Junk Journal Junkie

Have you ever heard of a Junk Journal?

 No, it is not a journal where you list all your junk. A junk journal is a handmade notebook/journal where you take leftover paper, magazine clippings, embellishments, miscellaneous kinds of washi tape…pretty much anything you have around your house, and you layer them all together on a single page in your journal.  Junk journals are the best because there doesn’t need to be a theme and there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Did you know that Eyelet Outlet has a wonderful selection of washi tape you can use to create your junk journal?

On this page, I used seven…yes, seven, different types of washi tape to create this brightly colored page. I’m about to show you a whole other fun way to use washi tape so sit back and get ready to get your junk journaling on!

I started by tearing pieces of old cardstock to make the bottom layer. Then, I added about 8” of the wide Flower Washi Tape on the far-right side of the page running vertically. I loved the way those flowers looked so I ended up fussy cutting (cutting something intricate by hand) two more and placed them on the page as single flowers.

Large pink and red flowers are fussy cut from the Floral Washi Tape.

All eight of the 3-D butterflies are Butterfly Washi Tape that I fussy cut, as well and used a pop dot to add dimension.  I used the exact same technique for the brightly colored flowers by using the Flower Petal Washi Tape.

Placed randomly throughout the page, is the beautiful Red Flower Washi Tape as well as Silver Foil Washi Tape to add a bit of reflection.

You will see that I added many different words and phrases to the page but the words that take center stage are the Moon and Back Washi Tape running vertically on the right side.

The two beautiful girls that are decked out in their winter wear are from the Winter Girl Washi Tape. Each girl was fussy cut, and a pop dot was added to give the girl in the pink extra dimension.

To finish this page off, I added a few different sized black Pearl Bling to keep your eyes moving.

If you have never tried to create a junk journal page like this, I highly suggest it.  You can just lose yourself in your creation and before you know it, you have just created something amazing.

Shopping List

Wide Flower Washi Tape
Butterfly Washi Tape
Flower Petal Washi Tape
Moon and Back Washi Tape
Winter Girl Washi Tape
Black Pearl Bling

Have a wonderful week and always be STRATE UP CRAFTY!

💗Stacy

My Remodeled Home

Last Saturday's card here on the blog was a "house" that I made. The wreath on the door was made with Eyelet Outlet products - Washi Tape and Brads. When the owner of Eyelet Outlet saw my card, her comment was: I'm thinking the house could have been made with our brick Washi Tape.

Well. of. course. it. could. DUH! Why didn't I think of that???

From that brief conversation, I decided to take my original thought for a card and make it even better. I think I was successful, but you can be the judge of that after you see today's card. 

To see last week's card - the original - go HERE. You'll also see the tutorial on how I made the wreath on the door on that blog post.

Here's my remodeled home:

Suzanne was right! The brick wall looks fabulous!

I switched the door to a wooden door (Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape) instead of the panel door (card stock) on the original card. And for a more balanced look, I placed a flower pot and mailbox beside the door, along with one rabbit. 

Now, here's a test:

How many different Eyelet Outlet products did I use on this card?

More specifically, how many different Washi Tapes?

How many different types of Brads?

Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape - 6 of them:

Brick

Hardwood Floor

Red (I doubled it and cut it to make the flower pot)

Skinny (I colored a strip of the yellow one with a brown Copic for the mailbox post)

Twig (to wrap the wreath)

Wide Flower

Eyelet Outlet Brads - 6 of them:

Mail

Mini Bee

Mini Ladybug

Rabbit

Round

Round Black with Silver 

I hope you like the remodeling job. I welcome any comments for additional suggestions to make my house even better - as long as your ideas include Eyelet Outlet products. For a full selection of products to choose from be sure to head to the Eyelet Outlet store.

Jeanette

A Wreath on the Door

Spring has sprung. It's time to put away the snowmen decorating our doors and porches and get out the spring wreaths and decorations. 

You, too can create this gorgeous wreath. It's not a stamp - it's WASHI TAPE!

First, I used two circle punches to create the form for my wreath.

Then I took some Hardwood Floor Washi Tape and ruggedly tore it down the middle lengthwise. I used each strip to wrap my wreath form.

