Christmas Critters and Creatures

It's the second week of the prompt we've called, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" at Jingle Belles and thus we're still creating cards that feature animals; OR you can go with "creatures" like a yeti or monster, if you prefer. 

Weirdly enough, I've gone fairly traditionally yet again this week! I was flipping through my holiday dies and re-discovered Memory Box's Serene Bird and Branch die set, which, bizarrely, I don't think I've used for a couple of years? And suddenly I just thought, "That's the one!" I've cut the bird from a really soft silver-grey metallic cardstock, then added it and quite a lot of small foliage to the center of MFT's Happy Holidays Circle Frame; then added Dare 2B Artzy's Slim-Mini Snowflake panel behind the whole thing and set it atop some ancient Basic Grey Wisteria paper. In the photo, the lavender and purple both look very strong and slightly "off" but I assure you, IRL, it's quite a nice card.

Link your critter- or creature-centric cards on the original While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks post, for a chance to win a super-cool Sizzix Reindeer die! This challenge ends next Wendesday evening, November 4th.

Make-It Candy Cane Wishes Card by Lauren Bergold

The holidays are right around the corner, and Ranger's Make-It line has stepped up with beautiful new Christmas and Hanukkah stamps and stencils. I've got a tutorial for this fun Candy Cane Wishes card up on the Ranger Project Tutorials Page, I'd love for you to hop over there and check it out this very vibrant card which features the Christmas Sweets Clear Stamp Set and 6x9" Peppermints Stencil, not to mention the brand new Mini Archival Inks, lots of Liquid Pearls and some of my favorite Ranger Embossing Powders.

New Mini Archivals and Perfect Pearls from Ranger!

New (today!) from Ranger: Three new Mini Archival Ink Kits, featuring all your favorite colors from the last year or so, now in convenient MINI size; perfect for stamp platforms and super convenient storage! Set Five has: Sweet Treat, Sea Grass, Aquamarine and Aubergine; Set Six has: Cayenne, Coastal Coral, Sun Dazed and Emerald Green; Set Seven has: Graphite, Dark Roast, Pebble Beach and Sand Castle.

Meanwhile, there are also SIX new shades of luscious, shimmery Perfect Pearls: Fire & Ice, Cherry Bomb, Snow Globe, Dragonfly, Evening Gown and Fairy Frost. 

♥♥♥

Here are a few cards I've made using the new Perfect Pearls and Archival Minis, along with some of the new Make-It Stamps and Stencils which came our yesterday:

If you'd like to WIN the new Mini Archivals and Perfect Pearls, check out my Instagram @llaurenb for a little giveaway!

New Ranger Make-It Holiday Stamps and Stencils!

Ranger's Make-It line of  beautiful, affordable, stamps and stencils just got a Holiday Glow-Up! Introducing new Merry Greenery and Christmas Sweets Stamps, plus a lovely new Peppermints Stencil. But don't think it's just about XMAS, oh no...

...because there's also a Happy Hanukkah Stamp Set and a Twinkling Stars Stencil!

Here are a few cards I made using these sets, but be sure to check out the official Ranger release post which is full of inspiration!

Stay tuned for another new release from Ranger, as well!

Floral Halloween

Halloween isn't just for kiddos, so here's a soft, floral card that's all grown up! An Eyelet Outlet Pumpkin Brad, Colored Daisy, Rose Brad, Sugar Skull and even a Mini Butterfly adorn these pretty stamped  pumpkins on their soft purple spider web stenciled background. 

Pretty Pumpkins Shopping List:

Pumpkin Brads

Colored Daisy Brads

Rose Brads

Sugar Skull Brads

Mini Butterfly Brads

Wishing you a safe and Happy Halloween with lots of treats... and absolutely no tricks!

Spider Web Mandala

Halloween is next Sunday and I haven't even posted a Spider Web Mandala? Shocking! So here's one right now.

Of course a fancy zen-doodle web wouldn't be complete without providing a home for some handsome Eyelet Outlet Spider Brads, too... unless you're an arachnophobe, in which case, my apologies; come back tomorrow, when I promise this space will be entirely spider-free!

Collactober Round Up (So Far)

I'm participating (in a sporadic and random sort of way, lol) in #collactober2026 a fabulous month-long celebration of collage on Instagram, hosted each year by @prism_voyager and @lofficinedenative whose collages you definitely NEED to go check out; also you should stop by and see what @smilynstef has been making, because her entries are also outstanding! (And I'm not just saying that because we got to make some of our collages together at my house two weekends ago, but we did and it was awesome!) 

Day 4: Seeds

This collage started out quite sensibly with this sweet urban gardener posing next to her crops and yet... are there SEEDS of discord on the horizon? We see noted Garden Guerilla, P. Rabbit, at the bottom of the frame; not to mention a rather suspicious helicopter guy at the top, who is mysterious checking out the scene, and even more mysteriously, keeping a hat on despite what must be considerable wind turbulence. The background is part of a NJ Transit train schedule, some Gold Bond trading stamps, and part of a map. These were all chosen basically by color... but I confess I like the shapes and structure they add to the scene.

Day 17: Seer   

Some of my collages are verrrrrrry tangential, but this one started out pretty literally! I've got tiny tarot cards and a Chinese Zodiac; also, I think it's pretty clear that cat can see into a fourth, and possibly even fifth, dimension. The frog can see the cat... ok, it's getting a little less literal now, lol. That torn map was sitting on my worktable, having been used in an earlier collage; the crocheted flower kind of matches the pink of the map; and the Kanada text and music pieces are neutral but sort of line up nicely with the rest of the background. All of the above is probably as close as I can get to explaining my process; I'll be inspired by a prompt or idea; grab some "key" images;  and then after that I just play around with structure and composition.

BTW, the gorgeous, whimsical cat and frog illustrations are by my friend @ginaisarty and can be found in her clipart book, available on Amazon and one of my very very favorite sources of collage images.

Day 7: After the Storm

Apparently, we've arrived to this collage a few minutes too early, as clearly the intrepid Vikings are still in the midst of the storm; but I'm sure they're looking forward to calmer seas. (Well, aren’t we all?!) 

Day 13: Homecoming

 Once again I’ve found some very cute Richard Scarry characters; vintage trading stamps (thank you @smilynstef for building my hoard!); a bit of map; a mileage chart; and an oversized flower sticker. Technically these illustrations were not related or intended to be together, but I do feel like the bunnies are specifically waiting at the window to watch their cat friend arrive home.

Day 6: Joy 

What could be more joyful than Richard Scarry characters taking time to relax and read stories in a fanciful flower garden? That little mouse brought his own ladder so he could join the fun!

Day 10:  Mending 

I combined a Renaissance dude on crutches; a picket fence (“mending fences”); an embroidery diagram (sewing more than mending, but...); and then a bunch of randomness (like green stamps, a map, ledger paper) in the background. And a pterodactyl. Obviously.