Carol of the NEW

We're still celebrating and showing off our latest and greatest supplies with holiday style, and there's still plenty of time ('til Wednesday evening, January 28th, to be precise!) for you to join us!  Here's what we made this week:

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I saw this kitty trio image at the Graphics Fairy, and I knew it had to be a Christmas card.  I added my new Paper Smooches Hat Die Cut, new 'Tis the Season stamp by Julie Ebersole, and new Gina K. Designs Red Velvet Cardstock.  I used my Spetrum Noir markers to add a little color to their eyes."

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I love to combine older items with my brand new goodies, so I've got a real mix this time: the Crate Paper glitter snowflake, My Mind's Eye pearl brad, Basic Grey snowflake border sticker, SRM "Fancy Christmas Sentiment", and Best Creations silver glitter paper are all new; the rest of this card is stashy goodness, and the background panel is actually two scraps that are different patterns of the same soft shade of blue; the seam is just under the snowflake border! My favorite part is not a supply, but a new technique I'm loving right now: to sketch some swirls very lightly with a pencil before outlining in white thread with my sewing machine. I used the current sketch at Cardabilities (#115) for my layout."

Bring in the New!

New supplies that is, because we know that all of our fellow Belles were verrrrrrrrrry good last year and thus were showered with lovely goodies for Christmas or Hanukkah! Or possibly, like us, you've helped out Santa by doing a little shopping in the post-holiday sales? Failing that, you could dig down deep into your stash and find something you've had for a bit, but not yet used! Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I'm a huge fan of daily deal sites like Crafty Steals and Peachy Cheap... actually I'm a huge fan of ALL bargain papercrafting goods, full stop, lol! Before the holidays I took advantage of some extra-good savings and treated myself to a few Christmassy supplies including Basic Grey's "Aspen Frost" line (from which my green snowflake paper hails) and Crate Paper's "Sleigh Ride", the source of that lovely journal card sentiment. I took my layout inspiration from the current Retro Sketch (#148) and that was all the help I needed!"

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started with a new Tim Holtz Snowflake Die with Coordinating Embossing Folder ... then I added two more new snowflake die cuts from Simon Says Stamp.  I sprayed them with Fireworks Spray to coordinate with my new background paper from Bo Bunny's gorgeous Altitude Collection.  I finished with a snowflake epoxy sticker that wasn't new, but had never been opened (which pretty much equates to *new* in my studio).  I had used the Hero Arts Very Merry Christmas set, but used a sentiment from it that had never seen ink ... with my new Hero Arts Charcoal Ink ... whew, that's a lot of new."

We can't wait to see what you make with your new goodies! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. Keyword for galleries or Flickr is JB:15:02.

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It's a Wrap!

We love seeing so many people starting 2015 with Jingle Belles.  Here are a few of our favorites from this week's prompt.

Lorraine

from

Paper Vernissage

created a fantastic card using multiple bits from wrapping & tags.  Her focal point is a recycled tag from a gift she received.  She framed her tag with two different recycled cords ... and then added a recycled bow.  Finally, her background is also cut from a gift bag she received ... love it all!

Forgettables Place

reused some fabulous snowflake paper for her holiday card design ... adding the white paint around the edge was a fantastic touch to add to the blustery feel of her design.

Sue C

just let her fabulous graphic wrapping paper steal the show ... love how she centered her design with the bird in the center ... so bold and fun.

And ... the winner of our surprise goodie package is ...

KatheD

of

Kathe's Adventures

who made this gorgeous snowflake card.

Kathe, e-mail us your mailing address & we'll get your goodies on their way.

Check back with us after midnight EST when we'll be sharing our next prompt ... to help you keep taking December back, one Christmas card at a time.

Wrap it Up!

We're still using-up those gift tags and bits of wrapping paper for our No Time Like the Presents prompt this week.  So before you put it all away, make a card (or a few cards) to get your 2015 holiday card making off to a running start.

Here's what we created this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I mentioned last week I had a bit of the "baubles" paper leftover, and as you can see, I wasn't kidding! I didn't buy that particular paper JUST because it had those gorgeous ornaments in a perfect size for fussy-cutting, but it's a nice fringe benefit, right? I used the rather magnificent sketch from the Fusion Anniversary Challenge to guide my layout. The sticker strip sentiment comes from SRM's awesome and most useful holiday collection, a very generous selection of which Stephanie and I were lucky enough to win in one of their Instagram challenges, for which we thank them very much!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "My card background is tissue paper that I saved from a Papaya! Arts gift I received over a year ago ... I figured it was time to find it a home on a holiday card.  I adhered the tissue paper to white cardstock using a glue stick (and embracing the wrinkles because I love the linen-like look).  Next I added lots of glittery snowflake stickers, a wrap of Raspberry Fizz Ribbon, and a sticker sentiment ... I love my non-traditional holiday design."

