hey! there's a GIVEAWAY!!!

it's always nice to kick off a new venture with free stuff, don't you think?! so we've put together a little prize pack full of christmassy supplies that one lucky winner will snag on january 31st! just the thing to help you kick off a whole year of holiday cardmaking! would you like to see a photo?

ok, so it's not a *good* photo...but that's mostly because there were too many things to fit comfortable in my light box! ;) but hopefully you at least get an idea of what's up for grabs.

there's old stuff and new stuff... there's red stuff and green stuff... there's plenty of sparkly stuff. it wouldn't quiiiiiite fill a sleigh, but it's gonna need a good sized box, for sure! of course what you really want to know now is:

HOW DO I GET THIS STUFF??!?!

it couldn't be simpler: we'll collect entries the entire month of january; you get ONE entry for every comment you leave on any january jingle belles post. you get TWO entries for every *new* holiday card you link up to a january jingle belles prompt. on february first we'll announce the winner and one lucky jingle belle will walk away with the goodies!

throughout the year our prompts will begin on FRIDAYS...but we're too excited to wait another week, so we're starting out this SATURDAY... new year's day...january first... won't you come back and play?!! ♥

a quick quiz

when did you finish making your 2010 holiday cards?

a. december 1st

b. december 15th

c. i'm almost done! no, really, just a few more to go!

d. holiday cards??!?! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you answered b, c, or d... and let's face it, we all answered b c or d, didn't we?! (lauren and stef have both personally answered b, c, or d every single year since they started making cards!!!) ...and feel like you've cheated yourself yet again out of december's holiday fun ... have we got an idea for you:

let's make 2010 the last year we inflict last minute holiday card panic--or a fast and shamefaced trip to hallmark (yeah, we've all done THAT, too!) --upon ourselves, ok?!

let's do the math: if we make ONE CARD PER WEEK, every week of 2011, we will all have 48 fabulous and unique holiday cards on december first. how cool will that be??!?! (hint: it's VERY cool indeed; it's arctic, in fact!)

let's get real: we've all *SAID* we're going to do this before, haven't we? (lauren and stef have personally said we're going to do this every single year since we started making cards!!!) and we really did MEAN IT...but then somehow it didn't quiiiiiiiite happen.
so lauren and stef thought: HEY!!! what if we all did it TOGETHER?! what if we publicly made this promise to ourselves...and then made it a fun promise to keep?! not a chore, but a creative challenge, a cool thing to look forward to every week?!

so this is it! this is the year we're all going to ENJOY DECEMBER! (and hopefully have a really good time in the rest of the months, as well!)

so this year, on new year's day, when we all wake up full of resolutions and good intentions, excited about a clean slate, let's start as we mean to go on:

let's make one little christmas card per week. let's make new friends and try new techniques. let's cheer each other on, inspire each other, get each other back on track when we need to, and just generally be excited about our common goal!

see you on january 1, 2011!!!

did they say *JINGLE BELLES*??!?!

yes.

yes, we did.

do you have questions? because we have answers! in fact we wrote a bit of an FAQ...would you like to see it?! (please say, "yes" otherwise the whole thing kind of stalls right here!) ah--you *WOULD* like to see it? excellent! here you go:

what is jingle belles?
jingle belles is a meeting place for crafty cardmakers determined NOT to miss yet another december because we're still making holiday cards. won't you join us in making ONE CHRISTMAS CARD PER WEEK during 2011 and avoiding the holiday mayhem??!

who are you gals?
we're lauren bergold and stephanie severin, avid papercrafters, cardmakers and all-round good eggs! you may have enjoyed the gorgeous craftiness on stef's blog ingenious inkling, or read lauren's ramblings over at ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...

when do the weekly prompts debut?
we plan to post a brand new inspiration every friday morning. anyone who'd like to play along will have until 6pm the following wednesday to submit their cards via inlinkz, but of course you can use any sketch, idea, or inspiration at any time during the year for whatever projects you'd like. (when you do, we'd love to see what you make, so be sure to pop us a link or an email, ok?!)

what sort of prompts will there be?
color inspirations, sketches, product-based ideas, technique-driven experiments, thematic approaches, song cues...hey, we'll try ANYTHING once...and the fun ones twice!

who thinks up the prompts?
to begin with, lauren and stef are providing the themes, but ideally we'd like to throw this open to the vast pool of clever crafties out in t'blogosphere. do you have a great suggestion for a topic or technique?! have you always wanted to try yor hand at a card-sketch? contact us using the info on the sidebar! all sensible ideas will be considered! (lauren is already chock full of un-sensible ideas, but thanks anyway!) ;)

are there other ways i can participate in the blog?
yes! from time to time we'd like to invite readers to guest host, co-host, or guest design with us, so if you're interested, let us know! we've got a whole year to fill, folks, and we're open to suggestions!

what if i can't make a card every week?
then you will have less than 48 cards on december first. ...but... you'll still have 44 or 35 or however many you do make, and you'll still be way ahead of the game. despite serious OCD tendencies, even lauren knows it's *NOT* all or nothing, here! make a card whenever you have time and feel inspired; share a card whenever you'd like some encouragement and camaraderie. why not subscribe to the feed or bookmark the blog, though? who knows, you might unexpectedly see something that gets your holiday mojo going!

are there going to be prizes??
well, anyone who participates each week will, on december first, be in possession of FORTY EIGHT beautiful, unique, amazing, totally personal, one-of-a-kind handmade christmas cards and can take december off!!! that's a pretty good prize, dontcha think?! :) (but...it's always possible there'll be the the odd drawing or giveaway now and then, too...who can say...? another good reason to drop in every once in a while, right?)

can i sponsor a prize?
sure! if you're a business person or designer with freebies to bestow, we'd love to hear from you! our contact info is on the sidebar.

can i have one of your badges?
definitely! g'head and take two, they're small! we are hoping to make lots of different ones during the course of the year, so feel free to collect as many as you like!

if you have additional questions we didn't think of, please leave a comment...or email us using the contact info on the sidebar! thanks! ♥