It Came Upon a Midnight *CLEAR*

This fortnight we're asking you to make a holiday card that contains at least one see-through element, whether that be glass, a transparency, some vellum, acetate or "ghost" shapes, clear stickers, lucite buttons, shrink plastic... whatever you like... if you can see through it (& figure out how to attach it!) put it on there and link it up! 

Here you can CLEARLY see how we were inspired this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started with a wonderful Dina Wakley Media Pattern Play Set 1 Transparency.  I attached a cute little sledding penguin gift tag card to the transparency together with a Simon Says Stamp Reverse Sentiment Strip using foam tape for both.  The I was able to use strong two sided tape behind both to attach the transparency to the glitter card base.  I finished with some transparent sequins for accents."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "Right off the bat I should probably mention that nearly everything on this card is ANCIENT and unavailable, though I did find the adorable Pretty Pink Posh critters, whose stamp set is called Holiday Pals, at Buffalo Stamps and Stuff. That just happens to be the place where my friend Elisabeth from Paper Anthology got hooked on stamping; so if you live anywhere near Buffalo, NY, you should probably check it out. I've colored the Pals (plus trees from the same set) with Tombows from Paper Anthology and built a shaker window on top of the card by diecutting that Nesties frame half a dozen times and stacking them up with a snowy Hunkydory Crafts Acetate Sheet holding in a mix of Eyelet Outlet Snowflake and Round Sequins. Then I set the entire thing onto a 5" card base made from a beloved and well-hoarded Hambly Transparency with a few styles of truly elderly washi."

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This challenge runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, March 8th. Link your cards right here. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB2305. We can't wait to see what you will make!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The EMBOSSABLE Dream!

It seems that each and every Jingle Belle knows how to Emboss Like a Boss, as you'll discover if you scroll down to the Embossing Gallery, where each and every card is clever, beautiful and inspiring. Here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Helen of Helen's Craft Haven

...did the white-embossed-on-dark-paper trick that NEVER fails to feel completely magical!

(She also made two other cards using the same stamp set in equally clever ways!)

Brenda of Brenda's Scraps of Life 

...used a beautiful embossing folder to add dimensional poinsettias to plain white paper... then softly watercolored them with subtle metallic shimmer!

Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

...created an impressively clean and simple white-on-white card with a sophisticated pop of gold!

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And now, I think we'd all like to know to whose house that fun embossing prize will be headed, right? The Random Number Generator has selected... 

(drumroll, please!)

Lucky Number 4

...which means that ROSE is our Lucky Winner!

Congrats, Rose, we just need your snail mail address to send your prize; please email lauren at llaurenb @ hotmail .com and it'll be on its merry postal way, ASAP!

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Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing ALL your beautiful cards. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt that we hope will be transparently inspirational! ;)

Mission *Embossable*

This week we're still asking you to break out your embossing folders and add some textural embossing to your cards (if you don't have embossing folders, here's a video showing how you can use your die cuts to emboss) or, you can use embossing powers; or maybe you'll go wild and do BOTH?!

Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I used Ranger's Vintage Pearl Embossing Powder to create soft texture on the pretty poinsettia from Wendy Vecchi's Doodle Christmas Stamp Set, then "painted" the flowers using Pink Peony and Viridian Archival Inks and a waterbrush full of rubbing alcohol. I used Taylored Expressions's Rosy Posey embossing folder on pale pink cardstock, then used a dauber loaded with Pink Peony to make the texture stand out a bit more. I traced a heart from Wendy Vecchi's Bases and Frames Chippies onto the Cracked Leather Paper, then covered it with Rosey Posey Archival and lightly flicked it with Pearl Mica Spray. The sentiment was cut from an ancient journal card, the felt snowflakes are trimmings from a big box store and I've scattered some Eyelet Outlet Clear Bling around for extra sparkle."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I love Gina K. Design embossing folders, so this week I used her Holiday Flora Embossing Folder with Core'dinations Cardstock that is brown in the front with a light blue Core (sanding it to bring out more of the embossed color).  I paired it with Gina K. Designs wreath builder with Stamps from Gina K. Designs Two-Step Holiday MINI,  Holiday Wreath Builder & Mini Wreath Builder Mini.  I finished with a few clusters of silver metallic pearls.  I'm also joining Gina's Monthly Mix Challenge to create with a Wreath."

