The December Challenge at Poppy Stamps is Let It Snow!
Strangely enough I didn't have any snowflakes, but I do have the adorable Poppy Stamps Whittle Snowman, so I added him as an accent to a birthday card, since I need to restock my masculine birthday card stash.
I die cut the Poppy Stamps Playful Happy Birthday Die from a Gel Press Print. I also die cut the Whittle Snowman's hat from the same print. I finished with a few Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Bling stickers.
The first Caffeinated Christmas Challenge of 2023 is all about Snowflakes.
I had this Technique Tuesday snowman & sentiment that i stamped when we went to the crafty house last Spring. I decided to use some Eyelet Outlet Brads to turn him into a Christmas card by adding his Holiday Coffee Cup Brad (decorated with tiny snowflakes) and a Merry Christmas Saying Bubble Brad.
I die cut him with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Die and used the larger Rectangle for the base. Then I die cut the Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake Backdrop for a bit more snowflake texture.
I finished with some red snowflake Rub-ons from October Afternoon.
The Caffeinated Christmas Challenge is to add a gnome to your coffee-themed holiday card.
I chose the cute little Gnome from Gina K. Designs Home for the Holidays and paired him with some I Love Winter Paper from Echo Park using this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch (not realizing it had already closed ... oh well, still a great sketch).
I finished with a Holiday Coffee Cup Brad from Eyelet Outlet.
We're still creating with BLING at Jingle Belles (in partnership with the Double Trouble Christmas in July Challenge).
Lauren gifted me some of the gorgeous new Penny Black Masterpieces Made Simple (that she used in our prior Masculine Holiday Cards), so I had to immediately break one out and use it.
I kept it super-simple by attaching it to a white card base, adding a big band of Eyelet Outlet Fancy Wide Bling, and a sentiment sticker ... almost makes me wish for a little snow.
I'm also linking-up at the July Penny Black Saturday Anything Goes Challenge. The optional theme is spots or stripes ... I guess I could stretch and call that a *stripe* of bling or the individual circle bling spots ... either way, I am lovin' that Penny Black image.
Lauran & I (aka the Jingle Belles) are happy to be partnering with the lovely ladies of the Double Trouble Challenge for exponentially more fun AND a chance at some cool prizes! First, we should mention that our part of this event has a theme of, "Bling On the Holidays" and we'd like to see your brand new holiday cards that include jewels, gems, pearls, sequins, glitter or pretty much anything sparkly!
For the Double Trouble Challenge, it's "Christmas in July", and basically any holiday card will qualify; so if you make a card to link up with us here at Jingle Belles, we hope you'll also link it with them to be included in their drawing! Then be sure to check back every fortnight or so, because they have a new challenge every other week and it's a great way to find some new challenges and loads of inspiration!
If you're new to us here at Jingle Belles, welcome! We make holiday cards from January through November, so we can *Take Back December One Holiday Card at a Time*, and we reveal a brand new prompt every other Friday, with a reminder post in between. We're mostly a "just for fun" challenge blog, but we do include a little prize on special occasions, which this definitely is, so I'll share that after I share my blingy card creation.
I started my card with sheet of Swirl Bling in Jewel Red from Eyelet Outlet. Next I chose the pair of ice skates from my holiday ephemera drawer and then paired them both with some collage designer paper and framed the skates with a vintage journaling card.
After I got it all assembled on a 5" x 7" card base, I added two sentiment strips from my ephemera drawer to finish the design and a piece of red bling on the skate bow (I just love those plaid skate cuffs)."
And we'll be choosing one lucky participant who links up a BLING on the Holidays card at Jingle Belles for this fabulous prize package.
Thanks for joining us for a little Double Trouble BLINGy holiday card making fun.
The current Simon Says Stamp challenge is Wild and Wonderful ... to create a card featuring something Wild.
I immediately thought of my Stamperia Arctic Antarctic Papers. I went with the wild howling winter wolf.
