The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #112 - Grace Us with Your Presents

 

Hi there, Kickstarters, are you ready for a brand new challenge? Of course you are!

Let's meet our July elfin muse: it's Lynn AKA Linby from Crafty Linby. I've been following Lynn's creative journey for quite a while (huge understatement) and I know you'll enjoy her cardmaking style as much as I do...

"Hi, I'm Lynn know as Linby in blogland as there are quite a few other people named Lynn. I've always crafted something. I started with dressmaking when I was 12, crochet then briefly knitting. Next came cross stitching (which I still do some of) and then rubber stamping, as it was back in the 1990s. I graduated into card making starting my blog in 2009. Since then I've tried most crafts and added art journals and drawing to my dabbling."

Thanks so much for agreeing to be our Elf this moth, Lynn - it's great to have your company, and thank you for picking a brilliant theme as we play...

Challenge #112 - Grace Us with Your Presents!

We'd like to see gifts and presents galore this month on your cards. Here's what Lynn created to get the party started:

How cute is this? I do love PB images. Lynn has also made a card for our Reminder post, and I know you'll love that one too.

Here's what I made:

I had so much fun stamping and colouring North Pole Mischief from Stampin' Up!

Rudolph has chosen a gorgeous prize for his Randon Raffle.

Just look at that wreath - so pretty.

Lynn and I are both so excited to see what you create for this challenge and hope that you'll come and join the fun!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #111 - Snow Day!

 

Hi folks, I'm a couple of days late with the Reminder post for June. In my defence things seem to have been a little crazy recently AND it was my birthday yesterday!

We have the very lovely Caroline from KISS as our elfin guest this month! 

 

Caroline picked a fun theme for us to play with and made the loveliest of cards.

Challenge #111 - Snow Day

You can find all the info about how Caroline made her card by dropping in at her gorgeous blog here. 

For my inspired by creation I decided to go for a POD image where the character or characters were on the move just like Caroline's adorable postie. I was very taken by how Caroline had created the snow effect by stenciling with a gel pen and making sure that the snow covered the images. So cute! I also 'stole' her way of grounding the image with a hand drawn snowline, drop shadow and tiny stamped plants. It certainly gives a very finsihed look to the card. Thanks for the inspiration, Caroline!

Here's Mr Rudolph with his Random Raffle Prize details. please don't forget to follow the guidlines to be eligible to enter the draw. 

Caroline and I can't wait to see what you create for our challenge. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #110

Hi guys, I'm a little late with Trimming the Tree this month. I've been on holiday in Croatia and appear to have left my brains and energy somewhere on the stunning Dalmation Coast. 

Our elf for this month was the lovely Joanne from Ambrosia and Iron and I'm so grateful for all her help and creativity. Thanks, Joanne, you're a star!

Our challenge for May was Season's Tweetings and we had some amazing entries! Choosing just three cards as Top Picks was completely impossible, so this month we have 4 cards to showcase instead!

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#25 - Greta

We both love the balance of Greta's card, add in a beautifully coloured cardininal 

and an embossed background and we were hooked!

#25 - Linda

So simple and yet soooo effective. Ooodles of white space that 

showcases Linda's beautifully paper-pieced birdies to perfection.

#15 - Chrissy

So funny and festive  - we both love this!

#28 - Leslie

We loved the dark green die cut peeking out to provide definition for the white foreground one and the dramatic pop of rich red to contrast with all the delicate white texture.

Our Winner and Star on the Tree for this week is:

#8 - Helen

Here's what Joanne said: "Great layout, perfect use of a patterned paper with the image, great colouring and such a great image, this one really made me smile." 

I echo her thoughts 100%!

Congratulations to you all, I hope you'll enjoy flaunting your blog badges for all the world to see!

And before I wrap things up, here is Rudolph with the WINNER of his Random Raffle Draw!

 

#13 - Dawn in NZ... It's you!

Congratulations, Dawn, please email me a dottypudding (at) aol.com with your snail mail address so I can connect you with your prize. 

Thanks again to Joanne for being my elfin support this month - we always have so much fun backstage and I'm blessed to have you as my crafting buddy. Thanks also to everyone who played along - I really appreciate you all and love our little community of festive creativity and frienship!

