The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #98 - Winter Warmers

Hi Kickstarters... It's time for another fun Challenge!

I am beyond delighted to welcome the lovely Becca to join us as our elfin guest this month. I feel like I've 'known' Becca for a long time but was struggling to remember just how we first crossed paths. I think we may have bumped into one another as participants in Janis W's wonderful Cat Lover's Blog Hops; I was so grateful to Becca when she helped put together our tribute challenge for Janis as one of the fabulous Helpful Hoppers.

Let's welcome our Elf...

"I'm Becca and live in South Florida. I didn't start crafting until I was in my 20's when my Mom taught me to cross stitch. Then we went to craft shows where I found Creative Memories and scrapbooking. And then other fun crafts like clay, home decor for all the holidays until it eventually led me to card making. I am in my craft room every day making a card for a challenge. It's simply my happy place and I just enjoy it. I have a large family so I get to make lots of cards for them for every occasion. And they even seem to like them!  lol"

Challenge #98 - Winter Warmers

Becca has picked a fun theme and we both think it works equally well for hot chocolate, alcoholic beverages or sweaters, or indeed anything you creative wonders of Cardland can up with!

Here's what Becca has made to get us in the zone:

I know, I know! I love this so much. You can find all the details about her sweet card over on Becca Flickr site here. 

Here's my first make for our challenge together:

My Favorite Things set Winter Warmth

Rudolph has a cute stamp set on offer for his May Random Raffle.

 

Please remember to read our Challenge Guidelines before you enter. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #97

 

With a brand new challenge on the horizon I thought I'd take a moment to say a very big thank you to our elf and to Trim the Tree for Challenge #97!

Challenge #97 - Positively Poinsettias

Our April Elf was the very talented Bobby from Bits and Pieces. Thanks so much, Bobby, you were a dream date and it's been great getting to know you behind the scenes.

Bobby picked a very popular theme for us and we had forty entries for our challenge, which I think is pretty good for April!

You guys created some amazingly beautiful cards and it was so tricky to whittle it down to Top Picks and a Winner as this was such a special challenge and the gallery looks stunning.

  Our Top Picks for this Challenge are

#22 Tatiana

Such a pretty card, and just look at the embossed background 

and the way Tatiana carried the embossing across onto the envelope too. 

#26 - Lesley

Wow! Such a glorious colour palette and a beautiful design. 

#32 - Cindy

A magical card with beautiful stamping.

Our Winner, and Topping the Tree for Challenge #97 we have...

#12 - Linda W

What a master class in cardmaking!

Congratulations to our showcased gals, please grab your badges and flaunt them for all the world to see!

And last, but not least, here's Rudolph to announce the winner of his April Random Raffle Draw.

Its you #37 - Di

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

Once again, a big thank you to Bobby and also to everyone who played along in this challenge. I really appreciate your participation and I love seeing your cards each month!

Challenge #98 will be along very shortly and I hope to see you there!

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #97 - Reminder

 

Welcome back! It's Reminder time here at Christmas Kickstart as we play...

Positively Poinsettias

with our good friend the very talented Bobby from Bits and Pieces.

 

Bobby has kindly created a second card for this challenge and it's another stunner! 

You can find all the details about Bobby's card over on her blog here. 

Here's a little reminder of Bobby's first card for our challenge together.  

And here's my 'homage' to Bobby's card. I love her colour palette and knew I wanted to 'grab' it for my card. Thanks again to my mom for supplying the dies. The packaging is missing so I can't give the details.

This was fun to make as I don't usually create die cut cards, however I seem to be having a little run of using dies and I'm quite enjoying the change of technique. 

Rudolph's Random Raffle this month is offering a cute little set of dies, and he kindly requests that you read the Challenge Guidelines so he can include you in his random draw. 

As I'm typing this we currently have #17 beautiful entries in the challenge. None too shabby for April, but this is such a fun theme so I hope we'll see a few more before the challenge ends on April 30th. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #96

Phew, after a busy week I've just grabbed a few moments to do a little Tree Trimming for Challenge #96.

Our elf was the lovely Arlene from A Bit of This and That... and she picked a fabulous theme to inspire fifty players to join the fun. Thanks so much for being our elf again, Arlene, it's always great fun 'backstage' when we play together!