The flowers are made from the Wide Flower Washi Tape. I first secured a strip of it onto white cardstock. I then used Copic Markers to color the flowers and leaves I wanted to use. After it had dried, I fussy cut around the colored pieces.

To make sure the flowers and wreath would stay securely on the door I created with cardstock, I used a single Round Brad in the center of each flower, going through all the layers.

I completed the card by adding two Rabbit Brads beside the door.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! Be sure to head over to the Eyelet Outlet store to check out all the products. 

Jeanette

Whole Lotta Love

Something I (Lauren) didn't realize until I was loading up my photos, is that I have not used any Eyelet Outlet Brads this week. *HOW* did that happen?! I have, however, used plenty of bling, tape, and enamels along with a super-useful mason jar stamp and die set, to make two fun Valentines.

I don't make nearly enough shaker cards. Which is weird because any time I do make them, I really love the results. In this case, I used the mason jar die to cut the shape from my top layer of paper and backed it with clear plastic that I saved from some packaging. I used several layers of foam tape to make an extra deep pocket, so that I could use Heart Jewel Bling as my shaker contents. To do so, I had to carefully peel the adhesive off each heart, so they'd be able to move around without getting stuck. An alternative is just to cover the adhesive backing liberally with powder or cornstarch, thus neutralizing it. (FYI: This works on stickers, too!) I "labeled" the jar with clear Heart Bling, made a mat with my favorite henna-inspired Wide Flower Washi Tape and called it good to go!

For my second card, I used Staz-On ink to stamp the mason jar onto a piece of plain cardstock which I'd made into a fun patterned paper by neatly lining up strips of Love Tape. I filled the jar with yellow and red Heart Enamels and mounted it on another tape-centric "paper" which is composed of Heart Washi and Skinny Red Dots Tape, placed at regular intervals on a piece of graph paper. 

I hope you'll be inspired to find fun new ways to combine your favorite stamp and die sets with beautiful Eyelet Outlet embellishments!

Lauren Bergold

thinks she might be the first designer 

to use a Led Zeppelin song 

as an EO Blog post title...

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Or in this case, maybe better than a penny... Artist Trading Coins! I (Lauren) have been seeing these 2.5" circles of artsy fun all over social media, and I've been dying to try out the format. It turns out, they're VERY fun --and a bit addictive-- to make. Plus, Eyelet Outlet brads are absolutely the perfect sized embellishment. I made a set of six coins for my first time out, but I already know I'll be making more!

I've mentioned before that I come from a punny family, so I always have lots of random word play in my head. Since this is quite a small format (ATCoins are generally 2.5" circles) just a line or two of text is the perfect fit. I formatted my puns in a free font called "Tahoe" but set off a few key words in a chunky, funky script called "Cry Kitty". I generally print my text on clear inkjet labels, which I trim down and adhere to scraps of patterned paper for a little more emphasis. I made the backgrounds using scraps of more neutral papers, in torn layers, with an accent of Wide Flower Tape in an understated henna shade.

For "All's WOOL That Ends WOOL" I was able to employ both a sheep from the Pig and Sheep set, plus a ball of yarn and needles from our Knitting Brads, while a pair of lovely Chicken Brads illustrate "Just WING It".

This one's a bit of a liberty, because I've actually used a Llama Brad on my "ALPACA" card... so shhhhhhhhhh... don't tell, ok? I couldn't resist adding a couple of Mini Ant Brads because it's a picnic!

I couldn't decide which style of Fox Brad (the packets contain both) to use for "Crazy Like a FOX" so I didn't choose... I added one of each!

Another tiny cheat: technically, these are Duck Brads, but I just couldn't resist the phrase "I've Got GOOSE Bumps"!

My original idea for "Don't Worry, Be HOPPY" was to use one of our adorable Frog Brads (the set has lillies and cattails in it, too!) but as it turned out, all of the other coins were more or less neutral colors, and the bright green frogs realllllllly stood out. So I swapped them out for a pair of handsome Rabbit Brads, instead. I probably shouldn't leave them alone for long though...

