'Tis the Night After Christmas...

...and we hope you have had a truly wonderful holiday with family, friends, and a little bit of everything you love. We've had a fab December and are ready to roll with a brand new season of ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ starting next Monday, January first, so we hope to see you then. Meanwhile, we've got a brand new header and badge for the upcoming festivities, feel free to help yourself:

2018 Jingle Belles Header designed by Lauren Bergold in PSE9
digital products used: Readymade Layers Christmas Borders No8 and Readymade Layers Botanical Clusters No3 by Studio Double D; Classic Glam Elements-Gold No1 and Golden Essentials No4 by Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals; Sunshine Poppy free font from DaFont.com

link URL for badge: http://jinglebellesrock.blogspot.com

Taking Back Our ~SEVENTH~ December

It's hard to believe that we've just wrapped up another ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ season, but here it is December 8th and we've been working towards this all year long, so we've got a pretty good stash of cards built up. 

Whether you joined us once a fortnight, once a month, or just once in a while, we've had a blast seeing your amazing creativity and sharing your enthusiasm. 

Thanks very much for turning our Holiday card-making into something enjoyable and fun all year long! We'll be back again on January 1, 2018 to start this whole shindig over again, and we hope to see you then! Meanwhile we wish you the loveliest of Decembers and the happiest of holidays! 

♥ Merry Christmas! ♥

xoxoxo

Stephanie and Lauren

Stephanie's 2017 Christmas Card Stash

Lauren's 2017 Christmas Card Stash

Of course, we don't rule out making another card or two in the next few weeks, and just in case you need to make a few more, as well, we'll leave this linky open until Christmas Eve so you can upload your cards, get a little inspiration and spur each other on to the finish line! ♥

An InLinkz Link-up

Metal Marvels

We loved seeing all of the variations on our metal theme in the gallery.

Here are a few that particularly caught our eye.

Marcia K of 

Marcia K Designs

created an entire collection of marvelous metal designs by using the same die cut but layers different combinations of metallic papers (click through to see more) ... absolutely bling-tastic.

Marty F of

Merry Marty Cards

combined gold watercolor, gold embossing, gold flourishes, and even *golded* her silver charms to create her magnificent vintage gold masterpiece.

Stephanie L of

My Ink-Well

used a new-to-us Inked Stencil Dry Embossing Technique to create a lovely letterpress-like design using metallic ink.  Her big bold metallic sentiment is also the star of the show.

We'll be back tomorrow with our annual round-up post.  We hope that we helped you take back your December one holiday card at a time ... we'll look forward to seeing you in 2018.

Heavy Metal Holiday

We're still loving ALL the metals: gold, silver, copper... whether they are shiny or matte, glittery or plain, stamped, diecut, embossed or in any other way you'd care to use them! You still have plenty of time to share your metallic masterpieces, too, just scroll down to the original post for all the details and the linking tool.

Meanwhile, here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I'm quite smitten with Idea-Ology Kraftcore Metallic Cardstock, so I've embossed, sanded and used it as my background panel. (A concept i was 100% happy with, until it came time for photographs; yowza that stuff is SHINY!) I also love my gloriously dramatic Prussian Blue ColorBurst from Ken Oliver Crafts, which I've painted onto watercolor paper and then later added copper accents in the form of embossing paste for the larger ornament and a diecut poinsettia on the smaller one. I've trimmed the baubles with Eyelet Outlet bling strip hangers, a pearl brad, and there's a bit of glitter copper tape peeking out in the background there, too."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week I let my golden metallic designer paper do most of the work.  All I had to add was a glittery gold die cut sentiment & some gold sequins for accents to complete the design ... easy-peasy."

Remember you have until Wednesday, December 6th at 6pm EST to link up your metallic marvels.

Baby it's GOLD (or SILVER or COPPER) Outside

Our final prompt for 2017 at Jingle Belles we're featuring all of those precious metals ... making a card that focuses on metallics - GOLD, SILVER, COPPER or any other Metal you might have in your stash.

Here's how we got our *shine* on this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "My card features an almost-discarded piece of inky paper (see the before picture on my blog) that was transformed with silver glitter paste and a polka dot stencil together with Silver Metallic Shelf Paper that I found at the hardware store (always keep your eyes peeled for potential crafting supplies).  It's so easy to work with, and it really SHINES."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I've gone for the gold this week; or rather the golds, plural, since there are five different metallics on my card! A fact I was very excited about, until I tried to get a decent photograph. So please excuse the funky angle of my pic, but honestly, life's too short you guys! My card combines glossy metallic patterned paper, storebought glitter cardstock, some awesome Eyelet Outlet Glitter Tape and even a couple of gold on gold giftwraps that I saved from last year's presents; because there's no such thing as too much sparkle on holiday cards, am I right?!"