I used the layout from Arctic Hearts Sketch with sentiments from Unity Stamp Company Empowered Words and an Eyelet Outlet Enamel Heart.
The current Seize the Birthday Challenge is to create a card featuring the Signs of Spring.
If you live in Iowa, you know one of the long awaited Signs of Spring is the re-opening of the Ice Cream shops. Many of them are just little walk-up/drive-through type stands, so they close for the winter months. The first time you go and get your Spring Ice Cream is magical. I think I might head to The Freeze and get an Apple Pie Freeze (made with locally made slices of pie).
I'm still using the Happy Cake Birthday! tags I found in my stash, this time with one of my Gel Press Prints and some coordinating sprinkle paper. The sentiment is another Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip. I finished with a Glitter Enamel Dot at the top of the tag.
I'm also joining the Make My Monday Challenge Birthday Challenge (where I was in the Top 3 for my Washi Tape card last week - Yay).
Masculine Birthday Cards ... why am I always out of Masculine Birthday Cards. This card is inspired by the Tag You're It! Challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz.
I stumbled across some Tag Paper from the Happy Cake Day! Paper Collection, which made it easy to pull this card together.
I used the layout from Sketch~N~Scrap with the horizontal sentiment across the tag cut from the label of the 12x12 paper. I added an Eyelet Outlet Cupcake Brad and finished with a Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sentiment Strip.
Now I just need to make about ten more.
The Make My Monday Challenge is to use Washi Tape. I chose a combination of pinks and greens which gave me a total 1980's vibe (yes, I wore pinks & greens)
I chose this Essentials by Ellen Die Cut All the Feels sentiment that I thought had a fun 80's-like feel. I finished with a few glittery enamel dots from Eyelet Outlet.
Saturday I took a Washi Tape class with Donna Downey and had fun stretching my Washi Tape Muscle.
I started with three different half sheets of cardstock - 2 colors of kraft and one white. (I was so into the creative process, I forgot to take in-process photos). I seldom use washi on kraft, but since Donna was giving it a try, I decided I would too.
We started by applying paint and then using a baby wipe and stencil to remove the tape. I used the Studio Light Mindful Moodling Mandala Circles Mask that reminds me of RBG's collar. It ultimately ended-up being mostly covered by washi, but it does add to the overall design.
Next I played with layering on lots of different washi tapes. For one, I kept it monochromatic teal ... for the other two I went with rainbow ... and I used lots of black and white washi tape on both including these new thin washi tapes from Dylusions. I particular loved the one that looks like zig-zag stitching.
You can see some other recognizable tapes in there like Alexandra Renke's Coffee Cups, and a few I'm sure from the Eyelet Outlet Washi Tape Store. We used matte medium over and under the washi tape to keep it securely attached to the cardstock.
The next step was to come in with Paint Pens and Stabilo Pencils to add marks. Mark making has always been hard for me for some reason, so I channeled my inner Damsel of Distressed and Dori Patrick Art.
Since I was creating in person with Donna (and got to tell her in person how much attending her Inspired event years ago changed my artsy self), I pulled out some of her stamps from Unity Stamp Company - Art & Possibility and stamped them on the same kraft cardstock and attached them to my Mixed Media Washi Tape Collage.
I felt like my piece needed more marks but I wanted them to have serious contrast, so I pulled out some black Love from Lizi Peel-Offs to finish the design. I just love how this one turned out.
Next I needed to make a Unicorn Card for a six-year-old's birthday, and I thought my washi tape on white would be the perfect background for a magical unicorn.
I trimmed it down to 5"x5" square and then framed it in black cardstock before attaching it to my card base. I added some more of the zig-zag stitched washi tape and some Alexandra Renke Birthday tape to finish the design.
I die cut the Alexandra Renke Unicorn and backed it with some of her gorgeous paper. I finished with sentiments from Alexandra Renke as well. I love how this one turned out too.
Such a fun way to spend my morning and stretch my creative muscle.
