Stories of Christmas

We're still creating cards inspired by the many holiday books or movies that we all adored in childhood (and likely still adore them today). 

Here are the Christmas stories that inspired us this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "Like everyone else, I have probably seen a few dozen movie and tv versions of "A Christmas Carol" (including the classic Alastair Sim film AND a musical version featuring the Muppets!) but I don't think I had actually ever read Dickens' novella until about fifteen years ago. Now I re-read it each year, either in print or via audiobook, and this week it is the inspiration for my card. The oversized journal card is from Graphic 45, the sheet music is from my stash, the paper flower is ancient Prima and the washi tape is October Afternoon."

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "Bumble the Abominable Snowman aka Yeti from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 1964 Stop Motion Animation Special has always been my favorite Yeti.  I built my card around this long-hoarded foam sticker adding the glittery star and Eyelet Outlet Candy Cane Brad in his Yeti hands.  I paired with with snowflakes & candy cane striped designer paper with him perched on a stitched die cut oval from one of my red gelliprints.  The perfect sentiment is from Hello Bluebird Yeti or Not."

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Scroll down to the original post to peruse the Readers' Gallery and to link up your own Story-inspired card.

A Christmas Story

This time we're asking you to create a card inspired by the many holiday books or movies that we all adored in childhood (and likely still adore them today). 

So whether you love “A Christmas Carol”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “It's a Wonderful Life” we're asking you to create a card inspired by your favorite holiday book or movie. 

Here are the Christmas stories that inspired us this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "My card is literally inspired by the movie A Christmas Story, which I didn't actually watch all of the way through until a few years ago.  I sprayed my papers with Fortune Teller & Cocktail Party Distress Mica Stain Sprays with my Leg Lamp stamps from The Ink Road.  The die cut panel is Pinkfresh Studio Rounded & Braided Rectangle Die.  I'm also linking-up at the Red/Purple Color Hues Challenge and V is for Vivid at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.  I finished with some Pinkfresh Studio Glitter Drops."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "Growing up, my favorite holiday story was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and it still is today. Over the years I've found or been gifted a number of editions, all of which I treasure. A few years ago, I scanned in some of my favorite illustrations and reduced them so that I could use them on cards. Here I've paired a Santa page with a (digital) Jenni Bowlin Holiday Bingo Card, a small cardstock tree diecut and some coordinated patterned papers from my stash. Three Eyelet Outlet Peppermint Candies and a scrap of embossed cardstock add a little extra texture."

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Link your card(s) right here, by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October 4th. 

Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB2320.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Spectacular SKETCH-mas

With such a beautiful sketch to work from, it's hardly surprising that every single card in the Readers' Gallery is a knockout. But it's our tradition to select just three on these occasions, so here they are now:

Kez of Crafts by Kez

...proves that caffeine and Christmas work perfectly together, as does a neutral palette with just a few hits of red; we're awarding bonus points for the supercute gingerbread folk on the coffee cup sleeve!

Fabiola of Mon P'tit Monde

...swapped the hexagon for a golden star and made the circle element into a dangly bauble that coordinates perfectly with her beautifully minimal embossed background!

Gail aka IonaBunny of Crafty Nomad

...found a piece of white glitter paper which had a snowflake diecut from it, and there was just enough room to use her favorite hexagon die... chalk this one up for serendipity!

And now let's find out who's won that fabulous Simon Says Stamp holiday stamp and die bundle!

The Random Number Generator has chosen #11 which means that...

LeAnne Pugliese is our Lucky Winner, Congratulations!

Please email llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com with your snail mail info 

so we can get that on its way to you ASAP!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every single one of your gorgeous cards. We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt we hope you'll find inspiring... hope to see you then!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like SKETCH-mas

We're still making holiday cards based on this fabulous sketch designed by Stephanie, and you still have time to join the fun. Scroll down to the original post to link your card and check out the Readers' Gallery. 

Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes, just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch! Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I've gone VERY literal, thanks to a set of Hero Arts' Hexagon Infinity Dies I got recently at Paper Anthology and couldn't wait to use! The Santa image, tree sticker, heart and sentiment strip are all Doodlebug, from a few different collections. I've added Eyelet Outlet Wreath, Gift and Star dies, as well as a bunch of random EO enamel dots. The texty background of this A6 card is from Carta Bella's Christmas Cheer collection."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week's card is brought to you by the Mintay White Christmas paper collection.  I used a rectangle, circle & hexagon stitched dies on three different papers, and I attached a fourth to the card base, finishing with a Simon Says Stamp Christmas sentiment strip and Pinkfresh Studio Champagne Glitter Drops (which seriously coordinate with everything)."

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Link your sketch-centric cards on the post below. Challenge ends next Wednesday, September 20th at 6pm EST.

And remember, one lucky participant will receive the Simon Says Stamp / CZ Design Let It Snow Stamps & Coordinating Die Cuts, so come join the fun.

Merry SKETCH-mas

This week at Jingle Belles we're bringing you a Sketch to inspire your holiday card designs. Of course you can flip it, stretch it, smoosh it or change shapes; just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your card!

We can't wait to see how this layout inspires you.  Here's what we made:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I combined a collection of festive Doodlebug holiday papers with a fun candy theme, which works for the current Caffeinated Christmas Challenge to create with candy or cookies.  I added an Eyelet Outlet Holiday Coffee Cup & Candy Cane brads, together with a stamped sentiment from Impress."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "As you can see, I changed some of the shapes, but other than that I've been quite faithful. I used ancient Nestabilities Labels for the hex shape (it's an Authentique journal card) and the large rectangle; added a Hero Arts' "Joy" diecut in place of the sentiment strip and dangled a little My Mind's Eye taglet from the Idea-ology flair which is my circle element. As always, I love working with a sketch because it makes life easier; and I love Stephanie's sketches because they're always both beautiful and flexible!"

And because who doesn't love a prize - one lucky participant will receive the Simon Says Stamp / CZ Design Let It Snow Stamp Set & Coordinating Die Cuts (yep both).

Link your own gorgeous sketch card(s) right here by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, September 20th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB2319.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Good Old-Fashioned Fabulousness

Vintage and retro stylings seem to be quite popular and inspiring to our fellow Jingle Belles; there are some VERY cool cards in the Readers' Gallery, so if you haven't yet taken time to scroll through, we highly recommend the trip. In the meantime, here are a few cards that especially caught our eye:

Liz from Old Right Brain Madness

...did an excellent job coloring these sweet vintage holiday kiddos, then paired them with some beautiful foliage and a pair of patterned papers with just the right retro patina! 

Deb Horst of Sendable Sentiments

...blew us away with a card that's full-on vintage and 100% CAS! We're saving this in our inspo file, to prove you can combine the two and wind up with an amazing card!!! 

Pinky from Pinky's World Stamping Projects

...chose a patterned paper with beautiful, old fashioned baubles; then she constructed a larger bauble as centerpiece and sliced the background into very cool radiating segments!

♥♥♥

And now it's time to award that fun vintage-themed prize!

The Random Number Generator selected Lucky Number 16

which means that...

Becca S from Becca's Heart for Creativity 

is our Lucky Winner!

Congrats, Ms. Becca, if you email llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com 

we'll get that prize right on its way to your house, ASAP!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we truly loved seeing every single card. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt which, it seems to us, just miiiiiight be a little sketchy...?

Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas

We're still creating with a theme of Christmas Past - incorporating vintage elements and/or vintage style into our holiday cards.  

Our prompt is sponsored by Lauren's Etsy Shop Just Enough Stuff with a fun vintage giveaway for one lucky participant.

Here's what we created this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I found a partial sheet of vintage-themed circle icons from a Ciao Bella holiday collection several years ago, which I matted out with a couple of circle mats, added an older Prima flower in sage green, a wooden snowflake, and a chipboard snowflake circle, then made a background from this gorgeous white Photoplay woodgrain paper and topped it all off with a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment and a kraft card base."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week I incorporated actual vintage paper elements into my card.  My tag is die cut from a vintage holiday card I found at an estate sale.  The vintage music on the background is from my collection of vintage hymnals.  And finally, some vintage S&H Green Stamps for good measure.  The layout is this week's Atlantic Heart's Sketch & the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strips."

Our luck participant will win the prize below, so link-up below on the original post by 6pm EST on Wednesday, September 6th.