Ingenious Inkling

Taking Back December

We've finished our year of taking back December one holiday card at a time at Jingle Belles.  I love that most of my holiday cards are done & already in the hands of the recipients.  Lauren & I genuinely have so much fun creating together all year.

I need 50+ cards for co-workers, so Jingle Belles makes sure each one gets something unique.

 

That's a whole lotta Christmas ... love it.

Don't worry ... we're already making plans for our 9th year in 2019 ... hope you'll make plans to join us (so you never have to put away those holiday stamps & papers)

 

 

Sweet But Twisted

We're still creating with the food & drink of Christmas at Jingle Belles.

When I have my eating options, I usually head straight to the candy (okay maybe not straight to the candy ... there's usually a detour for any kind of warm dinner roll on my way) ... which is likely why this Sweet but Twisted Sentiment spoke to me.

 

Love those sweet little filed cookies too.

We hope you'll share your treats with us at Jingle Belles ... there's a chance to win this fun little prize package.

 

 

Figgy Pudding

We're celebrating the Food & Drink of the Holidays at Jingle Belles.  Do you have a favorite?  I always have to have some dark chocolate covered cherries (while thinking about sharing them with my Granddad) and some Egg Nog.  I prefer Ham to Turkey and Stuffing to Mashed Potatoes.

For my first card I cut into a hoarded piece of Alexandre Renke Designer paper ... seriously, if you haven't seen these papers, you should.  They are German and have a thickness and richness unlike any paper I've seen.  This piece features all sorts of holiday foods and drinks ... I went with the Gingerbread.  I do have a memory of making Gingerbread cookies with my Grandma, but I don't think I ever made a Gingerbread House (not a bit fan of Gingerbread cookies ... I prefer my cookies soft). 

I also have apple memories for the holidays ... there was always an apple in the toe of our stocking (which I didn't like because it took up a lot of space that I wished were filled with candy).

Isn't that little scene lovely ... it was so pretty, I kept the card simple, so it would be the focal point.

 

I made a second gingerbread card with pieces of the same 12" x 12" paper ... love those neutral tones with a tiny pop of red and that lovely font ... nibble, nibble, gnaw.

 

I hope you'll break out your favorite food memories and share them with us at Jingle Belles.

Be Good for Goodness Sake

For this week's Floral Card for Jingle Belles, I combined products from lots of different companies ... I also learned that photographing foiled designs is a bit of a challenge.

 

My background was made with Decofoil Transfer Gel, Brutus Monroe Tide Pool Foil & Carabelle Studios Accumulation De Ronds Stencil.  My flowers are from the lovely Little Birdie Handmade Flowers and the remaining elements are from Authentique Jingle Elements ... remember, you don't necessarily need *Christmas* flowers for a *Christmas* card.

 

We hope you'll break out your favorite blooms and join us.

 

Blooming Christmas

The theme at Jingle Belles this week is Mele Kalikimaka, a tropical Hawaiian holiday greeting, so to celebrate the tropics, we're making cards featuring flowers … could be a tropical hibiscus … or a traditional poinsettia … or anything in between.

I loved the various floral designs in an unopened package of Pebbles Cardstock Shapes sitting on my *Christmas* shelf ... they were perfect to feature with some coordinating Basic Grey Papers.

 

The layout is the 501st Mojo Monday Sketch (yay! Julee has brought her sketches back).

We hope you'll get bloomin' and come join us.

Christmas Creature Feature

We're still creating with Animals (or other creatures like Yetis and Monsters) at Jingle Belles.  I went with a reindeer theme for a second week, so I could use a piece of hoarded designer paper together with a new Triangle Deer & Sentiment from Lesia Zgharda Design.

 

I cut my Bo Bunny Dear Santa paper so I could featured the gold glittery reindeer & the texty reindeer featuring a little Jingle.  

I added a red enamel dot to turn my Triangle Deer into Rudolph.

I'm joining the Watercooler Wednesday All About Holidays Challenge.

 

I'm also linking-up at the Anything Goes Christmas Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Challenge.

I hope you'll join us with your own creature feature design.

While Shepherds Watch their FLOCK

For this week's Jingle Belles prompt we're asking you to show us your animals (Flock ... get it)

It could be one of those sweet little sheep or perhaps a reindeer or camel … or maybe a Christmas Yeti is more your speed ... okay we're even allowing Christmas Monsters if you're in a Halloween mood and want to stretch the theme.

I found a trio of *vintage* animal stickers in my stash (vintage is a nice way of saying lost and forgotten about) and decided to channel my inner Tenia and make a trio of fun card designs featuring paint splattering, washi tape, twine, foam tape layers, and stitches. 

I'm also linking-up this card at the COLORFUL theme at the TIME OUT Challenge.

I created two more paint splattered panels for my other cards.  I'm also joining the Christmas Challenge at the Allsorts Challenge Blog.

 

How cute is that little holiday owl.  I'm also linking-up at the Animal Antics Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

 

And a Christmas fox would make any recipient smile.

So break out your favorite animals (or monsters or Yetis) and create with us.

I'm Dreaming of PINK Christmas

We're still creating with PINK for a CURE at Jingle Belles.  A big thank you to everyone who has joined us so far.

 

I decided to use the scraps of paper left over from last week's card from the Santa Baby Collection for today's design.  I cut apart the rest of the border strips and positioned them on a kraft card base.

 

I cut a few more to fill the space, and then added a flower Santa and a sentiment cut from another paper.  I finished with a few pearls for an accent ... Macarons & Hot Chocolate ... this card makes me hungry.

♥ Pink Christmas... for the Cure! ♥

It's time for our annual Pink Christmas for a Cure at Jingle Belles.  I've had two co-workers recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer, which is a reminder to make sure you do your self-exams and get your annual mammogram.

 

 

Remember, Lauren and I each donate $2 (that's $4 per card) for each card uploaded for this prompt.  All you have to do is create a holiday card that features some pink.

 

When I saw the new Santa Baby Collection by Prima at my local Scrapbook Store, I knew I had to have it for at least one of my Jingle Belles Pink cards. 

 

I combined two papers with a journaling note card and fun puffy stickers (and of course some hot chocolate and Macaroons).

I'm also joining Simon Says: Let's Get Ready for Christmas and the For a Cause Challenge at the Tuesday Throwdown.

Please come join us.

Pink Christmas for the Cure

Put your *PINK* thinking cap on! Because at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we always devote the first theme of each October to making pink holiday cards as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for each card that gets linked up, we (Stephanie and Lauren) each donate two dollars to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (that $4 per card). 

 

We'll go live with this challenge at 12am (EST) October 5th and wrap up at 6pm on Wednesday, October 17th. Are there lots of rules? Nope! Other than the fact that each card has to be newly made, have a winter holiday theme, and feature PINK prominently. Can you enter more than once? YES!!! In fact, we'd be thrilled if you'd take it as a personal challenge to cost us as much money as possible for this wonderful cause!

PS: We're not generally all that big on self-promotion around here, but this cause is near and dear to our hearts so we'd consider it a big huge favor if you'd tell all your cardmaking friends, and maybe even share the graphic and our link on your blog or social media. Thanks! ♥♥♥