I hope you'll be inspired to try your hand at a few Artist Trading Coins, starring some of *your* favorite Eyelet Outlet critters! ♥

Lauren Bergold

loves a pun...

the more diabolical, the better!

Go Wild!

It's a jungle out there, but fortunately, there are Eyelet Outlet Jungle Mix Brads to help us cope. Hi folks, it's Lauren here again, with a couple of cards I hope will impress you with their animal magnetism.

For my first card, I paired the Elephant, Monkey and Giraffe from the Jungle Mix with a diecut sentiment made from woodgrain patterned paper and some of my favorite Animal Print Tape. Since there are four letters in "WILD" I also added a tropical Tall Palm Tree Brad to balance things out.

I love how the first card came out, but I really wanted the animals from the Jungle Mix to stand out even more, so for my second card I fashioned my sentiment from three shades of solid green to provide more contrast. I added another Tall Palm and mounted the whole thing on a woodgrain panel adorned with a strip of Wide Flower Tape in a beautiful henna brown. A few patterned paper leaves focus the eye on the area where the sentiment sections join up and make everything just a little more Jungle-ish, don't you think?

I hope that you'll be as WILD as I am about our Jungle Mix Brads! ♥

Lauren Bergold

can be found here every Wednesday

and on her own blog the rest of the week.

What's Better...

...than that first cup of coffee in the morning? Hi folks it’s Lauren here, and actually that’s a trick question, because there’s really NOTHING better than that, is there? But cards made with Eyelet Outlet Coffee Stamps and Coffee Brads come pretty close. See?

I love that our stamp sets were created especially to work with our brads, but they also have brilliant sentiments that stand alone AND some fun images as well. For this card I used the little coffee bean stamp to create my own custom patterned paper, then used a brown Tombow Dualbrush pen and a waterbrush to color them in a watercolory style. Then I used some clever dies from Stephanie Barnard to construct the coffee cup, whose carrier band is made from our gorgeous henna-inspired Wide Flower Washi. I embellished with a few Paper Flowers, added my favorite sentiment in the Coffee Stamps set, and called it good to go!

I hope you'll be inspired to think about making your own patterned paper with your favorite EO Clearstamps. But first... why not help yourself to just one more cup of coffee... :)

Lauren Bergold

has never really seen the point 
of decaf coffee during the day!

Thanks a Latte!

One of my (Lauren) all-time favorite Eyelet Outlet brad sets has to be the Coffee Brads, which come with white cups, red cups AND coffee beans. So of course I was pretty psyched when I saw the new Coffee Stamps which are quite literally made to go with the brads!

I love that all the EO Clear Stamp sets are a mix of images and really great sentiments, sized exactly right to be used with the brads. For my first card, I stamped the "Cool Beans" sentiment  over and over (...and over and over...) on a panel of plain white cardstock, using lots of gorgeous bright shades of archival ink. 

Then I added the (literal!) cool beans by making some of the Coffee Bean Brads the centers of three different sizes of Paper Flowers. My mat is fabulous Splatter Tape and there's a little strip of beautiful watercolory Wide Flower Tape to add extra interest!

My second card features Butterfly Washi, which I used to make my background squares that hold the sentiment, "Thanks a Latte" stamped on a heart shape. I added Flower Tape, some fussycut butterflies, and a pair of Coffee Cups nested on top of Plain White Flowers for a summery look!

Need more ideas? There's daily inspiration here on the blog, as well as  on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest... and we add new projects nearly every single day! 

Lauren Bergold

likes real life coffee beverages almost 

as much as their Eyelet Outlet counterparts!

A Bouquet That Lasts Forever

Hi folks, it's Lauren here again. Mother's Day here in the US is this Sunday, May 13th, but you still have plenty of time to make your mom a beautiful bouquet that will look equally nice next Mother's Day! All you need are some Eyelet Outlet paper flowers, brads, bling and washi tape, plus a strong, fast-drying adhesive, some wooden skewers ...or popsicle sticks if you're crafting with kiddos... and a small jar to hold your finished bouquet.

