Days of Old

We're celebrating "The Spirit of Christmas Past" which means we're creating cards with a vintage vibe. That might mean incorporating actual vintage items; OR using new papers, dies or stamps with an old-fashioned feeling. 

What do we mean by "vintage"? Pretty much any timeframe in history! Your "days of old" could be Regency England, Midcentury Palm Springs, or even just the fond days of your childhood Christmases. Just in case you have nothing that will suit, Lauren's scanned a few vintage postcards and some sheet music from her own collection and placed them below. Just right-click and save to your computer, then print them out at whatever size you'd like.

To add a little extra incentive, this week we're sponsored by Lauren's Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, and there's a sweet little pack of holiday ephemera for one lucky cardmaker who links up their vintage card design at the bottom of this post.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "My go-to starting place for Vintage is my collection of Ideals Christmas Magazines that were rescued from the recycle bin.  I found this image of poinsettias that I detail-cut around the edges.  Next I added ephemera from Tim Holtz the kind of vintage reproduction items to help complete the layout.  The last touch was adding clear Crystalline Drops to the Poinsettia centers and a scattering of golden gems."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "Two of my all-time favorite items to use on vintage-style holiday cards are sheet music and doilies. There are lots of modern versions of both, and I love music-inspired patterned paper and doily dies. But in this case, I went with actual OLD sheet music, paired with the doilies I found at a thrift shop over the weekend. The postcard image on my card is also vintage, but in this case I scanned the original and printed it slightly smaller, to be a better fit on my A7 card. Torn mats of patterned paper, machine stitching and a little bit of Eyelet Outlet washi tape add texture and interest."

Vintage items for you to use:

A fun prize from Just Enough Stuff, to be awarded randomly 

to one lucky cardmaker who links up with us this fortnight:

A Deluxe Christmas Assortment 

featuring sheet music, illustrations, 

text paper, playing cards, postcards, tags and more!

♥♥♥

Link your Old Fashioned Masterpiece right here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, May 19th. Keyword for galleries, social media and Flickr is JB-21-10.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Gift Card Creativity!

It's always been our dream to be able to send a shout-out to EVERYONE who participated in one of our Jingle Belles challenges, and this fortnight, that dream has come true! :)

Martina of U Martiny

...designed a clever little wallet in which the giftcard stand up when the folder is opened!

Lorraine of Paper Vernissage

...used a very clever die to make two adorable holders into which the gift cards get sealed, and the recipient pulls a perforated tear strip to release their gift!

Patrice posting on Instagram

...one of our newest Jingle Belles has gone all out with an extra special gift card POCKET; who wouldn't love to have a holiday outfit featuring red jeans adorned with lots of golden sparkles?!

Deanne Saunders of A Little Bit O' Paper 

...used her Cricut to design a clever fold-up pocket with a sentiment cut right into the flap; we love both the concept of this and the finished design!

♥♥♥

We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt, we hope you'll be ready to have some good old-fashioned fun! 

the gift(cards) that keep on giving

We're still creating ways to send gift cards across the miles (or maybe hand it to them in person) and we can't wait to see your clever gift card holder ideas! You have until 6pm EST on Wednesday May 5th to join the party; scroll down to the original post to link up.

Here's how we are giving our gift(cards) this week.

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I found a cute little Gift Card Envelope Die from The Cat's Pajamas in my stash (apparently long-ago discontinued but similar to this one from Hot Off the Press), and it was perfect for the top element in this week's Sketch Saturday.  I used 3/8 inch Velcro dots to hold it closed to make for easy access to the gift card.

The sticker sentiments and stitches are from Pretty Little Studio.  Paper is from Memory Box Garland paper collection (I love how there is pattern on one side and solid with corner patterns on the other side)."

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "There's a fab IG account called @LoveForPaperGoodies who makes really cool origami-style folded paper pockets. I used this video tutorial and was pleasantly surprised to find the technique is quite easy. I've put a bit more detail about the process on my own blog today." 

"There are three sections in the pocket, once it's folded. Working from back to front, I've got: a large shipping tag decorated with torn paper, vintage postage, a fussy-cut Authentique reindeer and miscellaneous blooms held on with ancient brads. In the middle section, there's a smaller shipping tag, with an Authentique Santa; and then the gift card tucks into the pocket right at the front."

On the First Day of Christmas ...

