green *OR* red (but still... not BOTH!)

this week, quite by coincidence, our additional design team inspiration is all "in the red", but ♥YOU♥ can still "go green" if you want to! remember, your card must contain one or the other of these super-traditional holiday colors, but it cannot have BOTH! yes, we know, it's trickier than it sounds... which is what makes it fun! :)

we're thrilled to have lovely guest star* june houck back with us again this week, and excited that she's willing to share a little bit of her creative process with us:

"I began making cards using greeting card computer software back in the 1990s. Oh my, how far I have come! A few years later, I was introduced to rubber stamping, and I began to make all of my holiday cards. My very first stamped card looked like this one, that I revamped a little:" 

"In the beginning all of my cards were stamped in black ink and were the focal point of the card…not that there is anything wrong with that! I slowly started buying other colored ink pads, then a few years later using patterned paper. No more stamped backgrounds! That was time-saving and fun. When I started blogging five years ago, I was amazed at the talent that was out there. I still follow those same fabulous paper crafting ladies, and a couple hundred more :) Many of those uber-talented ladies did not stamp AT ALL. I thought, "that is cheating!" I am eating those words now. I won a Cricut Expression and I have become addicted. Often times I use my Cricut and stamp only my sentiment. But when I sit down to create, I do not consciously think about using the Cricut OR stamping unless there is a specific stamp I want to use or a specific image I want to cut. I have an idea and go with it."

"I have been wanting to cut these presents, and that was where my inspiration came from. I also love red/aqua Christmas cards, so I went in search of aqua papers. And I stamped my sentiment" :)

thank you, june, for sharing both of those gorgeous cards with us! ♥

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "this week my inspiration came from a blogger and paper artist i have just discovered called tara anderson; i ♥LOVE♥ the way she combines layer after layer of both brand-new papercrafting product AND unique vintage elements! i don't think i've even come close to approaching her amazing style, but i sure had fun making this card!!!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I stamped a favorite image from Artistic Outpost's Snowy Woods in Versamark on Ivory cardstock and clear embossed.  Next I sponged on lots of Fired Brick Distress Ink for a great emboss resist effect & trimmed leaving an inky frame around the image.  I use a baby wipe to clean the extra ink of the embossed surfaces, to really make it pop.  I added a few frames of paper to finish the design."

there's still nearly a whole week to link up your own red *OR* green creations, scroll down to last week's post for the linky tool and full details! 

♥♥♥♥♥
*do ♥YOU♥ have a great suggestion for a prompt? have you always wanted to try your hand at making a card sketch? or maybe you'd just like to come along, make an early card, and be "featured" one friday on the jingle belles blog? we ALWAYS enjoy having a "lovely guest star" so if you'd like to be one, just email us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail.com!