Cardstock Christmas

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you to step away from the designer paper … yes, put it away … none allowed … not even a scrap … because this time the assignment is to create a holiday card using only cardstock. You can tear it, ink it, stamp it, spray it, emboss it, die cut it … but stick to only cardstock for your holiday card design.

Here's how we "took stock" this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I used Waffle Flower Skinny Strips die cut with the colors from the current Color Hues Challenge - Lilac & Lime.  I added a perfectly coordinated Lime Mini Doily with a die cut, sentiment & Enamel Dots from Waffle Flower to finish the design."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "My name is Lauren and I'm a scrap-hoarder! I confess that it's difficult for me to throw away scraps and off-cuts, so a few times a year, I make quilty or, in this case, stripy backgrounds to use them up. This version features various shades and textures of red, white and green cardstock; from smooth and glossy to chunky and glittery; arranged to resemble peppermint candies. Fabric poinsettias, plastic leaves and holiday flair complete the design. There's a bit more about the technique on my personal blog, in case you'd like to try your own version of this easy/flexible idea."

Link your own Christmassy Cardstock Creations, right here. This challenge runs until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB2410.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Everybody loves Santa, and, if you've already had a look at the Readers' Gallery, you can plainly see that not only does every holiday cardmaker seemingly have at least a few supplies which feature Santa; they've also got a clever idea or two on how to use them extra-creatively! Here are three examples which especially caught our eye:

Marianne of Marianne's Cards 'n Stuff

...hand-colored all of the elements of her super-cute Santa die not once, not twice, but FOUR times (so you should definitely check out her second post as well!) and one of her brilliant secrets for completing a bunch of designs quickly is to use holiday journal cards as backgrounds!

Diane H of Nellie's Nest

...dressed her sweet Santa --all the other elements of her card from the tree ,to the sentiment, to the Christmas candies-- IN PINK which (in our humble opinion!) automatically makes this adorable card even more fun and festive!

Denise Bryant who posts on Split Coast Stampers

...cleverly used silhouette-style die cuts in realistic colors of plain cardstock to create this simple-but-fantastic scene of Santa's sleigh, soaring above the rooftops on a snowy Christmas Eve!

 ♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we loved seeing all of your super-star Santa cards! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt that we hope will help you take STOCK of your Christmas supplies!

Hey, Santa Claus!

We're continuing our celebration of "The Man With the Bag" (aka Santa Claus!) and so without further ado, here's what we made this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "I recently treated myself to a couple of 49 and Market paper packs, including Christmas Spectacular 2023, from which came all of the papers above. The frame around the Authentique Santa journal card is from a set of Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vignette Covers which I bought specifically to use as frames on cards. The burlap poinsettia is the last of a pack from Petaloo several years ago. At first I thought I might have gone a teeny bit overboard in terms of both distressing and machine stitching but... nahhhhhhh... I love it!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "My card was designed around this cute little 3-D Santa Sticker from my stash using a Sketch from The Paper Players.  I used 1 1/4" designer paper squires and added a 3-D Candy Cane and a cluster of bling before finishing with the perfect Santa sentiment sticker ... certainly a clean & simple  contrast to Lauren's amazing stitching and distressing."

This challenge runs through next Wednesday, May 8th, so you still have time to join our Santa-centric fun, which we hope you will! 

The MAN with the Bag

This fortnight at Jingle Belles we're asking you to create cards that feature - The MAN with the Bag - aka Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle (you get the picture). Make sure Santa is front & center on your design.

Here is how we celebrated Santa this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I picked up a piece of 12x12" journaling cards paper from Echo Park's The Magic of Christmas Collection together with the 6" paper pad from the same collection at my local scrapbooking store last week.  I have no idea why Santa has a Christmas Cake in his hand, or why his other hand was empty as if he was saying - Ta da - but I felt like he needed something in the other hand.  I settled on the perfectly sized Bottle of Beer brad from Eyelet Outlet - it will be perfect for several of the people on my Christmas card list.  I paired it with one of the papers from the 6" pack as well as a scrap of coffee swirled paper for the card base that matched the chocolate in the cake."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I’ve combined a bunch of different Doodlebug collections and elements: the Santa, tree and a few presents are cut from journal cards; the presents and candies are stickers; the sentiment is from a the super-useful page full of tags and sentiments. The red text paper is Elle's Studio... I think... it’s ancient, and was in the scrap box so I'm not positive. The blue graph paper is Photoplay. There are Eyelet Outlet Enamel Dots and an Enamel Star on the cute Christmas tree and a Matte Dot on Santa's hat."

♥♥♥

Link your Santa-centric masterpiece(s) right here by 6pm (Eastern) on May 8th. 

