Think Pink!

It's always an exciting moment to announce the total for our annual donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, so before we show some of our faves from Pink Christmas, let us proudly announce that we had 21 cards in total, and since our donation is $2 each for every card, we'll be sending $84 to BCRF this year! Many thanks to all who linked up and helped us reach this total!

Literally EVERY Pink Christmas card is a great one, so if you haven't yet taken time to scroll through all the entries, we highly recommend the trip. But meanwhile, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Lesley G of Lesley's Craft Room

...created a seemingly *simple* card; but every element is perfectly judged. From the embossed text in the background; to the perfect shades of pink for hat, mats and gems; and of course that sheer pink ribbon as a finishing touch. This card really has it all!

Becca Yahrling who posts on Flickr

...made three gorgeous cards, but this one-- with the floral diagonal stripes, adorable skate (with dimensional furry topper!) and fancy diecut sentiment --is especially charming!

Suzanne H who posts on Flickr

...created this showstopper of a background by heat embossing the oversized stamp in white, then stenciling the colors on top; it's an incredible effect, therefore all she needed on top was that beautifully framed sentiment!

♥♥♥

Shifting gears q little be before we go: what with all the fun of Pink Christmas AND our (Lauren and Stephanie's) NYC vacation, one of us (LAUREN!) totally forgot to award the prize from the last challenge, JB2620: The Stockings Were Hung, so let's do that right now:

The Random Number Generator has selected 

Lucky Number 6 

which means that

Denise Bryant

is our Lucky Winner!

Denise, please send your snail mail info to 

llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com and we'll get that winging its way to you ASAP!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who played along, we loved seeing every card and we're grateful to you for helping us raise a little bit of cash for a worthy cause. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt that we hope won't leave you feeling sheepish... ;)

ALL of The Stocking Cards...

...are absolutely awesome; so if you haven't taken a scroll through the Stockings Were Hung Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend the trip! This week Lauren and Stephanie are hanging out together in the Big Apple, but we'll have a brand new prompt as usual on Friday, and regular Shout Outs will resume afterwards. Many thanks to all who played along, we hope you'll stop back tomorrow, we think you'll be tickled PINK! (PS: We'll announce the winner of the dies over the weekend, in a separate post.)

Stickers Galore!

I guess we're not the only ones who are "Stuck on Stickers" because everyone did such an amazing job making gorgeous cards featuring them this fortnight! If you haven't checked out the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the super-sticker inspiration. In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Julene of Julene by Design

...found these three super-sweet dimensional felt gingerbread girl stickers in her stash, and built this bold and beautiful CAS card to hold them!

LeAnne of Wee Inklings

...only used one sticker on her card, but look at how amazingly elegant it is, and it's perfectly framed by the "fracture" technique which we now long to try!!!

Brenda of Brenda's Scraps of Life

...built her incredibly elegant card around these pretty Santa and sentiment stickers; then found paper and dies to make them even more appealing!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated. Just in CASE you're wondering, we'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope you'll find as much fun as we did!

Magnificent Masculine Merriment

Some People (like Lauren!) struggle with masculine card designs, but the past fortnight proves that quite a few crafters totally have this whole genre covered, and they've linked holiday "guy cards" which prove this point quite conclusively. So if you haven't checked out the Readers' Gallery yet, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the fine inspiration. In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

...combined the perfect patterned paper with lots of texture and a truly outstanding sketch layout to make a masculine card that rocks on SO MANY levels!

Leslie M of L Rose Creates

...assembled a penguin Dream Team who are very definitely ready to help you celebrate RIGHT NOW! The Penguin Leader is paper-pieced, then popped up on a wobbler for even greater joy!

Lorraine A of Lorraine's Loft

...chose the handsomest of House Mice, colored him beautifully, and then added matted panels of several different patterned papers which coordinate perfectly AND help tell the story that sweet stamp started.