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #111 - Snow Day!

 

Welcome back to The Christmas Kickstart Challenge, where I'm delighted to welcome Caroline from KISS as our elfin guest this month! 

"I am a Yorkshire wife, mum of 2 grown-up girls, nanna to 2 boys (4 and 5) and dog mum to Buster the border.  I have been card making since dinosaurs roamed the earth and started my card blog in 2008!! Eek!

Cute animals are definitely my go to style - coloured with copics, or more recently die cut. Flowers are my nemesis, so you won't see too many of those on my blog."

It's great to 'meet' you, Caroline! 

I began my blogging career in the late Cretaceous period, and have been a HUGE fan of Caroline's creations for all those years. Her colouring skills just make me swoon, and she's a total sweetheart too!!

Caroline has chosen the perfect theme for us:

Challenge #111 - SNOW DAY!

We'd love to see your take on this. Play it however you want, but there HAS to be snow! Here's a peek at Caroline's fabulous card...

You can visit Caroline's gorgeous blog here to read all the details of how she created her card for our challenge. Leave her some 💖💖💖while you're there!

Here's what I made...

I had so much fun creating this little scene. It's a SNOW DAY and the school is closed. Mom has just asked the kids to stand still, hold hands and pose with snowballs in their hands, but this is the moment when they start to pull apart and take aim! 

Here's Rudolph with another lovely Random Raffle Prize:

Rudolph thought it would be fun to offer the same set I used for my card! 

Caroline and I are both very excited to see what you guys come up with for our June Challenge. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Christmas Card Challenge #110 - Reminder

 

I'm thrilled to welcome back Joanne from Ambrosia and Iron as our guest elf this month. 

Joanne first served a tour of duty as she put it as our elf back in August 2019. Thanks so much for making the return journey, and for your friendship over the years, Joanne. 

This month we are playing:

Challenge #110 - Season's Tweetings

We're all about our feathered friends this month and Joanne has very kindly created a second card for our challenge. Don't you just LOVE her penguin card, I know I do!

You can find out all the details of how Joanne made her card by dropping by at her blog here. 

Here's Joanne's first card for our challenge. I had both of her cards saved on my PC by the time I came to make my 'Inspired by' creation, so they merged in my head a bit!

I made this card using Joanne's idea of a snowy, coloured background, but went with the darker colouring of her second card. I was going to use her big sentiment style, but after I'd made the card I decided I liked it as it is. I might add something top left as now I'm looking at the card again it looks a little empty.

You can check out all the info about my card, plus you can see my second card by dropping by at my blog.

Here's Rudolph with his Random Raffle Prize for May. 

Isn't this a gorgeous set! Please remember to read the Challenge Guidelines before signing-up to play if you're new to Christmas Kickstart.

Joanne and I can't wait to see what you create for this fun theme!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #109!

Hi Crafters, it's time to Trim the Tree for Challenge #109, where we played Brimming With Style in the company of our lovely elf, Gail. Thanks so much, Gail, it's always a joy to have you as our elfin muse.

We had a rather amazing forty-seven cards for this challenge, and I'd like to say a very big thank you to everyone who played along. You guys really do bring the fun and I'm so appreciative of you all. 

I know I always say it but just picking a few cards to showcase is oh, so tricky. Here's what we went with for Challenge #109...

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#45 - Bonnie

Isn't this just joyous! 

#4 - Fabiola

So many hats!

#5 - Joanne

Gotta love that big snowdude, 

and the way the tag dangles from the sentiment!

Our Winner and Star on the Tree for this week is:

#15 - Arlene Rose

Just take a look at how Arlene played the theme with tiny blue hats on tiny snowmen.

Congratulations to you all, I hope you'll enjoy flaunting your blog badges for all the world to see!

Let's have a nice drum roll for the amazing Rudolph as he drops by to declare the WINNER of his Random Raffle Drawer! 

#29 - Denise B... It's you!

Congratulations, Denise, please email me a dottypudding (at) aol.com with your snail mail address so I can connect you with your prize. 

Thanks again to all our participants and thanks to Gail for all the inspiration. Challenge #110 is now up and running, so why not come and play along!