Keyword word for Flickr, galleries, etc, is JB2409. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Earth Day Celebration

The annual recycling challenge is always a favorite at Jingle Belles; we love seeing the pretty/ interesting/ useful things other crafters have saved... and we especially love seeing how they get used to make inspiring holiday cards. Every single link in the Readers' Gallery is worth a visit, and we hope you'll take time to scroll through. Meanwhile, here are three masterpieces of recycling that especially caught our attention:

Lorraine of Paper Vernissage

...has been Jingling along with us since the very beginning (in 2011!) and has basically NEVER made a card we did not love. But she is always especially "hot" when it comes to our Earth Day celebration, and this year is no exception. Hop over to her blog to read all about this adorable Rescued Reindeer AND... the other two cards she made from almost 100% found and recycled ingredients!

Heather of Wire Wrapture

...upcycled parts of a lovely holiday card she received AND the gloriously inky, shimmery blotter paper from her crafty work station to make a card that is both artful and elegant!

Deanne of A Little Bit o' Paper

...raises a caffeinated cup of Christmas Cheer and reminds us that long before we ever heard of Kraft Paper, many of us would save and re-use those lovely, sturdy brown grocery sacks from the Supermarket... which still work beautifully for creative purposes!

♥♥♥

Many thanks to everyone who played along, we'll be saving quite a few of your brilliant ideas for next year's Earth Day Special! Jingle Belles will be back at Midnight with a brand new challenge featuring a holiday hero we suspect needs no introduction!

Christmas Down to EARTH (Day)

At Jingle Belles, we're still celebrating EARTH DAY by creating cards featuring recycled materials. 

We also encourage you to check out your local Earth Day events on and around April 22nd (in my neighborhood we're having a big public spaces trash clean-up party).

Here's how we recycled this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "Unfortunately I can't remember who gave me the gorgeous holiday-themed napkin which is the centerpiece of this week's card. I carefully peeled apart the layers, stuck it to a piece of Xyron-ed cardstock, and then discovered that there was ONE MORE layer I'd been unaware of. Having (even more carefully) peeled that one off, it turned out I had a semi-translucent layer of those lovely, whimsical critters, to which I (very VERY carefully) applied gluestick and stuck to a piece of navy-blue sheet music from an old Christmas Ideals magazine. A patterned paper mat, metallic diecut snowflakes and a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment complete the design of this not-quite-A7 card."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "This card started with a piece of rainbow painted packaging from Viki Boutin Mixed Media Stencils that I die cut with a large tag die, adding a Doodlebug Design Candy Cane Lane Puffy Santa sticker over the hole at the hole at the top.  My Art Impressions Java Gift Card Holder was die cut entirely from three different pieces of saved packaging (can you see the swirls on the cup from Tim Holtz).  I used two more Doodlebug puffy stickers to decorate my cup and attached it to my rainbow tag with foam tape. STAMPlorations Caffeinated Christmas is my coffee-themed sentiment (designed by my uber talented friend Becca Cruger).  I finished with the absolutely perfectly coordinated rainbow paper from Simple Stories for the card base).  I'm also joining Amy T.'s Caffeinated Christmas Challenge."

Link your recycling-centric cards on the original Earth Day post (directly below this) and be sure to check out the inspiring cards in the Readers' Gallery.

Peace on EARTH Day

April 22, 2024 marks the 54th celebration of Earth Day, so this fortnight we Jingle Belles are asking you to help us celebrate by creating holiday cards that feature at least one recycled element.

Here's how we recycled this week:

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "Last year when I recycled my holiday cards, I die cut this lovely cardinal image from the front of one of them and put it into my recycle/reuse box.  For my card, I positioned the cardinals on top of a recycled piece of American Crafts packaging, cut with a stitched square die cut, using foam tape.  I finished with a red scrap of cardstock from my off-cut folders and a stamped sentiment from Impress."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I managed to incorporate a few recycled items into my card: the pink leopard tissue and snowflake paper were saved from holiday gifts (I adhered them to plain white cardstock to make them sturdier); the white and silver layer is the front of a greeting card I received last year; and I made a shaker box using Hero Arts' Woodgrain Frame Infinity Dies cut from the backs of old greeting cards, covered with a piece of clear plastic packaging. In fact, the stamped Sunny Studio bear, ancient glitter snowflake, and Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads (plus Sequins) are the only new items I've used."

♥♥♥

Need more inspiration? Check out the Jingle Belles Earth Day thread to see what we've made for this theme in years past! Then create your own masterpiece featuring a recycled element and link it right here by 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 24th. Keyword for galleries, etc, is JB2408.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter