spreading cheer! I love creating holiday cards! I hope you enjoyed this one! Be sure to visit Eyelet Outlet for your holiday card crafting needs!

SHOPPING LIST:

Caroler Brads

Glitter Black Washi Tape

Glitter Tall Tree Washi Tape

Gift Box Brads

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to shop at the Eyelet Outlet for all your crafting needs!

Happy Crafting!

Michelle ~ The Craft Market SC Facebook Instagram 

That's Good Advice, Actually

One of my (Lauren's) favorite dog sayings is "Wag More, Bark Less" so when I saw our adorable new Eyelet Outlet Kennel Mix Brads, I knew exactly how I would use them!

I love lettering and fonts, so I tend to make quite a few cards that are basically glorified word art, lol; but they make people smile and are fun to create. I also have a hard time passing up a cute set of alphabet stickers, so that's what I've used here; but of course stamps or a computer generated sentiment would work equally well. When adding stamps or stickers one at a time, I highly recommend using a background with strong horizontal lines, like this text paper; it helps A LOT with positioning! In addition to a bowl, a dog house and three bones from the Kennel Mix, I've added four Paw Brads, a Long Dog (they're on clearance!) and a Heart Brad to fill in the space around the words.

As well as the Kennel Mix and Long Dogs, we have two styles of Paw Brads and one style of Paw Tape, Dog Silhouette Brads, cute Dog Faces and lots of fun Dog Washi Tape, too! Check them out in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

Lauren Bergold

is sadly allergic to most furry things. 

Ahoy Matey! by Janet

 

Hello my fine feathered friends! Have you checked out the new brad sets in the store lately? I used the Tropical Bird set on this square card to embellish a 3D pirate sticker I picked up at the Dollar Tree. 

I combined other nautical themed brads to take this card to the next level. In addition to brads, I used the wide Sea Washi tape in the background and Copper washi tape as a border.

Shopping List:

Tropical Bird Set

Tall Palm Tree Set

Sea Shore Set

Anchor Set

Ship Wheel Set

Foil Washi Tape - Copper

Water Washi Tape

Happy Creating Everyone!

 Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

Signs of Spring Are Here!

 

Hello everyone! I hope the weather where you are is finally showing evidence of spring's arrival. Here in Charlotte, NC spring is definitely in bloom and the warm sun is a welcome change. Today's card celebrates the traditional signs of spring. 

I had a lot of fun using many brad sets that illustrate the poem. I also embellished with a strip of pink bling and a few stickers. This was super quick and fun to put together. In fact, the poem is absolutely ancient. It was a piece I've had in my stash for at least 10 years! The stickers are also old ones from Creative Memories. It's so fun when your old stuff can be made new with brads and bling from Eyelet Outlet!

The EO products used are shown below. For a complete list of supplies, visit my blog.

EO Shopping List:

Sun & Cloud Brads

Mini Bee Brads

Unicorn Brads

Stitched Flowers-Bright

Garden Tool Brads

Pig & Sheep Brads

Baby Animals Brads

Teardrop Bling

Jewel Strip Bling-Pink

Happy Creating Everyone!

 Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest

"Plant a Garden...

...Feed a Bunny!" is yet another sentiment that I  (Lauren) saw on a t-shirt, and immediately had an entire card idea, featuring my Eyelet Outlet Rabbits and some other garden-related brads. Since it was just before Valentine's Day, and I had heart-y cards that made more sense, I sketched it on a piece of scrap paper and set it aside. I'll show you that sketch in a minute, but first, let's see the card:

Generally, when I sketch an idea, it's just visual notes of things I want to remember; often the card I wind up making doesn't look much like the original sketch, but this time it really did!

My diecut circles are cut from a piece of watercolor paper on which I had painted green grass and blue sky and then... for some reason... abandoned. I adhered a piece of picket fence diecut to the largest (2") circle and added the Rabbit Brads and a Heart. The upper of my two 1.5" circles holds a Sun and Cloud Brad as well as a rainbow from the Unicorn and Rainbow set; the lower has a Gnome Brad (they're on sale!); a trowel from the Garden Tools set and a Mini Butterfly, which I hadn't realized was discontinued, but you could swap a full-sized Butterfly, or a Mini Bee. The two 1" circles feature a Sunflower and Mini Ladybug; and the carrot and broccoli from the Vegetable Brad Set (which is also on sale) respectively.

