still shapin' up over here!

or, more accurately, over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ where we've eschewed the ordinary rectangular or square card for something more exotic, and the reader's gallery is already pretty FAB♥U♥LOUS!!! speaking (most immodestly!) of cool cards, here's mine:

(patterned paper: pink paislee, basic grey, sei, making memories; die cut ornaments: crate paper; chipboard word: my mind's eye; rub-on sentiment: tpc studio; ink: color box; circle punch: ek success; deco scissors + gems: michaels; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

i was pretty excited that it's mojo monday's "round or square" week, and immediately chose "round" of course! i had to flip the sketch horizontally at the last minute when it turned out i just could not quiiiiiiite fit my two ornaments over the tall "Ch" at the beginning of "Christmas", but i think it works pretty well.

And now why not jump on over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ where miss stephanie has also prepared a fabulous new card for your delight?!

this one's even vintagier!*

by "this one" i mean my latest card for our vintage-style christmas card prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and by "vintagier" i mean that it has even more awesome elements than the one i made last week. want to see? please note: you're welcome to say no, obviously; but such a course kind of messes up the rest of my plan for this post, which revolves around your having seen the card. no pressure, though... :)

ok, so here's the card!

(vintage bits: ideals magazine page + doily; patterned paper: daisy d's and pink paislee; gold and vellum poinsettia: prima; gold press on sentiment: best creation; adhesives: scotch gluestick, staples brand gluetape runner, low temp hot glue, sewing machine)

the background is part of a page from an old christmas "ideals" magazine. i was lucky enough to be given a pile of these when my uncle's mother died a few years ago, and i am utterly in love with their funky charm! the illustrations are probably my favorite part. these little bunnies were actually at the bottom of a page from which i had already cut a larger and more prominent element, and it was frankly hard to see *HOW* i would use the oddly shaped bit that remained, but i couldn't bear to throw them away. this week i found them again and was STILL puzzled how i could use 'em... until... i saw sweet sunday sketch #193, and everything fell into place!

and now i think you should head over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ because stephanie's card is to die for!!! oh yeah, and you could link up to win a fabulous prize, as well, which is always nice, too! ♥

*yep. i've OFFICIALLY run out of good blog post titles. hoping for a weekend special at big lots. :) :) :)

vintage views

friday is my favorite day of the week, new prompts at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ are my favorite fridays, and fun, funky older pieces of paper are my favorite ingredients, so how could i *not* be ecstatic that we're making cards with a vintage vibe this week?! oh yeah, and did i mention there's a prize?! but i'll get to that in a minute, first here's my card:

(vintage: sheet music (scanned and reduced a bit), flowers cut from gift wrap, doily; patterned paper: basic grey, my mind's eye, echo park; ink: colorbox; border punches: martha stewart, recollections; label die: spellbinders; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, scotch gluestick)

you can see i've got a few vintage bits going on this time, including a slightly reduced scan of some sheet music that is one of the images included in this week's Jingle Belles post, which you can use, too, if you'd like; the other is one of my favorite old holiday postcards! of course you don't have to use REAL vintage things, or even scans thereof; the shops are chock full of vintage-style paper crafting products, and those will work every bit as well! on the other hand, if you like vintage stuff, there's a chance to win a cool holiday ephemera pack from my very own etsy shop, just enough stuff! (the winner will get a $10 g/c, too!)

why not check out all the details at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and start plotting your own card right now?!!

sketchy... again!

over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we're still making cards based on allison fillo's fabulous sketch. i'll show that to you again in a minute, but first here's my card:

(patterned paper: pink paislee, october afternoon; journal card: studio calico; die cut bunting bits: pink paislee; twine: the twinery; rub ons: k and co; ink: colorbox; red cardstock: staples; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

and now here's that wonderful sketch again:

you can see that i was 100% faithful to the layout; but then, it's just about the perfect starting point for ANY direction one would like to go, don't you think? and now i hope the direction you'd like to go is over to jingle belles to see stephanie's gorgeous holiday card, not to mention the readers' gallery which is already AWESOME... but still has plenty of room for ♥YOU♥!

lovely jingle sketch!

this week at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we are thrilled to have allison fillo back with us, and she's brought us another AMAZING original sketch with which to make our cards:

being as it is such a wonderfully flexible design, i followed it really faithfully; however, since my largest panel was a scrap that looked better as a horizontal than a vertical, i went wiiiiiiiiiiide instead of tall. but that's the thing about a great sketch, you can make it ♥YOUR OWN♥!!!

