Fa-La-La-La-La

This week at Jingle Belles we're enjoying a little Fa La La La La ... which means we're making cards (or gift card holders, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporate music ... that are inspired by a holiday song ... or that include a holiday song title.

Here's what we created

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "I couldn't decide which part of the prompt to use, so I did a little bit of all three aspects: OF COURSE I used some of my very favorite darkly patina-ed vintage sheet music; I've incorporated a Basic Grey dimensional "Deck the Halls" sentiment; and thematically, my inspiration comes from the song "The Holly and the Ivy". I've also made a round card, using the current cardabilities sketch (#119)."

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I started with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in my head, so I began with a silver glitter reindeer gift tag as my focal point (with a red pearl for a nose).  Next I added a vintage sheet music background ... and since it was printed in a sienna brown ink, I built my color palette around it using this week's Deconstructed Sketch.  I finished with an SRM Sticker from another Christmas Carol lyric.".

Link up your newly made holiday card-- or cards-- that feature our musical theme between now and 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, April 8th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:15:07.

An InLinkz Link-up

The EMBOSS-ible Dream

Ok, sorry, that's the last embossing pun... for this year, anyway! :) But it's hard not to be a little giddy having cruised through an entire gallery of AMAZING embossed goodness!!! Here are a few cards that made us especially excited:

Debbie of Especially for You

Used both types of embossing... mixed with plenty of layers and sparkly things... to create her beautiful vintage-themed holiday card.

Mynn of On a Stampage

"JOY" is definitely the right word (and purple + green are definitely the right colors!) for such an amazingly bold and beautiful take on the theme.

Linda of Snail's Space

Shows exactly how to *rock* the dry embossing as well as the CAS aesthetic, with a card that is perfect in its simplicity.

And now it's time to see which lovely holiday card-maker is going to have the chance to guest-design with us in April. The fine folks at Random.org like #11 so our lucky winner is:

LORRAINE

of Paper Vernissage

Congratulations! Email us at jinglebellesrock @ hotmail (dot) com so we can arrange all the details.

Meanwhile, please join us in thanking the lovely and talented Steph C for her awesome idea and for coming along with TWO gorgeous and inspiring cards! We'll be back at midnight with a brand new prompt we hope you'll tune in for!

Grandma Got ~EMBOSSED~ By a Reindeer*

Clearly the only relationship that exists between the words "EMBOSS-ible" and "impossible" is in the pun of our title, because the embossing-intensive holiday cards for this prompt have been even more awesome than usual! If you need some extra inspiration, be sure to scroll down and peruse the readers' gallery. Meanwhile, here's what we made this week:

Steph C's Other Card

Steph says, "I wanted to keep this card simple as well, again, focusing on the embossing. I included both wet and dry for this card too. The Nativity Border die from Taylored Expressions was perfect for this card, and it really looks lovely set against the dark blue background. I wanted to add a bit of "something" to my card, but wasn't sure what. Then I decided to stamp the smallest star from the Verve Star of Wonder set, and then cut it out. For some added "pop", I added some gold Wink of Stella, and called it done. Simple and elegant."

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "The idea for this one came from our fellow Belle and my fellow Jersey girl, Lorraine, of Paper Vernissage. She saw an emboss/resist card i made for Shopping Our Stash a few weeks ago, and the Crafter's Companion mandala stamp I used reminded her of a snowflake. This week, when i was thinking about what to make, I remembered that, and decided to stretch the idea even further to see what would happen; the gorgeous color palette was inspired by the "Floral Fusion" board at Fusion Card Challenge!"

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I created my card by inking my Christmas Ornament embossing folder with two coordinating shades of blue ink before embossing to get sort-of-a letter press look.  All I did to finish the card was add an SRM Sticker sentiment and a wrap of purple glitter ribbon ... a very easy embossing technique."