With a change of sentiment, this design could easily translate into an Easter card, a fun birthday greeting for a gardener, or maybe even an anniversary card? That's the great thing about creativity, when you plant an idea, you never know what you might harvest later!

Lauren Bergold

loves watching the 

bunnies in her backyard.

Roll With it

I (Lauren) suspect that one of the things we'll always remember about the year 2020 is the Great Toilet Paper Crisis! Luckily we now have Eyelet Outlet TP and Tissue Brads to commemorate this event and to perpetrate some fairly diabolical puns, like these:

My first pun idea involved the TP, so I used the labelmaker to say, "just roll with it" and affixed the text and the brad to a faux polaroid cut from some older patterned paper. For some reason the idea of fluffy white clouds popped into my head, so my background and diecuts are clouds.

I suspect I will use the Tissue Brads most in the context of get well cards, but for this first time out, I wanted something that sort of went with the encouragement theme of the first card; so I went with, "it will blow over".

Stay tuned to the Eyelet Outlet Blog for the next few weeks, I know all of the designers will have their own unique ideas on how to use these fun brads!

Lauren Bergold

can never resist a pun!

Peaceful Winter

A simple, snowy card featuring baubles filled with wintery Eyelet Outlet wildlife brads: Penguins, Moose and Polar Bears, oh my!

I diecut three ornament shapes, each composed of navy paper flecked with snow for the sky; and white glitter paper for the ground. Then I added two Penguin Brads and a small Snowflake; a stately Moose Brad in front of a Pine Tree; and a mother and baby Polar Bear. I mounted the ornaments on foam tape for extra dimension and positioned them under some sparkly pine branches, then added clear Bling Strips as hangers. I think they're SNOW fun and festive!

Lauren Bergold

much prefers snow on cards 

to snow in real life!

Oh, What a Stylish Web We Weave

Because ordinary spiders make everyday webs, but Eyelet Outlet Spider Brads (and Mini Spider Brads!) demand something a little fancier... like a beautiful mandala web on a gorgeous pink card:

I (Lauren) stamped an older Mandala from MFT onto plain white bristol board, and embossed with white powder, letting the design go off the top corner of the panel, to make it slightly more spider-web-like. Then, colored in the panel with a blend pink oxide inks. I let my Spider Brad and Mini Spiders move in and make themselves comfy; and added panels of Glitter Black Tape, Pink Foil and Coloring Book Tape... (which is actually leaves and flowers, but looks rather web-like if you trim it down to mat size!) ...and affixed the whole thing to my A7 card. 

I hope you'll be inspired to get out your Eyelet Outlet goodies and see what kinds of Halloween fun you can cook up!

 

Lauren Bergold

loves the color pink!

Cacti for Everyone!

Last week I (Lauren) treated myself to a fun Lawn Fawn Mini Stamp Set with a cactus in it, entirely because I knew I had not one, but two, beautiful styles of Cactus Tape from Eyelet Outlet!

My first card features this slightly kawaii version of Cactus Tape with sweet little cacti in their pots. I chose all of my colors specifically to coordinate with the tape, including the addition of Fall Stitched Flowers and Minis (the latter are on sale!) in that pretty mustard yellow. I neatly lined up three strips of the tape on plain white cardstock, then flanked them with two strips of Star Gold Washi. To give a slightly more dynamic feel to the accent panel, I trimmed it at the top and bottom so that it appears my Star Tape is a slightly narrower width.

I made a similar panel for my second card, using Cactus and Flamingo Washi and Green and Gold Foil Tape. This time I rounded the corners on one side, as well, and added the accent panel towards the left, rather than centering it on my A2 card. I added a Flamingo Brad, some pink Heart Pearl accents and a sentiment trimmed from XO Gold Foil Tape.

There are so many cool and interesting ways to incorporate Washi Tape in your cards, and luckily Eyelet Outlet has *hundreds* of fabulous styles to choose from!

Lauren Bergold

loooooooves washi tape!

From Italy, Con Amore!

Ok, technically, I (Lauren) am in New Jersey and unlikely to leave the country any time soon. But I can still *imagine* a fabulous trip to Italy by using my Eyelet Outlet Colosseum and Pisa Brads to make some fun Italian-themed cards. Oh and to make it even better, these brads are on special for just .89 cents!

