An Old-Fashioned Xmas

We're heading into the second week of The Spirit of Christmas Past, which means we're still creating cards with a vintage or retro feeling. That could mean incorporating actual vintage elements, using new products that have a vintage style, or using stamps or images that convey a vintage vibe; whatever says vintage or retro to you. 

To add a little extra incentive to your endeavors, this fortnight we're sponsored by Lauren's Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, so there's a Deluxe Christmas Ephemera Assortment of vintage holiday goodies for one lucky card member who links-up their vintage-inspired design. You can see a pic of the prize and find the Linky tool on the original post... directly below this one.

Here's how we went vintage/retro this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I've got a background comprised of actual vintage bits (the vintage poinsettia illustration from an old Christmas Ideals Magazine, book paper, sheet music, etc) with a few images cut from Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Pocket Cards, a couple of golden rub-on transfers, some wordfetti stickers and coordinating washi tape. The frame is also TH/Idea-ology and it's surrounding a little vignette from Ideals. I inked the edges and machine-stitched the whole collage to a white 5.5" square card."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week I started my design with the vintage ephemera of Christmas Snow from Tim Holtz and paired it with a vintage birdie wildlife stamp and vintage S&H Green Stamps from my own stash.  I added papers that I thought had a vintage-y feel and finished with lots of sticker sentiments."

 

Just a reminder that JB2517: The Spirit of Christmas Past runs until the evening of Wednesday, August 27th. 

St. Nick Tic-Tac-Toe

We're back this week continuing our game of Tree Skirt Tic-Tac-Toe.

Here's how we played the game this week.

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "My stash of classic Basic Grey holiday papers is dwindling, but being a top-notch hoarder, I do still have some medium-sized pieces (from which my two background pieces hail) and lots of little scraps (from which I diecut all of the shapes to paper-piece these adorable Impression Obsession Retro Ornaments. By which you may well have already deduced that this week I chose to work the middle row of Diecuts + Paper Piercing or Piecing + Ornaments."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This week I went vertical down the left side with Animal, Die Cut & Red.  I stamped, colored & die cut Big Grumpy from Taylored Expressions and positioned him on my Red background created with the Taylored Expressions Take Two Stencil and Picket Fence Studios Silver Paper Glaze."

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JB2515: Tic-Tac-Toe runs until next Wednesday evening, July 30th. Check out the original post for all the info and the Linky tool to add your own Tic-Tac-Toe creation(s)!

Colors of Christmas

We're still creating cards using our Ornamental Color Challenge this week.  We ask that you use at least three of the five colors to create your card.

Here is how we got colorful this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week, I was inspired by the inspiration photo itself, so I made an ink-blended background using Distress Oxide Inks in the shades closest (imo) to the top three colors in the palette: Uncharted Mariner, Broken China and Speckled Egg. Then I embossed the panel using Spellbinders' Forevergreen e/f and flicked some watered down Liquid Pearls (in White Opal and Gold Pearl) on top. I made a large snowflake stack to stand in for the fancy bauble in the photo and finished the whole thing with some clear gems that look a bit like the bokeh fairy lights."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "Since I leaned heavier into the teal/blues last week, I decided to start with the darkest coppery/orange that I skipped last week.  I cut 3/8" strips from the next three colors and positioned them horizontally.  I'm joining Amy T for her Woodblock Wednesday using a one of my favorite woodblock Savvy Snowman paired with a woodblock Memory Box sentiment."

And remember, one lucky random participant will receive this fun Yay You Die Cut by CZ Design, so link-up by 6pm EST on Wednesday, May 7th.

I'm Dreaming of a GREEN Christmas

We're still getting our Grinch on, by making predominently green holiday cards. Here's how we showcased our green this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I went a bit collagey, and if you say the words, "collage" and "green" to me in the same sentence, I immediately think about my stash of vintage S&H Greenstamps, obviously. (Thank you, Stephanie!) These have been layered over a 4x6" piece of 49 and Market's Spectrum Sherbet Lace Washi, to which I added a strip of drywall tape, some Eyelet Outlet Silver Pearl Swirl Bling and the diecut tree (Sizzix Christmas Tree #2) made of torn and layered scraps of green cardstock that I stumbled upon in the diecuts box last week. Some edge distressing, a sage green mat and a bit of machine stitching complete the design."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie Says, "I've been making my way through another Gelliarts gel print a day month, so I have lots of prints for creating at my disposal.  I cut numerous green prints into 3/8" strips and created a quilt background.  Then to help tie them together, I embossed the panel using an old quilt-like texture embossing folder.  To finish the card, I added this sweet little chef in green from Fancy Pants cookies for Kringle Ephemera."

