There's No Place Like Home!

Up until now, we thought there was nothing we could enjoy more than seeing the lovely cards made by our fellow ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, but this week we discovered that hearing the funny, nostalgic, touching and wonderful Christmas memories which inspired them is equally cool! Many thanks to all of you who shared a story along with your beautiful artwork, and also to Rose who suggested this prompt which helped us all to reminisce!

Here are a few cards that our lovely guest star thought captured the spirit of Home for the Holidays particularly well!

by Rosemary of "Free Advice, Worth Every Penny"
Rose says, "One word.............GASP!!! I love the sidestep card with all the lace and pearls, and that tree is STUNNING!!

by Lisa J of "Stamping, Crafting & Snow, Oh My!"
Rose says, "Her memories are so touching and her card makes me wish i could open the front door and step into that beautiful house!"

by June Houck of "Simply Elegant Paper Crafts"

Rose says, "Her SUPER-FUN card makes me wish we got snow for Christmas! ...Well... almost wish!" :)

Once again we thank *EVERYONE* who played along, and extend our extra-special and extra-hearty thanks to ♥ROSE♥ for going above and beyond the call of duty in the course of being our very lovely guest star this week! Be sure to stop over at ROSE'S HAPPY PLACE and see more of her amazing and inspiring cards...of both the Christmas and non-holiday variety; plus there's great stuff happening at 365 Cards and Simply Create that she'd love to tell you about!

Now's the time we usually suggest that you go and see the gorgeous work from last week--and of course we hope you will do that!--but we'd also like to extend a special invitation to anyone who's been following along but hasn't made a card yet: it's definitely NOT too late to start...there's no pressure to play EVERY week...and we are really, truly, having a fabulous time doing this without the seasonal pressure! More is definitely ♥MERRIER♥ and we'd love to share the joy with you! There's a brand new prompt--suggested by one of your fellow ♥JINGLE BELLES♥--debuting at Midnight...why not come back then and join us?!

Home for the Holidays

This week we welcome another talented guest star to Jingle Belles ... Rose from Rose's Happy Place. In addition to being a Jingle Belles regular, Rose is also a member of the Design Teams for both 365 Cards & Simply Create ... and on an awesome side note, the first year of the 365 Cards Challenge Blog (when Rose wasn't on the DT), she did the challenge EVERY SINGLE DAY and had 365 cards at the end of the year! How awesome is that?!

Rose was singing along to Home for the Holidays when memories of home, as well as a holiday card idea, popped into her mind, and luckily for us, she wrote in* to suggest it! Here are some of those holiday song lyrics to inspire you:

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,

‘Cause no matter how far away you roam,

When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,

For the holidays, you can’t beat home, sweet home.

I met a man who lives in Tennessee,

He was headin’ for,

Pennsylvania, and some home made pumpkin pie.

From Pennsylvania, folks are travelin’

Down to Dixie’s sunny shore,

From Atlantic to Pacific,

Gee, the traffic is terrific.

Take a bus, take a train

Go and hop an aeroplane

Put the wife and kiddies in the family car

For the pleasure that you bring

When you make that doorbell ring

No trip could be too far

So this week, we're asking you to make a card that is inspired by your Home for the Holidays ... it might be your childhood home, your current home, or your home-away-from-home.

Rose's Card

Rose says, "For some strange reason I keep having Christmas songs on the brain. lol So the other day when "Home for the Holidays" popped in, I started thinking of my "home" and how much I miss it. I lived in the southern Nevada desert for 40 years and grew up spending all day playing out in the desert, hunting horny toads, lizards, and admiring all the variety of plants and rocks. I sure miss all the beauty of the desert and the smell after the rain is heavenly. So for my card it is only fitting to have a desert cactus that reminds me of home."

Stephanie's Card

Stef says, "When I thought about my favorite holiday memories from home, the first thing that came to mind was all of the laughter. Our family prides itself in jokes and funny stories, with everyone trying to outdo the next person. Each holiday there is always some running joke that takes on a life of its own. So I know it's a bit wacky (but hey, my family is a bit wacky), but this Trio of Jokers by Magenta reminds me of home ... where making merry is always the focus of the holidays."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "one of my very favorite holiday memories from childhood is of my dad reading clement c. moore's, 'the night before christmas' to us every christmas eve. i am always on the lookout for vintage copies of that poem; the nice ones i collect as books, the damaged ones i use in cards and collages. this illustration was the frontispiece from a very beautiful and sadly completely ruined edition. i'd been saving it for just the right thing, and finally, thanks to rose i found it!"

And after Rose's fabulous desert-themed card, I couldn't resist pulling out this hilarious photo of Lauren & I with our Christmas cactus.

So have fun reminiscing about home...and turn those memories into a great holiday card! Link up here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 9th. Codeword for SCS or flickr is JB10. We can't wait to see what you will do!

*We are always on the lookout for great themes for our weekly prompts, and thrilled to have lovely guest stars! If you'd like to join in, email us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com. If we use your idea, we'll invite you along to help us host that week. It's definitely a lot of fun, so what are you waiting for?!