putting the GOOD in "goodies"!!!

the biggest problem we have around here, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, is trying to only choose three cards from each prompt to feature. because every single thing you guys make is AMAZING!!! of course, the big "prize" is the fact that none of us will be stressing over cards in december; but we are giving away a little packet of crafty goodies this week, too, so be sure to scroll down for that. but first, here are a few cards using those lovely presents from santa, which particularly caught our eye:

cindy of reis's pieces of paper

inked and embossed some brand new christmas-present snowflakes on a kraft background; proving that you only need a few well-chosen ingredients to create a stunningly lovely effect!

caz of caz's crafty snug

stamped, masked, inked and glittered to perfection in this card which brilliantly highlights a beautiful sentiment from her secret santa!

linda of snail's space

added a lusciously glittery poinsettia, intricate foliage, gorgeous ribbon and fancy fibers to a beautiful grapevine wreath die she treated herself to this christmas!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

and now i think we'd all like to know who our lucky random prize winner is, am i right? we've consulted the fine folks at random.org, who have chosen 

#22

which means that

♥Julia Aston♥

will be receiving a little package in the mail, just as soon as she emails us (jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com) with the address to which we should send it!

congrats to JULIA and many thanks to everyone who joined in the fun! we'll be back at midnight with a cool new prompt we think JUL really love! ♥

Santa really was *GOOD* to us this year!

And thus we have a few MORE goodies to show off!

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "i'm not sure i've ever posted two cards in a row with the same background paper, but what can i say? i just *LOVE* that blue mulberry with the snowflakes! it's also (imo!) the perfect background for my favorite christmas present to myself: those gorgeous holiday glitter stickers from the papaya art blog. the florals are new, too, they were a "crafty steal" just before the holidays and this is their first time out of the packet!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stef says, "Lauren & I never know what the other is making until we upload our cards to the blog each week ... so I had to smile when I saw that we used the same *new* product for our design.  We both have a serious weakness for Papaya Arts ... and Santa Lauren gifted me with some of these amazing glitter stickers for the holidays.  I used both the larger and smaller peace stickers with My Mind's Eye Vanity Fair papers.  To finish, I added a glittery star & EAD Designs rub-on.  The layout is this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch."

Remember, you still have until next Wednesday night (1-16-13) to play along, if you haven't yet; or even play again, if you've already linked up! And since we've got a lovely prize pack to win, there's all the more reason to get crafting, right?! ♥

Look What Santa Brought Me!

For the very first ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ prompt of 2013, we're celebrating all things new, and using them to create our first holiday cards of the year. Specifically, we're asking you to gather up the new crafting goodies you received for the holidays, use as many as you'd like on a card, and then link it up below! Just in case all you got from Santa was a bag of coal, then break out something from your crafting arsenal that you haven't created with yet; OR, if you have absolutely NOTHING NEW* with which to create, we suppose you'll have to use this as a wonderful excuse to treat yourself to a little something from the post-holiday sales! ;) Be sure to tell us in your description what fun new items you are using, so we can all be suitably envious!

Here's what Santa brought the Jingle Belles for the holidays:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "My mom bought me several goodies of my holiday wish list including this wonderful falling stars craft die.  I paired it with a punched snowflake & star; shimmer & glitter papers; and sentiment from Merry Everything for a relatively quick holiday card.

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "i was lucky enough to receive quite a few crafty goodies from various lovely friends and family members; too many even for *ME* to put on just one card, lol! but i squeezed in as many as possible, including that gorgeous and almost-real candy cane from ros; a slightly reduced color-copied-page from a vintage "night before christmas" book from gina (she knows i collect them!); some gorgeous basic grey "kissing booth" papers from stephanie; holiday mulberry paper from my prima's "12 days of xmas card" prize; and finally some not-so-new but still very treasured webster's pages fabric ribbons which leslie gave me, last spring!"

