Visions of Sugar Plums

hello ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! this week we're super-excited to be joined by lovely guest star amanda profumo! amanda is the crafty mom of three adorable kiddos; who, by the way, are already crafty in their own right--more on that in a minute! amanda delights us on a regular basis with the amazing creations she posts on her gorgeous blog crafty paper girl, and her etsy shop of the same name makes us swoon with shopping fever!

amanda was inspired by this luscious style board she found on one of her favorite blogs, paperdoll romance, and thought it could lead to some rather fabulous christmas cards so she emailed us (at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com!) and of course we agreed wholeheartedly that for this week's prompt we should all have VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS!

we're changing it up a little bit this time: instead of an ordinary color challenge we're calling this a "photo inspiration", so you're free to use as many--or as few--bits of the style board that inspire you, in whatever ways you choose! here's what we did:

Amanda's Card

Amanda says, "Mostly, I was inspired byt the sugar plum color and the bottom right corner of the inspiration board. That's where my idea to do ice skates instead of ballet slippers was born! When I think of sugar plums, I think soft purples and coarse glitter! YUM!"

Elan and Anna's Cards

as noted above, amanda's two eldest children, elan (aged 4) and anna (aged 6) are avid crafters. so much so that when they saw their mama's beautiful creation, they were inspired to make their own versions! cleverly they've both already learned that the best shortcut is to scrap-lift from someone you admire; being artists, of course they put their own twists on the design! elan (whose favorite tool is the cuttlebug) liked the button and pompoms in his mom's card, but elected to use his favorite color--orange--for the socks. anna (who is already quite a stamping queen) kept her card monochromatic, but swapped out some glamorous snaps for hangers, and purple gems in lieu of pompoms. and now i think we can all rest easier knowing the future of card making is in safe hands! feel free to stop by amanda's blog and leave a little love for the next generation of JINGLE BELLES (& BEAUX)!

Stef's Card

Stef says, "I was inspired by the glittery purple & white snowflakes, as well as the tiny bit of blue peeking through at the top of the toe shoes photo. I covered a felt die cut snowflake with a serious coat of Stickles glitter glue (smearing & dabbing it on with my finger) and then layered on more snowflakes. The background is covered in velvet snowflakes, so this card has both texture and glitter. The sentiment is from Judikins and usually finds itself on the inside of my holiday cards ... but today it's front & center."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "i was inspired by the various shades of lilac, plum, gold and white in the style board, and also by the beautiful flowers and ballerinas. i was hoping to use an image relating to the nutcracker ballet, but couldn't find anything i loved, so i went a little more "symbolic" instead by incorporating tulle and some vintage sheet music. i tried a bunch of different card bases before i settled on this hambly transparency, which i think really MAKES the whole thing!"

and now it's time to see what YOU will do with the phrase... and the inspiration photo... VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS! get out your glitter or snowflakes or purple papers or ballet-inspired goodies... or all (or none!) of the above; be bold, be creative, but above all: HAVE FUN!!! link up by 6pm next wednesday, may 25th at 6pm, EST. the code for SCS or flickr is JB21. enjoy!