(patterned paper: crate, bo bunny, basic grey, pink paislee, the paper co + vintage sheet music; poinsettia die: boss kut; velvet leaves: making memories; brad: my mind's eye; sentiment sticker: srm; vintage lace from my stash; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, gluedots, sewing machine)

be sure to head over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and check out allison's and stephanie's gorgeous holiday cards! then take a little time to visit allison's blog, stampin' when i can! and finally, start planning your own bid for sketch card domination!!! ♥

saint nick-tac-toe!!! :)

hello and welcome to my favorite post title of the entire ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ year, as devised by miss stephanie, much to my delight! because yes, we're still playing xmassy tic-tac-toe, and i will show you the board again in a minute. but first, here's my card, which i really like!

(patterned paper: studio calico, echo park, basic grey, making memories, autumn leaves; journaling label: my mind's eye; character rub-ons: imaginisce; glittery sentiment rub-on: creative imaginations; bling: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

ok, so 90% of the work was done by the half-packet of adorable imaginisce rub-ons i had left; a further 7% was taken care of by consulting the tic-tac-toe board below (i chose the center vertical column) and that left only 3% actual effort on my part, which mainly consisted of rubbing-on the rub-ons and choosing mats. easy peasy! here is that board again... you know... just in case you have a hankering to play along?!

ok, yeah, so neither the calendar or the thermometer is showing even the least signs of christmassy-ness yet... but december will be here before we know it, complete with a heapin' helpin' of card-making panic! so why not get a little bit ahead with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ eh?! we'd love to see *you* in our links list!!! ♥

it's christmassy tic-tac-toe!

at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this week, i mean. we've got a fancy game board and everything. see?!

the rules are pretty simple; and, i mean, we've all been playing tic-tac-toe since we were little, right? get three in a row... or in a column... or in a diagonal. then make a card. ok, specifically, a HOLIDAY card. but i figure if you're hangin' out with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ you're already up for that, right? here's what i made.

(patterned paper: pink paislee, basic grey, echo park; vellum: webster's pages; thin die-cut-able wood: the paper co; mini bingo card: jenni bowlin; florals: prima, we r memory keepers, making memories; brads: my mind's eye; reindeer die: tim holtz/sizzix; heart dies: cutllebug; scaloppy scissors: ek success; other: doily from my stash + vintage plaid ribbon pinched from my mom's sewing room when she wasn't looking! ;) ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i guess i should probably point out that it's definitely not necessary to make a card that *matches* the game board, and in fact, i only did it sort of accidentally. but i made the board and the card in a back-to-back session, so clearly there was some "creative overlap", lol! :) i used this awesome sketch from feeling sketchy... but i had to flip it horizontally because of where the flowery corner was on my pretty webster's pages vellum. i'm linking up at 52-card-pickup, as well. which i do most fridays. (and you can, too!)

something else you can, and should, do... is head on over and check out stephanie's card at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥... and then link up with us, because we love to see your gorgeous cards!

(there's still) no place like home (for the holidays!)

we're celebrating our second week of being home for the holidays at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥! for this one you can make a card with a house on it... or make a card that utilizes some sort of building material (woodgrain, brick texture, etc)... OR even just use a sentiment which contains the word "home"! i chose to combine the first and second options this time:

(vintage: postcard (reduced and copied) + fussy-cut holly leaves from an old ideals magazine; paper: studio calico, october afternoon, the paper co; florals: prima; brads: my mind's eye; ink: colorbox + ranger; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner)

actually i have to confess that the woodgrain paper was almost an accident. i had built the whole card around this slightly scaled down copy of one of my vintage xmas postcards, and was about five minutes away from gluing the whole central panel to a red cardstock base when i spied that piece of studio calico goodness... and the rest is history!

for LOTS more inspiration, why not check out miss stephanie's card and the glorious reader's gallery at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥?!

home for the holidays

do you like multiple choice challenges? i do! which is probably why the last two prompts at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ have incorporated more than option for your holiday card-making pleasure. this one, home for the holidays, goes like this:

Make a card with a house on it

OR

Make a card with the word "HOME" on it

OR

Make a card that references building materials 

(woodgrain paper, brick or stone embossing folder, etc)

ok, ok, sorry! i know it sounds complicated, but really it's pretty simple; i think it might actually take longer to read than to do, lol! i also think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how easily you can incorporate one or ALL of these ideas into a card without having to stretch very much. i got all three elements in, almost by accident!

