it's a wrap!

talk about a bunch of folks who really know how to start the year off right, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! if the marvelous designs we saw during the last two weeks are any indication, it seems that 2012 is going to be your most creative year yet!!! here are a couple of cards we thought interpreted the NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S) prompt in especially clever ways:

leslie of the crooked stamper

upheld her new year's resolution to "mix things up" with a non-traditional card in which a giftwrap background, one die cut, one stamp, and some gorgeous bling combined to knock our socks off!

debbie of debbie's dash of this and that

enhanced the perfect presenty patterned paper with ribbon, florals, bling and ink... that all add up to one elegant masterpiece of a holiday greeting!

deb hickman of a world of imagination

created a card in which any ONE of the brilliant elements--clever easel design, ruffly layered tree, or the fabulous 3D presents--would have wowed us; taken all together they're a show-stopper!

now you know that we consider "the prize" for playing along at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to be a stress-free december, but every once in a while, we like give away a few goodies, too! sometimes we tell you in advance... sometimes it's a little surprise... like this: 

mme 6x6 paper pad, making memories rub-ons, offray ribbon flowers, recollections stickers... and more!

so which of our lovely cardmakers is going to get these fun holiday-themed products? 

according to random.org the lucky number is...

46!!!

which means that

♥♥♥LISA V♥♥♥

is our winner!

congratulations, lisa! please email us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com to claim your prize!!!

we love seeing EVERY SINGLE CARD you guys make! each one is clever, beautiful, and inspiring in its own way... much like our lovely belles, eh?! do give yourself the treat of scrolling down and visiting the NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S) gallery. then c'mon back, because we've got another fabulous prompt... and possibly a lovely SPONSOR... (who can say??!) coming up at midnight!!! ♥

MORE time like the presents!

just a reminder that this year we're posting our creative prompts every OTHER friday, so if you'd like to get in on the fun with our current theme, NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S), you still have until next wednesday evening! please scroll down to see the original post, ogle the gorgeous cards made by our lovely guest stars, and link up your own creations!

since stef and i (lauren) need to finish up the year with around fifty cards each, our plan is to make two cards for each prompt. sometimes they'll be variations on the same theme, sometimes they'll each go off in a completely different direction. we won't always post them here in the "off weeks" but sometimes we will, and this is one of those times!  :)

stef's OTHER card

stef says, "This was my first attempt at origami wrapping paper folding. 

The words on the silver paper didn't quite show like I'd hoped, but I still love the 

soft muted effect.  A few punched holly leaves, silver *berries*,

a wrap of silver cord, and an EAD Rub-on Sentiment finish the design."

lauren's OTHER card

lauren says, "i almost always have a couple of totally conflicting ideas for any prompt and often my biggest problem deciding which to use... which is one of the reasons i'm excited about getting TWO shots at each one this year! you can see i went in a completely different direction with this card, and in my collage i've included some chipboard presents in addition to MORE giftwrap usage in the form of that beautiful holly leaf background paper. by the way, the silver "jingle bells" were cut using a memory box die that i predict you'll be seeing A LOT OF this year--the lovely miss lorraine gave one to both stef and me for christmas, and we are IN LOVE with them, for obvious reasons!  (thank you, lorraine!!!♥)"

if you have a little free time, why not sit down now and make your own version of a NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S) card?! if you believe you *don't* have time to make holiday cards right now, let me ask you this: will you have MORE or LESS TIME in december??! ...just askin'... (come & play!) :) :) :) 

No Time Like the Present(s)

I know, i know, we said we'd be kicking off the "new" series of JINGLE BELLES themes on January first, but we were so excited to have not only a fantastic debut prompt, but also ♥FOUR♥ (four!!!) lovely guest stars coming along to help us kick of the new year, so we just could not wait until Sunday!  So let's get rolling shall we?

Can you a guess your assignment, based on the title of this post?  Of course, it's a pretty good reflection of our impatience to start making next year's holiday cards... but as a matter of fact, the brief for this first card of 2012 is in there too: 

"NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S)"

Make a holiday card that incorporates GIFT WRAP:
as a background, as an accent, or using motifs cut from your favorite wrapping paper

OR

Make a holiday card with an image of present(s) on it!

We are pleased and proud to introduce our cohorts for this celebratory new year's post, although if you followed along last year, none of these names will be new to you.  Yep, it's true, if you stick around long enough, even if you don't suggest a theme, eventually we are going to draft you to participate, anyway!  Consider yourselves warned!  :)  Now, meet our lovely guest stars:

Electra of Wishin' I Knew How To Blog

made this gloriously sparkly and infinitely appealing confection of a present-shaped card!

Electra's favorite card from last year was made for the It Came Upon a Midnight Clear prompt, and surprised her by the fact that it convinced her she (apparently) likes PINK!  (who knew?!)  To us, however, it just confirms quite CLEARLY (ok, sorry!) that she can rock ANY challenge with which she is confronted!  Electra once, "...accidentally asked the manager of a cheese shop to marry me because his cheese was so good. It was VERY good. And he said No."  We cannot help but feel that whilst his cheese may have been exemplary, his judgement was poor, Miss Electra!!! ♥

Lisa J. of Stamping, Crafting, and Snow, Oh My!

stamped and colored, embossed and embellished, until this lovely card was just right!