Start by making flower stacks: it's good to combine sizes, shapes, and colors. Luckily all of our EO flowers come in sets with small, medium and large flowers, and there are loads of styles! In this bouquet I used purple, white and green Solid Color Flowers, plus Butterfly and Red Dot Flowers. My stacks range from just two flowers glued back-to-back, to stacks with three layers on each side. (I wanted the bouquet to look nice from every direction, so I made all of my flower stems double-sided.)

For the flowers with Pearl Brad centers, all I had to do was assemble my stack, hold them together with a brad, and then glue one flower to the back, in order to cover the brad prongs. For the blooms with Enamel Dot, Heart Pearl and Flower Jewel centers, I used dry adhesive to layer the flowers. Once I had a nice mix of flowers, I added the stems --which are bamboo skewers from the grocery store. I used a small amount of hot glue to attach the pointy end of the skewer firmly between the flower layers, but if you're crafting with kids, a strong adhesive like Aileen's Fast Grab Tacky Glue or Beaon's 3-in-1 adhesive also works well.

Once all my flowers had stems, I added leaves. I made them by cutting large Green Paper Flowers in half, applying a tiny amount of hot glue to the "stem" and then folding the flower halves around the stem. Then I used my spring-loaded wire snips to trim some of the bamboo skewers to different lengths, so that my bouquet would have a more interesting shape. Strong craft scissors or a utility tool would also work.

Now I just needed a vase. I chose a small glass bottle, but really any small container would work, since you won't be needing to add water! I recommend a vessel with a narrow opening, though, because it makes the bouquet stay together more neatly. If you use something with a wider neck, you might like to use some washi tape or a ribbon to keep the flowers from shifting around. I dressed up my clear glass bottle with a strip of Wide Flower Washi and then used bits of white Pearl Bling Strips to make it even fancier.

If this isn't enough inspiration for your Mother's Day crafting, check out the 30+ new styles of Washi Tape just added in the Eyelet Outlet store! (The City Washi miiiiiiiiight be my favorite... what's yours?) ♥

Lauren Bergold

gave this bouquet to her mother-in-law at an 

early Mother's Day celebration this weekend, 

and it was a big hit!

Happy Easter

I'm so happy that the first day of spring is next week!  I love Christmas, but beyond that, I'm just not a "winter person!" I've got an Easter card for you today that really says spring!

The cute little bunny is from Cricut's "Easter Magic" cartridge.  I used a digital face stamp from Peechy Keen Stamps for his face which I drew with my Cricut Explore.  I sliced off the eggs from the original image so I could fill my bunny's basket with Eyelet Outlet Easter Egg Brads.  I also added more Easter Eggs for him to find in the grass.  

Notice the beautiful flowers near the fence?  That's a few strips of one of Eyelet Outlet's gorgeous Washi Tapes!  To add even more depth to my card, I laid down a strip of washi on my card stock before cutting out the fence with my Cricut so that the flowers were actually on the fence pickets, then I laid down another strip of washi on the base of the card beneath the fence.  This gave the illusion of the flowers growing behind the fence, but also coming through the pickets.  

I'm glad you stopped by today.  You'll find these and many more fabulous embellishments for your spring projects at Eyelet Outlet.com!

Easy Oh-So-Mailable Washi Tape Cards

I like starting with boxes of pre-made cards, so I can decorate them for quick cards.

Today I only used Washi Tape to turn these pre-made card bases into something special that is oh-so-mailable.

For the first card I started with a pink sprinkles card base and added two rows of Flamingo Washi Tape with row of Skinny Washi Tape in the middle.  I used clear stickers from my stash for my sentiment.

The next one is a striped card base covered with Wide Flower Washi ... a bouquet the recipient can display on their desk that will never wilt.

A quick Christmas Card for the local nursing home with Stocking Washi Tape bordered by skinny Vine Washi on a green ombre card base.

And my final card features adorable VW Washi Tape for a sweet birthday card on a blue ombre card base.

Eyelet Outlet Products Used:

• Skinny Washi Tape
• Flamingo Washi Tape
• Flower Washi Tape - Wide
• Stocking Washi Tape
• VW Washi Tape

Did you know we have a Flickr Gallery 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