(patterned paper: crate, doodle bug, basic grey, daisy d's; vellum: webster's pages; tag and snowflake border: k and co; die cut house: crate paper; florals: prima; brad: basic grey; sentiment rub-on: creative imaginations; xmas tree die: sizzix; heart die: cuttlebug; doily and vintage calendar from my stash: adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

yepper, i've got a little cardstock house... a homey sentiment... and some woodgrain paper; though the latter is admittedly quite subtle in the background. but one of my favorite parts of this was how very easily the whole thing came together, i did not even have to "delve" very hard within my xmassy stash to pull this off; all of the elements were just sort of THERE! gotta love that, right?!

merry mondays' anything xmas goes until 8/4 so i'm sliding in one more time over there; and of course it wouldn't be friday without patrice's 52-card pickup! :)

something else you are certain to enjoy is miss stephanie's gorgeous card, so why not hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and check it out, darlings?! 

sleigh belles (continue to) ring

i love that we started posting fortnightly last year at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥; i know that some people would prefer to have a different prompt every single week, but i really enjoy having two chances at each idea! especially when we've got a fabulous guest star like jessi fogan joining us; and even more so when there's a multiple choice type option, like sleigh belles ring; for which you can:

Make a card with a sleigh on it 

or

Make a card with bells on it

or possibly

Make a card using sheet music

or even

combine more than one of those ideas!

i went with options one and three. see?

(patterned paper: making memories, basic grey, echo park; xl journaling card: making memories; sleigh sticker: anna griffin; poinsettias: girls paperie; sentiment die-cut: october afternoon; music twill: from miss leslie, ta v much! ink: colorbox; adhesives: recollections brand gluetape runner, sewing machine)

i'm pretty happy that i have a prominent sentiment on the front of my card, so i can link up with sentimental sundays, who are having christmas in july this week! merry monday's anything goes xmas is running for the entire month, and patrice's 52 card pickup goes all year long, so i'm good to go!

and now won't ♥YOU♥ go to jingle belles and see the fabulous cards that jessi and stephanie have made? you'll be glad you did, i promise; and not just because there is an awesome prize on offer, though there is actually! :)

sleigh belles ring

today at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we're thrilled to have my amazing colleague from shopping our stash, jessi fogan, as our lovely guest star. for this fortnight's prompt she came up with, "sleigh belles ring" and of course, always mad for a fab title, we jumped on it! we debated for a bit whether the brief should be, "make a card with a sleigh on it" or, "make a card with bells on"...  the latter encompassing either the real jingly kind, or just the image of a bell. finally we decided we'd allow *either* (or both?!) of these ideas... and for anyone who finds those too challenging, we threw a further possibility, "make a card using sheet music". so basically, if you cannot find SOMETHING you like in this one, you're just not trying! :)

being ever the show-off, i used two of the three elements. ta-daaaaaaa:

(digital sheet music: christmas shopping kit by polka dot pixels; patterned paper: autum leaves; golden vellum layered poinsettia: prima; velvetty leaves: making memories; gem flourish: want2scrap; deco tape: martha stewart; jingle bell die: memory box (cut from doodlebug glitter paper); lace from my stash; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, hot glue, sewing machine)

so you can see the sheet music, obviously. i had planned on using some softly patina-ed vintage music, but when i was looking through my leftovers file, i found this digital copy, and the green and white sort of caught my eye. because of the layering, it might be a little hard to see my (glittery, diecut) jingle bells, so here's a closer shot of those, they are nestled in the border that stretches across the card; and yes, they are slightly less prominent than i had originally envisaged, but i think i'm starting to kind of like the subtlety of that:

something i think *you* will like, is hopping over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to see both jessi's and stephanie's cards. be sure to leave them a little love while you're there, won't you? oh yes, and i seem to recall something about there being a prize on offer... hmmmmm... well, i suppose while you're there you might as well check that out, too, eh, darlings?! :) :) :)

ps: i'm linking up with 52-card-pick-up, and the merry monday "anything goes xmas" challenge ...which lasts throughout july!

i think i may have set a record...

