Text Me

This week's Jingle Belle holiday card prompt is ... Text Me.

We're asking that you incorporate text into your holiday creations ... it could be a book page, Christmas carol lyrics, a poem, or even a card that features a sentiment as the main focal point of the design.

I even created a Pinterest Gallery full of some texty design ideas to give you a jump start ... I surf hundreds (probably thousands) of blogs each week looking for inspiration ... and I love this new way to save and share things that inspire.

And here's what we did:

Stephanie's Card

Stef says, "My card started with a page from a vintage book called the Santa Claus Story Picture Book. I placed my Tim Holtz Santa & Reindeer mask and then sprayed with multiple shades of red ink sprays and glimmer mists. I dabbed the excess ink with a paper towel, removed the mask, and dried it with a heat gun. I finished with some gold ribbon to ground the sleigh, a rub-on sentiment, and a red adhesive gem for the reindeer's nose ... Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Lauren's card

Lauren says, "i ♥LOVE♥ text papers, so i may have gone just a teeny bit overboard! (SO unlike me, right?!) :) i used a very old set of wooden alphabet letters to trace the word "noel" onto the green paper, cut out & adhered the letters to the black paper, and then stitched around them with metallic embroidery floss. this was not a super-fast process, but i enjoy stitching almost as much as i love card-making, so it was time well spent!"

And now it's time to see what you will do! Make your most FONT-astic card and link it up here between now and 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, March 2nd. The keyword for SCS and flickr is JB09.

So put your texty thinking caps on ... look through the gallery for inspiration ... and Text Me!

nothin' sketchy about THESE sketch cards!

what an awesome week this was, thanks to all of you fabulously talented ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and your utterly amazing cards! more on that in a moment, but first, our extra special thanks to diana, heidi, tomomi, tessa, julie, jeanet and heather of SKETCHY THURSDAYS for providing that wonderful sketch to inspire us all, making the most gorgeous cards imaginable, and hooking us up with their awesome "second chance" prize! (be sure to hop over and see if *YOU* won!)

you know, you guys keep making it realllllllllllllllllly hard to only choose three "shout outs" per week! but after some seriously agonizing deliberations... (because really, there was not even one card this week we didn't LOVE!) ...here are a few especially cool sketchy thursday sketch cards:

Yvonne Yam of Do More With Less

brilliantly combined holiday colors with "everyday" products to make this card the merriest of marvels!

Nancy of Loves to Create

raised the flawless co-ordination of patterned papers (there are FIVE here!) to a whole new level of fabulousness!

Jane Larsson of Jane's Privata

used staples and bling and flowers and lace (♥♥♥!) to make a "god jul kort" that's beautiful in any language!

and now the winner of our lovely prize pack, chosen with the assistance of the fine folks at random.org! our congrats... and some fun xmas goodies... go to lucky #10:

♥♥♥ ADORA ♥♥♥

miss adora, please contact us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail {dot} com with your snail mail address so that we can get your package in the mail ASAP!

a thousand thank you's to *EVERYONE* who played along! we hope you'll continue to check out SKETCHY THURSDAYS since they have a fabulous brand-new sketch every single week, and an almost infinite amount of inspiration from both the DT and the readers!

do scroll down* and see the thumbnails of your fellow ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ cards, YES, we do say it every week, but it's always true: that's where the real inspiration is, folks!!! ♥♥♥

*(you've got about fifteen minutes to kill until midnight, when the NEW prompt goes live!)

remember, it's "LEAP WEEK"!

that's right: whereas we usually close the card submissions at 6pm (EST) on wednesday nights; this week, in honor of our special crossover with sketchy thursdays

you'll have until 10pm (EST) on thursday to make your fabulous sketch card and link it up here at JINGLE BELLES (scroll down to this post!) and also over at SKETCHY THURSDAYS (on this post!) then we'll be announcing the winner of the christmassy prize pack...and debuting the new prompt...on friday, february 25th, so stay tuned! ♥

we've got "SKETCHY THURSDAYS"...on friday?!

