Washi + Flowers + Bling!

Hi folks, it's Lauren here again. Everyone knows how much I love to wrap presents, especially for my nieces and nephews. So when my niece Lindsay Marie turned fifteen (15!!!) last week, I wanted to go big, which meant I needed ALL my favorite Eyelet Outlet embellishment categories: washi, flowers and bling!

I've mentioned before that I'm kind of... well... cheap, lol. So if I can buy plain giftbags inexpensively --or better yet-- if I can re-use a shopping bag, I'm a happy camper. In this case I started with a very pretty oversized bag from the New York Botanical Garden. It was exactly the right size and had that neat fern detail on the front and back. Unfortunately, it had the logo, too; in really large print. I tried putting ordinary washi over top, but the black typeface still showed through. Luckily, I had some glitter tape, which is very sparkly but not at all see-through. It also lets me avoid the wrath of Lindsay's father (my brother, Bill) who has declared glitter giftwrap and ribbon OFF LIMITS in his home, since he's only just now finally gotten all the carpets clean after last xmas' giftwrapping excesses.

I love to personalize presents. It is my belief that *everyone* secretly hopes the fanciest gift is for them, and that most of us totally get a kick from our name being on it! I recently found these beautiful, oversized, silver chipboard letters, and they looked good on top of the glitter tape, but my motto is: NEVER give up a chance to embellish!!! So I added a strip of Zigzag Purple tape and a fun Skinny Foil tape to each letter before adding them to the bag.

Lindsay's favorite color is purple (in case you hadn't guessed, lol!) so I finished off with some Purple Paper Flowers with purple Flower Jewels at their centers. I cut some older green flowers apart to serve as leaves, and finally added most of a package of clear Swirl Bling... cut apart and slightly re-arranged, in order to fit the space better. 

Don't forget to drop by again for designer inspiration, every day! ♥

Lauren Bergold

has rarely met a Sparkly Thing

she didn't love!

Gift Wrapping Is My Bag, Baby!

I (Lauren) may have mentioned that before. But I never get tired of making extra-fancy presents for my friends and family. Especially (...but not limited to...) the kiddos. It's amazing how quick and easy it is to make a plain boring giftbag from the big box store into something infinitely more colorful and fun... with Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape!

You've seen me make washi tape into patterned paper before, just by applying tape in neat strips on plain white cardstock. And that's what I did this time to make the star bag, but instead of choosing one pattern of tape, I made a washi rainbow! I used a homemade star template from my computer to trace the star and cut it out with scissors. Then I matted the whole thing onto a scrap of glossy black cardstock and cut it out again. For the heart bag I used a store-bought stencil for the shape, and this time I applied the tape in a sort of plaid pattern, alternating between placing the tapes horizontally and vertically, so it would be more interesting. I matted that one on a coordinating shade of purple. I machine-stitched around the edges of both shapes to add a little extra texture.

I affixed both shapes to their bags using a few pieces of foam tape. But first I wanted to add a little more color to the bags. The nice thing about washi tape is that it comes in lonnnnnnnnnnng rolls... so you never have to worry about how wide or tall your project is. I marked an even point on the right and left sides of the front and back of each bag. Then I applied my tapes carefully, one at a time, in long strips that went alllllllllllllllll the way around the bag! By starting inside the fold at the side of each bag (and working neatly) I was able to hide the place where each strip of tape overlaps at the end of its run. I love how it looks seamless, and I can tell you that when non-papercrafters see something like this, they have NO IDEA how you've done it! (So when you make your own version, if you want to tell them it was *MAGIC* your secret will be safe with me!) ;)

On the star bag, I used: Red Dot Tape, Blue Stars and a couple of Skinny Print Tapes for variety; the star itself has: Heart Washi, Orange Stars, Crayon Tape, Blue Stars, Purple Checked, Skinny Yellow Dots, Skinny Green Stripes and Confetti Tape.

On the heart I added a stack of Paper Flowers with an Enamel Dot center, and these tapes: Pink Checked, Purple Zigzag, Pink Dots, Skinny Pink Dots and Skinny Pink Checks plus Heart Tape; with Wide Star Washi and Skinny Glitter Tape on the bag. But really... both of these designs would work with literally ANY combination you'd like to use! You could work in a specific color group--either the recipient's favorite combination, or to commemorate a school or team. Or use the entire rainbow--either randomly or in the ROYGBIV spectrum. You could even combine tapes thematically, for an occasion like a birthday or holiday. The only limit to the variation is your own imagination!

Need even more great ideas for using Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape, Brads or Bling? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see all the latest makes from our amazing design team! ♥

Lauren Bergold's favorite color 

is RAINBOW!!!

♥♥♥

You're Too Cute to Spook

When I saw the fun Ghost Washi Tape, I knew I wanted to create some ghost embellishments to pair with it.

I freehand cut these spooky cuties out of sticky-backed felt and then added some Spooky Eye Brads, adorable Men's Hat Brads and black cardstock mouths.

I further embellished with Bat Brads and Purple Pearls ... love these cuties and that fun washi tape.

Here's another fun Halloween card featuring a Purple Zig Zag Washi Tape background.

I added some Light Purple Glitter Washi Tape vertically with some fun coordinating Witch Hat Brads.  The stamped sentiment is from The Project Bin's Haunt It Stamps.

Have you started making your Halloween Cards yet?

Products Used:

• Spooky Eye Brads
• Men's Hat Brads
• Ghost Washi Tape
• Bat Brads
• Pearl Bling - Multi Size - Purple
• Zig Zag Washi Tape - Purple
• Witch Hat Brads
• Light Purple Glitter Washi Tape

Did you know we have a Pinterest Board to showcase Eyelet Outlet Design Team Creations?

You can visit me in blogland at Ingenious Inkling,

and you can find Lauren & I making holiday cards

all year long at Jingle Belles

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun!

The Halloween Candy is out at the grocery store, so it's time to start making fun Halloween cards.

How fun are all those orange Washi Tapes ... I love them.

And I love how the Pumpkin Brads coordinate perfectly with the Pumpkin Washi Tape.

And of course, a few bats are the perfect finishing touch for a Halloween card design.  This one uses this week's CAS(E) this Sketch layout.

I just got these adorable new Witch Leg Brads ... and I love them.  They are so perfect with one of my all time favorite Halloween sentiments.

The orange zig zag washi tape was a bit too bright for my design, but since it is transleuscent, I attached it to orange cardstock, which created the perfect hues (one of my favorite Washi Tape tricks).  

And don't you love the cool background I made by lining-up the Purple Zig Zag Washi ... and how the tape perfectly coordinates with the Purple Enamel Dots.

The layout is this week's Hand Stamps Sentiments Sketch.

Seriously, how fun are those shoes ... I'm going to be making lots of cards with those fun little brads ... watch for them in the Eyelet Outlet store soon.

Products used:

• Orange Dots Washi Tape
• Halloween Washi Tape
• Zig Zag Washi Tape - Purple
• Zig Zag Washi Tape - Orange
• Enamel Dots Single Color Purple
• Bat Brads
• Pumpkin Brads
• Witchy-Poo Leg Brads ... coming soon.

Did you know we have a Pinterest Board to showcase Eyelet Outlet Design Team Creations?

You can visit me in blogland at Ingenious Inkling,

and you can find Lauren & I making holiday cards

all year long at Jingle Belles