...for number of inky accoutrements used in one card, that is. it's my second "cardstock christmas" card for ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and this time i decided to lock up my cuttlebug and try to make something from the ground up using just plain white paper. so here's what i came up with:

(stamps: glitz design, tim holtz, hero arts, purple onion, stampendous, tattered angels; mask: pink paislee; inks: ranger, colorbox, stewart superior; mists: studio calico, tattered angels, smooch spritz; florals and leaves: making memories, we r memory keepers, petaloo; ribbon and brads: my mind's eye; lace from my stash; plain white cardstock: staples; glossy red cardstock: ranger; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, scotch doublestick tape)

yes, that really was just nekkid white staples brand index stock when i began; and no, i guess i really didn't know when to stop, lol. :) but boy was it fun. i went a little nuts with stamps, mists, a mask, and elebenty hundred rubber stamps. i wish i had thought to take pictures as i was working, though possibly if i had, i'd be online looking up how to get ink stains off a camera right now instead of writing my post, so maybe it's better this way. by way of compensation after the fact, here's a photo of the stuff i used:

as usual, i'm linking up with patrice's 52-card-pickup; also the lovely ladies at merry monday are hosting an anything goes christmas challenge for the entire month; meanwhile the paper players are celebrating christmas in july, so i'm jumping in there, too. yay.

of course, you don't have to go into a stamping frenzy to play along with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ you need only to make a card WITHOUT any designer/patterned paper in it, and you can do that in any way you choose... and i cannot wait to see what you will make, darlings! ♥

cardstock christmas!

yepper, darlings, we've reached that week of the ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ year in which we eschew the joys of patterned paper and go allllll the way back to basics by grabbin' some plain cardstock and adorning it ourselves! this can be done by stamping, punching, misting, inking, stitching, gluing, embossing, beading, sanding, tearing, diecutting .. well, heck, it can be done ANY WAY you want! me being me, i did a little bit of *everything* lol!!! 

core'dinations cardstock... plus a few little tiny scraps of doodlebug's glitter paper; vintage lace and eyelet; ribbon and sitcky pearls from michaels; tim holtz and cuttlebug embossing folders; sizzix xmas tree die; microbeads; mists by tattered angels, jenni bowlin, and studio calico; various distress inks; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, scotch doublestick tape, sewing machine;

yeah. told ya. you thought i was using the word "everything" in a hyperbolic writer-ish sort of way, didn't you? but no, what i meant was, i actually did some punching, misting, inking, stitching, gluing, embossing, microbeading, sanding, tearing, diecutting... oh yeah and at the very end, i stuck a few tiny little pearls on top! i call this my salute to texture, and i'm pretty proud of it, actually!

one thing i didn't do on this card was any stamping... but miss stephanie did so on her card (which you HAVE TO go and see, asap!!!) with such amazing creativity, dexterity and skill, that i figured we were covered. maybe i will try that next week. in the meantime, i hope you will amass your own pile of cardstock, set upon it joyously with the technique of your choice, and join us! ♥♥♥

a card that looks JUST LIKE the picture in my head!

dontcha ♥LOVE IT♥ when that happens?! you have an idea... you work on it... and it materializes almost exactly as you pictured, or maybe even a teeeeeeeny bit BETTER?!! it's crafty heaven, am i right?! :) in this case, the card is my second hybrid effort in our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ digital challenge, for which my lovely friend gina is our special guest star!