For my first card I've combined an illustration from an old book with this cool Ticket Washi, and added the Leaning Tower and Colosseum to the "I" and "O" in my sentiment, which is composed of vinyl alphabet stickers in a nice chunky font. I've matted the whole panel with beautiful antique-looking Map Tape.

My second card is a bit sillier, so I needed to make a custom sentiment on the computer. The Leaning Tower is saying, "I'll Never ROME" to the Colosseum, who replies, "You've got a PISA my heart"! In addition to the Italian Brads I've got a Compass and a background paper made by neatly lining up strips of funky yellow Text Tape on plain white cardstock.

Wherever your real or imaginary travels take you this summer, I'm pretty sure there's an Eyelet Outlet Brad and Washi Tape combination to help you celebrate!

Lauren Bergold

has never been to Italy

but is a big fan of GELATO! :)

Have a Magical Day

It's been a while since I (Lauren) have made a card with the lovely Eyelet Outlet Fairy Brads, and I've been missing them! So here's a "magical" slimline card:

I used a favorite alphabet stencil to add the word "MAGICAL" in exactly the right shades of Distress Oxide Ink to coordinate with all four Fairy Brads that come in each packet!

I used white foam alphas to finish the sentiment and added the Fairy Brads, a few Mini Stitched Flowers and some Blue Sequins for a bit of sparkle. I machine-stitched the panel onto my slimline card base that I made from a super-thick transparency, so it magically seems to float.

I hope you are having a Magical... and creative... day! ♥

Lauren Bergold

wishes the fairies could also 

magically send the cards and 

maybe do a little laundry?

Flock Stars!

Everyone knows that I (Lauren) cannot resist a diabolical pun, so when my friend and Eyelet Outlet Design Team Alumnus Stephanie Severin showed me a fun bird illustration with the phrase "Party Like a Flock Star" of course my first thought was, that it make a great card... especially  if Eyelet Outlet Flamingo Brads were the flock in question!

I had two different ideas for making this concept visual, so rather than spend time deciding between them, I just made both! For my first card, I used an ink-blended panel in bright sea and sky colors, and added a few torn strips of Glitter Gold Tape to be sand and a few torn strips of Cloud Tape up in the sky. I added a Sun and Cloud Brad, plus a Rainbow to the top right and my *flock* of Flamingo Brads at the lower left, with my sticker sentiment occupying the space between.

My second idea was much more minimal, so I even pared down the sentiment, making it into a thank you card instead of a birthday greeting. I blended a very small area of the same ink colors and used one of my nested star dies to draw a star just a bit bigger than a Flamingo Brad. Then I paired the smaller alphabet stickers with my trusty old school Dymo Labelmaker, and finally added a few Star Brads from the Red, White and Blue set.

I hope you'll fly on over to the Eyelet Outlet Store and treat yourself to some fun embellishments and then use them to make cards for your "flock" of friends! ♥

Lauren Bergold

loves flamingos and all other

hot pink birds! :)

Highly Koala-fied!

If you're looking for KOALA-tee embellishments, you'll definitely want to check out the adorable new Eyelet Outlet Koala (and Sloth) Brads! Here are a couple of cards that I (Lauren) made, complete with especially diabolical puns!

But first, the Diabolical Puns, which I made myself, using a variety of free fonts. I've made them into jpgs, so that anyone as silly as I am can right-click, save and print them out. They'll also be on the Freebies Page. 

For my first card, I swapped out part of the sentiment for alphabet stickers and a white Heart Brad, that I placed below the diecut window holding a foliage forest in which my Koala Brad is climbing. 

For my second card, I wanted to convey the idea of the two Koalas being apart, so I used nested dies to cut a bunch of different sized stars from an abstract leafy paper, then scattered them across the front of the card. I placed each little dude inside his own star, climbing up a few wavily handcut stalks of bamboo.

Like everyone else who's been sidelined for over a month, I miss spending KOALA-tee time in the outside world! But if I have to be stuck at home, it's awesome to have lots of cute and inspiring Eyelet Outlet Brads to play with!

Lauren Bergold

changes from pj's to real clothes 

every single day!

(...as far as you know...)