♥♥♥

And now it's time to find out whose home that sweet Doodlebug "Winter Wonderland" stamp set will be heading off to. The Random Number Generator has selected... Lucky Number 6! Which means that Michele F of I Card Everyone is our Lucky Winner! Congrats, Michele, please send your snamil m,il info to llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com and we'll get those sweet Yetis on their way ASAP!

Many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt and we hope you'll STICK with us for that! ;)

Tic-Tac-Toe Triumph

Possibly the only thing more fun than playing Treeskirt Tic-Tac-Toe is seeing the amazingly creative ways our fellow Belles have used the Tic-Tac-Toe Board to inspire their beautiful cards. Every single one is worth a closer look, so we highly suggest a scroll through the Readers' Gallery, but in the meantime, here are three that especially caught our eye: 

Jenn Borjeson of StampinAngelJenn

...didn't just rock the Tic-Tac-Toe board in ONE direction, she's got two complete rows (die cut/red or green, heat embossing on the diagonal; and heat embossing, ribbon + stamping going down) as well as a boatload of  adorability and style!

Trina of Phamtastic Design

...also pulled off an impressive double play... on a CAS card (top row - snowman, glitter/bling, dry/heat embossing & bottom row - die cut/punch, santa, stamping) and made our jaws drop by virtue of her fabulous stamping, masking and coloring skills!

Crystal O. Minkler of Tawny Owl Paperie

...took the board straight down the middle with Glitter + Red or Green + Santa; then gave us the best and most elegant version of all three!

♥♥♥

Special Note:

If you LOVE holiday card challenges as much as we do, please be sure to check out our friend Jo Avery's fun, fresh and fab Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the current theme is FRIENDSHIP and we (Lauren and Stephanie) are honored to be the Guest Elves!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who played along, truly every card linked up was an emphatic winner of this fun Tic-Tac-Toe game! We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new challenge we hope will prove to be a manly splendored thing! ;) 

Unicorn Magic

We had so much fun creating cards with the fun Unicorn Holiday color palette, and we're glad to see that you did, too! Every single entry is most definitely worth a look, so we recommend scrolling back to the original post and checking out the FAB Readers' Gallery. In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye this time: 

Meghan of Made by Meghan K

...used all of the colors, not to mention an amazing selection of adorable patterns; with an extra award for terrific coloring skills!

Cindy Major aka @encrepapierciseaux on Instagram

...not only used all the colors from the board in this super-detailed nutcracker diecut, she also managed to combine several different challenges very impressively!

Charmaine Stack of Tweedcurtain Productions

...creatively blended three of the colors to make the sky behind her handsome snowpeople look like the Aurora Borealis; bonus points for an excellent take on the postage craze!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who played along, we hope you loved this fun palette as much as we did. We'll be back with a brand new prompt at Midnight... when we'll let the games begin! ;)

Sketch Stars

Everyone did an amazing job making gorgeous cards based on Stephanie's superb sketch! If you haven't checked out the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the fine inspiration. In the meantime, here are three sketch cards that especially caught our eye: 

Sandy J of Adventures of a Stamping Writer

...colored this lovely image with pencils and made it her focal point; then chose just the right elements to fill in the sketch!

Fabiola of Mon P'tit Monde

...stretched the sketch into a landscape format to hold an amazingly well coordinated snow scene for her adorable critters to inhabit!

Darnell of DJKard Creations

...streamlined the sketch into a CAS masterpiece with her choice of subtle papers, a bold sentiment, and lots of breathing space for that super-cute snowman! 

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated, we loved seeing your superb sketch cards. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt and we hope you'll flag the occasion! ;)

Flat Out Fabulous

The single layer card is quite a challenging category, but the folks who linked up this time have definitely rocked it! If you haven't checked out the Readers' Gallery, we definitely recommend the trip; and maybe a couple of right-clicks that you save for the next time this type of assignment pops up. In the meantime, here are three Flat Feliz Navidad cards that especially caught our eye: 

Robyn Oliver of Waterlily Cards

...not only stamped this beautiful image exactly at the center of her card front, she colored and shaded it beautifully with watercolors! 