And the Luck of the Green will be with one lucky participant who will receive a brand new Nordic Dimple Trees Die set by PoppyStamps.

Jingle Belles are BLING-ing

We're still BLING-ing in the Holidays at Jingle Belles this week ... creating cards featuring jewels, gems, beads, pearls, glitter, stickles, or anything sparkly.

Here's how we got BLING-y with it this week.

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "Believe it or not, this week's card has more BLING-centric elements than last week's... but admittedly they are harder to see. The gorgeous three-layer tree is Simon Hurley's Classic Christmas Tree from Spellbinders. I diecut the solid background tree from deep green cardstock and the foliage from medium green. I used a natural sponge to lightly dab both layers with Bronze Liquid Pearls for a subtle iridescent shimmer. I diecut the tree stand, some of the ornaments and the background mat from shimmery gold cardstock. I cut more ornaments from gold metallic and gold glitter cardstock. I added small rhinestones and pearls to the tree before mounting the whole thing on a piece of Lawn Fawn's Spiffier Speckles in Leprechaun (perfect for March!) on which the speckles are gold metallic. Finally I added a layer of ancient Hambly Screenprints doily patterned paper, which is also shimmery"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I started by covering my snowflake designer paper with Eyelet Outlet Silver Pearl Swirl Bling.  Next I added sentiments from Concord & 9th Big on Christmas, using strategically placed foam adhesive, so the sentiments floated above the bling."

Remember, you have until 6pm EST on Wednesday, March 12th to link-up.

CLEAR-ly Christmas

We're still creating cards with transparent and/or translucent items (think vellum, acetate, lucite) if you can see the light through it, it works.

Here's how we were CLEAR-ly Christmas this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I love Sunny Studio's Build a Tag #2 Die Set and that's what I used to make the tags and reinforcers on this pair of A2 cards. I punched square windows into the tags, backed them with scraps of clear acetate, and made a little winter scene with Eyelet Outlet Glitter Tree Tape, Sparkle White Glitter Tape hills and Snowflake Sequins. I finished off with Snowflake Brads and Penguins or Snowy Trees; then added tag-shaped mats and panels adorned with Glitter Tall Tree Tape, sticker sentiments and a few more sequins. Gotta love an easy two-fer, right?"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I started with a Dina Wakley Pattern Play Media transparency, which I painted on the back with Dylusions Shimmer Paint.  Next I use puffy stickers to build a little scene on top (and give me places to use adhesive to attach the transparency to my card).  I finished with a die cut sentiment from Concord & 9th Jolly Holiday Greetings.

Remember, you have until 6pm EST on Wednesday, February 19th to link-up your CLEAR creations.

Holiday Shape Up

It's the second week of "Shaping Up for the Holidays" so we're still making SHAPED cards and you're still invited to join the fun! Here's how we got in shape this week: 

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I found a cute clipart hat online, printed a couple of copies on plain white cardstock so I could cut it into a pattern; then paper-pieced the hat, brim and bobble using two sizes of Lawn Fawn's Knit Picky papers. I had been planning to adorn the brims with brads, but stumbled upon these fun Doodlebug enamel leaves and berries and just like that, my choice was made!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I let this fun Anna Griffin layered sleigh die do all of the shaped-card work for me this week.  I cut the base from gold metallic cardstock and the sleigh from red.  I paper pieced two shades of green cardstock for the presents and then used the outline to cut my card base & the inside of the card.  The finishing touches were a chipboard sentiment and chipboard snowflake from Thickers."

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All the details (and the Linky tool) for joining our Jingle Belles Shape Up fun are on the original post, which is HERE. This challenge wraps up on Wednesday evening, February 12th.

Hard Candy Christmas

We're still taking our inspiration for our holiday cards this week from the fun Candy Christmas inspiration from Turtlecreek Lane.

Here's how we were inspired this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I remain fixated on the tree and the candy, lol. This week I approached it in a more abstract way, with a subtle peppermint(ish) background and LOTS of bauble(ish) shapes. I used the soft blue wall coloring to make my chunky sentiment stand out, giving the lertters a white drop-shadow for more emphasis."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I started with my fun little bunny image from Pretty Little Studio Christmas Cheer, which reminded me of the fun little Grinch Doggie Max who was in the photo.  I loved how he was wearing the light blue that was similar to the walls in the photo, that he had a stocking like the ones lining the fireplace, and that there was a Candy Cane included.  I die cut two papers to create my little scene and added some Pretty Little Studio Sugar Plum A Stitch in Time Stitches Stickers.  Next, I added the pile of gifts and the circle sentiment, which were also Pretty Little Studio ephemera.  I added a frame of the blue to tie in the night shirt and the walls in the image to finish the card."