 

The standard of creations was so high again this month - you guys certainly rocked our non-traditional colour challenge and no mistake!

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#5 - Ans Gilbert

There's so much work gone into the making of this card!

#18 - Gundi

Love this colour combo and Gundi's sweet sponged trees.

#48 - Di

Such a clever way to play the challenge and  

I am now aware that double-sided dies are a thing!

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

#30 - Bobby

Just look at the way Bobby has used her non-traditional colour palette to perfection!

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

Finally, here's our favourite reindeer, Rudolph, with the results of his Random Raffle for March...

 

#27 Gail - It's you!

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

Our new challenge is up and running, and our current elf hat-wearer is none other than our Challenge Winner for March: Bobby from Bits and Pieces. I do love a Christmas Kickstart coincidence!

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #97 - Positively Poinsettias

Hi there, friends, no foolin' it's time for a brand new challenge here at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge! 

Before we get going I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who plays along with this challenge - I appreciate the 'Kickstart Community' so much and get so much joy from running this challenge, seeing your cards and getting to know you all. 

Our theme this month was chosen by our guest elf, and I think she's chosen a perennial favourite for us Christmas cardmakers. 

Please welcome the very talented Bobby from Bits and Pieces. If you've not visited Bobby's beautiful blog thus far I'd urge you to do so as it's a treasure trove of gorgeousness. This lady certainly knows what she's doing with card, inks, die cuts and pens. 

"Hi, I'm Bobby. I have been involved in a lot of different crafts through the years but the only ones that I still participate in are quilting and paper crafting, hence the title of my blog - Bits & Pieces - that I started in 2011.  My cardmaking style has evolved over the years as I continue to learn new techniques, follow challenge sites and serve on design teams.  The friendships I have made in the community have been an invaluable resource and bring me such joy.  Thanks, Jo, for letting me add another challenge and friend to my long list." 

The theme Bobby has chosen is...

Challenge #97 - Positively Poinsettias

We'd love to see a poinsettia or poinsettias on your cards for our April Challenge. Nice and simple, and so much scope for making gorgeous creations.

Here's what Bobby has made to inspire us all and get our challenge started:

Isn't this just magical? I'm completely blown away by everything about Bobby's card. You can find all the details about how she created this mini masterpiece by visiting her blog here. I've also seen the card Bobby has made for our Reminder... It's also truly jaw dropping!

Anyhooo, here's my card - it's hard to believe I'm playing the same theme as Bobby, but I am!

You can find out how I made my card by visiting my blog.

Rudolph's Random Raffle Prize for this month is a super cute set of Sizzix dies.

 

Please remember to read the Challenge Guidelines before you link up in order to be eligible to go into the draw for this prize. 

Bobby and I both hope that you'll come and play along with this fun challenge and we can't wait to see what you create!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #96 - Reminder

 

We're in excellent company this month as our elf is none other than my dear friend, Arlene from A Bit of This and That...

 

We've had some gorgeous entries with stunning colour palette's thus far. It's interesting to see your colour choices when green, red and gold are off the menu, and it seems that pink is very popular with shades of green not far behind. You guys rock!

Arlene has very kindly created a brand new card for this Reminder. Don't you just love the snow dudes basking in the Winter sunlight. Such fun, and another great colour choice too. Thanks so much, Arlene. 

Here's a quick reminder of Arlene's first card for this challenge. I think her palette is just so pretty and harmonious, and I wish I had her eye for colour combos. 

Here's my 'Inspired by Arlene...' creation. This beautiful stamp called Darkroom Door Christmas Post has sat unused in my stash for ages, and after seeing Arlene's mail inspired card I knew it was time to ink it up and get stamping. 

The ink is clear embossed and gives a lovely sheen to the card. I left my colouring sparse to avoid making the design look too busy.

Rudolph is offering a sweet price again this month...

Please make sure you check the Challenge Guidelines before you enter so that Rudolph can include in the draw for his Random Rafflle Prize. 

So come and play along with Arlene and me: Step away from the traditional and see what you can create using a colour palette that's NOT the norm!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter