taking a header

the ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ header, to be specific. and this fortnight we're using it as the inspiration for our holiday cards! ok, yeah, i suppose it might sound a little conceited, seeing as i was the one to *make* the header, but actually this theme was the suggestion of our lovely guest star and christmas-card-maker extraordinaire, marie bingaman. i mean... it would've been rude of me to argue, wouldn't it? :) so here's the piece in question, just to refresh your memory:

(digital image credits: paper: antique prints, jen allyson, design house digital; elements: christmas joy kit, mary pop designs, o'scraps; brushes: snowsprays #3, anna aspnes, o'scraps; glitter layer style: over the rainbow, studio flergs, scrapbook graphics; font: vogue, dafont.com)

and here's what i made:

(patterned paper: studio calico, glitz design, lily bee, prima, k and co; chunky silver glitter letters: mambi; sentiment sticker: my mind's eye; poinsettia die: velvet blossoms: prima; snowflake stickers: recollections; snowflake e/f and label die: tim holtz/sizzix; brad: oriental trading; scrap of lace from my stash; border punches: recollections and martha stewart; inks: tim holtz, colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, mini gluedots, sewing machine) 

ok, yeah, i had a serious advantage this time, since i did make the header and thus it's full of the digital versions of things i love to use in my real life christmas cards. things like bling, distressing, loads of layers, glitter, flowers, lace, and all that good girly stuff! one thing that may surprise you: apart from the poinsettia die, the sentiment sticker and the snowflakes, everything here came from my ordinary, non-xmas stash. it's surprising how often you can get away with that kind of thing, really, and i love doing it because i think it makes my cards just that little bit more unique.

but i don't want to keep you here all day when there are AMAZING cards by marie and stephanie over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!