So now it's your turn to grab your newest supplies and tools, and start the New Year off right by giving yourself what we predict will be one of the best holiday presents you'll EVER receive:  getting ahead-- and staying ahead-- with your holiday cards for 2013! Just to spur you on a little bit more, we'll be awarding this little Christmas-themed packet of crafty goodness:

(This prize includes: Teresa Collins 6x6 paper pad, My Mind's Eye trimmings, Prima crystals, Cosmo Cricket holiday type, K and Co cardstock diecuts, Dear Lizzy rub-ons, Imaginisce stamp and MORE!)

Yes, one lucky card-maker who links up with us between now and the end of this super-sized edition of ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ inspiration-- 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, January 16th; will be randomly selected and announced on the following day. Keyword for galleries and our Jingle Belles Flickr Group is JB:13:01. Happy New Year, and Happy Crafting! ♥

*For the record, we don't actually *BELIEVE* this for a second, but we're all about supportive enabling here, and will thus happily write a note to your husband explaining why you absolutely HAVE TO head out to the craft store immediately and pick up a few new goodies! :) :) :) 

new look for the new year!

hello, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! 

are you as excited as we are about 2013? we think this is going to be our best year yet, and hope it will be an especially happy, healthy, and creative one for you! to honor the new year we've updated our header and we have a lovely new badge for you, though we're keeping a badge from each of our previous years on the sidebar so you can have a choice! we'll be back at midnight with our very first holiday cards of 2013 and we can't wait for you to join us! 

♥♥♥

stephanie and lauren

our 2013 header and badge were made in adobe photoshop elements 9 using the following digital elements: 

christmas shopping kit by polka dot press from two peas in a bucket; 

vintage christmas postcard journalers #1 by katie pertiet from designer digitals; 

and over the rainbow glitter style by studio flergs from scrapbook graphics

Happy Holidays!

Sending you all the best from the Jingle Belles.

Check back on January 1st for the first Jingle Belles prompt of 2013 as we start ... taking back December one holiday card at a time.

Lauren & Stephanie

and the winner is... #188...

which means our congratulations go to:
♥♥♥Grace N♥♥♥

grace, please send us your snail mail address,
so we can send this fabulous prize to you ASAP!

(jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com)

really, though, the every single one of us is a winner-- we got to see all of the incredible holiday inspiration you linked up in the last couple of weeks, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥; you absolutely never cease to amaze us with your prodigious talent and mind-blowing creativity!  take a bow, each and every one of you; then take some well-deserved time off to enjoy the holidays. but don't put away those crafty presents too quickly, because you're gonna need 'em when we all meet back here on january first to get started on our cards for 2013! in the meantime...

Merry Christmas!

♥♥♥

love, 

Stephanie and Lauren

December to Remember

We know how hard you've worked on holiday cards all year, and if you made one card per week along with us, you've now got a stash of *48* unique and beautiful greetings ready to send to your family and friends!  But maybe you still need a few more cards, or maybe-- like us!-- you're just really feeling "in the swing" now and want to play along with some of the other fun Christmas card challenges out there on the wonderful world-wide web?! (Check out our links list on the sidebar for a few ideas!) Whatever the case, if you're still making holiday cards, we still wanna see 'em, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! So we've added a special "Anything (Holiday) Goes" link, below, for you to display your Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah, Solstice, or even just generally "wintery" cards; alternately, you can use it to check out what your fellow Belles are making and find some clever ideas!

To further inspire you, one lucky cardmaker who links up with us on this post between now and 6pm (EST) on Friday, December 21st will receive this lovely prize package:

PaperTreyInk 2010 Holiday Tags Stamp Set

Stampin' Up Reason to Smile Stamp Set

8"x8" North Country Paper Pad by Prima

We'll even do our best to get that in the mail to you in time to play along with our first official prompt of 2013, which will debut right after the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Day, and we hope ♥YOU♥ stop by and check it out! In the meantime, happy cardmaking, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and Happy Holidays! 

♥♥♥  

xoxo 

Lauren and Stephanie