...my true love gave to me: a gift card in a gift card holder!  

That's right dear Belles, we're asking you to make a card that doubles as a gift card holder and has a place to tuck in a gift card. There are so many possibilities, from dies and templates to online tutorials; OR start with a store-bought option and decorate it. We can't wait to see your creative solutions.

Here's what we made this week:

Stephanie's Gift Card Holder

Stephanie Says, "I found a gift card holder tutorial that I made with a 12" x 5 1/2" piece of glittery designer paper  and coordinating tag from Pebbles Cozy & Bright.  This design just takes four scored folds, some strong tape and a few die cuts.  I used Essentials by Ellen Tag Trio for the gift card opening and a vintage My Favorite Things File Folder Edges Die for the rounded tab.  Finally I finished with the My Sweet Petunia Cut-Align to cut the perfect slit to tuck my gift card holder closed."

Lauren's Gift Card Holder

Lauren says, "I prefer a little box of some sort when it comes to gift cards, because it just looks so much more substantial! I saved and dissected a pillowbox which came with skincare samples, traced it onto beautiful Ciao Bella patterned cardstock from Paper Anthology, then cut, scored, folded and embellished it. I made a simple folder with a pocket to hold the actual gift card, sized to fit inside the pillow box, and decorated both items with diecuts, silk flowers, ribbon, jewel brads and a little bit of sparkly washi tape."

Link your project here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, May 5th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB-21-09.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Happy Earth Day!

We are always delighted and impressed by the holiday cards our Jingle Belles make in honor of Earth Day and this year is no exception! If you haven't scrolled through the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a trip. Meanwhile, here are three cards we thought had especially clever twists on the theme:

Rocky of Rocky's Crafting Blog

...up-cycled an old folder to make the vibrant blue-sky background for her sweet woodland scene!

Martina of U Martiny

...rescued this lovely cottage from a holiday card she received, then made it even better by adding lace and lots of glamorous glitter!

Lorraine of Paper Vernissage

...made not one, but two, awesome cards; using JUST recycled items; this one has some pretty packaging, a paint chip, the liner of a security envelope, and the bow off a bag of sweets. 

(Hop over to see her other card!)

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, and we hope you'll continue re-using and up-cycling interesting bits and bobs on your cards throughout the year. 

We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will make you feel gifted!

Go Planet ... it's your EARTH Day

Yep, we're still celebrating EARTH DAY this week at Jingle Belles, which means creating holiday cards featuring recycled materials.

Here is how we up-cycled this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I'm kind of excited that, apart from a few Eyelet Outlet Pine Tree, Deer and Snowflake Brads, a little bit of sheet music and some sparkly Tree Tape, these cards are made entirely out of cards. I trimmed, distressed, stacked, stitched and embellished multiple blue-and-snowy segments of card fronts and I'm pretty happy with the results!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week I went back to my packaging stash and used three different pieces for this card.  The two background die cut panels are another tissue box and a piece of K & Company packaging.  The Simon Says Stamp Ho Ho Deer Die is cut from a piece of Studio Calico Gridded Packaging backed by a scrap of coordinating designer paper from my scrap box with an added pair of googly eyes (never pass-up an opportunity to break out the googly eyes).  The stamped sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Christmas."

Remember, you have until Wednesday April 14th at 6pm EST to upload your up-cycled Earth Day Cards.

Peace on Earth {Day}

If you've played along with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ over the last few years, you already know there are two prompts that never change: at the beginning of October we honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month with "Pink Christmas"; and the end of April we celebrate Earth Day by making holiday cards that feature re-cycled, re-used or up-cycled elements.

So this week we're asking you to create a card that features at least one recycled element.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I saved this lovely marbled cardstock from one of the many tissue boxes I go through in a year for just such a recycling opportunity.  I used three Sizzix Christmas Circle Words dies for the words and then finished with a sentiment from Impress Holiday Words and a scattering of blue gems."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I rescued the birch-bedecked cover of a catalog in December, and since I usually save the fronts of the store-bought holiday cards I receive, I was able to find one with cardinals who look right at home there. My sentiment was trimmed off another card and I matted everything on scraps of specialty cardstock and affixed them to my kraft slimline card. I had intended to add snowflake brads or sequins, but nothing seemed quite right, so I decided to stop and let the cardinals be the stars of the show."

Link your cards right here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, April 21st. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB-21-08.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter