One Layer Christmas

We're still celebrating Flat Feliz at Jingle Belles by making one-layer Christmas Cards.

Here's what we made for week two:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I'm a little obsessed with had Simon Hurley's create Sketched Snowmen stamp set and Simon's Dye Inks from Ranger. Luckily these were perfect for watercoloring the images and background. I embossed the snowmen and sentiment in black; then embossed the snowflakes in white; colored everything in... et voila! I confess that while I love how it came out, my natural instinct is still to make this a panel on a layered card with machine-stitching and maybe some brads, but I'm resisting. (For now!)"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I started by stamping the Gina K. Designs Graphic Tree in white pigment ink and embossing with white embossing powder.  Then I painted Green shimmer paint over the top of the tree.  Once it dried, I added a sentiment from the same Graphic Tree and positioned it to look like the trunk of the tree.  I finished by blending Gina K. Designs Medium Spruce ink around the edges."

Flat Feliz Navidad

This fortnight we're embarking upon that most challenging of challenges (at least for Lauren, lol!); it is generally called the One Layer Card; though some folks refer to it as the No Layer Card. 

What does that mean? It means your entire design is flat... your elements get stamped, drawn, embossed, etc, directly onto the cardbase; so basically you're not taping or gluing ANY additional papers/diecuts/layers to that base. We're looking (as the title implies) for completely FLAT cards this time. Are you up for the challenge? Great! Here we go:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started by using a torn piece of typing paper as an inking mask creating three shades of Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide Ink (start at the bottom and then keeping inking over the whole space to keep the bottom darker than the top).  Next I stamped two Memory Box Sentiments and the Memory Box Holiday Greenery Stamp.  I used alcohol markers to color the greenery, turning part of the leaves into a poinsettia.  I added a few extra berries & a leaf to finish.  I colored out of the lines a bit, so I just embraced that coloring style ... sort of like the fill stamps that are meant to be a bit off from the base image."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "This is NOT my natural metier, but I'm always up for a challenge! Starting with a white 5.5" square card, I taped off all four edges with low-tack washi, then broke out the awesome Wendy Vecchi Build-a-Plaid Layered Stencil Set from Spellbinders to create a diagonal Christmassy plaid in Archival Inks of the red, green and gold variety. I added some of Hero Arts' Winter Foliage Rub-On Transfer poinsettias and foliage as well as a rub-on sentiment from another set of HA Rubs called Holiday Messages. I like the way you can very very faintly see the plaid inking underneath the transfers AND the fact that this baby is even flatter than the average credit card bill, which will be such an advantage when I hit the post office in December!"

♥♥♥

Link your newly made One/No Layer holiday card(s) right here! JB2507: Flat Feliz Navidad runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 9th.

Going Green

Spring has sprung and the only things more beautiful than the budding leaves outside are the Grinchly Green holiday cards in our Readers Gallery. We highly recommend taking a little time to check out all of them, but in the meantime, here are three that especially caught our eye this fortnight.

Tina Z of Treebug

...combined a green-gloved Santa in a green candy car, driving through a gorgeous green patterned paper landscape!

Gail L of What's Normal

...stitched this gorgeous and intricate bauble with green metallic thread, added a bold green bow, and mounted the panel on a green embossed foil mat... et voila!

Marianne of Marianne's Cards 'n Stuff

...went impressively minimal with just one simple, perfect, Geometric Tree stenciled in two perfectly chosen shades of green for CAS card perfection! 

♥♥♥

And now let's find out which cardmaker be getting a little more "Green On" 

when this adorable PoppyStamps holiday tree die set lands in their mailbox! 

The Random Number Generator has chosen

Lucky #9

which means Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio is our winner!

Please send your snail mail info to

llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com 

so we can get those sweet dies on their way!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated, as always, we enjoyed seeing every single one of your creative and beautiful designs. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will make you want to work flat out to join the fun! ;)

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.