(So carefully that it didn't even bleed through to the inside!)

Helen of Helen's Craft Haven

...not only made one layer work, she took the vibe even more CAS by omitting color as well. 

(It turns out that white embossing on kraft cardstock creates an instant gingerbread village!!!)

Deb Horst of Sendable Sentiments

...not only stamped and colored her focal image to really stand out... she masked and stamped; then masked and stenciled; then masked and stenciled some more to fill the whole cardfront! 

(Making the most impressively maximalist and detailed single layer card we've ever seen! Brava!)

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt that might just be a tiny bit "sketchy"! ;)

Ombre Wonderful

There are some amazingly lovely and very clever cards in the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the fine ombre inspiration. But before you go, here are three cards that especially caught our eye this time:

Brenda B of Brenda's Scraps of Life

...stenciled green ombre holly leaves with red ombre berries; added a gorgeously blended green ombre mat; and while her stripey sentiment might not technically be true ombre, it's a delightful little extra wink at the prompt!

Cindy Major aka @encrepapierciseaux on Instagram

...didn't just incorporate a soft pink ombre background; her stenciled tree blends two shades of texture paste that constitute a second gorgeous ombre which contrasts beautifully!

Susan Pero posting on Pinterest

...kept a solid white background, but ombred her lovely evergreen frame from palest chartreuse to a lovely pine; then added golden branches for a bit of sheen on top!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing all of your brilliant takes on ombre. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will leave you feeling FLAT-out inspired! ;)

Snow Far, Snow Good!

It's been unseasonably hot here in the Northeastern USA, and thus the brilliant job you've all done on snowy cards is especially appreciated. If you've not yet checked out the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the fine and frozen inspiration! In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Pinky of Pinky's World Projects

...added the snowy theme to a softly beautiful Country Christmas vibe; and the result is exponentially more lovely!

Helen of Made by Helen 

...embraced a navy and white color palette and let her intricate (but un-fussy) diecuts take center stage in this triumph of CAS simplicity!

Fabiola of Mon P'tit Monde

...created the illusion of a complete snowy landscape with just clever inking, a scattering of tiny snowflake diecuts, and perfect placement of those handsome reindeer!

♥♥♥

And now it's time to award that fun little SNOWY prize!

The Random Number Generator has selected

Lucky #18

which means that

Becca Yahrling

is our lucky winner, congratulations!

♥

Please send your snail mail info to

llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com

so we can get that in the mail ASAP!

Many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will delight all of the mujers y (h)ombres aqui!

Earth Day Beauties

Many thanks to everyone who joined in out Earth Day challenge to re-use, re-cycle or up-cycle an element. We always love seeing your clever ideas. Here are three that especially caught our eye:

Charmaine Stack of Tweedcurtain Productions

... made this adorable Santa & Girl paper drinks coaster the centerpiece of her gorgeous vintage-style card!

Deb Horst of Sendable Sentiments

...saved the cool fabric band off of her new cozy blanket and used it as an element in this adorable multi-textured card!

Barb G of Barb's Creative Corner 

...tried out a fabulous new-to-us format called the Eclipse Technique, to re-use an especially beautiful square gift-card holder on her super-charming card!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated! We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will make you say, "Snow far... snow good!" ;)

Vintage Valedictorians

You all did such an amazing job making gorgeous cards featuring vintage and retro-inspired holiday cards, it makes it very difficult to select just a few to feature. So if you haven't checked out the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the inspiration. In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Joanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

...went with a midcentury modern vibe that is so spot-on you can practically hear Frank Sinatra singing holiday songs in the background. The stamps, the colors, the gems, the speckles... YOWZA!

Valerie Kaye of VK Inkspirations

...found the absolutely PERFECT set of vintage-style papers to use; and then was clever enough to realize they only needed a tiny bit of inking and distressing to become a gorgeous card!

