Go Planet ... it's your EARTH Day

Yep, we're still celebrating Earth Day this week by creating cards that feature recycled, repurposed or upcycled elements. Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "My recycled elements this week are both pretty pieces of giftwrap saved from holiday packages last xmas: the kraft and red paper with the pine boughs, plus the adorable midcentury-modern-style animals that were obviously way too cute to toss away. I've used the brand new sketch from Sketch Saturday to make my card extra fresh, however!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I won't lie ... when I saw this adorable Yeti on the packaging for the Glad Storage Containers I buy each holiday season, I let out a little *woot* right there in the grocery aisle. I knew that cutie was going on my Earth Day card.  Turns out it took me over an hour to remember where I hid the little cutie, but I finally found him and put my card together.  I had to do some creative trimming to get rid of the words, but I like how it sort of looked like an ornament when I was done."

Scroll down to the original Earth Day post for all the details and to link up your amazing eco-friendly creation! ♥

Peace on EARTH (Day)

It's one of our favorite prompts of the year at Jingle Belles ... when we celebrate EARTH Day (Sunday April 22nd officially) by creating cards using recycled elements.

(source)

Maybe you saved your holiday cards from last year planning to up-cycle the images ... or you've saved packaging that you thought would be cool to use ... you know we've all got a stash like that.  Well now is the time to break out your saved stuff and use it.

Here's what we created with our recycled elements.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I've saved that cool grid paper (which was the packaging for some Studio Calico journaling cards) in my stash for quite a few years ... and I think it makes a super-cool background for this modern holiday design.  The inspiration and sketch are from Fusion Card Challenges and all the cardstock were scraps I had on my studio table (so that was recycling too).  I did my favorite gem flourish surgery to decorate my tree with clear bling and finished with a coordinating sticker sentiment."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "The center panel of this card is an amazingly pretty cardfront from one of the holiday greetings I was sent this year. I confess that using it felt a bit like cheating, but you know... in a GOOD way, lol! Because let's face it, that thing was already so pretty, it didn't need much, did it? It was flat, though, so I added texture in the form of fabric poinsettias in the middle of the printed one (attached with a jingle bell brad); I adorned some of the printed holly berries with sparkly red Eyelet Outlet gems. Then I matted the trimmed-down panel onto a piece of gold glitter paper, and then onto a mat cut from a piece of pretty, slightly glossy, cream-colored Making Memories packaging. Et voila!"

Now it's your turn to pull out your own box of things "too pretty to throw away"; OR raid your recycling bin or waste paper basket for fun bits of packaging and paper! Be as creative as you like, and HAVE FUN! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, May 2nd. Keyword for galleries or Flickr is JB:18:09.

An InLinkz Link-up

Optimal Orange

We loved seeing all of the creative ways you interpreted our inspiration photo.

Here are a few that were optimal.

Vintage Scraps Canada

you know we're suckers for punny sentiments ... and little puppy tracks in the snow ... and perfect use of the colors to decorate both the tiny village and cute little doggie ... and did you see those fabulous clouds?

Steffi H.

really rocked the white space with the perfect amount of texture from embossing and stitching ... and the orange ties it all together.

Crafting Junky

created with snowflakes from all three colors with the wonderful pop of color from orange stripes and an orange sentiment ... wonderful combination of elements.

See you back at Midnight for our annual ode to the Earth.

An ORANGE in your Stocking

Did you get fruit in your stocking when you were a kid?  We always got a bit navel orange and an apple (and a glass bottle of Coca Cola, which pretty much filled the stocking).

Today we're still creating cards inspired by this lovely holiday scene.

Here are our inspired designs:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I mentioned last week, for anyone who's not a fan of the bright orange-- or perhaps just doesn't have much in the way of orange supplies-- there are a couple of ways to go: you can ignore the colors completely, and focus on selected elements like the tree, the fireplace, the presents, etc; OR you can just tone them waaaaaaaaaaay down. My card this week is probably closer, proportionally, to how much bright color is in that room compared with how much white + neutral there is. Once again, there are no "holiday" supplies, except for that awesome Memory Box die, "Marvelous Pine". I've got a bunch of different whites-- including a white-ish woodgrain and some white glitter paper for a bit of sparkle. My pops of vivid color come from washi tape, and I've put the entire panel onto a much softer orange background."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I did a riff on Lauren's Washi Tape card for last week's post.  I loved combining all of my orange and green patterns for a fun striped background.  For the big bold white element, I stamped a sentiment from STAMPlorations Miracle of Christmas and finished with a sprinkling of sequins."

Scroll down to the original post to see the readers' gallery, check out the complete challenge details, and link up your own masterpiece!

ORANGE You Glad It's Christmas

This week we're bringing you an Inspiration Photo to inspire your designs.

There's so much here that you might use as inspiration ... Maybe it's the pops of color on white; the fuzzy stockings; the orange pillows; the gorgeous tree ... or even the paint chip ornaments on the tree .... here's how we were inspired:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I was drawn to the plaid wrapping paper on the presents under the tree, so that is where I began my design.  While my greens, oranges & yellows are a bit more muted than the hues in the photograph, I still captured the feel.  I added in coordinating patterned orange paper inspired by the pillows and designer paper of wood logs inspired by the coffee tables.  I finished with my very own white tree decorated with clear lights & pearl ornaments (aka Eyelet Outlet Fancy Long Bling) and a sentiment from Reverse Confetti Sentimental Christmas.  The layout is the final Sketch For You to Try from Reverse Confetti as my layout."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I confess that my first thought when I saw the photo was that I didn't have ANYTHING in my xmas stash with those colors. But then I realized I have loads of non-holiday washi tape in pretty much every shade shown; and loads of fab xmas stuff in white! I decided to make a background with the colors and let my centerpiece be a cluster of white and silver snowflakes. Then I found the cool Crate Paper journal card with nearly the exact same teal as the accent pillow in the foreground-- score! So I scaled back my snowflakes to a slightly smaller size to fit around the journal card, et voila! I also made a second card that mixes a white diecut Christmas tree with the same washi background... I'd love for you to click over and see it!"

Remember, you can use as many-- or as few-- elements from the photo as you'd like! Be creative, think outside the box, and have FUN! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:18:08.

An InLinkz Link-up

Old-Fashioned Perfection

Clearly we are not the only cardmakers who enjoy a vintage vibe at Christmas. Judging by the amazing gallery, everyone was especially inspired this fortnight! Here are a few cards that made us particularly happy:

Sue C of Paper Pleasure
...combined many gorgeous bits and bobs in a beautiful "collagey" style, made even better by the uniquely shaped card base!



Susan B of Cardmaker's Garret
...stamped what might be the Best Sentiment Ever, then let it shine by making it the star of this lovely card!

Barbara of The Knackered Grouse
...posted three of seven (!) cards she made featuring gorgeous vintage Santa illustrations teamed with just the right embellishments!

♥♥♥

And now what about that fun prize from Lauren's Etsy Shop,
Just Enough Stuff?

Prize includes a Deluxe Christmas Ephemera Assortment
like this one and  a $10 credit to select anything else
you'd like from Just Enough Stuff 

The fine folks at Random.org have selected the magic number of...
*22*
which means our Lucky Winner is:

*Janis Lewis*

please email Lauren at llaurenb@hotmail.com
to claim your prize!

Many thanks to everyone who played along this fortnight! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new inspiration we hope will color your holiday cardmaking world in a brand new way! ♥