Look What Santa Brought Me

This week we're celebrating all things new, and using them to create some of our first holiday cards of the year.

Specifically, we're asking you to gather up the new crafting goodies you received for the holidays and use them on your holiday card this week. Just in case all you got from Santa was a bag of coal, then break out something from your crafting arsenal that you haven't created with yet.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I added My Favorite Things Snowflake Window & Layered Snowflakes Die-Namics to my stash  for Christmas (I am my own Santa Claus ... that way I always get what I want) ... I love how they work together.  I also thought they paired perfectly with another new holiday wrapping paper I added to my stash.  I finished with  a wrap of ribbon and a sticker sentiment."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "In this case I was my own Santa, as well, and treated myself after Xmas to some adorable holiday-themed sticker sheets from Doodlebug Design, and a few papers too. It's the latter I've used here from the "Christmas Town" and "Milk and Cookies" lines. Once again I had an awesome Sketch Saturday to spur me on!"

Now it's your turn to raid Santa's bounty and create your own masterpiece. Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:19:02.

An InLinkz Link-up

That's a *WRAP*!

I don't suppose it's a huge surprise that our fellow card-makers also love to save bits of pretty giftwrap and tags to reuse. Which makes it even more fun to marvel at all of the creative and beautiful ways you've found to USE such bounty! Before we show off a few cards that made us especially happy this fortnight, here's a little badge we made for occasions such as this, in addition to the more generic version on the sidebar.

And now here are some cards that especially ROCKED, in our humble opinion:

Rose of My Happy Place

...used a surplus-to-requirements clear Treat Bag to add an extra-clever shaker element to her fun and festive card!

Bonnie of Stamping with Klass

...shows that you can feature just a tiny bit of leftover giftwrap -in this case a snowman's face- and make it the centerpiece of a CAS masterpiece!

Sue Culotti aka Gregzgurl on Splitcoast Stampers

...reminds us that copper giftwrap is every bit as lovely as silver and gold; as well as impressing us with her amazing abilty to perfectly photograph such a shiny, reflective card!

Of course we're all dying to know who won the prize that was on offer this time, right? According to the fine folks at Random.org the lucky number is #100 so that means our lucky winner is...

♥Kathe D!♥

CONGRATULATIONS!

Please send your snail mail address to 

Lauren at llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com 

to claim your prize!

We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt... in every sense of those words! :)

More Time Like the Presents

It seems like we aren't the only people who cannot resist saving a piece of pretty giftwrap or a lovely tag from the recycling bin. If you haven't wandered through the readers' gallery yet, we highly recommend the trip. Also you still have plenty of time to link up your own masterpiece! Meanwhile here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I've used two different wraps: some gorgeous gold embossed paper that was on one of my own gifts, plus the vibrant purple and white pattern, which was actually on a gift my aunt gave to my mother... but I scooped it up to make a card, lol. There was a large and thankfully unwrinkled section, which became the background of my card and then I fussy cut a few of the snowflakes, as well. Luckily I had the current Sketch Saturday, so I knew exactly where all my elements should go!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "After my wrapping paper short-fall last week, I hit the after Christmas sales and re-stocked.  I usually gravitate to holiday papers that aren't clearly *holiday* so I can use them for other occasions if necessary ... like this lovely paper with snow and branches and tiny bits of silver glitter.  I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch and a delicate Snowflake Snippets Die Cut from Spellbinders paired with a new holiday sentiment from My Favorite Things Snow Globe Sentiments (PS Gina K. Designs Connect Glue is da' bomb for attaching delicate die cuts like this one)."

Remember ... you have until  6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 16th to link up your card (or cards ... make as many as you want)  . Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:19:01

No Time Like the Presents

Well it's January first, and you know what that means: time to kick off another holiday cardmaking season, Jingle Belles! Probably, to non-crafters, that sounds ridiculous, but anyone who's ever spent the middle of December stressfully mass-producing 50+ cards knows that making one card a week, throughout the year, actually makes quite a bit of sense. And doing so while hanging out with your friends is just WAY more fun! So if you're joining us for the first time: WELCOME; if you're re-joining us, WELCOME BACK. Either way, we're so happy you're here and we hope you'll find inspiration here throughout 2019! As always, we're open to suggestions, ideas for themes and guest designers; drop us a line any time at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail (dot) com!

