Ingenious Inkling

Joy of the Season

This week at Jingle Belles we're celebrating one of our favorite things ... holiday tunes.  We're asking you to create a card (or gift card holder, or whatever else you'll be needing for the holidays) that incorporates music, that is inspired by a holiday song, or that includes a holiday song title.

I started by scanning some vintage sheet music I had in my collection and re-sizing it for my card front. 

Next I stamped Hero Arts Merriest Christmas Wishes in Blue Iris on the music-printed cardstock.  I intended to use the image stamped directly on the sheet music, but managed to flub my attempt at a hand-drawn frame, so I cut out the stamped image and placed it on top of a second piece of the printed music (I always print enough to cover a piece of cardstock) using a blue cardstock frame to cover the flub.  I added red colored pencil to my cardinal for a little pop.

The Hero Arts Sentiment looked a little lonely along the bottom, so I layered on some snowflakes (the smaller one was made by punching the same snowflake and trimming off the longer pieces).

Can't wait to see what you create.

Beanie Hat Gift Card Holder

We're celebrating gift card holders at jingle belles ... the gift that keeps on giving.  I loved this tutorial at SCS for a Beanie Gift Card Holder.  It assembled quickly, but looks like you spent a lot of time putting it together.  I love the patterns of Basic Grey papers.

I didn't have the same punch she used for the pom pom, so i swapped out a flower punch folded in half and attached with a tiny brad.  I also omitted the bow, so it could be a masculine option & would be more mailable.  I went with a larger decorative brad instead.

So quick, easy and oh-so-cute ... perfect for a coffee gift card to warm-up the recipient.

Glittery Owl Gift Card Holder

This week at JIngle Belles we are creating gift card holders ... a fantastic idea suggested by the talented Gina (aka tyggereye).

Since most of my family is across the miles, I give quite a few gift cards for the holidays.  There are all sorts of creative gift card holder ideas out there.  When I saw this adorable little owl family, I knew I wanted to make one of these.

My pillow box die is larger than the one in the post, so I had to make some revisions to the punch sizes.  The feather's are 1.75" circles punched from glitter paper.  The eyes are 3" circles with 1.75" pupils.  I used a larger heart punch for the feet & beak.  My larger oval punches were two wide for wings, so I used a label die cut instead.

This is also for the Color Me Purple! challenge.

And Ms. Gina will be giving one lucky participant two of her fantastic hand-carved stamps ... an adorable tiny owle and little reindeer.

Giving & Sharing

One of the things I love most about making holiday cards all year long at Jingle Belles is the opportunity for play & creative exploration ... because if it doesn't work, it's no big deal ... I just try again.  A co-worker reminded me this week that often we can't achieve (or recognize) success until we've experienced failure ... so true.  

For this card, I decided to try some inky play.  At first it seemed like failure, but I kept playing and eventually turned it into success.  I started by stamping this Hero Arts Florintine Pattern background in Versamark ink on some red holly designer paper and clear embossing.  Next I sprayed with copper glimmer mist, thinking that the un-inked flourishes would have a metallic contrast against the red background ... wrong.  The red paper just soaked up the mist, but no contrast.  

After leaving it for a few days, I decided to play around with some inks.  I tried several with no success (wiping off with a baby wipe between inking) and finally found a winner with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink.  Here's the finished background (before I covered it up with my other design elements) ... the cool inky contrast I was hoping to achieve.

Next I wondered ... can you pressure emboss glitter paper?  Turns out the answer is a resounding *Yes*.  I used a new Stampin' uP embossing folder on a scrap of Gold Glitter paper ... such great texture.

I finished with some gold glitter jingle bells, a Crafty Secrets cardstock sentiment ... and an EAD Designs Rub-on sentiment (I also discovered that with patience and strong pressure, they will adhere to an ink embossed background ... another creative win).

The layout is from a new-to-me sketch blog ... 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.