Link your creations here by Wednesday, December 6th at 6pm (EST). Codeword for galleries and Flickr is JB:17:24.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank You for the Thank Yous!

It seems especially appropriate to be rounding up the glorious holiday thank you cards on the Thursday we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving! Of course one of the things we're most thankful for creatively, is the fact that we get to hang out with (and be inspired by!) our amazing fellow papercrafters all year round AND avoid the dreaded holiday card-making stress in December! Be sure to tune in tomorrow when we announce the last official theme of our 2017 ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ season. Meanwhile, here are a few thank you cards that made us especially grateful:

Mary Marsh of The Charmed Life

...created an amazingly lovely, perfectly seasonal thank you that is also a master class in diecutting technique!

Donna Ellis of Creative Smiles 

...employed the ever-adorable House Mouse and his friend, to teach us all a thing or two about friendship; not to mention stamping and coloring!

Kathe D of Kathe's Adventures

...despite being one of the most positive people we know, turns out to be an expert in negative space, as this beautifully graphic CAS card proves!

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every single card! C'mon back at midnight when we'll reveal the last official prompt of 2017; you won't want to miss this one, it's solid gold, we tell ya! ;)

Giving (Holiday) Thanks

We're still working on those holiday thank you cards, while we dream about the upcoming Thanksgiving meal, and feel tremendously grateful to be close to wrapping up another wonderful year of card-making with so many talented friends!

Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card(s)

Lauren says, "I've used the same strategy as last week-- creating a somewhat neutral design with no sentiment added yet, which could be used as an emergency Xmas card before the holiday, if necessary! I make at least a few of these washi tape quilt cards every year (a tutorial for which is in this post from 2011!!!) because they're so easy and fun to make! This time I've used a whole bunch of my favorite red and green Eyelet Outlet tapes, plus paper flowers and bling; but i've kept them fairly flat to be postal-friendly!"

Stephanie's Other Card(s)

Stephanie says, "This week Lauren and I were discussing ideas for being creative when your mojo has abandoned you.  She suggested I go back through some of my previous projects and re-create one.  I decided instead of go through her posts and look for inspiration.  I only had to go as far as her snowflake cards from last week.  I used monochromatic designer papers, torn edges, and simple winter accents to create cards that could be thank yous ... or last minute holiday cards (why do I never think to tear my edges).  I had to smile when I posted my cards and saw we both used the same color palette this week ... yea for traditional holiday hues (close-ups of each card are on my blog)."

Scroll down to last week's post to link up your own cards!

THANKful for the Holidays

With just two more official prompts left, we're getting close to the end of our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ year. So this is a great time to take stock of how many cards you've completed, go back and add sentiments inside the cards if you haven't already, make sure they all have envelopes, etc. Being as we're coming up on Thanksgiving here in the US, it's also a good time to think about the cards we're all going to need after the holiday... so this fortnight we're making thank you cards!

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I spent the day looking for a stamp set I misplaced (never did find it), but I did find a set of glittery holiday tags & some Thank You stickers that I'd forgotten I had ... and they were both perfect for this week's card.  I added a Peppermint Candy brad from Eyelet Outlet and used this week's Sketch Saturday layout.  I created a second tag card on my blog."

Lauren's Cards

Lauren says, "Shocking true confession: There's never been a year in which I didn't need at least one or two extra cards at the very last minute; usually because someone I wasn't expecting kindly sent me a beautiful handmade card! On the other hand, I'm not a cardmaker who always likes to put a sentiment on the outside. By now I think you may have guessed what I am getting at here, right?  The cards you see above are the right tone to be thank you notes. They will almost certainly be thank you notes. But I haven't put a sentiment on the outside or the inside yet... just in case I need a couple more holiday cards at the last minute. It's called "hedging your bets" lol, and you are welcome to join me in this strategy this fortnight!" 

Link your creations here by Wednesday, November 22nd at 6pm (EST). Codeword for galleries and Flickr is JB:17:23.

An InLinkz Link-up

Creative Creatures

Wowza ... the gallery is filled with fun and fabulous creatures.  It was hard to narrow it down, but here are a few of our favorites.

Tip Top of

Tip Top Toppers Things

shared a fabulous Christmas Unicorn ... see the bit of holly on his tail, the present in his pack, and his adorable Santa Hat ... love the beautiful pinks too.

