goin' for the gold... and silver... :)

despite the unexpected (& not very welcome) visit from a little lady called irene on the eastern coast of the united states, this was a banner week in these parts, ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, during which we witnessed a genuine hurricane of creativity! miss leslie's clever prompt was quite a challenge, but that did not seem to daunt anyone; if anything it just spurred your fellow belles to "think outside the box" in some very impressive ways. we did not envy the task of narrowing down to only three featured cards; but after much deliberation, here they are:

michelle lupton of handmade by michelle

leslie says, "I really liked the simplicity of the embossed ornaments (which are cleverly "re-purposed" circle stamps) on the neutral background. She got in both gold & silver, and I just really liked it!"

dawn b of paper stamp scissors

leslie says, "I liked all the gold touches, and especially that she dug into her jewelry stash to make her own stick/hat pins. And that home-made flower WITH a tutorial! Just a great card all-around."

lisa h of recklinghausen musings

leslie says, "She knocked my socks off with FOUR gorgeous cards (not that everyone should start entering multiple cards to increase their chances ...) but each one is a neutral background with the gold or silver as the accent. So understated yet stunning at the same time. I think she totally captured the spirit of the challenge, even though she claims she lacks the Midas touch." :)

as per usual we thank everyone who devoted a slice of their precious creative time this week to "JINGLING" with us. if you've not yet perused the gallery, we highly recommend scrolling down for an especially nice treat!

many thanks to the lovely leslie of the crooked stamper for joining us with another brilliant (in every sense!) prompt idea this week. be sure to check out her blog (at any time) and shopping our stash (each tuesday) for more creative inspiration!

a brand new special "holiday weekend" prompt debuts at midnight; we can't wait for you to see it, so c'mon back, ok?! ♥

Midas Touch

this week we are thrilled to welcome back our lovely friend and devoted ♥JINGLE BELLE♥ miss leslie... aka the crooked stamper! if you've been playing along with us this year you've probably laughed as hard as we have at her hilarious tales of cardmaking, and you've probably gotten some nice comments on your own holiday cards from her, as well. but if you need a little more leslie, why not check out her etsy shop, or drop by the fabulously inspiring shopping our stash weekly challenge blog each tuesday?

you'll have guessed by the title that leslie's direction this week involves a decidedly limited--and gloriously metallic--color palette, since everything king midas touched turned immediately into gold. to widen the possibilities just a little further, we're stretching the point, and asking you to make your holiday cards from gold AND/OR silver, and we'll allow the addition of white AND/OR cream. yes, it's a teeny bit daunting, but once you get going, we think you'll have as much fun as the three of us did:

Leslie's Card

Leslie says, "I have a piece of pretty paper in my collection with a mottled background and shiny gold-embossed-impressed script words. Soooo pretty, and I thought it would make a cool Christmas card. Well. you know how those Belles are always telling us they would like us to suggest ideas for future challenges*, right? Gold... Midas... a challenge called the Midas Touch! :) And I used that paper as my background! I tried to stay with all gold for my card, in the Midas spirit!"

Stephanie's Card

Stephanie says, "I decided to fully embrace silver with my card this week ... I pulled out my "metallic" scraps folder and went to town. Silver metallic card base; silver star paper (that is sort of holographic, so it changes when you move it); and silver glitter border cut into pieces. I finished with a white holiday sentiment rub-on from EAD Designs ... this baby sparkles."

Lauren's Card

Lauren says, "there's one in every crowd, isn't there? a person who just always has to push the limits; a crafter who, given the challenge of using ONLY silver and/or gold and cream and/or white, has to work in ALL of the above... in as many shades as possible! as usual, that person is me!!! :) i've got massively reflective silver letters, a silver transparency, a gold embossed reindeer, a few white-on-white patterns, creamy flocked damask, pearls, glitter, stickers, flowers... you name it! have i gone overboard? definitely! do i love this card anyway? oh yeah!!!" ♥

and now it's time to see how ♥YOU♥ will embrace the midas touch! put on your thinking caps, pull out your metallic papers, baubles, bangles and beads... whatever it takes to rock the "heavy metal" between now and 6pm EST, next wednesday, august 31st. the keyword in our flickr group and for posting in galleries is JB35.

*we absolutely always ♥LOVE♥ to hear your ideas for future challenges, email us any time! jinglebellesrock @ hotmail [dot] com!