Friday, November 29, 2019

It's a BANNER Holiday

For our final Jingle Belles prompt of 2019, we're creating cards inspired by our 2019 Jingle Belles Blog Banner (designed by lovely Lauren).


You can take your inspiration from any part of the design (deer ... frames ... doilies ... pearl flourishes ... you get the picture) ... just make sure you let us know your inspiration in your post.

Here's how we were inspired this week.


Stephanie say, "I love making things inspired by Lauren's designs because I seldom create with that many layers (but always love it when I do).  I started with large of a large vintage doily on a neutral kraft card base and then kept building on top.  There is a champagne bling flourishLittle Bits Mini Frame 3 Die from Taylored Expressions, punched snowflakes with champagne bling centers, a snow sentiment sticker ... and of course a lovely winter deer."


Lauren says, "This week I've once again used the sketch of the header and a bunch of the elements, (the framed deer, a doily shape, pearl flourish, scattered snowflakes, etc) but this time I've chosen cute and colorful versions instead of the more glamorous white-on-white of the header. Most of my patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye's "Holly Jolly" collection, which I got at Paper Anthology; the bling and brads are Eyelet Outlet of course; the rest is bits and bobs from my stash. It's a bit of a mish-mash, but I love how it turned out!"

Friday, November 22, 2019

Jingle Belles Header Inspired

For our final challenge of 2019, we're creating cards inspired by as many (or as few!) of the elements from the gorgeous blog header of our Jingle Belles Blog (created by the talented Lauren who does a new one for us each year to set the theme).


You might choose white-on-white ... or to be inspired by the other elements like the deer, pearls, lace, letters, snowflakes or a frame. Or you might just create in that wonderful shabby chic style.

Here is how we were inspired:


Stephanie says, "I started with Alexandra Renke elements and this week's Sunday Stamps Sketch.  I punched three circles from Alexandra's gorgeous papers and then used her Orient Mandala Stencil with Iced Spruce Distress ink in several places on the background.  I finished with pearl flourishes and a typed font sentiment.  Inspired by the header, I snuck in a couple of  Alexandra's die cut frames behind the circles."



Lauren says, "Ok, so, this feels like a bit of a cheat on my part, because as Stephanie mentioned, I designed the header, so obviously it's a style that I like and for which I have lots of stuff that works. So I've done a very literal translation. On the other hand, something I somehow hadn't realized until I was nearly finished, is that the header actually does not have ANY flowers on it. (Srsly... HOW did that even happen?!) Luckily I have corrected that omission with my card, which means I can join the Allsorts "Christmas Flowers" Challenge! and the handsome diecut deer means I'm eligible for My Time to Craft's "Christmas Animals" Challenge, yay!

And one lucky randomly drawn participant will get a fun prize - 2 of my favorite sets of Gina K. Designs Dies and a Kelly Purkey Christmas Stamp Set.



Be as loose or as literal as you like with your cards inspired by our blog header! Link your creations here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, December 4th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:19:24.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Warm and Cosy

It's hard to notice the chilly weather with so many amazing and unique cards in the gallery for, "Baby It's Cold Outside" if you haven't scrolled through both pages yet, we highly recommend treating yourself to that eye candy! Meanwhile, here are a few creations that made us feel especially warm and fuzzy!



...stamped the handsomest snowdude imaginable in his winter finery, but it's the gloriously blended inky tag which takes this one to the next level in our opinion!


...not only dressed her adorable Shining Star in a sweet Santa hat and scarf, she actually made that cool stencil herself as well! 

Izzy Scrap of Addicted to Stamps and More

...takes "FLEECE NAVIDAD" to bold new heights with an adorable sheep in winter garments AND a fleece fiber xmas tree!


Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every single card you shared with us! We'll be back at midnight with our last brand new prompt of 2019, we hope you'll consider it a banner occasion! ♥

Friday, November 15, 2019

Mittens, Scarves & Sweaters

We're still celebrating the attire of winter (and we needed lots of it this week) ... you know, mittens, scarves, boots, parkas, earmuffs and of course... sweaters!

Here's how we bundled-up this week:


Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I decided to bring Sexy back with a little Ugly Christmas Sweater fun with stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  I did an *oops* when I scored my card base, so I trimmed the front even a little shorter, so I could show off a few rows of green washi tape attached to the inside."


Lauren says, "I built the colors and shabby chic vibe of my card around this sweet vintage-style journal card from Authentique. I added loads of distressed layers, a bit of dry embossing (and sanding), a little sheet music, some machine stitching... in fact there's a little bit of pretty much EVERYTHING I love on a Christmas card, right here!"

Friday, November 8, 2019

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This week we are making cards featuring things you wear when it's cold outside … gloves, earmuffs, mittens, scarves, coats, Christmas Sweaters, socks … you get the picture.




Lauren says, "I found some adorable Hello Kitty giftwrap at the discount store and knew HK would make the perfect star for this week's card. When I want to use something like a flimsy piece of giftwrap on my cards, I first run a piece of plain white cardstock through my xyron machine and gently place the delicate wrapping paper on top, avoiding any wrinkles. Once I have cardstock weight paper, I can fussy cut the individual designs as I've done here. I used this week's Sketch Saturday (#588) as a guide to placing all my elements."





Stephanie says, "I used one of my Gel Press Print tags, which was the perfect rusty orange for the Color Challenge at Sunday Stamps and combined it with Reverse Confetti's Stock Your Stash Challenge to make holiday cards ... Reverse Confetti's Happy Winter Hats are my favorite because all of the pieces are stamped and die cut separately, so you can make whatever color combination you want."

Link your cards here by 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, November 20th. Keyword for galleries and flickr is JB:19:23.


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Rockin' Rudolph

We loved seeing all of the creative critters fill our holiday card gallery ... here are a few that especially caught our eye.




featured this adorable decoupage reindeer on a custom card for the Grandparents ... the mitten background paper and layout are perfect.



thrilled us with her adorable yeti duo ... 
all of the wonderful details including that fabulous bokeh sky 
make this card so much fun.


shared this adorable Hamster Holiday Selfie ... 
it is just so stinkin' cute.

And the random winner of the fun Penny Black Holiday stamps is ... drum roll ...


please email stephanie at smilynstef at aol.com to claim your prize!
♥♥♥

We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt, we hope you'll dress for the occasion!

Friday, November 1, 2019

Yeti or Not

We're still celebrating the Critters of Christmas and you're still invited to join the fun by making a holiday card with an animal (or creature!) on it! Here's what we made this week:


Stephanie says, "I can never resist a Yeti for Christmas ... and when I saw this new Yeti or Not set from Hello Bluebird, I knew it had to be mine. I love all the fun accessories like the scarf, Santa hat and coffee mug ... and likely I would be the one trying to catch the snowflakes on my tongue."


Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I had a completely different plan for this week's card, but then I saw my friend Elisabeth unpacking this amazing Taylored Expressions layered cardinal die set at Paper Anthology and all bets were off. Also... it allowed me to build a collage of torn vintage paper and postage stamps for the base of my card, which I was really really in the mood to do! (Sometimes my "process" is very scientific, lol!) Layered label shapes and some Eyelet Outlet poinsettia, pinecone and holly brads complete the finishing touches."

And remember, one lucky participant will get the fabulous Penny Black Christmas Sprig Stamps.