Crafty Christmas Collaboration with Jessica Frost-Ballas

Hey friends! Today I'm so excited to share a super fun collaboration with my friend Jessica Frost-Ballas. Last December, Jessica found herself with her Christmas card stash depleted. That last minute Christmas card hustle had her stressed and overwhelmed, feelings to which I can totally relate! She wanted to solve this problem by making cards all throughout the year, so come next December 1st, she'd be completely prepared, and could then relax and relish in the joys of the season.

Because it can be tough to stay inspired to make Christmas cards all year round, Jessica came up with the brilliant idea to make it fun by including her crafty friends in a monthly collaboration, and I'm thrilled to be her February guest!

Each of us put together a little packet of elements to create a card and sent it off to the other, then made an extra one for ourselves so we'd have the same supplies. Here's what I sent Jess. I noticed while poking around her blog that she didn't seem to have any Neat & Tangled Christmas sets, so I stamped and die cut several images from Elfs and their Shelf, since it was the one set on my list for my 2016 Christmas Card Series that I didn't end up getting to use. I also included a couple sentiments from that set, five double-sided patterned papers, since that's kind of my thing ;), and a few enamel dots.

And here's what Jess sent me. She realized I didn't have any Altenew (she was right!) and sent me some beautiful stamped and gold glitter embossed trees from their Sketched Evergreen set, and sentiments from Holiday Wishes. She also included a white card base, some black cardstock, and silky back and gold twine.

For the card I made with my own supplies, I colored my images with Copic markers, then incorporated all five patterned papers -- and actually added a sixth. A light sprinkling of enamel dots finished off the design.

I'll admit, the supplies Jessica sent had me a little stumped at first. The kit definitely lent itself to a more elegant style than I typically create, but I LOVE a good challenge! Since the trees were already embossed with that gorgeous gold sparkle detail, I thought adding even more sparkle couldn't hurt. The My Mind's Eye Comfort and Joy 6x6 was one of my favorites last Christmas because of the glitter detail on some of the patterns. I added this poinsettia strip, and found another pattern that worked perfectly for my sky background. I added a couple snowy hills, trimmed my sentiment to a flag end, and finished off the card with a black scalloped border and that gorgeous black and gold twine.

Please head over to Jess's blog to discover what she made with our supplies. Be sure to leave a comment at both our blogs for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Neat & Tangled, AND you can link up your own cards all year long at Jess's blog for a chance to win a big grand prize in December!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed our collab!