for the first card of this prompt, i printed out a bunch of digikit elements, to show how such items can be used EXACTLY like "real" supplies. but this time, i wanted to focus more on the way that digi-stuff can be used differently than actual supplies; for one thing, in terms of collage, you are spoiled for choice since you can change the colors and opacity levels of each individual item used! which means that you have almost infinite options, even with just one set of supplies. and of course you have infinite "do-overs" as well, because anything that doesn't work out can be undone with a keystroke. pretty awesome, right? let me show the card, and then i'll talk a little bit about what i did:

digital elements: paper: snowy mapprints no1 by anna aspnes; brushes: see-through snowflakes by rhonna farrer; snowsprays no3 and hipster plume edgers and frames by anna aspnes; chrsitmas magic and joyful christmas magic by vera lim; letterbox christmas overlays no2 and one-word challenge freebie ("joy") by katie pertiet; software: adobe pse9; "real" stuff: patterned paper: glitz designs; sparkly snowflake stickers: martha stewart crafts; brads: my mind's eye; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, sewing machine

you can see from the supply list that there are quite a few individual elements to this card, which add up to three main components: first, the central (all-digital) collage, which consists of 6 or 7 different brushes "stamped" in various colors and intensities on top of a (digital) map paper, which is printed on glossy photo paper; then the large sentiment as focal point... again a digital element... that one's printed on an inkjet transparency which i layered over the collage, and machine stitched into place; finally there are the real world "finishing touches" that turn this into a card: some grungy grey patterned paper, sparkly snowflake stickers, and a few brads.

i made the digital collage in photoshop elements 9, on my laptop, in the car, on the way to and from a visit to my in-laws' house over the weekend. that scenario represents 90% of my digital compositions, actually; i know it is theoretically POSSIBLE for one to make something similar whilst sitting at a stationary desk, but somehow i never actually DO that, lol! 

do you have a "funny" place to work, or way of working? i'd love to hear about it! i'd also love for you to check out this fun hybrid prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and maybe even play along! 

we wish you a digi christmas!

this week at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we are lucky enough to have one of my favorite lovely guest stars AND one of my favorite types of prompt, and they are BOTH in the same fortnight, so let's get right to it! our guest is the uber-talented gina cunningham, and the brief this time is near and dear to her heart... (and mine!) ...we're making holiday cards with at least one digital element involved, whether that be as simple as printing and coloring a digital stamp, or as complicated as making a multiple layered collage in photoshop that uses loads of actions, blending modes and digital elements. be as simple or as complicated as you like, just make sure to have some fun with it!

i've got LOADS of digital supplies, but sadly, i mostly use them only when i am making blog headers or other things that will be seen online. apparently, i'm slightly lazy when it comes to making hybrid cards, which is a shame. because they're fun to make, flexible, and so economical... since you can customize each bit, and you only ever need to print what you're actually going to use! for instance, i've been meaning since january to make a card that features the kit i used for this year's JB header, but it took a specifically digi-based prompt to make me actually DO IT. having said that, i really like how this came out:

(digital elements: christmas shopping kit by polka dot pixels + christmas postcard journalers no1 by katie pertiet, designer digitals; printed on plain paper, cardstock and kodak premium photo paper;  irl supplies: patterned paper: my mind's eye, cosmo cricket; deco tape: martha stewart, recollections; ribbon: october afternoon; other: distress inks, doily; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

you can see that in addition to using the same ingredients, i stuck pretty close to the layout of the blog header, too. well, i mean, i did DESIGN that, and i think it's pretty decent, and i sort of thought it'd make a nice card. i stand by that decision, lol! :)

when i'm doing a fully digital project (like the header) i spend a lot of time adding drop shadows to give the appearance of depth and texture. when i'm doing the hybrid version, i tend to want to cut things out and layer them loosely; sometimes with a bit of foam tape under the top edge, like this:

and now i bet you'd like to head over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to see gina's and stephanie's hybrid masterpieces, right? then i hope you will start thinking what you can make when you JOIN US!!! ♥

more (xmas) sketchy goodness!

because the best thing about a great sketch (like... say... the one stephanie drew for ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ last week!) is that you can use it over and over again! so we did! here's my second card:

(patterned paper--mostly scraps: love elsie, bo bunny, reminisce, my mind's eye, pink paislee; red cardstock: core'dinations; rub-ons and dimensional snow globe sticker: imaginisce; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

and here's a reminder of what that fabulous sketch looks like:

and now i hope you'll drop in and see us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ because we'd loooooooooove for you to join our fun! ♥

oh christmas sketch, oh christmas sketch!

i am always happy to debut a new ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ prompt, but never moreso than we we have a lovely sketch... and it's even better when the sketch in question was devised by our very own miss stephanie. and since ALL of those things are true today, i'm a very happy belle indeed!