This challenge runs until next Wednesday evening, February 22nd. Scroll down to the original post to link your cards AND to see the fun little embossing-related prize that one lucky random cardmaker will scoop up!

My Sweet *Embossable* You

This week we're asking you to pursue the Embossable Dream with us, whether you choose to use an Embossing Folder or die cuts (here's a video on Embossing with Die Cuts) OR using stamps, powders and a heat gun. 

Here's how we embraced embossing this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I did a variation on a faux patina technique I found on SplitcoastStampers with my Cuttlebug Lace Tree embossing folder.  I finished with a SimonSaysStamp Sentiment Strip and some Stampendous gold circle stickers for a bit more sparkle (there's another view on the blog that shows the gold a bit more).  I finished with a Simon Says Stamp Reverse Holiday Sentiment Strip."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I used Sunny Studio's Cable Knit Embossing Folder on peacock blue Tim Holtz Kraft Core cardstock, then softly sanded the design to create even more visual interest. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions' Flip the Snowflake stamp set, stamped in Wendy Vecchi's Night Sky Archival Ink. The diecuts are Impression Obsession Primitive Snowflakes Die Set and the whole thing is set atop a lovely dark grocer's kraft A2 card. This design is the basis of my second Paper Anthology Holiday Jumpstart Card Kit, which you can read all about on my personal blog."

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Just in case you need a little more incentive to join our Jingle Belles fun this fortnight, we have a lovely prize donated by a sweet friend. One lucky random cardmaker will receive Simon Says Stamp's Christmas Cookies Embossing Folder and a cool five piece Interchangeable Snowflake Frame embossing/diecutting set from Crafter's Companion; just for linking up with us this fortnight!

Link your embossed creations right here by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, February 22nd. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB2304.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Stick with Us

It seems we're not the only Christmas Crafters who love to use stickers in our creations. And now we have even more inspiration, thanks to the fabulous ideas you guys linked up. If you haven't already scrolled through the Stuck on You gallery, we highly recommend the trip. Meanwhile, here are a few cards that especially caught our eye this time:

LeAnne Pugliese of Wee Inklings

...discovered these wonderful chipboard banner stickers in her stash and gave them the perfect home on her colorful and appealing card!

Deanne Saunders of A Little Bit o'Paper

...created this marvelously minimalist card that makes us want to don our winter accessories and dance like a jubilant reindeer!

Brenda B of Brenda's Scraps of Life

...says she rarely uses stickers on cards, but this sophisticated Santa-inspired slimline shows that she's a natural! (We love the touches of glitter glue that customize her sweet stickers, too!)

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Many thanks to everyone who joined our sticker-centric fun, we loved seeing every single card! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt we hope you'll tackle like a BOSS... ;)

Let's **STICK** Together

We're still breaking out and creating with stickers this week; and you still have until next Wednesday evening (February 8th) to join our fun. Scroll down to the original post to link up YOUR fabulous sticker cards, but first... have a look at how we got STICK-y this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This time I've got some beautiful smaller stickers based on vintage postcards, which came from an older Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Sticker Book, as well as a nearly new Photoplay sticker sentiment, and some puffy holly-shaped Thickers. All of these are layered on top of Prima graphed patterned paper,  torn sheet music, and a strip of Pavilio's lovely White Lace Tape; as well as a few solid mats that pick up various colors in the design."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I built my card around that adorable Here Comes Santa Claus Doodle-Pops Cardstock sticker from Doodebug Design, Inc.  I framed it with a die cut stitched circle using the layout from the Inspire.Create.Challenge and paired it with a combination of Doodlebug papers.  The sentiment stickers are Christmas Labels by Tim Holtz."