Get Your Grinch On

This fortnight we're asking you to Get Your Grinch On, which means we're celebrating our friend the Grinch by creating cards that are predominantly GREEN (and bonus points if you throw in a Grinch too).

Here's how we're showing our GREEN this week.

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started with a fun green polka dot card base.  Next I matted a tag from Doodlebug Designs Candy Cane Lane with a link layer of blue to match the present and give a big of contrast to the background.  I added some glittery silver ribbon, a tie of lime twine, and a tiny bit of red bling for the gingerbread man's button.  I finished by using foam tape to add the tag for a bit of dimension."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I started with a (seemingly firm) plan that involved a Christmas Tree layered with about six different shades of torn green cardstock. But then... I found this little quartet of adorability on a sheet of journal cards and the next thing I knew my card had four snowmen, two green polka dot papers, three EO Snowflake Brads and eight washi tapes. Because that's the way I roll, lol. (Not to worry, I can make the other card for next week!)"

♥♥♥

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.

JB2506: Get Your Grinch On runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday evening, March 26th. Link as many newly made, mostly GREEN holiday cards as you'd like to, right here:

BLING It On!

What's sparkly and shimmery and absolutely awesome? Every single one of the cards in the Bling On the Holidays Readers' Gallery, of course! If you haven't already treated yourself to the inspiration therein, we highly recommend the trip. Meanwhile, here are three cards that especially caught our eye this time:

Susan B of Cardmaker's Garret

...used multiple shades of green pigment powders and a stencil to create her gorgeous multicolor branches of holly; then framed them in red and added loads of beautiful, blingy berries!

Becca S of Becca's Quest for Love and Country Creativity

...built a wonderous winter landscape set under a snowy sky full of glistening snowflakes and pearly accents; surrounded by a pristine snowfall of glittery acrylic paint!

Deanne Saunders of A Little Bit o' Paper

...stacked a constellation's worth of blue and golden diecuts, added lots (& LOTS!) of glorious glitter et voila... a shaped card that shines as brightly as the stars it resembles!

♥♥♥♥♥

Here's a badge, if you'd like one!

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing ALL of your cards! We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we think might find you GREEN with envy! ;) 

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.

BLING on the Holidays!

This fortnight we're celebrating (...you may have guessed it from the title...) BLING! All you need to do is make a card featuring jewels, gems, beads, pearls, glitter, stickles, or anything sparkly and join the fun by adding it with the Linky tool at the bottom of this post.

Meanwhile, here's how we're BLING-ing it this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "Bling is the perfect way to decorate a Christmas Tree, especially this three layer Kaleidoscope Christmas Tree die cut set from Spellbinders.  I cut the bottom layer of my tree from white glitter paper for even more sparkle.  And for a bit more shine, I topped the tree & die cut the My Favorite Things PEACE Die-Namics sentiment from Concord & 9th Champagne Foil Paper.

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I've had these Bling Snowflakes from the big box store for aggggggggges, so I was determined to use them for this prompt. I found a funky gel print made (at some un-remembered time, lol) by using an ancient Darice snowflake embossing folder to remove paint from the plate. I added some older Tim Holtz metallic rub-on transfers to enhance the holiday theme. My sentiment and mat are white glitter cardstock and the finished card is an A6."

♥♥♥

JB2505: BLING on the Holidays runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, March 12th. Link your beautiful BLING-centric card(s) right here:

Clearly Awesome

Clear elements can be challenging to work with, but the Midnight Clear Readers' Gallery (clearly!) proves that the effect is worth the effort! Here are three cards that caught our eye this fortnight:

Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

...layered vellum squares over her elegant trio of candle images, giving them a soft nostalgic feeling that works perfectly with her traditional red and green palette!

Beverly Sizemore aka @bevscreativepath on Instagram

...pressure embossed an alphabet folder on a piece of clear acetate (bonus points for upcycling a piece of packaging!) enhancing the sweet scene of  critters mailing letters to Santa!