here's the sketch:

and here's my card:

(patterned paper: echo park, my mind's eye, dcwv + vintage sheet music; chipboard holly stickers: my mind's eye; sentiment sticker: little yellow bicycle; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine) 

and now i hope you will check out the fabulous card that stephanie made, and start thinking about what ♥YOU♥ will link up with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!

more ribbonny goodness!

i have a confession to make: i have a serious "over-thinkin' it" habit!!! i don't need either of the ladies from monty python's penguin-on-the-telly sketch to run rings around me logically, i can do it all by myself! case in point: for this, the second week of our ribbon rendezvous at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, i spent nearly an entire day lamenting the fact that i had already used the idea i wanted to employ for this week's card. before *finally* the answer came to me: so what??!?! who says you can't use the same idea twice, or a hundred times, if it's one you like, and you're still inspired by it?! so i CASE-d m'self. i'll show you the original card in a minute, but first here's the all-new, all-xmassy version:

(patterned paper: my mind's eye; glossy white cardstock: ranger; ribbons: making memories, michaels, we r memory keepers, american crafts; fancy embellished poinsettias: the girls' paperie; glitter letters and wordfetti sticker: making memories; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, sewing machine)

and now, here's the "original" from june of last year:

i have to say, i like BOTH versions, pretty close to equally, and let's face it, using only my current supply of ribbon, i could easily make another 47 of these... and not have any two be alike; then just imagine if i decided to combine ribbon with washi tape?! who knows, maybe i will make another 47! :) but for today there's just the christmassy one, it's over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ along with an utterly gorgeous card by miss stephanie, as well as an amazing readers' gallery, just to inspire *YOU*!!! ♥

it's time to tie one on!

because the brief this week at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ is to make a holiday card which features ribbon. and you can't get much simpler than that, right? so let's go!

(patterned paper: prima, making memories; florals: making memories, recollections; velvet holly leaf: prima; brad: we r memory keepers; lace: from my vintage trimmings box; ribbon: michaels, american crafts, may arts; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, xyron, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

in addition to my usual friday custom of linking up with 52 card pickup, this week i'm also sneaking in just under the deadline at unscripted sketches, having used this gorgeous plan of theirs:

as soon as i saw the sketch, i hit upon the idea of using those fabulous xmas inchies from artchix studio, but it was only whilst rooting through a stack of smaller papers that i found this:

only the BEST. PAPER. EVER. in terms of using inchies on a card, am i right? it's from a super-old mat stack of prima's called "rock on love" that one of my favorite designers, adrienne looman, did for them years ago, and i still have a little bit left. i'd love to tell you that it was my plan to unearth and use this stuff all along, but truly, it was a complete fluke! but hey, i'll take it! :)

and now i'd like to take ♥YOU♥ over to jingle belles to see stephanie's card and start planning what you want to do, when you join us this week! because you are gonna join us, right? pleeeeeease?! trust me, you'll have fun now, but in december, when you're completely free of the holiday-induced card-making stress, you'll be ecstatic! ♥♥♥

now even *BRIGHTER*

we've been making cards that are merry and bright at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ but i bet you didn't think i could beat last week's flamingo goodness on that score, did you? nor did i, for that matter, but it happened all the same! g'head and grab your sunglasses before scrolling down... i don't want to be responsible for retinal damage. ready? 

here ya go:

(background papers formatted in broderbund printshop using bohemian typewriter font; patterned paper, glossy cardstock and glitter paper scraps: bo bunny, dcwv, k and co, doodlebug, the paper co, pearl paint, making memories... and many more! ribbon: michaels; bling heart: mambi; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, gluedots)

so yeah, let's sum up: merry? sure. bright??!  OH YEAHHHHHH!!! :) :) :)

if you remember the inspiration photo from last week, it won't take long to see where i got the idea for this one:

as for the layout, the fine folks at fetch a sketch could not have devised anything more helpful if i had specifically asked them for a wreath-friendly design!

i'm linking up with patrice's 52 card pick-up, and you can, too! you might also want to scoot on over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see the festive goodness that stephanie has whipped up for you! then grab your neon colors and come and join us!