Lisa is a design team member at The Friday Mash-Up. Her favorite card from last year was made using the Holiday Fall to Layout from our team-up with the Clean and Simple Stamping Blog.  She loves--and so, emphatically, do we!!!--how fun this card turned out, especially since she wasn't too sure about the circles when she first saw the challenge! :) Lisa's Christmas card-making is just the tip of the creative iceberg; as she says, "My family and I love Christmas! We go all out decorating our yard for Christmas and have often been called "The Griswolds", after the crazy family in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation movie. We take it as a compliment and come January 2012, we'll be working on new ideas for our Christmas 2012 display!"  We seriously cannot wait to see that, Miss Lisa, and hope you'll share photos with us JINGLE BELLES next November!

Lisa H. of Recklinghausen Musings 

tackled the two aspects of this prompt, by making BOTH of the gorgeous cards you see above!  

Lisa is a Master Forger at Counterfeit Kit Challenge and co-runs the scrapbook challenge blog, Whimsical Musings.  Her favorite card from last year was in response to our prompt Shape Up  for the Holidays, and it is hard to argue with her choice of that gorgeous present-laden sleigh!  Lisa says she feels, "...a bit of a fraud to be guest designing over here, as I'm not really a card maker, I scrapbook! I joined in with the Jingle Belles fun last January and got totally hooked!" Without wishing to contradict our lovely friend we have to disagree:  after finishing 60 gorgeous Christmas greeting, Miss Lisa, you can officially call yourself a CARD MAKER, too!!!  :)

Lorraine of Paper Vernissage

loves to repurpose items into her cards and crafts, so this first challenge of 2012 was right up her alley, as you can see from this fabulous and glimmering card!

Lorraine's favorite card from last year was made for a prompt near and dear to our hearts, I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas... and a Cure; and makes us swoon just as much now as when we first saw it in October.  Lorraine started stamping, "...when my daughter was in 3rd Grade - she's 28 now - and we used a toaster to do heat embossing on a Girl Scout project which worked quite fine until someone dropped their project into the toaster!" We not only admire the commitment to the next generation of papercrafters, we marvel at your ingenuity, Miss Lorraine!

Stephanie of Ingenious Inkling
has absolutely ALWAYS got a new idea, sketch, tutorial, or stamp to try out, and the results never, ever, disappoint, do they?!

Stef's favorite card from last year was made for our Shape Up prompt, and I think you'll agree it's a STAR, in every sense of the word! With regard to this current masterpiece Stef says, "I always buy my holiday wrapping paper at the after-holiday sales ... and I always look for papers that will work throughout the year like this metallic two-sided (teal & silver) paper.  I thought it would be fun to see if I could create something using origami, so I found this Wreath Tutorial and started folding.  The fold is very quick & easy and would make fun ornaments too.  I attached it to a silver metallic card base (framed by more wrapping paper) and added a grey EAD Designs rub-on sentiment."  Miss Stephanie is as committed to flossing as crafting, "...I own at least 10 containers of dental floss (Glide only please) and have them tucked away in my car, purse, desk, gym bag ... pretty much anywhere I might feel the need to floss."

finally, here's my own card, 
Lauren of ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...
which uses the square sketch option of Mojo Monday 221, and incorporates several different scraps of gift wrap (the gold flourish background & fussy-cut poinsettia), plus a bonus item that illustrates a quirky "fun fact" about me:  if I see something that'd be nice on a card, I retrieve it regardless of  circumstance; this pretty ruffled holly tissue paper was literally grabbed out of the trash at my brother's house on Christmas Day!  :)

In case you're wondering, I had quite a few "favorite" cards last year, and firmly believe that the reason is, I only had to make one per week and never hit the creative wall that mass-producing provokes in me.  Perhaps the card of which I am proudest was from the prompt we called Cardstock Christmas... because giving up patterned paper is a HUGE challenge for me!!!

And now it's time to see what you will do for NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S)!  Remember, we'll be posting prompts every other week this year, so you'll have nearly two weeks to participate... and of course you can make and submit as many new holiday cards as you like, as long as they fit the prompt!  Link up here by 6pm EST, Wednesday, January 11th.  Keyword for galleries or our flickr group is JB12-01.  

Have fun, JINGLE BELLES, and may we be amongst the first to wish you a very Happy New Year!  ♥♥♥   

'twas the week before new year...

...and all through the ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ house, stephanie and lauren were getting pretty excited about an imminent second year of holiday creativity, friendship and fun!

2011 was awesome, especially the part where we had nearly *FIFTY* cards completed on november 30th, and were able not just to take december back, but actually take december OFF!  we spent the holiday season doing holiday things instead of frantically mass-producing festive greetings, and it was FABULOUS!  :)

if you played along with us this year, then you know exactly what we mean, and we hope you'll be inspired to come back on january 1st and help us kick the whole thing off again!  if you've just discovered us, we hope to see you next week, so you can get in on the action:  trust us, this whole "spread the work throughout the year" lark has HUGE holiday benefits; plus it's just a whole lotta fun, too!!!

this time, we're going to try something slightly different:  we'll be posting our new prompts every other week!  we'll still start early on fridays, and wrap up on wednesday evenings, but we'll be giving you TWO weeks to make and link up your cards for each theme.  we hope this will give everyone a little more time to create, and thus a better chance to participate!  on the other hand, it means we'll be only be posting *24* creative ideas to inspire you (as opposed to 48 this year) so if you need to produce 50+ cards in total, you'll want to be making more than one for each prompt. (lauren's note:  i still plan to make one card per week, and may post both here... or sometimes just do a "follow up" on my own blog.) 

once again, we'd like to remind you that we think of this as a group project, and so we LOVE including as many of our fellow belles as possible, in as many ways as possible!  so of course we welcome your ideas, your sketches, and your inspirations! you can email us anytime at  jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com. many of our favorite prompts last year were suggested by readers, and here's a little secret:  we used nearly ALL of the wonderful ideas your fellow belles dreamed up!!! even if you wouldn't like to set one of the prompts, we'd love to have you as a "lovely guest star"-- just write in and we'll fix you up with a date and an "assignment"! we’ll be starting the festivities with a few “regulars” from last year whom we’ve invited to make cards for the debut prompt!

the most important thing is to make this work for you, and--especially--to make it fun! the best thing we learned in 2011 was that the more friends we have with us, the more likely that is to happen, so we hope ♥YOU♥ will join us!

xoxoxo
stephanie & lauren

new look!

hello lovely belles, just popping in to do a little "makeover" on the blog, and put up some brand spankin' new badges!  ♥

PS:  our new header and badges were made in photoshop using paper, brushes and elements from  anna aspnes' gorgeous artplay palette: retro holiday, from o'scraps; the fonts are deftone stylus, bohemian typewriter and impact--all free from dafont.com; and the sparkliness is thanks to flergs' over the rainbow glitter layer style from scrapbookgraphics, and implemented courtesy of this great tutorial!

wrapping it up!

can you believe it's december already ♥JINGLE BELLES♥? this year seemed to go by extra quickly, thus proving the old adage "time flies when you're having fun"! we certainly had a blast making our own cards each week, and even more fun seeing yours! of course it's very exciting to think that we each have nearly 50 cards ready to be signed and sent, but don't worry if you are not quite done yet, there's still plenty of time to finish up before the big day!

we won't have another prompt for you until we being our 2012 festivities on new year's day, but we thought you might like to continue cheering each other on during december, so feel free to link up the rest of the holiday cards you make, we'd love to see them! and who knows, we might sneak in a few more ourselves! :)

in the meantime, we offer yet another round of hearty ♥THANK YOUS♥ to all of our wonderfully generous sponsors, our lovely and talented guest stars, and to all of the amazing cardmakers who played along with us throughout the year! to every single one of you we say,

♥YOU ROCK, JINGLE BELLES!!!♥

talk about eye candy!!!

what a wonderful week of tasty treats it was around here ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!!! we are just glad that there were no calories in all of the deliciousness you sent our way, or we'd be piling on the holiday pounds already!

here are a few cards that especially tickled our sweet tooth this week:

gina of tyggereye art

made two super-sweet and totally festive cards using some digital products, some holiday supplies, and a bit of her regular stash

mel x of mel's crafty delights

embellished one adorable stamp, proving that-- as in cooking--you don't need a lot of ingredients if you've got exactly the right ones!

pernilla of hellstrom

used the perfect patterned papers and stamps to

fashion a candy house that is far too beautiful to eat!

i'm sure you're as anxious as we are to find out which ♥JINGLE BELLE♥ will get to go wild with a $15 voucher in the very awesome ROGUE REDHEAD shop! but first please join me again in thanking the very fun and very talented shar, the lovely lady behind rogue redhead designs, for coming along to play--and so generously sponsor--our last prompt of 2011, it was a TREAT indeed to work with her!

now without further ado, the winning number as chosen by random.org is

NUMBER *9*

which means that

LAWREN F.

is our lucky lady!!!

LAWREN, please email us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail (dot) com to claim your prize!

do take a few moments to scroll down and visit the CANDY KISSES gallery when you get a chance. i know we said so every single week, but that's because it is A FACT: we spent this entire year marveling at your cleverness, your skill and your unflagging creativity; what a treat to be surrounded by a group of such supremely talented card-makers! of course, the very best gift of all this year was watching you all of you lovely ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ support and encourage each other as much as you did us! we could not be more pleased or proud to have been a part of that, and we cannot thank you enough!

we're already busy thinking up new ideas with which to inspire you in 2012, and we hope to see you--and your card-making resolutions--bright and early on new year's day! in the meantime, we wish you a wonderful, calm, and stress-free december, and the happiest of holiday seasons! you've earned it, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!!!

xoxoxo

lauren and stephanie

♥♥♥