Remember, you have until 6pm EST on Wednesday, January 29th to link-up your photo-inspiration card.

In with the NEW (and OLD)

We're still creating with something new that you got for Christmas ... together with something old that you have in your stash.

Here's how we created with the OLD and the NEW this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "In November, I was lucky enough to win a gift card from Sunny Studio Stamps in the Coffee Loving Papercrafters' Fall/Winter Blog Hop, and the very first thing I chose was their adorable Holiday Hugs set, because I just LOVE that bear! I was already planning my card when I saw that January's Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge was "Snowflake" so I went sifting through my snowy patterned papers and found this scrap of ancient green and white that I think was from My Mind's Eye's Bohemian collection (that's going back a bit, eh?!) and which just happened to have the perfect spot to place a coffee- or cocoa drinking bear. I paper-pieced his knitted scarf and adorned the cup with an Eyelet Outlet Polar Bear Brad; then built in a few extra layers of soft green, tan and brown... all from older collections... before adding a sentiment from the stamp set and a few extra glittery snowflakes using a tiny die that was included as an "extra" with my Sunny Studio prize!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "Santa Stephanie gave me this adorable Echo Park Chilling with my Snowmies paper collection.  I couldn't resist pairing it with the fun Eyelet Outlet Holiday Coffee Cups Brads that I always have in my stash - which is also perfect for the Caffeinated Christmas Coffee & Snowflakes challenge.  I finished with a Happy Holiday sentiment from my often used Impress Holiday Words."

Our Jingle Belles Something Old, Something New challenge (JB2501) runs until next Wednesday evening, January 15th. Scroll down to the original post (directly below this one) to see the Readers' Gallery and link up your own OLD + NEW masterpiece(s)!

Blog Header Inspired

This week we're still creating cards inspired by the Jingle Belles 2024 Blog Header.

Maybe you're drawn to the candy canes ... or the poinsettias ... or glittery sparkle.  Just make sure you tell us how your card was inspired.

Here is how we were inspired this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I've made a less literal version, but I've still embraced the colors, the florals, and the red glitter and golden metallic accents. That pretty flower cluster is Hero Arts' Christmas Roses stamp, it's embossed with Ranger Gold Embossing Powder and watercolored. The diecut sentiment is Penny Black. The tiny star sequins are Eyelet Outlet."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "My design started with this candy cane striped glitter tag.  I found identical green & red glitter paper in my stash to die cut the Poinsettia and Holly Leaves from Essentials by Ellen Poinsettia & Pine.  I backed them with a white cardstock shadow to help them stand out from the tag.  I added a gold glitter frame, gold stars, gold ribbon & gold thread to pull in those elements from the Blog Header design.  I finished with a Scrapbook.com Wordfetti December sentiment."

And remember there's a fun little prize for one lucky (randomly selected) participant:

Simon Hurley create Bold Holiday Blooms Background Stamp; 

Recollections Holly Leaves; Echo Park Floral Swag Washi Tape and two packs of Paper Lace Ribbon

Link your cards on the original post by 6pm on Wednesday evening, December 4th. The linky tool is in the original post, which can be found directly below this one.

Cookies and Candies and Cocoa... Oh My!

It's the second week of Christmas Feast, our celebration of holiday sweets and treats and since you've still got plenty of time to join the fun, let's get right to it.

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "The mini journal cards from Carta Bella's Christmas Cheer collection were absolutely perfect for this. I chose four with the strongest baking theme, made them into a grid, rounded the outer corners, added a few stickers et voila! Job done!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I always love Christmas Cookies ... this card reminds me of  fond childhood memories of making them with my Grandma.  I paired three 3-D Cookie Stickers with a Taylored Expressions Just Saying ... Christmas Sentiment and the inside of the Pinkfresh Studio Ornate Rectangle Frame Die Cut."

And one lucky participant in the Christmas Feast prompt will win a brand new Tim Holtz Santa Claus Thinlits Die Cuts.

The Christmas Feast challenge (#JB2423) runs until next Wednesday evening, November 20th. You can link up on the original post at Jingle Belles. 

Not a CREATURE was Stirring

We're still creating holiday cards with Animals (or Yetis... or Monsters); whatever CREATURE you choose to share with us.

