how is it possible...

...to have arguably the best die ever for making ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ cards, own it for an entire year, and never have used it??! this is the question i asked myself repeatedly over the weekend, and frankly the answer is just totally depressing: apparently when i put away this awesome cut-plorations "jingle all the way" die after receiving it for xmas 2016 from santa stephanie, it had slid down to the bottom of the flip-thru storage box i use for my holiday dies. and since i couldn't see it, it just ceased to exist. but no more, because LOOK:

patterned paper: stampin' up + vintage sheet music; santa tag from target, saved from xmas 2016; "jingle all the way" die from cutplorations, the diecutting dept of STAMPlorations; heart sticker: doodlebug design; scraps of glitter and glossy black cardstock from my stash; tartan ribbon: michaels; glossy white cardstock base: the paper cut; adhesives: stick it by ken oliver crafts, elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

ok, yeah, this might be my favorite die now, so i apologize in advance for over-using it during the next six months, lol! this time i cut it from red glitter paper backed with stick-it adhesive from ken oliver crafts and layered it onto a second cut from a scrap of glossy black cardstock. then i off-set the two just slightly, so that the black layer acts as a sort of "drop shadow" to the red glitter, making it stand out more against the red ribbon on my card. other brand new bits i'm showing off are more gorgeous 6x6" papers from the stampin' up set, "quilted christmas" which also came from stephanie, my favorite stampin' up demonstrator!

speaking of stephanie, she also has another beautiful card to show off, using some of the goodies santa brought her this christmas, you should really go check that out at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ shouldn't you, darlings?