Saturday, February 25, 2017

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!



26 comments:

  1. Very cute! I myself tend to like making the more elegant cards but also like mixing it up with more cute cards for my friends that have kids 😊

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  2. Glad to be here first time, Visited from Jess blog and become a new follower! Such fun with gorgeous inspirational Christmas creations! Love the idea. And I love how u played with PP with such cute images and love those gorgeous trees along with layering!

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  3. This is such a good idea! I try to make 2 cards a month for the holidays. I only made one last month and none yet this month! Yikes! I need to get going! Your cards are both adorable! The little elf makes me smile! Awesome job with the kit from Jessica! It wasn't much to work with but your card is fabulous!

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  4. Both your cards are wonderful. What a fun idea for a collaboration!

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  5. I absolutely love this challenge and the cards you both created are so fun and different from each other. I love your use of the patterned paper.

    Meg M.

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  6. I am gonna play along, this is too fun not to play along!

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  7. Beautiful cards! I love the cute elf and all the layering you did on your first card! And the trees are so elegant! Pretty layering and paper choices!
    Great idea to make holiday cards all year long, as that time of year gets so hectic! I'd love to some cards already finished when that time rolls around again!

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  8. Very cute elf card. I like the mix of papers.
    Beautiful tree card. The poinsettia paper is perfect and I like the snowy hills.

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  9. Great cards! I love the pretty patterns you used with the trees.

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  10. Great cards and inspiration!!! Looking forward to he future cards:)

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  11. I love this great idea! I'm going to see if a couple friends of mine want to do the same. Both your cards are awesome! Love what you did with Jess's supplies. Great to see two different takes on the same supplies.

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  12. How fun to do this collaboration!! Girl you rocked it!! Love what you created with the supplies Jessica sent!! I know and of course LOVE your style, so seeing something a bit different from you is awesome! Great job, friend!

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  13. Fantastic cards! The patterned paper looks so pretty and I love your card design.

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  14. Fabulous work on
    both cards. Love
    this series and
    seeing how each
    designer makes
    the cards using
    the same products.
    Carla from Utah

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  15. Fabulous work on
    both cards. Love
    this series and
    seeing how each
    designer makes
    the cards using
    the same products.
    Carla from Utah

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  16. I just love this idea of inspiring each other by swapping card elements. You did a beautiful job with those trees, and the Elf on a Shelf is so fun and cute!

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  17. This is fantastic Christy. Both cards are really great, I especially like the second one, the gold on the trees is so pretty!

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  18. What a great idea for a swap. I also ran out of cards last year. I love the card with the trees- very elegant.

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  19. What fun! And a great idea to get started early. Let the fun begin! Thanks for including us.

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  20. Both of your Christmas designs are super-cute! Neat & Tangled has so many sweet and unique products.

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  21. Both of your Christmas designs are super-cute! Neat & Tangled has so many sweet and unique products.

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  22. Ya'll collaborate well. Very awesome cards.

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  23. Wow! Awesome cards!!! Really adorable!!! Great collaboration!!!

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  24. beautiful cards :) I love the idea of making christmas/ holiday cards throughout the year :) thanks for the inspirtation.

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Thank you so much for taking a few moments to brighten my day!

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