Remember, you have until 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 14th to link-up ... and the Keyword for galleries or Flickr is JB:15:01.  

And, because we're crazy like that, we'll throw in a little prize package for one lucky participant to celebrate Jingle Belles 2015.

No Time Like the Presents

Yes Lauren & Stephanie are back for another year of Jingle Belles mayhem.  The plan is to make at least one card each week between now and the end of November ... so by the time December rolls around, our cards are finished & mailed ... and we can all enjoy the holidays.

So, there is No Time Like the Presents ... before you put away your wrapping supplies, pull out some of your favorites and make a card featuring wrapping paper or gift tags.

Here's what we made:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "Let's just say my *wrapping* usually leans toward gift bags due to my less than stellar gift wrapping skills ... but when Lauren wraps a gift, it's an artistic masterpiece.  When my Christmas gift from her arrived in the mail, my first thought was - open it carefully so you can re-use that awesome wrapping paper for your first Jingle Belles card ... and so I did.  Aren't those colors amazing.  All I had to add were a trip of chipboard stickers and a trio of sequins."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "Apparently there is a "gift wrapping gene" and I get mine from my mother and her sister, lol! This year the latter used a very cool set of coordinating glittery blue and white tissue paper (from Costco-- who knew?) which I smoothed out and attached to plain white cardstock I'd run through my Xyron machine. I used the current Retro Sketch for my layout, but made my card a standard sized rectangle in hopes of occasionally avoiding the post office's premium on square envelopes in 2015!" (ps: for the record, I still have some of the paper in which I wrapped Stephanie's presents; so there's every chance you might just be seeing that again next week, lol!)

And now it's time for ♥YOU♥ to see what lovely little bits of giftwrap or tags are left under your own tree, in the wrapping box, or maybe even in the recycling bag?! Go grab the prettiest ones and make your first holiday card of 2015, then meet us back here! Link up by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 14th. Keyword for galleries or Flickr is JB:15:01. 

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Merry Christmas!

We hope your December has been as stress-free as possible and that you're enjoying a lovely season full of family, friends and treats galore! 

Meanwhile, we're debuting the official 2015 ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ header and badge. As always, we'd love to hear your wonderful ideas for upcoming prompts, or maybe you'd just like to guest design with us sometime? Let us know by emailing jinglebellesrock @ hotmail (dot) com!

We'll be back next week, at 12:01am on Thursday, January 1st, to kick off the 2015 holiday card-making season! Hope to see ♥YOU♥ then!

xoxoxo

Stephanie and Lauren

digital credits for 2015 header: 

software: photoshop elements 9, adobe; elements from "an icy christmas" full kit by amber shaw and studio flergs, sweet shoppe designs; background paper: "damask tonals xmas paper pack" by katie pertiet, designer digitals; jingle bells from "retro holiday artplay palette" by anna aspnes, oscraps; shell font (free) from dafont.com, with glitter layer style from the sadly now retired "over the rainbow" glitter set by studio flergs. any questions? email lauren at llaurenb @ hotmail (dot) com and i'll do my best to answer!

Jingle Belles Rock

Sometimes, when people first hear that we ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ make one holiday card per week, every week, starting New Year's Day and ending around Thanksgiving, they think it's a pretty crazy idea. And who knows? They may be right, but we've got two excellent reasons for staying crazy:

Reason #1: We get to spend eleven months marveling over the amazingly beautiful and creative ideas our fellow Belles think up... and link up!

and

Reason #2: We get to spend December doing... well... whatever the heck we want; instead of stressfully mass-producing holiday cards!!!

The bottom line is: we know this works for us! If you know it works for you, too, or even if you just think it might... we cordially invite you to meet us back here at 12:01am, January 1st, 2015 when we'll kick off our fifth year (!) of holiday card-making festivities! For now, we'll leave you with our favorite pics of the year, the official card piles which represent the 2014 ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ season:

Stephanie's Card Pile

Lauren's Card Pile

Meanwhile, we thank everyone who came along to hang out with us this year, and wish you all the very happiest and healthiest of holiday seasons!

♥♥♥♥♥

PS: We'd love to see ♥YOUR♥ card pile, so why not link up a photo?! Or, if you're still working on cards, consider this "Anything Goes" and link your gorgeous holiday creations, and leave some love to your favorite card artists!

An InLinkz Link-up