CARD sharks!

it's been another banner week ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ in which you've proven once again that there is *no* curveball we can throw that won't elicit home runs all round! absolute GORGEOUSNESS in the deck the halls gallery... do give yourself the treat of scrolling down!

meanwhile, here are a few cards that particularly took the fancy of our lovely prompt setter, the wonderful sue culotti:

by Amy Tsuruta of Tsuruta Designs

(posted on flickr)

Sue says, "Adorable, whimsical, magical FUN! I especially love the stitched tab and toothpick flag. The colors rock, too..."

by Electra of Wishin' I Knew How to Blog

Sue says, "I am always in awe of people who can pull off "techniques" with such great results, plus pink and green always makes us happy, right?"

by Eveline of Ditjes en Datjes

Sue says, "I'm a total sucker for vintage images, and polka dots, and lace trim, and square cards, and clean layouts, and...'nuff said?"

once again we enthusiastically thank all who participated, and bestow an extra-helping of our admiration and gratitude upon miss sue for coming along to hang out this week, it was pure pleasure for us! if you need a little blog-based treat be sure to check out random on purpose, which is also the home of sue's fabulous digi-stamps... just click the random bliss tab!

we've got a new prompt at midnight which involves a lovely guest star, an amazing sponsor, some FABULOUS cards... (if we do say so ourselves, lol!) ...and there miiiiiiiiiiiight just be a prize on offer, but you'll have to come back to find out! ;)

DECK the Halls

this week we're pleased to introduce a very lovely guest star who's been a good friend to both stef and myself, ms. sue culotti! i first met her last year when she was hosting the up-beat and motivational 52-card pickup project, but have since discovered that her personal blog, random on purpose, is always a great read and visual inspiration, plus she's also got her own line of fabulous digi-stamps (called random bliss) featuring some awesome halloween and christmas images! ...just sayin'... :)

here's what sue said in the email she sent us about this week's prompt, DECK the halls:

"My first thought was playing cards, but it somehow seemed sacrilegious to incorporate something so closely identified with gambling (sinful!) with a holy day, so then I though maybe ATC cards - the cards themselves, or add one to a card front."

stef and i both loved this idea so much, our only problem was WHICH aspect to use? because sue came up with three cool ways to go this time. being "more is merrier" kind of gals, we decided to incorporate ALL of them... and add one of our own! so this week, JINGLE BELLES, you can do any or all of the following:

make a freestanding (2.5 x 3.5") xmas-themed Artist Trading Card

OR

add an ATC-sized element to your holiday card

OR

incorporate a playing card into your design

OR

use a recycled xmas card (or an element from

one!) on your (newly made) holiday card!

here's what WE did:

Sue's Card

Sue says, "I've been sketching playing-card-sized "Twelve Days of Christmas" (you know - a partridge, two turtle doves, five gold rings, etc...) and I used one of the cards from that deck - the "Partridge in a Pear Tree", obviously. I painted it with inks from my inkpads "smooshed" onto an acrylic block. Since I kind of wanted it to take center stage, I kept the rest of the card simple."

Stef's Card

Stef says, "When I go to yard sales or thrift stores, I always look for Board Games ... not to play, but for the cards & game pieces to add to my paper creations stash. This card features a die cut game card from Candy Land (which I believe was a gift from Lauren). It was perfect with some Echo Park Paper (including punched peppermint candy embellishments) and a Cardabilities Sketch."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "i'm pretty proud that i managed to work in 3 of the 4 ways to go for this week's prompt: i started with a fun shaped playing card... (that sweet xmas tree is actually the 3 of clubs!) ...and made that the focal point of an ATC... (it's the rectangular element on the left) ...then i used sketchy thursdays' current GDT sketch to fit my ATC into a christmas card design that utilized a whole bunch of smaller paper scraps! big win!!!" :)

there are some lovely examples of ATC's here, here and here, should you need inspiration to go in that direction; or use any of the other ideas listed above! try out your wildest designs ever... or go with a tried-and-true strategem; but whatever you decide, link it up by 6pm (EST) next wednesday, september 14th! keyword for our flickr group and/or galleries is JB37. HAVE FUN!!! ♥

PS ~ they're also celebrating "Card Play" at the Moxie Fab World Blog this week, so depending on which idea you use, you might be able to link your card up there as well.

♥LAUREN♥