Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma...

CHAMELEON!!! I (Lauren) am leading off with the sentiment from my second card, just in case it doesn't kick in right away. Today's post is a blizzard of lizards, thanks to the adorable new Eyelet Outlet Reptile Brads!

When I heard we'd be getting a brad set that featured chameleons and geckos, the very first phrase I thought of was, "Leapin' Lizards"! I'm not sure why, exactly... I don't think I've ever uttered those words before; but it struck me as both funny and useful, so I wrote it down in my little book of ideas. I used alphabet stickers to create the words on this card, but I'll also put a little jpg word art below, in case anyone would like to right-click and save it. Three blended circles of Oxide ink and some leafy diecuts finish off my design.

I can't take credit for the Culture Club inspired sentiment, it's yet another case of my seeing a silly t-shirt and stealing the phrase right off it! I used the five largest commas I could find in my collection of chipboard alphabets and one handsome chameleon. The original shirt design didn't have additional info beneath the word art, but I discovered in a casual poll of friends that by saying, "sing it" they got the joke faster; so I thought I'd put those instructions right on the card. I made a mat of Circle Washi Tape, because it had all the right colors and added a fun sense of movement.

Here's the word art, you can right-click and save, then print it at any size you'd like. This will also be on the Freebies page! 

Be sure to visit the Eyelet Outlet Blog often, as the design team are having a lot of fun with all the new brads: in addition to the Reptiles we've got a fun new Kennel Mix, Colored Daisy Brads, Tropical Birds and Felines; there's definitely something for everybody!

Lauren Bergold

can never resist a 

diabolical pun! 

Inspired by Real Life

Once again my card inspiration is taken from a clever t-shirt, that I (Lauren) saw, with this sentiment on it. Of course my first thought was, "HEY! I have Eyelet Outlet Llama Brads, plus Llama Tape and even some Caution Tape!" so I figured I could probably whip something up. Like this, maybe?

I formatted the text in a fun free font called Chicken Pie Height and added a double pointed clip art arrow. I printed it on an Inkjet Clear Label and affixed it to some soft green graph paper, then set my handsome Llama Brad just above the arrow. (BTW, I've saved this little bit of word art as a jpg in case you'd like to make your own "llama'stay" card. You can right click and save the image below; it will also be on our Freebies Page!)

I made a split background by neatly lining up Llama Tape on the top half of my card panel and Purple Checked Tape on the bottom. I added a trimmed down strip of Caution Tape on the diagonal for maximum impact. Then attached the sentiment panel on top. And that's about it!

Just a reminder that whatever funny custom sentiment you can dream up, I'm pretty sure that Eyelet Outlet has a brad style to help you make it into a beautiful, personalized card! ♥

Lauren Bergold

can never, EVER, 

resist a diabolical pun!

Seriously. Very Seriously.

This is not the first time I (Lauren) have made cards based on a t-shirt slogan, and it probably won't be the last. It is, at the moment, my favorite, though. Because the combination of a funny sentiment and Eyelet Outlet Coffee Brads is kinda hard to beat.

Before I go too far, I should mention that the Spring/Summer 2020 Coffee Lovers Hop is taking place right now and you have until Friday night to join the fun. There are literally HUNDREDS of inspiring cards linked up already, and dozens of very cool prizes for lucky random coffee cardmakers to win. A slight change is that the seasonal thematic requirement has been suspended; so this time you don't need to make a summery card, just a coffee (or tea, or cocoa, or boba or matcha) card! If you visit the Coffee Lovers on FaceBook, be sure to say hi to my amazing friend Amy Tsuruta, who not only does a huge amount of the admin on these occasions, she (and quite a few of the other organizers) also comments on every single card. No kidding. EVERY card!!! She is my idol! ♥

On to my cards. Technically, I've really only designed ONE card, but I've made two versions. This is one of my strategies for avoiding decision paralysis, and I highly recommend it. Instead of trying to decide whether to choose one washi tape background over another, or how to arrange the Coffee Brads, I just work on both options, simultaneously. I realize it seems like that would take longer, but generally, it speeds up my process! For the first card, I neatly lined up strips of this fun new Cat Face Tape on plain white cardstock, printed my sentiment on a subtly patterned paper, and added one white cup from the Coffee Brads set in a little circle icon, plus three beans from the same set underneath.

For the second card, I used Eye Washi for the background (a tape which embodies the phrase, "death before decaf" imo!!!) and alternated white cups and beans from Coffee Brads up top, with a pattern of green Enamel Dots below.

Just in case anyone else is as silly as I am, I made the sentiment into a jpg that you can download here, or find on the Freebies Page of the Eyelet Outlet Blog.

For some reason I'm longing for another cup of coffee, so I bid you farewell for now! ♥

Lauren Bergold

never drinks decaf!

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...)

Just Hanging Out!

...with the brand new Eyelet Outlet Sloth Brads. Ok, technically, this item is called Sloth and Koala Brads, and the packs come with six of each; but in today's post I (Lauren) am only featuring the sloths. But don't be insulted, koalas, you'll get your turn, I promise!

My very first thought when I saw the adorable sloths was the "Sloth Mail" sentiment! (No, I don't really think like other people, lol!) It was one of those times when had the whole picture of the card inside my head, from the Sloth holding an envelope from the Mail Brad set, down to what font I'd use for the sentiment (Bohemian Typewriter!) and the fact that I'd line up strips of Mail Washi on the diagonal to make my own patterned paper. Of course, I hadn't realized that this particular tape is out of stock at the moment, and I'm hoping it will come back in soon; but meanwhile, the idea would work perfectly well with any of our other Mail Tapes or Postage Tapes or with postal-themed patterned paper, or REAL postage, or... well, you get the idea, it's pretty flexible!

But not everybody wants to get as silly as I do, so I also made up a more "mainstream" sentiment, as well. This one uses a free font called Stamp Act. Both of these sentiments will be on the freebies page as jpg files you can right click and save or print if you'd like to use them to make your own cards!

This card is also designed around a specific tape, in this case it's the adorable Sloth Washi. Again, I made a background panel from the tape, but this time instead of insetting my sentiment, I've added it on top. I used a pencil to very lightly draw "vines" for the Sloth Brads to frolic on, and then I machine stitched to add some fun texture, but you could draw them, instead, or stamp some foliage!

I hope you'll be inspired to create your own sentiments to go with our Eyelet Outlet Brads, and if you do, please share them on the EO FaceBook page because we'd love to see them!

Lauren Bergold

...consistently 

cracks herself up!!!

I (Heart) Silly Cards!

I (Lauren) often see funny little sentiments on t-shirts, bumper stickers, or as memes on social media. Being a cardmaker, my first thought is often, "Hey! That would make a fun card!" Being an Eyelet Outlet design team member, my second thought is usually, "Hey! We have the perfect brad for that!"

In this case, the perfect brads are the super-fun Yoga Cats from a couple of years ago, which coincidentally happen to be on sale! I formatted the text in a free font called Ziggy Standard, printed it on a clear inkjet label, then added the cats, part of a Bling Strip and a bunch of mats. Et Voila! 

I will put a jpg of this sentiment on the Eyelet Outlet Freebies Page, just in case anybody else is feeling silly today too!

Lauren Bergold

is silly pretty much

every single day!

From Meme to Card

Last week I (Lauren) saw a very funny meme on the Coffee Loving Paper Crafters' Facebook page, and I immediately wanted to make it into a card featuring my Eyelet Outlet Coffee Brads. So I did, see?

It's quite a simple card, mostly built around the computer generated word art I made, which you can download below, or visit our Eyelet Outlet Freebies Page. I used free fonts called Bohemian Typewriter and Stamp Act. I added a nice rich brown to the word "coffee" as well as a very thin black outline and a small grey drop shadow, to make it stand out more. I lined up all of the text on the righthand side, so that I'd have room for a Coffee Cup Brad and some Coffee Beans. 

I love that the Coffee Brad sets have white cups, red cups and coffee beans, all mixed in together. They pair really nicely with the new Holiday Coffee Cup Brads, as well!

What funny memes or sayings have you seen online? Why not think about making one into a card? I bet there's an Eyelet Outlet brad style to will make it even cooler! ♥

Lauren Bergold

has been known to enjoy

a caffeinated beverage or two...

True Story!

Continuing my theme of "where the ideas come from" this week I (Lauren) took inspiration from the awesome t-shirt my BFF was wearing the last time we got together. For one thing: this really is how I feel most of the time!!! For another, I knew I could make a super-fun card that used our Eyelet Outlet Computer and Headphone Brads. See?

The first thing I realized was that this sentiment was a bit long to stamp or use stickers. So I made a little piece of word art on the computer. It's much simpler than it sounds, you just type in your text and then have fun choosing a different font for each line. I've saved my version as a .jpg and you are welcome to use it; it'll be on the Freebies page. 

Once I had my sentiment panel, I only needed to set the Computer and Headphone Brads, one at the top left corner, and the other at the bottom right. Then I matted the whole thing on a piece of fun patterned paper I made by neatly lining up strips of Math Washi Tape on a scrap of plain white cardstock. Et voila!

I hope you'll be inspired to create your own fun word art. And I bet there is a combination of Eyelet Outlet Brads and Washi Tape that will make it into a brilliant, unique card! ♥

Lauren Bergold

has a very large 

collection of fonts!

I Rule

Well, not me, Kim from Katydid Cards personally; but that's what I named this card featuring the Rooster, a new addition to the Eyelet Outlet store and the Chicken which I've used several times before here, here and here.  This anniversary card is a cute way to pair these two:

I've seen the flip card many times, but I wanted a double flip and couldn't find a cut file anywhere.  So I designed my own.  I didn't get the calculations quite right as my intention was to have the folds meet in the middle.  But I really like how it turned out and decided to say it's my great new design; just like I intended it that way.  My secret is safe with you, right?  If you like it, you'll find the template on the Freebies page.

I just love the colors in the rooster and that where I started when deciding on the color palette of my card.  Next came the digital patterned paper from the Hello Sunshine Kit by Dani Mogstad.  After I print and cut the mats, I was able to pick cardstock to match perfectly; Baja Breeze and Summer Sun (both retired Stampin' Up).  The cute digital images I used behind the brads and inside are from a collection called Rise & Shine.

Since I had that center panel exposed, I had to get creative with the sentiment inside.  Using the same circles as the front worked well.  Here's a look down on the card so you can see how the starbursts are cut.  You could place the starbursts on the front of the card if cutting is a problem

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you liked my card!  I'm thinking there are a few more cards I could make with this pair, so stay tuned to see what I might come up with!

Kim from Katydid Cards

Who provided the inspiration for these cards?  Katy did!

Release Your Inner Kitten

Hi folks.  It's Kim from Katydid Cards; happy to be with you today.

The Knitting Brads at Eyelet Outlet are adorable and I really like the colors of the yarn.

I was eager to use them, so I made a card based on my last experience with yarn...and my cat!  It was when I decided I wanted to learn how to knit, so I was working on my project with the yarn on the floor in a basket.  Suddenly, there was a tug and off went my yarn in the cat's mouth.

It's a spinner card, which was pretty easy to make in my Silhouette.  But you could do this with circle dies as well.  I have a template for you on the Freebies page if you'd like it.  Here's a video (as best as I could provide with one hand on the camera and the other on the card) of the blissful kitty as he rolls around with his yarn.

I picked my cardstock to match the yarn.  The patterned paper is digital from a kit called New Found Happiness.  I recolored the dots, though.  Believe it or not, I scanned the balls of yarn so I had an exact color match.

The kitty was made from a cut file I purchased in the Silhouette store, but I doctored him so he could hold a ball of yarn in his paws.  The remaining yarn and a pair of knitting needles sit nearby in a basket made using the Basket Builder Framelits.  There are two layers to the basket...the open weave top layer in Crumb Cake and the solid back layer in Early Espresso.

And here's a close-up on the kitty.  I added some embroidery floss to make it look like the yarn is trailing.

The sentiment inside plays off the greeting and another ball of yarn and knitting needles finish it off perfectly.
 

I enjoyed sharing my card and my story about my little cat, Pumpkin, with you.  She passed away some years ago now but the great memories she gave me still make me smile.

Kim from Katydid Cards

Who provided the inspiration for these cards?  Katy did!

Bling on the Hearts

Hello, everyone!  It's Kim from Katydid Cards with a wish for the happiest of holidays to each and every one of you!

It seems odd, I know, to be posting with Valentine's Day cards before Christmas!  But, as card makers, we need to be ahead of the curve if we want to get all the supplies to make those cards and get them out in time, right?

Speaking of supplies, have you seen the new Heart Jewel Bling at Eyelet Outlet yet?  It's so pretty!  And there are so many other products in the store with hearts from which to choose.  Here's the whole list! 

Today I'm using the Heart Jewel Bling I mentioned above on two cards.  My first card features the hearts as balloons held by a little bear.  Additionally, I used Red Jewel Bling across the top.  See the little "pull" tab at the top of his head?

When you pull on it, he looks like he's soaring.  He slides up a secret invisible track, a secret which I'm going to share with you!  Look for Slider Mechanism on the Freebies page.

Here's a closer look at the balloons and you can just make out the slits cut in the patterned paper from the I {Heart} You kit by TheDigiChick.  The bear is from Paper Crafting World.  I changed it to mirror the shape of the hearts.

And here's the sentiment which plays off the high-flying bear.  I used the Heart Pearls-Sticky Back as an accent.

My next card suspends the hearts on clear thread.  The threads are secured between the mats and the card front.   The sentiment plays off the hearts suspended on the thread.

Since you can see the hearts from both sides of the aperture, I placed another heart directly over the back.  This keeps them nice and snug on the thread while looking great from both sides as they dance on the thread. 

Inside, a continuation of the thought.  I made use of the negative space after cutting the aperture my sentiment and mat.

 That's all for today.  I'm off to finish wrapping my presents.

Kim from Katydid Cards

Who provided the inspiration for these cards?  Katy did!