*Please Note: Absolutely no reindeer... (or grandmas!) ...were harmed in the making of these cards! :) :) :)

Mission EMBOSS-ible

Yep, that's the title of our brand new prompt here at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and yes, sadly, I (Lauren!) am the one responsible for the pun... and proud of it, lol! I can't take credit for the brilliant idea, however-- which is to make holiday cards that feature wet or dry embossing (or both!)-- that comes from our very lovely and mega-talented guest star Steph C, so let's meet her right now:

"Hi y'all! I'm a born and raised Texas girl, living in NW Iowa with my beautiful daughter. I work full time during the day, and am addicted to making cards by night. I love God, my family, 80's music, Texas BBQ, Dr. Pepper, and anything with polka dots or chevrons. I enjoy making Christmas cards the most, so I'm thrilled to be joining Stephanie and Lauren for this Jingle Belles challenge. I can't wait to visit your blogs, and see all of your beautiful holiday cards!"

There are many gorgeous cards on Steph's blog, One Crafty Chica, so of course you'll want to check it out and leave her some love while you're there! Meanwhile, here's what we made this week:

Steph C's Card

Stephanie says, "I wanted to keep things simple, so that the focus would be on the embossing. I included both wet and dry embossing on my card, as I love both. I wanted a pink poinsettia, and think it turned out pretty well. I used the colors from Color Throwdown #331, as they really struck me as being beautiful, and played into my love of non-traditional Christmas cards. I added some leaves, and a few Pretty Pink Posh sequins, and was done. I like the simplicity of this card, with the embossing and the sentiment as the main focus.""

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "Since I learned I could dry-emboss with my plastic stencils, it's been my current favorite technique (link to tutorial on my blog).  I dry embossed and then left the stencil in place and inked the raised sections with 12 different inks (inspired by showCASe your style).  I used the three purple inks on my Hero Arts sentiment and then clear embossed to make the color pop.  The finishing touch was a rainbow of sequins."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "My original plan was to dry emboss the painted chipboard letters and heat emboss the cardstock oval, but then I stumbled upon that cool Hero Arts Damask cling stamp and thought how fab it would look on the letters, so I changed my mind. I deliberately used some inexpensive textured cardstock with a white core in my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder so that when sanded, the dots would look a bit like snow. There's actually a third embossed element here, but it's a bit of a cheat: the little asterisks on my ancient red GCD background paper are lightly textured; I suppose technically they are de-bossed rather than em-bossed, but I still think they look pretty cool."

To celebrate "Friday the Thirteenth" for the second month in a row, we've decided to make it one cardmaker's lucky day: We'll randomly choose a name from the link-up to be our very special "lovely guest star" for one of the April prompts here at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥.  Sound like fun? Then be sure to link up your newly made holiday card-- or cards-- that feature heat embossing, pressure embossing or both, between now and 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, March 25th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:15:06.

An InLinkz Link-up

Bright, Bold & Beautiful

Wow ... there are some gorgeous cards in the gallery (make sure you visit them and leave a little jingle belles love).  Here are a few of our favorite inspired designs:

Fabiola

of

mon p'tit monde

used scraps of ribbon and paper together with glittery stars to create a magical Christmas banner ... what a great way to combine those vibrant hues.

Tanja

of

Little Art Cottage

used the vibrant colors to dress her sweet little holiday doll.  She used the pattern from her designer paper to create the perfect backdrop.

Brenda

of 

Brenda's Crafty Corner

really rocked the vibrant colors ... 

the stripes are such a great design element with her glittery reindeer and frame.

Join as at midnight for another awesome Lovely Guest Star and fun holiday card prompt.

I'm Dreaming of a Bright Christmas

This week we're still creating Christmas cards inspired by this vibrant Christmas table setting.

Here's how we were inspired this week:

Lauren's Other Card

Lauren says, "One of my favorite items in the inspiration picture is that dramatic flourishy placemat, so I wanted to see if I could make a version in card form. I started with a black patterned paper panel by Bo Bunny, which had the blue dots, faded text and even a few blue flourishes on it. I added some diecut flourishes in bright acid green, then finished off with the black pearl flourish, which I cut apart so it would fit better. For the layout of the card I used the current sketch (#118) from Cardabilities."

Stephanie's Other Card

Stephanie says, "I started with wanting a purple Christmas tree like the one on the table and built the rest of my card around that using a sketch from Sunday Stamps ... pretty much three different glitter paper, a glitter star & epoxy stickers ... easy peasy & oh-so-sparkly."

Link up you holiday cards inspired by any feature of that fabulous tablescape before 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, March 11th. Keyword for galleries and Flickr is JB:15:05.