Here's our Creature Feature for you this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I found a beautiful older pack of adorable animal stickers from Recollections in my holiday stash, so I immediately knew I wanted them to be the stars of the show. I didn't realize how well they'd coordinate with that very fun October Afternoon critter-bedecked washi tape; but having seen a few Team Spellbinders cards in which the smallest two sizes of Wendy Vecchi's Pinking Edge rectangle dies (from NOT Your Ordinary Card Collection's Birthday Add-On set) were used to make the most fabulous frame for a little scene, so I worked in that idea, as well. Ancient Heidi Swapp decotape and skinny mats of black glossy cardstock complete the design."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I had fun dressing up Lawn Fawn Bear & Reindeer in their Christmas Sweaters from Lawn Fawn Ugly & Bright. (you know I had to add tiny googley eyes).  I embossed Lawn Fawn Spiffier Speckles designer paper with the Lawn Fawn Backdrop Stitched Snowflakes.  I created my card using a monochromatic blue-grey palette for the Lawnfawnatics Monochromatic Challenge."

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"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" (JB2422) runs until 6pm (Eastern) next Wednesday evening, November 6th so you still have plenty of time to join our Jingle Belles fun! Link your cards at the original post, directly below this one.

Pink Christmas: Week 2

It's the second week of our gala PINK CHRISTMAS celebration here at Jingle Belles, in which we're asking YOU to make holiday cards that are predominantly pink... and WE will donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each card that gets linked up! Visit the original PINK CHRISTMAS post directly below this one for all the details as well as the Linky Tool to add your cards. 

Meanwhile, here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week I raided my happy little stash of Doodlebug Design papers, journal tags and stickers to make this sweet (in every sense, lol) little card that's mostly pink... with touches of tan gingerbread and reindeer; as well as some fun green Christmas tree cookies. I used an ancient pink background paper with a strong horizontal element to it, which made lining up the decorative strips super-easy!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "Since all of my pink designer paper scraps were still out on my table, I decided to combine three of them for this week's card.  I topped the papers with a fun pink Baking Spirits Bright Doodle-Pop from Doodlebug Designs.  I finished with a perfect AMuse sentiment and some pink glittery enamel dots."

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Link your gorgeous PINK CHRISTMAS creations (because YES, you definitely can make as many as you'd like!) on the original post which is directly below this one. This challenge (#JB2421) runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October 23rd. 

Gettin' Sketchy

We're still making cards based on Stephanie's awesome card sketch and you're still invited to join the fun! First here's a reminder of the sketch:

And now, here's how we got sketchy this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I went almost entirely vintage this week. Only my sentiment is cut from a modern Simple Stories mini journal card... oh and there's a silver metallic cardstock mat layer... but otherwise: the background collage is all vintage paper; the postcard is scanned and re-sized but it's from my IRL collection of vintage postcards. Maybe my favorite things are those beautiful vintage Plaid Trading Stamps that Stephanie found and gifted to me and which not only matched perfectly, they work perfectly as the "strips" in the sketch!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I found this adorable vintage Santa & Reindeer image from Pretty Little Studio's Jolly Santa Die Cuts (I wonder which reindeer get their own bed).  I paired it with cardstock banners and a sentiment to wish them all a good night's sleep after their hard work is done.."

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You've got until next Wednesday evening (10-9-24) to link your sketch-inspired cards on the original post, located directly below this one. Remember you can flip it, stretch it, rotate it, smoosh it or change shapes; just make sure we can see "the bones" of the sketch in your card! 

Fun, Fun, Funny

We're still making a cards that are funny, punny, silly or snarky, and we'd love for YOU to make us laugh, smile or chuckle with your Humorous Holiday cards. Here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I loved Stephanie's Taylored Expressions Grumpling card from last week, and it reminded me that I own the Mythical Grumplings stamp set, with it's supercute sourpuss of a yeti, to whom I've given an Eyelet Outlet Santa Hat Brad. The (sadly out of print) Stamplorations' "Jingle All the Way" die was perfect for the top part of the sentiment, and the rest is computer-generated, using a free font called Bohemian Typewriter. A nice big Nestabilities label die trimmed the center panel; which I layered onto a piece of offset chevron patterned paper... (so ancient I have no idea who made it) ...augmented with some seasonal skinny washi tape strips."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "Another line of stamps I love for fun & snark are My Favorite Things Sassy Pants (this is Sassy Pants Holiday).  I paired the sentiment with some fun puffy elf stickers I've had in my stash for longer than I remember ... aren't they laugh-out-loud perfect."

And don't forget, there's a little prize for one lucky participant - the Hero Arts Ho Ho Ho Santa Faces Stamp Set.

You still have until next Wednesday evening (9-25) to link up your own humorous holiday card(s); just scroll down to the original Ho Ha Ha post, directly beneath this one.

An Old-Fashioned Holiday

We're still celebrating a vintage/retro holiday vibe and since there's a nice little prize of holiday vintage goodies from Lauren's Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, you might like to join the fun by making a new holiday card featuring vintage or vintage-inspired items or a theme/graphics that feel vintage to you. 

Scroll down to the original Spirit of Christmas Past post to link your cards and get a look at the prize.

 Meanwhile, here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "This week my card is composed of nearly all genuine vintage and found papers, similar to those that are in the Deluxe Christmas Assortments in my Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff; in fact, the reason I started my shop was because I had collected such an extensive stash of goodies, it seemed like I should probably try to share a few of those, lol. For my card, I made a largely random collage of vintage text paper and sheet music, though I confess that I did take care to let the title of "The Holly and the Ivy" have a prominent position. A bit of foliage cut from a vintage illustration and some lovely torn Christmas seals from 1957 complete the background, which I lightly edged with Antique Linen Distress Ink and matted on both red and white cardstock before machine stitching around the perimeter. The handsome cardinal is from a piece of giftwrap I saved last December; I backed it with plain white cardstock before fussy-cutting, then popped it up on a bit of foam tape for extra dimension."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I found this vintage holiday card at an estate sale.  I die cut the poinsettia image from the front of the card, and then I stamped the Savvy Stamps Happy Holidays Block on the back of the card and die cut it with a circle.  I added some gold thread using the current Atlantic Hearts Sketch."

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

Lauren says, "Periodically, I get in the mood to make this sort of quiltish, paper-pieced strip backgrounds, so I'll make a bunch, use a few, put the rest aside, and... forget all about them, lol. So in a way, this is a story about DOUBLE leftovers, because the background itself was made from offcut strips; and then it, too, became a leftover! On top of the background I've got a blue patterned paper offcut from last week's card; some poinsettias embossed with Ranger's Red Glitter Embossing Powder; the last three brads from an ancient My Mind's Eye brad set; and a glossy red metallic Cut-plorations' Jingle Bells diecut. I added all of the above to a white A6 card, machine-stitched around the whole thing... et voila!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I went back the same pile of leftovers on my studio table, and I was thrilled to be able to put together a second card using-up most of my leftovers and a teal card base.  I was so glad I found a home for that cute little Polar Bear.  I finished with some red bling and a Hello Bluebird Typed Christmas Sentiment."

Dashing Through the Snow (Week 2)

It's week two of our snow-centric Jingle Belles challenge for which we've teamed up with our friends at The Double Trouble Challenge, thus giving you a chance to participate in TWO challenges with ONE card! As the title implies, for "Dashing Through the Snow" the brief at Jingle Belles is merely to make a card that features SNOW, whether it be snowflakes, snowmen or a snowy landscape.

As you may know, the "Double" in "Double Trouble" refers to the fact that there are several parts to their challenges, though the only requirement is to play along with Thing 1, which in this case is to make a window or aperture card. But the Double Trouble Gang encourage you to add some fun... try their options by participating in Twisted Sister's Thing 3 and/or Double Dare's Thing 2 to earn additional chances in their random drawing. This time, those twists are as follows:

And here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card(s)

Lauren says, "I had made a few extra white-embossed panels during our Jingle Belles' "EMBOSSING" challenge, and since they happened to be snowy, when I found them again, I decided they were perfect for making an aperture card. I used an ancient set of Nestabilities' Labels 20 to cut the largest size from a panel I had inked with Wendy Vecchi's Night Sky Archival; then the next size down to cut a smaller version of the same shape from a  Sky Blue Archival Panel; then I layered both of those over a third panel inked with Violet Archival. I embossed the "Noel" from Wendy's Statements Chippies, inked it with Night Sky, added it on top, embellished with a few diecut snowflakes, et voila. Since all of my supplies were still sitting there, including the beautiful label shapes cut from the apertures of card one, I decided to build a second card with the leftovers and another Chippie from the same set."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "For this week's Double Trouble window card, I used Lawn Fawn Stitched sentiment banner to die cut the sentiment (which I attached to the inside of the card) and again on the front of the card, so the sentiment could peek through.  The sentiment & snow jar are both from Woodware Snow Jar stamp set."

Scroll down to the original Dashing Through the Snow post to find the linky tool, not to mention a photo of the fun little prize one random cardmaker will receive, just for linking up a snowy card with us here at Jingle Belles. If your card is snowy AND has a window, be sure to link up at Double Trouble Challenge #171 too, for a shot at their prize!