goooooooooooooooooood morning ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! this week's prompt is a very special one...we've teamed up with the gang at SKETCHY THURSDAYS which means we've got an utterly FABULOUS sketch that diana made just for us. but wait, there's more: everyone who makes a card using said sketch will have TWO chances to link it up--once at here jingle belles, and then a second time at sketchy thursdays! oh...and did i mention there will be a prize awarded on each blog??! uh-huh. want to hear more? (thought so!)
but first here's the sketch:

and here's what we did with it:

stephanie's card

stef says, "When I saw the half-circle in the sketch layout it kept saying "snow globe" to me, so that's where I started my design ... with a glittery snow globe that I found in the "Christmas Tags" section of the craft store ... I got a whole package of tags much cheaper than standard paper crafts "embellishments" ... so very fun. "

lauren's card

lauren says, "i started with this sweet vintage illustration from an old "ideals" magazine; added bits of ribbon, silky ruffles, wired pearls and punched paper scraps; and topped it all off with a white poinsettia and a couple of snowflakes. at the end i did a bit of machine stitching to add texture and interest...and also to make sure all of those layers were really ON THERE for good!"

there are also gorgeous cards by the mega-talented sketchy thursdays design team on their blog, so you'll definitely want to hop over and see those, as well, for an extra-helping of holiday card inspiration! of course, sketchy thursdays is also currently running their regular challenge as well, for which you can submit layouts, altered projects, cards, etc. they post a wonderful sketch and TONS of drool-worthy DT inspiration each and every thursday morning, and announce the winner--plus a selection of favorite projects--the following week. you'll definitely want to be adding them to your blogroll, so you don't miss a thing!

and now it's time to see what you will do! but first...it's time to see what you could *WIN*:

(THE GOODIES: 6" Dear Santa Collection Pad from KaiserCraft, Reindeer Snag 'em Stamp from Imaginisce, Kolette Hall Studio G stamps with gems, Scrappy Cat Christmas Sentiments stamps, Zva Creative Ho Ho Ho adhesive green crystals)

this fabulous prize pack will be awarded by random draw to one lucky cardmaker who links up a holiday sketch card here between now and 10pm EST on thursday, february 24th. (yep, this week is so special you get a whole extra day to submit your holiday finery!) the keyword for posting to SCS or flickr is JB08. don't forget to also head over to sketchy thursdays and link your card there, as well (under the "second chance" card sketch) for a chance at the prize they're awarding!

that's right, there are TWO prizes on TWO blogs and you only need to make ONE CARD to have a shot at both!!! it doesn't get any better than that, right?! so off you go, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, and let's see your very best sketch cards!

(please link to the specific post which has your card, and not to your whole blog! thanks!)

it's a (no) RED LETTER day!!! :)

WOW! round of applause, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, to miss lisa for setting us such a great prompt, and to all of you who sooooooooo ROCKED the non-traditional holiday color combos! most impressive and totally inspiring! (if you've not cruised this week's cards yet, you HAVE TO...trust me!)

here are some particularly fabulous creations that lisa thought interpreted "no red, she said!" especially well!

by Candy B of Stampin' with Candy

lisa says, "WONDERFUL color combo!! Love how bold & beautiful the Taken with Teal is with the soft & subtle Sahara Sand!! And I love the use of bling. One can never have too much bling!"

by Kathe D

lisa says, "Love the two-tone green/blue background and the trees embossed on top. GORGEOUS!! I LOOOOVE one-layer cards that give tons of dimension and THIS card is no exception. Absolutely beautiful!!"

by Jess of Basic Jess

lisa says, "Love, love, loooooooooove all the awesome panels of color. All without a hint of red! Jess scored BIG with this card!! LOVE IT!!

