Raiding the Refrigerator (or Craft Stash)

We're still creating with Holiday Leftovers at Jingle Belles this week ... remember we want to see you use all of those little crafty leftovers that you saved because they were too pretty to throw away or recycle. 

Here how we raided our crafty stashes this week to create our holiday cards:

Lauren's Other Card(s)

Lauren says, "This week I was excited to find the last dozen or so of a sheet of extremely ancient Artchix Studio Inchies; and then I stumbled upon the perfect sketch (Sketch Saturday #724) to use them up!  I matted the inchies on a leftover scrap of green cardstock, then planted them on that orphaned strip of stripey Basic Grey exactly the right size for two 6" cards. I also used up a couple of Joy diecuts that were sitting on my worktable. I popped on a few Eyelet Outlet Holly Brads just for extra texture and interest."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "When I saw the layout at Sketch Saturday #724, I thought it would be perfect to use with some of my Gelli Print leftovers.  I punched five 1 1/4" squares and then realized I still had enough leftover bits to create my card background.  I love those metallic paint prints.  I finished with a leftover piece of gold thread from my fiber stash & a strip sentiment that I found at the bottom of one of my stamp drawers (so no idea where it originated)."

Scroll down to the original post and be inspired by the Holiday Leftovers Readers' Gallery. You've still got until next Wednesday evening (May 3rd) to join the fun!

Holiday Leftovers

One of our favorite things about the holiday meal is the leftovers… we always enjoy a little stuffing and cranberry sauce on our turkey or ham sandwich. 

So this week we're celebrating Holiday Leftovers by creating cards using all of those little CRAFTY leftover: tiny pieces of paper, alphabet letters, stickers, ribbon, extraneous diecuts … you know those things you have saved because they were just too cute or pretty to throw them away… well, we want to see you use them to make some fun leftover holiday cards.

Here are our leftover combinations this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "One great type of card to make with leftover small bits is a clean & simple design, so I started with the AAA Cards Challenge to use a ripped or torn edge.  I took a scrap of rejected gelli print from this cardmaking exercise and tore a strip to use with the BYSHC Sketch.  The Gina K. Designs Gnome for the Holidays die cuts are perfect for those too pretty to throw away bits of paper (I used two different gelli press bits with a scrap of white textured paper for the beard & pom pom).  I took my gnome inspiration from the Peace on Earth Challenge and used Purple & Green for the Color Hues Challenge."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I used Sketch Saturday #723 to guide my placement of images, which thankfully helped me narrow down the choices, because I have LOTS of leftovers! I paper pieced together several pre-stamped but unused versions of reindeer and vehicle from Lawn Fawn's Car Critters & Add-On stamp sets; all of my patterned paper panels and shapes were leftover from various projects; I even had some tiny punched trees ready to roll. I decided to inset the blue circle into the larger blue panel; I stamped one of the sentiments that came with Car Critters, matted the strips and added them to the top right. Eyelet Outlet Enamel Hearts are always a nice addition, imo, so I finished off with a couple in bold red."

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Link your Holiday Leftovers Masterpieces right here by 67pm (EST) on Wednesday, May 3rd. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB-23-09. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Earth Day Excellence

The Earth Day challenge never disappoints, we always see some of your most creative cards of the year and 2023 is no exception! Without further ado, here are three that especially caught our eye:

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

...saves plastic packaging just like we do in order to make shaker cards; of which this is a stellar example, don't you think?

Alison C of Cranberry and Eggplant

...used nearly ALL recycled elements to make this gorgeous card: bits of green and gold shimmery envelopes, part of a biscuit box, even the gorgeous sun is a Gelli print that came out differently than expected.

Lorraine of Paper Vernissage 

...made THREE awesome cards from carefully saved giftwrap and panels from tissue boxes; this one comes in as favorite because it represents all the fun little bits she has "squirreled away"!!!