We hope you're having fun embossing with us.  Remember, you have until Wednesday, May 16th at 5:00 pm EST to link-up your creations ... use keyword JB10-12 if you upload to galleries (including our Flickr Gallery).

Embossing Around the Christmas Tree

We're celebrating all things embossed at Jingle Belles ... head embossing, dry embossing, even embossed designer papers.  

I decied to see what my metallic shelf paper would looke like with embossed texture. I attached the shelf paper to a scrap of cardstock before adding the texture, and then cut it into panels for this week's CPS Sketch ... love the effect ... all of the detail of embossed metal with none of the weight or sharp edges.

I also used clear heat embossing on my Hero Arts sentiment and a little more dry embossing on the edge of my larger die cut panel ... I do love my texture.

Can't wait to see what you create.

Tissue Box Tree

Yes, I'm that person who walks around the office asking people to save their pretty tissue boxes for me when they're empty ... because I can imagine that the box would make a fabulous Christmas tree.

For my second Jingle Belles recycled card, I die cut a Kleenex box into this holiday tree & then decorated it with white pearl flourishes & attached it with foam tape for a bit of dimension.  The Memory Box paper already had some green around the edge, but I sponged on a bit more to help ground the tree.  I finished with an EAD Designs Stickerz sentiment.

Remember, you have until 6pm (EST) on Wednesday, May 2nd to join our Earth Day fun.

Let There Be Peace on Earth (Day)

if you played along with Jingle Belles in 2011, you've probably already guessed what we're doing this week, haven't you? yes indeed, in honor of this Sunday being EARTH DAY, we're "recycling" (snort) one of our favorite prompts from last year (check it out if you're looking for a little inspiration), and asking you to create a holiday card which re-uses, re-purposes, re-cycles, up-cycles, or in some way "rescues" a bit of... well, SOMETHING... which you'd've either thrown away, or perhaps just overlooked in terms of card-making?

I received an awesome little gift from Lauren in the mail wrapped in this fabulous woodgrain foix bois paper from Paper Source (and as a double bonus, the paper itself is made from recycled materials) ... and it was just too awesome not to save & recycle.  I decided it would be the perfect backdrop for my Gothic Snow Couple.

Living in the land of Grant Wood, any spoof on American Gothic always makes me smile.  After a long Iowa winter I sort of feel like one of these snow people waiting for the spring thaw.

So break out those things you've saved for *someday* creating and show us how creative you can be with your Earth Day recycling.

Vintage Sketchy Holiday

We're still having fun with Ms. Amy''s sketch at Jingle Belles.  

You have until 6:00 pm (EST) on Wednesday April 18th to upload your sketch cards (and one lucky participant just might receive a fun little prize).

I went minimalist with Graphic45's Christmas Past collection.

I added a champagne pearl flourish & some punched branches with red pearl *berries* to embellish my design.

Snowflake Sketch

We're getting sketchy at Jingle Belles with the oh-so-talented Amy Tsuruta providing our layout design.

I chose to go clean & simple with non-traditional holiday colors from Basic Grey's Jovial Collection.

I layered Spellbinders Create-A-Flake die cuts in a variety of colors & added an EAD Designs rub-on sentiment.

Rudolph Came to Town

My second card for the Jingle Belles Happy Hybrid Holidays prompt uses the fun Rudolph Came to Town from Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps & More.  

For me, digital paper piecing is very relaxing ... and I love how when I'm finished, I can print out multiple copies & change-up the card by using different sentiments (this one is an EAD Designs Rub-on).  I also love that I get visual interest in a flat mailable card.

I used a variety of digital papers from my collection including the Aged Perfection Collection & Snow Melt Papers.

Remember, you can e-mail Susan P. for the lovely "Jingle Belle" image... or pull something out of your own digi-stash and get creative! You've got until 6pm (EST) on Wednesday April 4th to link up for a shot at winning five free digital images from Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps & More.