our hearty thanks to *EVERYONE* who played along with such enthusiasm; and of course an extra special thank you to LISA of PAPERGRACE DESIGNS for being our lovely guest star this week! (if you've not visited her blog yet...you NEED to go...SO MUCH amazing papercrafting inspiration to be found over there!) ♥

the next brand new ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ prompt is so special that for this occasion only we are adjusting our start and end times: we'll be starting at 5am tomorrow...and you'll have an entire extra day to link up your cards! how come? well, you're going to have to wait and see; but i can reveal that we're joining up for the week with another AWESOME papercrafting website...and there *will* be PRIZES! (we're excited...can you tell?!) :)

"no red, she said!"

hi folks, it's lauren here, about to make a bold statement: i think this week's prompt might be our coolest yet; it's definitely got the best title, don't you agree?! i'm not being conceited, i didn't think of it, nor did my darling stef; nope, this week's title and concept came from* the very clever and very talented lisa of papergrace designs!

lisa is an avid papercrafter and cardmaker, and if you've been hanging out here for a bit, you'll know that she's been one of our most faithful friends from the very beginning; each week she extends her support and enthusiasm not just to this blog but also to her fellow BELLES! if you're looking for papercrafting inspiration, lisa's splitcoast gallery is well worth checking out (at the very least you need to go and see this C&S sponged & stamped christmas card) and why not drop in to the papergrace designs facebook page ...you never know what good stuff might be going on there!

we thought this week there might be a bit of an overdose of red out in the blogiverse--what with everyone else making valentines-- so this seemed like a great time for all of us intrepid JINGLE BELLES to make our cards in any style, theme, or color...but completely WITHOUT that most common of christmas colors! because this week is:

CARD SEVEN (JB07):

no red, she said!

here's what we did:

lisa's card

lisa says: "'No red, she said' popped into my head because, really, when making Christmas cards it is soooo crazy easy to reach for a Christmas paper with all kinds of pretty reds and greens in it. I like to go against the grain, baby! I wanted to see how completely UN-conventional with color I could get and yet have it still look Christmas-y. I used chip letters and painted them BLACK (yes, black!) and then covered them with glossy accents. Even seeing those big bold black letters, you can't tell me this Tim Holtz-inspired (formerly manila) tag doesn't screeeeaaam Christmas! :)

stephanie's card

stef says, "One of my favorite holiday color combinations is found in Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather Collection ~ aqua & plum ~ I added some stamped snowflakes to the polka dot background paper and some tiny purple pearls to accent the design."

lauren's card

lauren says, "i wanted to see how far i could go from traditional colors...but... still use mostly store-bought christmas supplies. i was shocked, when looking through my stash, to realize HOW MANY COLORWAYS are out there now, besides the traditional red-n-green. in the end, only my white glitter thickers came from my "regular" supplies...everything else is holiday!"

and now it's time to see what you will do: make it plain or fancy; choose a muted palette or neon brights; keep it otherwise traditional...or go waaaaaaaaaaaay out into uncharted territory. everything's fair game as long as there's no red (she said)! link up your card between now and 6pm EST, next wednesday, february 16th. if you're posting to SCS or flickr the code is JB07. have fun!!!

*would YOU like to be our lovely guest star? we'd love to have you! email us (jinglebellesrock @ hotmail (dot) com) with your theme ideas; if we use your suggestion, we'll invite you along for the week! ♥

We're Warmer Already!!

So many gorgeously warm and fuzzy cards (both literally and figuratively!) on the ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ blog this week! We're very impressed with the way you all took this fun prompt and ran with it! Give yourselves and big round of applause, and be sure to scroll down and check out all the fabulous cards if you haven't yet!

Here are a few especially "cool" ideas that we thought expressed the sentiment Baby, It's Cold Outside particularly well!

Ros Crawford of Mikey's Mom
hand-cut her elegant scarf and mittens and added just enough detail to make her very glamorous card!

Shelley Germann of Stampin' Garden

took quite a small stamp, but used clever details...and a fun shaker-card design...to make a larger-than-life winter scene ... who wouldn't want to play in that glittery snow??

Alli of Scrappy Bitz

used only items from her stash--and a WHOLE LOT of imagination--to make these delightful snowman cards, complete with boucle yarn snow drifts and some very cool mesh for the background that I wish I had in my stash.!

