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Another week of blogland finds:
Happy New Year's Eve!
Yes, the Jingle Belles will be back for another year of holiday cardmaking.
So come come grab your badge & join us on January 1st as we start taking back December, one holiday card at a time.
Don't you just love the new banner (that Lauren has mad skills).
PS - leave a link here to your favorite Christmas card of 2015 & I've got a flat rate envelope of stamps to mail to one lucky commenter.
I always enjoy looking back on my year of creations ... and thinking about what I want to create in the coming year. Here are my 10 favorite non-holiday cards from this year in no particular order (you can go here to see my top 5 Holiday cards for 2015).
1. One theme that was popular in 2015 was donuts ... I love donuts ... and I love this fun donut-themed card. It also incorporates another big design element of 2015 ... sequins.
2. I just love this All Star High Top. It's a lot of work to assemble, but the finished product is so fun ... and it's fun to personalize for the recipient too.
3. The challenges at the Ellen Hutson blog were a favorite this year ... I love this one inspired by one of the Pin-Sights Challenges. Her Bokeh Dots were a favorite set this year too.
4. I always love the challenge of making specific cards for friends ... like this fun little piggy ... I was so happy with how he turned out.
5. I love how I was able to channel my inner *Lauren* for this design ... lots of stag heads this year, and I adore this one with lots of flowers.
6. I had a lot of fun with watercolors this year ... and with snarky stamps. Love how these neutral tones come together.
7. I love these cool 3-D embossing folders, and I had a blast with Impression Obsessions hats, mustaches & ties ... this card still makes me smile.
8. This was also the year of discovering Color Burst and having so much fun creating in New Jersey with Lauren. This card started with a crazy idea ... that actually worked (filling in the building outline with clear texty tape). I love it.
9. I love this fun little bow tie punch (I must make more) with this fun sentiment ... such a happy card.
10. On an artist tour, I got to brayer on ink and stamp with leaves using a vintage printing press from The Calico Press ... truly one of the highlights of my year.
Leave a comment below with a link to your favorite card of 2015 (if you don't have a blog, you can link to a card you love that someone else made),and on New Year's Day I'll pick one lucky commenter to get a priority mail envelope filled with lightly used acrylic stamp sets (some have to go to make room for the new).
At an after-Christmas sale far, far away I picked-up a gorgeous set of hand-stitched cards made in India that I thought would be the start to some beautiful holiday cards. Well, this was the year they finally saw ink ... for some quick and easy thank you cards.
Since the cards came with coordinating silver metallic envelopes, I stamped a simple script Thank You from Hero Arts Friends by Lia in Grey Flannel Memento Luxe Ink.
Since each of the 8 cards was different (stitched on both back and front with an insert to write a message, I positioned the stamp wherever it worked with the stitching.
Starting with a pre-made card and adding your own personal touch can make card making (especially when you need several cards) much quicker.
I love the fun colors of the current My Favorite Things Color Challenge.
I thought it would be fun for a baby card.
I combined a baby onesie with MFT Monogram Alphabet stamps.
Since Lauren & I started Jingle Belles in 2010, I've been recapping my five favorite Christmas cards of the year (you can find 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014 here) ... I always enjoy revisiting my creations for the year.
Here they are in no particular order:
1. This card was for The Hanukkah Song prompt at Jingle Belles to make a card for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. I love how all of the die cuts, textures and layers work together in this design ... and I really love how the black doily makes everything pop with a great sketch from Cardabilities (I was sad to see that blog close this year).
2. This card for the Mix-It-Up Challenge at the Ellen Hutson blog still cracks me up. I love the punny sentiment and the non-traditional ombre holiday colors. The Prize Stag made a visit in a lot of my cards this year and I still love him.
3. I always have trouble picking a favorite from the Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist, but I think this is the one for 2015. I love how it uses a traditional manila tag (that I later attached to a card before mailing). The skyscape ... glittery moon ... and Santa in the sky ... love it all.
4. This was a favorite color combination for Christmas 2015. I love the stenciled background and how the red ink-painted petals from the poinsettia just pop. I also love that I was able to do all of that stamping without a smudge.
5. Another poinsettia card makes it into the top five ... this one was for earth day at Jingle Belles. I love the various recycled elements, especially the green stamps which bring such pleasant memories of my childhood. I can almost still taste the adhesive as I licked them for my Grandma to fill-up our books.
And don't forget ... if you want to take back December 2018 one holiday card at a time, join the fun at Jingle Belles starting January 1st.
Another week of fun blogland finds:
Have a tremendous Thursday!
For a last minute holiday card, I took my inspiration from Kim Makortoff's awesome design for the STAMPlorations Inspiration Challenge.
Instead of stamping along the bottom, I pulled out some holiday washi tape.
My hexagon Santa & sentiment are from Stamplorations Holiday Hexagons.
I loved the Ellen Hutson Pinterest Challenge so much, I decided to make another inspired card. Here are the inspiration photos:
I loved the Bokeh and holiday red, so I used this week's CAS(e) this Sketch with Essentials by Ellen Be-You-Tiful die cut from white glitter paper and Lawn Fawn Red Bokeh paper.
I finished with a few clear sequins that picked-up the light with a bokeh reflection.
It seems I can never keep-up with the masculine birthday cards I need in my stash. I thought this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch would be the perfect opportunity to get another one made.
I pulled out my embossing folders because texture seemed perfect for the large background piece (I have so many of these, and it seems the crafting world (and me) have been neglecting them lately).
I cut apart several sentiment stamps from MFT Chalkboard Birthday and inked them with orange ink. A few coordinated sentiments, and this one came together quickly.