Carol S of

Inky Fingers

created this adorable layered holiday tag that features die cuts & stencils ... 

love his scarf & hat.

Maria Rodriguez of

SwimBikeRunandStamp

shared her adorable cat duo in glittery paper-pieced hats

singing Christmas Carols loud & proud ... that expression is priceless.

Holiday Creature Feature

We're back for the second week of our annual holiday creature feature ... the gallery is filled with all sorts of awesome animals, creatures & critters.

Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card(s)

Lauren says, "I am somewhat famous for hating to mass-produce, but there is no denying the efficiency of making more than one variation of the same design. And as long as I can change up the details so that each card is a bit different, I don't mind too much, lol. In this case, I used up loads of little scraps, offcuts and leftovers, thanks to the rather brilliant current Sketch Saturday layout!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I had to go with a creature card this week ... rather than my usual Yeti, I am featuring a Star Wars Storm Trooper gift tag (who has sort-of-a-yeti-feel) coincidentally also using this week's Sketch Saturday layout (we didn't plan ahead, but it's sort of like showing-up at a party in the same Christmas sweater).  There's a second creature card at my blog if you want to click through."

Not a CREATURE was stirring

This week at Jingle Belles we're breaking out the ANIMALS.

It could be a sweet little sheep next to the manger, a cardinal in a snowy tree, or perhaps one of Santa's reindeer ... okay, or even a Monster (or a Yeti) if you're in a Halloween mood and want to stretch the theme (and your name is Lauren).

Here are our Creatures for this week.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I couldn't wait to break out my Coolest Yulest Stamp set with this adorable reindeer.  I also used a page from a tiny dictionary (with the word reindeer) that I found at a used bookstore on my recent travels.  Rudolph does have a red gem nose, although it's a bit hard to see in the picture."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "My name *IS* Lauren, lol, so YES... of course... I've got MONSTAS! :) :) :) These guys are sporting some pretty fab accessories, too! all of which are Eyelet Outlet brads. I managed to work in quite a few styles, including Santa Hats, Elf Hats, Mittens, Antlers, Holly and a Candy Cane, woohoo!"

We can't wait to see the entire herd & gaggle of creatures and critters in the gallery.

Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, November 8th. Keyword for galleries and Jingle Belles Flickr Gallery is JB:17:22. 

An InLinkz Link-up

May All Your Christmases Be... ♥PINK♥!

There are lots of reasons we love ♥PINK CHRISTMAS♥ so much. For one thing, we love that every single card you link up helps us raise more money to help find a cure for breast cancer! This year we had 46 amazing cards (and YES, we remembered to count the "extras" from those of you kind enough to put more than one into a post) and since each of us (Lauren and Stephanie) donate $2 per card, that means you've helped us raise $200 (ok, we rounded up a tiny bit) for the Breast Cancer Research Fund! THANK YOU!!! ♥♥♥

Another thing we love about this challenge is that we always see some of the most beautiful cards of the year. And here are three that made us feel especially "in the pink" this time:

Barb G of Barb's Creative Corner

...made not one, not two, but  EIGHT of the gorgeous cards in our Pink Christmas gallery, each one of them beautifully stamped, colored and embellished to perfection, for which we thank her very much indeed! We couldn't possibly pick a single favorite, but if you reallllllllllly pushed us, this might be the one! (You definitely need to check out ALL of them on her blog!)

♥♥♥

Sue Reynolds of I Luv Scrapping Too

...did not use the most or the brightest pink of all the cards we saw, but we'd argue that it's the most dramatic use of pink; and it stands out so amazingly well against the grey and white!

♥♥♥

Marianne of Marianne's Cards and Stuff

...made SIX of these beautiful CAS cards! You really need to go and see them all, because she used the same very cool mask + ink technique on all of them, but had fun changing up the stamps, the sentiments and even the orientation of the cards! And then she made four of this design. And two of these. We're kind of in awe and we think you will be too, so GO and see them all!!!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to every one who linked up their gorgeous cards, who shared the graphic, and spread the word for ♥PINK CHRISTMAS♥ we appreciate every single one of you! We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt that we hope will not effect your creature comforts in the near future... ;)

Deck the Halls... in ♥PINK♥!

We are still rockin' ♥PINK CHRISTMAS♥ for a very good cause! So whether you like rose or fuchsia, salmon or flamingo, magenta or bubblegum... or heck, maybe you love ALL of those, in which case grab your cardmaking supplies and link up as many times as you'd like, on the post directly below this one!

Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "In honor of such an awesome occasion, I broke out one of my last treasured scraps of they-don't make-this-anymore Papaya Art glitter giftwrap, not to mention some washi, a little ribbon, a big poinsettia, a snowflake glitter sticker and a big beautiful Eyelet Outlet pearl brad. I also got to play with some cool new Ranger cardstock that is metallic on one side and and kraft on the other, which I embossed and sanded a bit sporadically. My layout was inspired by the current Sketch Saturday, but the finished card is admittedly a very loose interpretation."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I had lots of fun with Alcohol Inks and Yupo paper this week.  I combined four shades of pink ink with a little yellow, purple and blue to create my background.  I die cut the ornaments in black and then the next smaller size from pink inky paper for the insides.  I decorated them with some Eyelet Outlet bling."

Whether you're in the mood for making cards with loads of lovely pre-made products OR you'd prefer to experiment with inks... (or stamps, or oxides, or marbling, or collage, or well, ANYTHING you can think of, lol!) ...add in some PINK and come join our fun and help us raise some money for a very good cause! ♥♥♥

♥ Pink Christmas... for the Cure! ♥

If you've played along with us in other years, you may already know we always devote the first ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ theme of each October to making pink holiday cards as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and that for each card that gets linked up, we each donate two dollars to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There are really no rules for this challenge other than the fact that each card has to be newly made, it has to have a winter holiday theme and it has to feature PINK prominently. Does your whole card have to be pink? Certainly not. Can you combine other colors with the pink? Of course! Should you have more pink than say two or three baubles on your green tree set against a snowy white background? Well, yeah... that'd be good. :) But other than that, we'll leave it to you to decide how much pink, what shade, and how to employ it!

We're not generally huge on self-promotion around here, but this cause is near and dear to our hearts and we'd love to get GREAT participation, so be sure to tell all your cardmaking friends, and feel free to share the graphic and our link on your blog or social media.

But now let's get right to the cardmaking! Here's what we've made this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says,"I started with this fun Christmas Kitty Stamp from Technique Junkies and colored his hat & nose with a combination of pink markers.  The sentiment stamp is a favorite from CatsLife Press (which seemed appropriate).  The reminder of the card was made using paper scraps from my stash, including the vertical border that was recycled from a mother's day card."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I've gone with a bunch of shades of pink, from cerise to salmon to the soft pastel shade my sister calls, "sky blue pink", but I've added in white and cream in lots of lovely torn layers. The flowery chipboard letters are definitely "older stash" but I still really like them and I was pretty psyched that I had enough to make a seasonal sentiment! The rest of the card is older bits of paper, including some of my favorite Basic Grey grungy solids, a bit of washi, a bit of doily and a little machine stitching. In other words: all my favorite things in honor of my favorite challenge!"

You can link up as many ♥PINK♥ holiday cards as you'd like, and yes, you can put pics of more than one design into the same blog post... we will be sure to count the multiples! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, October 25th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:17:21. ♥

An InLinkz Link-up

Mission Emboss-ible

Wow ... the gallery for this week's prompt is amazing ... so many awesome embossing techniques.

It was definitely hard to choose, but here are a few of our favorites.

Barb Housner

of

Paper Therapy Ponderings

rocked the emboss resist technique with gorgeous non-traditional holiday hues ... and that seam binding is fantastic.

Julie

of

Stamping with Julie Gearinger

beautifully combined texture embossing with heat embossing to create this gorgeous night time holiday scene.

Hansi

of

Quilting with Paper

also combined heat embossing with texture embossing to make this snow-filled winter wonderland design ... love how the penguin looks like he's trying to hide off the side of the circle to avoid being pelted by a snowball.

Come back at midnight for one of our favorite prompts of the year.

♥It's Almost Time!♥

♥♥♥

(Just sayin'...)

(Meanwhile there's still a day left to Dream the Embossible Dream; 

scroll down to the original post to link up!)

Dream the Embossible Dream

We're still celebrating embossing at Jingle Belles this week.  You can use dry embossing, heat embossing, or even textured or embossed papers ... whatever you can do to add a little texture to your holiday project.  

Here is what we created this week:

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I stayed with my snowflakes theme, but this week I used heat embossing for my snowflake background & my sentiment.  The embossing really makes the colors pop against the Distress Oxide background"

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I stayed with snowflakes AND with pressure embossing, I actually even used the same Tim Holtz/Sizzix embossing folder as last week. But this time I broke out my ColorBurst pigment powders (Prussian Blue, Ultramarine and a tiny bit of Turquoise, to be exact) and my American Crafts POW glitter paper in gloriously sparkly copper for a funky, grungy, artsy card that was a total blast to make!"