Renate of Made by Renate

...made a BEARY cute shaker card that's got so much dimension, texture and charm it's practically a gift all on its own!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every card! We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will BLING on your holiday creativity!

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.

It Came Upon a Midnight CLEAR

This fortnight at we're asking you to make a holiday card that contains at least one see-through element. 

It can be a glass embellishment, an acrylic transparency, some vellum, acetate or "ghost" shapes, clear stickers, Lucite buttons, shrink plastic... whatever you like. If you can see through it (AND figure out how to attach it to your card) put it on there and link it up!

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

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started my card with this weeks Sketch Saturday layout and a lovely clear piece of Hambly Screen Printed lace.  Then, as I was working through the rest of the Sketch elements, I realized I could turn the Tim Holtz Ephemera Tag Box into a shaker if I added some clear acetate, so my card for this week is a CLEAR-ly a two-fer."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I still have a fun little stash of the late great Hambly Screen Prints transparencies, which are so thick and sturdy you actually can make a card base out of them and build your entire design on top. Fair warning: however well a transparency card comes out IRL, it will be VERY hard to photograph (as you can see) but other than that, I'm pleased with this one. I used nearly an entire sheet of Hero Arts' Holiday Messages Rub-on Transfers and three out of four ancient dimensional snowman stickers from the big box store. I added a plain white diecut panel inside the card (see the pic on my blog) for writingon, but realized belatedly that the front is so transparent, I might add another panel to the back of the card and add my personal greeting that way."

♥♥♥

And now it's time to start planning what YOU will make, then link it up right here! JB2504: It Came Upon a Midnight CLEAR runs until 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 26th. 

In Great Shape!

There are some amazing cards in the Shape Up Readers' Gallery, so if you haven't yet taken a little scroll for inspiration, we highly recommend the trip. Meanwhile, here are just a few that especially caught our eye:

Fabiola of Mon P'tit Monde

...constructed an beautiful winterscape as a clever (reverse) J-shaped side-step card; which has so much dimension and interest, this is basically a piece of decor rather than just a card!

ArtMBR

...made perhaps the most elegant (and sparkly!) round card EVER in black, white and gold; and reminded us how much we love the classic round card design!

Wendy of Cartai

...drove her perfectly pieced and shaded vintage VW Beetle car (with holiday tree on top) straight into our shaped-card loving hearts!

♥♥♥

A big giant heart-shaped THANK YOU to everyone who played along, we loved seeing every single card! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new challenge that we hope you'll deem to be CLEARLY inspiring! ;)

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."

♥♥♥

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.

Shape Up for the Holidays

Since January is often the time for healthy resolutions, we figured it was a good time to start Shaping-Up for the Holidays, which means we're making shaped cards … anything other than a square or rectangle will do.

Here are the shapes we chose this week:

Stephanie's Shaped Card

Stephanie says, "I thought these Jumbo tag dies from Scrapbook.com would make a fun card.  I used two sizes and some handmade papers I made in an online collage paper class ... they use acrylic paint and water splatter (the bigger tag) and a rolling gum ball in a box with gold paint (the smaller one).  Then I die cut the Concord & 9th Ornament Inlay die from a darker pink cardstock and backed it with a lighter pink paper.  I added a gold metallic ornament topper and some pearlescent gems to finish the design.  The sentiment is from Concord & 9th Big on Christmas."

Lauren's Shaped Card

Lauren says, "I confess to not being the most adventurous shaped-card-maker, I tend to do the same shapes-- for which I've made handcut templates-- over and over. This bauble is a fave, as you can see, lol. But then, the combination of a classic ornament shape with well-hoarded Basic Grey holiday papers is too good to resist, imo! This time I added a Scrapaholics laser-cut wooded pine cone sprig tinted with Distress Oxides, a few ancient Imaginisce velvet flowers and a tassel. job done!"

♥♥♥

Link your newly made SHAPED holiday cards right here! JB2503: Shape Up for the Holidays runs until 6pm EST on Wednesday, February 12th.