Cindy Beach of Stamps, Paper and Ink

...caught our eye with this soft and lovely nostalgic design, but the clincher was her confession that she started out with one idea and the supplies drove her in a different (& BEAUTIFUL) direction! 

♥♥♥

And now let's find out the winner of that fun little pack of holiday-themed ephemera from Lauren's Etsy Shop, Just Enough Stuff, shall we?

The Random Number Generator has selected...

Lucky #14!

Which means that Deb Horst is our lucky winner!

Congrats, Deb! Please send your snail mail info to

llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com

so we can get that on its way to you ASAP!

♥♥♥

Once again, many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a bit of a "recycled" prompt we hope will will appeal to all fans of saving miscellaneous pretty things that non-crafters *might* be tempted no to save! ;)

A World of Wonderful Whimsy

"Whimsical Wonderland" was a new theme for us, but clearly it's a rich vein. There are so many sweet, funny, charming and adorable cards in the Readers' Gallery, we do hope you'll take time to check them out. For the moment, here are three that especially caught our eye:

Kate of Cards a la Kate

...proves that small details can make a big impact: her jolly jumping elf has a white felt beard, shiny shoes and a nose made dimensional with glossy accents; he's jumping (on a wobbler) out of a beautifully shaded box diecut, in front of the perfect sentiment, all set in a rather splendid (and dare we say whimsical) funky frame! (Wow!)

Chrissy (xx) from Truly Chrissy

...found this sweet and adorable image un-colored in her to-do box and built this beautiful and vibrant card around it!

Ellen of Ellen's Kaarten

...devised an entire holiday scene for us with frisky mice, lots of candy canes and a perfectly decorated mushroom home; so charming!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing ALL of your fabulous cards. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will supply you with some good old-fashioned inspiration! ;)

Thrice as Nice

Creating with trios is fun and satisfying, as everyone who linked up this ofrtnight has proven pretty conclusively! If you haven't scrolled through the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend the trip. In the meantime, here are (coincidenally!) three cards that especially caught our eye:

Helen of Helen's Craft Haven

...notes humorously in her post that she realized we did not *literally* ask for cards with Three Kings, but when she realized she could do that, it was impossible to resist. We couldn't agree more!

Robyn Oliver of Waterlily Cards

...made this trio of elegant baubles by dipping an empty bathroom tissue roll in watercolor paint, then filling in the circles with sparkly shimmering color!

Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

...went all in with glorious gold: gold paper, gold foil, gold embossing; this card is most definitely "good as gold"! 

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt we hope will warm your whimsical heart!

Singing Along

How delightful to see so many Jingle Belles singing along with our "Fa-la-la-la-la" challenge to incorporate music, instruments or a holiday song title. If you haven't yet seen all the entries in the Readers' Gallery, we highly recommend a little scroll through all of the musical inspiration. In the meantime, here are three cards that especially caught our eye:

Brenda B of Brenda's Scraps of Life

...stamped a beautiful creche scene over the music for "Away in a Manger" using neutral tones with  touches of gold for a look that's soft, sweet and elegant. 

Susan B of Cardmaker's Garret

...made these bold copper-colored watercolor bells the centerpiece of her gorgeous CAS card which also features lots of background texture and a perfectly appropriate sentiment!

Jo from Jo Blogs

...chose a cute and comical caroling kitty to be the star of her charming and adorable greeting! (Bonus points for the super cool Fa-La-La-La-La sky!)

♥♥♥

And now let's find out who will be acquiring that very cool CUTplorations Doodled Christmas Bells Cover Plate Die from Stamplorations:

The Random Number Generator has chosen...

(drumroll, please)

Lucky Number 6!

which means that

Jolanda Johnstone of The Inque Spot Studio

is our Lucky Winner!

CONGRATS!

Please send your snail mail info to

llaurenb (at) hotmail (dot) com 

so we can get that on its way to you ASAP!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to all who participated. We'll be back at Midnight with a brand new prompt that's easy as one... two... three!