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Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every clever bit of recycling, reusing and upcycling. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt for anyone who has a few leftover ideas! ;) 

From Trash to Treasure

We're still celebrating Earth Day 2023 by making holiday cards that feature a recycled, reused or upcycled element, 

and you're still invited to join the fun, which we hope you will. Here's what we made this week:

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I built my card around recycled packaging from Tim Holtz for my card base ... the snowy edges seemed like the perfect home for my vintage Santa ephemera.  I layered on a vintage calendar and a punch of poinsettia paper for a bit more red on the corner.  The layout is a Sketch from Just Add Ink with a stamped sentiment from Taylored Expressions Pennant Parade Christmas and a rub-on sentiment along the bottom to finish the design."

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "My recycled ingredients for this week include some poinsettia giftwrap that I backed with cardstock; part of a box from a cool tea-themed advent calendar my neighbor Deb gave me; and the cover of a random holiday catalog I saved. I glued the catalog cover to some cardstock, then fussycut the handsome nutcracker. I used the tea box and the giftwrap just like regular patterned paper, adding gold mats to make them stand out more. I found a glittery sentiment flag in a pack of cardstock ephemera pieces (from Carta Bella a couple of years ago, I think) and added it on little slivers of foam tape et voila... my design is complete!"

Peace on EARTH DAY!

It's April and thus time for one of our favorite Jingle Belles challenges: our Earth Day Special, for which we make holiday cards that feature at least one recycled, reused or upcycled item. 

A few examples to get you started: you could use the giftwrap or ribbon that was too pretty to throw away after unwrapping your presents; maybe you saved some pretty papercraft packaging or the cover of a beautifully staged holiday catalog; you could make a shaker window from the clear plastic box your salad came in. 

If past years are anything to go by, we're pretty sure that as you start looking around you'll find SOMETHING cool that you can use for this challenge. Then be sure to tell us what the "special" items are in your post. Here's what we made; can you guess what the recycled elements are? 

Lauren's Card(s)

Lauren says, "I often save tissue boxes. I don't know why, but the designs on them are often as pretty as commercial patterned paper and since they're made of thin but sturdy cardboard, they are absolutely perfect for diecutting. In this case, I started out with two different boxes, one with a green leopard pattern and one with wispy pine boughs. Then I chose two wood grains from Photoplay's It's a Wonderful Christmas line, and two tan scraps for the sentiment (cut with Tim Holtz's Lowercase Typo alphabet dies) as well as grocer's kraft card bases, Eyelet Outlet Glitter Enamels and a bit of Pavilio White Lace Tape to die them all together. There was no real need to add machine stitching, but I was in the mood, so I did."

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie say, "I started my card by die cutting the Be Merry from a holiday card my brother gave me a few years ago that I saved for just such an occasion.  Next I die cut a piece of polka dot packaging from Pretty Little Studio (they have the prettiest packaging too).  In the same way that Lauren saves tissue boxes, I save craft product packaging because so much of it is so lovely.   Since I used their packaging, I added a sticker sentiment from Pretty Little Studio The Merriest Word and finished designing the card with some painted paper from my stash."

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Link your cards right here by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 19th. Keyword for galleries, Flickr etc is JB2308.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tinsel Tree Inspiration Galore

It seems we were not the only cardmakers inspired by that gorgeous Tinsel Tree Inspiration Photo, there are some amazing takes in the Readers' Gallery, so if you haven't scrolled down to have a look around, we highly recommend the trip! Meanwhile here are three cards that especially caught our eye this time:

Suzanne H who posts via Flickr

...incorporated all of the colors and sparkle from the photos, and even added a trio of trees with beautiful baubles... we love the way she stacked them to fit on her card!

Prudence aka Penguin Parade on Instagram

...captured all of the colors in her that gorgeous mixed media panel, and even added tiny green trees as well as the tan and black from the tree stands!

Susan B of Cardmaker's Garret

...chose to decorate a different sort of tree entirely, but the predominance of white, the sparkly ornaments and that soft, artful background all refer to the photo beautifully!

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we enjoyed seeing ALL of your cards and continue to be amazed by your creativity. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will bring you down to Earth... in a very very good way! ;)