Colorful Candy Christmas Cards

So many clever, creative and colorful takes on our Candy Christmas photo inspiration challenge; you guys always make it so hard to just choose three! We highly recommend a scroll through the entire Readers' Gallery, but in the meantime here are a few cards that caught our eye: 

Helen of Made by Helen

...zoomed in on a single element-- the red and white striped candy canes-- and made them (plus a perfectly chosen chunky sentiment) the star of her card!

Brenda B of Brenda's Scraps of Life

...cleverly reproduced the basic elements of the room in the photo: a fireplace complete with red and blue stockings, a white tree with pastel ornaments, lots of presents and a soft blue wall treatment. Fabulous!

Cindy Major posting on IG as @encrepapierciseaux

...made a beautifully colorful pastel nutcracker the centerpiece of her design; then surrounded him with candy and sparkles for a card we're still smiling about!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing your creative takes on the Candy Christmas inspiration photo. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will help you SHAPE your next holiday card!

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.

Candy Christmas

It's a fabulous photo inspiration this fortnight at Jingle Belles, so we're asking you to create a holiday card (or cards!) inspired by this fun Candy Cane Christmas image from Turtlecreek Lane. 

You can use as many or as few aspects of the photo as you'd like: maybe you love the the white tree smothered in ornaments; or the red and blue stockings could be your fave; perhaps you'd just like to create a mantel with stockings and decor; or you might adore that handsome Nutcracker. Anything and everything in the pic is fair game, just make sure you let us know what part(s) of the photo inspired you.

Here's how we were inspired this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "For this week's card, I was really drawn to the fun colors and all of the white space in the room.  I stamped and die cut the Concord & 9th Big on Christmas Merry & Bright Sentiment.  Next I cut 1/4" strips of the four primary colors that I saw in the image.  I finished with fun Doodlebug Designs Candy Cane Lane puffy stickers of candy and other holiday images."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I was immediately drawn to the photo's gorgeous white tree, smothered in candy-themed, candy-colored ornaments, so luckily I remembered that I still had stickers left from Doodlebug's Candy Cane Lane collection of a few years ago. I employed one of my oldest dies (Sizzix's Christmas Tree #2) to cut a tree shape from white cardstock, then spent an enjoyable half hour adding pastel candy canes, gum drops and hearts, plus some tiny pearls, before adding lots of colorful presents under the tree. I made my background a soft blue similar to the wall in the inspo photo and added another mat of red and blue as a little salute to those bold stockings."

Link up your own photo inspiration greetings right here. JB2502: Candy Christmas will run until 6pm (Eastern) on January 29, 2025.

Old Friends, New Friends!

How exciting to see so many cards in the Readers' Gallery for the first challenge of the year, "Something Old... Something New"; especially since we're seeing lots of Jingle Belles veterans, as well as plenty of new folks joining in. Our fifteenth season may actually be the most fun ever, and we thank you for coming along to play. Here are a few cards that especially caught our eye; though it was definitely a tough assignment to only pick three!

Marja of Marja's Scrapfun

...cleverly combined old and new reindeer images to make this beautifully striking card with a gorgeous color palette of soft blue, tan, brown and white!

Liz Williams of Old Right Brain Madness

...is showing off two especially lovely new stencils with which she has used her good old Distress Oxide Inks and a classic diecut sentiment to make an amazing floral design that is also triumphantly mail-able!

Jo of Jo Blogs

...says that bauble stamp is so old it no longer has its backing sheet, but it still stamps perfectly and pairs extremely well with the cat and sentiment she's combined from two new stamp sets. It's not every crafter who can "make a scene" as adorable as this one!

♥♥♥

Again, we say THANK YOU very much to all who played, ALL of your cards are wonderful, and we genuinely enjoyed seeing each and every one. We're off to a great start for the year, so let's keep going. Yo that end, we'll be back at midnight with a brand new challenge with some eye candy we hope will inspire your next holiday 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)!