A very big "WELL DONE" and "Thank you!" to everyone who played along! We'll be back at midnight with an especially good challenge set by, and guest-starring, one of your fellow ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! So be sure to stop back at midnight!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It's Stephanie here bringing you our Jingle Belles prompt #6 (JB06)

This week we're taking our cue from another Christmas tune (what can I say ... Lauren & I love Christmas songs) ... Baby, It's Cold Outside ... which means, we're prompting you to make cards or tags that include ... scarves, mittens, hats, ear muffs ... or some fuzzy warm felt (or perhaps all of the above if you are so inclined).

stephanie's card

my card features two Basic Grey jovial snowmen woolies

in scarves & hats

(which my husband said reminded him of Ren & Stimpy)

frolicking in a landscape awash with fuzzy felt snowflakes.

I used this weeks Mojo Monday Sketch and

a sticker sentiment from SRM Stickers.

lauren's card

lauren says, "i made this cute rudy reindeer by copying and enlarging an image from a piece of giftwrap to use as a pattern, and then basically "paper piecing" with different colors of felt instead of patterned paper (there's a step-by-step explanation of this on my personal blog); then i knitted him a tiny scarf! i also sewed some american crafts jumbo felt rick-rack onto my card, for good measure. only at the very end did i realize i had subconsciously used amy's gorgeous sketch from last week again-- but hey, it's a great sketch so why not?!"

Now it's time to see what kind of festive fun you can have with felt ... or mittens, hats, scarves or ear muffs ... take your choice ... and whatever you do, have fun with it and link your wonderful creations by 6pm EST on Wednesday, February 9th. If you don't have a blog, you can always upload your card to the Jingle Belles Flickr Gallery & link-up from there.

how sketchy can you get?!

WOW! how excited are we this week to have the most cards ever on the ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ blog thus far?! of course it is all thanks to ♥AMY♥ and her awesome sketch. so thrilling to see that ALL of you were inspired to bold new christmas-card-making heights!

having spoken to miss amy via email, i should tell you that she was also delighted by our final tally of *42* cards...not to mention being overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and camaraderie of all of you lovely BELLES! if i may quote that lovely lady, "PLEASE relay in the post that I had super ginormous amounts of fun-fun-fun! It's was over the top coolio to see how peeps interpreted a sketch that I drew...I'm glad that the gals liked it and had FUN." so there! she's also agreed to make a return appearance in future, so be on the lookout for that!

in the meantime, here are a few cards that interpreted her sketch especially well:

by tip top of tip top toppers

amy says, "This is a card that uses non-traditional colors and 2 ornaments..that were on sale! Love the glitz!"

by diana of design by diana

amy says, "Love the added stitching....and the non-traditional patterns that are in traditional colors!" :)

by amanda of crafty paper girl

amy says, "Although I love non-traditional cards, this is quite the opposite and I love it...there is something about tartan plaid that screams festive!"

many thanks to *EVERYONE* who played along; and once again extra special thanks to amy tsuruta of TSURUTA DESIGNS for being our lovely guest star and sketchmaker this week! btw, you still have until midnight tomorrow (feb 4) to get in on amy's flashback friday 7.0 by re-posting your very first papercrafting project to feature *GLITTER*! (did i mention she has a very cool prize from ippity for that??!) :)

speaking of prizes, it's time to announce the winner of the big january giveaway! so without further ado, the winner of the random drawing... (for which we had so many entries it needed my BIGGEST tupperware bowl to hold all the little slips of paper!) ...is...

♥♥♥ ALLI of "scrappy bitz"! ♥♥♥

CONGRATULATIONS, alli! please email us your mailing information using the address on the sidebar, so that we can get your lovely prize pack to you ASAP! :)

the new prompt will be up at midnight...if you have a little time to kill before then and haven't yet seen your fellow ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ sketch cards, do scroll down and have a bit of a gander at those thumbnails...you'll be glad you did!!!