Embossing Around the Christmas Tree

This week we're celebrating the creative art of Embossing ... dry embossing, heat embossing, or even textured or embossed papers ... whatever you can do to add a little texture to your holiday project. 

Here is how we embossed this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I tried embossing one of my Gelli Prints with a Darice Fancy Snowflakes embossing folder, and the results were pretty much lost in the pattern of the background.  Next I tried applying Lawn Fawn Blue Jay ink direct-to-paper and the embossed texture came to life.  I love the results.  Sentiment is from The Ton Holiday Lyrics and Flower Bling that is new from Eyelet Outlet (I thought the shape echoed the snowflakes in the background)."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I confess that although I have plenty of beautiful embossing folders, I tend to forget all about them until there is a specific challenge that involves embossing, lol. Luckily, this one gave me a chance to use one of my favorite snowflake folders, on watercolor paper, then dry blend gelato crayons onto the raised snowflake areas. I've also used some beautiful hand-dyed crinkly ribbon that for some reason looks terribly odd and a bit grimey in the photo, but is quite lovely IRL. Meanwhile, my layout is based on the awesome current (#482) Sketch Saturday."

Of course we cannot wait to see what you will make! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, October 11th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:17:20.

An InLinkz Link-up

Tip Top Tic-Tac-Toe

It is always a joy to click through and see each and every link in our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ galleries, but this fortnight's Tic-Tac-Toe cards were especially creative and wonderful, so we highly recommend scrolling down to the original post for a look-see. Meanwhile, here are a few entries we found especially delightful:

Chris of And Here's One I Made Earlier...

...rocked the middle column of the board (snow/cardstock/blue) in a big big way with an adorable trio of polar bears!

Jan R of Huh... So This Is a Blog

...coincidentally used exactly the same ingredients, to equally wonderful effect, but in a COMPLETELY different way!

  (For the record, that's our very favorite thing about a game like Tic-Tac-Toe!)

Veana R

...chose the first column (red/glitter/santa) and used each of those to perfection!

Many thanks to everyone who played along and shared their creations! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt that we hope will inspire you... like a boss... :)

Three-In-A-Row

Yes, it's our second week of holiday Tic-Tac-Toe, so you still have plenty of time to play along. Just choose a row, a column or a diagonal from the board and get creative, then scroll down to the original post and link up your masterpiece!

Here's what we made this week:

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I had plans to use a different three elements this week, but when I found a red-glittered-Santa tag in my stash, I had to do a repeat of the left column ... because when life hands you a trifecta ... you use it.  All I added was some amazing bling strips from Eyelet Outlet to finish my glittery design."

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I chose the top row this week so I got to combine RED (in the form of Alizarin Crimson ColorBurst, deep red cardstock and two-toned ribbon); plus SNOW (in the form of glitter paper diecuts of several sizes); and FLOWERS (that I've stamped in the background, as well as layered in the snowflake stack)!"

Scroll down to the original post to see the glorious readers' gallery and to link up your masterpiece!

Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe

Yes, it's that time again, when we bust out the ever popular holiday Tic-Tac-Toe game and invite you to pick a row, a column, or a diagonal; then make a card using those three things and link it up! 

Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I chose the left hand column, "red... glitter... santa". The red is pretty visible, and the Santa element is on that sweet Eyelet Outlet Santa and Snowman washi tape. Admittedly the glitter is a little hard to see, but the Doodlebug snowman and some of the the snowflakes are glittery stickers. I mention this because I know some people do not enjoy having loose glitter in their homes, and these are a great "work around". As are Eyelet Outlet glitter washi tapes and American Crafts "POW" glitter papers; both of which also diecut beautifully!"

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I usually avoid glitter like the plague, but this week I built my card around it ... I used Bo Bunny Silver Glitter Paste with my ARTplorations Oh My Stars! Stencil on black cardstock for my background.  I went with the left column too with Red & Santa as my other two Tic-Tac-Toe elements (I always find it awesome when Lauren & I use the same inspiration, but get such different results) and threw in some deconstructed Eyelet Outlet Red Swirl gem bling & glittery red wired ribbon as finishing touches."

Of course we cannot wait to see what you will make, so choose any consecutive strip and start creating! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, September 27th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:17:19.

An InLinkz Link-up