Meanwhile, let's get cracking with the first prompt of the year: since there's No Time Like the Presents... before you put away your wrapping supplies, pull out some of your favorites (or some of that paper from a present you unwrapped that was just too pretty to toss) and make a card featuring wrapping paper or gift tags. Here's what we made this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "If there were a spectrum of gift-wrapping skills, Lauren would be at a 10 (best ever) and I would be somewhere down near the 1 to 2 part of the scale.  If I participate in a gift exchange, you can almost guaranty the gift I brought will be the one in the gift bag (it will be an adorable gift bag ... probably with a Yeti ... but it will be a bag).  So needless to say, my gift wrap stash is a bit limited.  As I went hunting for something to make my card, I found a few pieces of vintage gift wrap from the Veterans of Foreign Wars that must have been gifted to me by my mother-in-law.  How cute are these little tumbling patriotic snowmen with their stars & stripes ... I added a few glittery snowflake stickers and a few more sticker sentiments ... and just left the snowmen to shine."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "Of course I'm blushing from testimonial, and I *DO* looooooove to wrap presents. Something Stephanie graciously didn't mention is that whereas she is always on time (often early!) with gifts, one of us often ~ahem~ shall we say, "helps to extend" any occasion, by as much as several weeks, since that's when the beautifully wrapped items typically arrive lol. My card features a gorgeous plaid scrap leftover from my own giftwrapping duties. I typically mount thin papers like giftwrap or tissue onto a piece of lightweight cardstock that I've run through my xyron machine to make more sturdy, and that's what I did here. The tartan ribbon is also an offcut from this year's supplies... I went a bit mad for plaid!"

To kickoff the New Year right, we have a fun little prize for one lucky random cardmaker who links up with us this time: 

So now it's your turn to round up those gift wrapping supplies, make a lovely new holiday card, and link it up right here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 16th*. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:19:01.

An InLinkz Link-up

*Please note that because we wanted to start the season on New Year's Day, which happens to be a Tuesday, this first challenge has a few extra days to it. After this we will be back to fortnightly Fridays, as in the past! ♥

Hello, 2019!

It's nearly time for another season of fun, friendship and inspiration at Jingle Belles and what better way to celebrate than with a brand new header for 2019!

2019 Jingle Belles banner created by Lauren Bergold using Photoshop Elements 9 and the following digital products: reindeer and snowflake: Winter Woodland kit, Celeste Knight, Design House Digital; star and snowflake scatterz: Christmas Shimmer element set, Studio Flergs; frame: Decorative White Frames No. 1, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals; background paper: Frosted Winter paper set, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals; lace and gingham ribbon: Vintage Christmas kit, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals; pearls: Pearl Swirls, Pattie Knox, Designer Digitals; 

And while we're at it, how about a new blog badge as well?

We'll be back at midnight to kick off the New Year, hope to see you then! ♥

Taking Back our ~EIGHTH~ December

It's hard to believe that we've wrapped up yet another ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ season, but here it is November 30th (already?!) and we've been working towards this all year long, so we've got a pretty nice stash of cards built up. We're looking forward to spending December doing all the fun holiday stuff with our friends and family, and we hope you are, as well!

Thanks very much for turning our Holiday card-making into something enjoyable and fun all year long. We'll be back again on January 1, 2019 to start this whole shindig over again, and hope to see you then. Meanwhile we wish you the loveliest of Decembers and the happiest of holidays! Remember, if you have prompt ideas, we'd love for you to join us as a Lovely Guest Star ... just send us an email jinglebellesrock@hotmail.com  ...we really do love making this a group event.

Stephanie's Christmas Card Stash for 2018

Lauren's Holiday Card Stash for 2018

Of course, we don't rule out making another card or two in the next few weeks, and just in case you need to make a few more, as well, we'll leave this linky open until Christmas Eve so you can upload your cards, get a little inspiration and spur each other on to the finish line! ♥

An InLinkz Link-up

Delicious Leftovers

Thanks for sharing your holiday treats with the Jingle Belles ... it was so fun seeing all the different ideas.

Here are a few of our favorite eats & drinks:

Elisabeth of Paper Anthology

die cut and decorated a whole plate of holiday cookies ... 

the addition of the doily and striped twine were both perfect finishing touches.

Jane Willis of Onions and Paper

shared Rudolph the *very* red-nosed reindeer and his bottle of Christmas spirits ... 

we loved how his Santa hat is even a bit askew ... so much holiday spirit!

Amy T of Tsuruta Designs

cleverly combined stamps & dies to produce three different

mugs of holiday cheer ... Oh What Fun!

And now I know we're all waiting do find out who wins that fun prize, right?

The completely random selection is:  ***Lorraine Mastalski of Paper Vernissage***! please email smilynstef@aol.com so Santa can get that on its way! ♥  and for an extra, here's her adorable card.

It's hard to believe this is our LAST official challenge of 2018, isn't it? We've had so much fun this year and we hope you have, as well. Many thanks to everyone who followed along, linked up, left comments and just generally made the first eleven months of our year fly by so quickly! We'll post one last link-up tomorrow, for those who aren't quite finished their cards yet... and of course we'll be back on January 1, 2019 to start this whole thing all over again! Happy happy holidays to everyone! 

XOXOXOX

Stephanie and Lauren