Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #44

 

It's time to Trim that Tree for Challenge #44!

I'd like to say a very big thank you to Shirley Bee for being our elf for this challenge. Not only has she inspired us with her beautiful work and helped judge the cards in the gallery, she's also offered one of her stamp sets as a prize! To find out who has won her random pick you'll need to head on over to her blog. Thanks so much, Shirley, it's been great fun crafting and chatting with you!

Our Top Picks for this challenge are as follows:

Fabiola

Who wouldn't want to go for a sleigh ride through that beautiful sky!

Christina

What a gorgeous scene captured within a stenciled bauble.

Bobby

We both loved Bobby's 'hidden' message of Peace.

Our Tree Topper for this Challenge is:

Michele

Breathtakingly beautiful!

Don't forget to grab your blog badges, ladies!

Well done to all our winners, and a big thank you to everyone who entered this challenge - your cards were all so lovely and so inspiring!

Finally, here's Rudolph with the lucky winner of his Random Raffle prize:

It's you, #7 Bonnie Lynn!

Congratulations, Bonnie Lynn, please could you email me at dottypudding@aol.com with your snail mail address so I can send this beautiful angel die on her way to you!

Thanks again to Shirley and to everyone who played along with this challenge. As always, a new challenge is already underway and I have a very, very special elf on board to provide the inspiration for this one. Why not drop by and join the fun?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Thanks so much for visiting and/or playing along here at Christmas Kickstart 

during the last twelve months and for making this blog heaps of fun. 

Thanks also to my fabulous elves who have provided so much inspiration and friendship.

Special thanks to Gail for her elfin duties and her general craziness.

Rudolph and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2021, 

when we'll kick off another year of Christmas cardmaking together.

Stay safe and keep craftin'.

Love, Jo 

xxx

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #45 - If it's Christmassy, Link it Up!

Welcome to the final Christmas Kickstart Challenge of 2020! This really has been one of the strangest and most difficult years that most of us will ever have lived through and I don't know about you but during this time I've been so glad to have the love of my family and friends, plus this crazy cardmaking hobby to keep me going!

It's time to welcome our elf for this challenge and I'm delighted to welcome Alice, or as I like to call her, Mom!

Please welcome my mommy! After much persuasion she has finally agreed to join the fun and inspire us with her beautiful cards here at Christmas Kickstart.

"Hi, I'm Alice. I began card making about twelve years ago when Joanne paid for me to have a lesson at a local craft shop. It didn't take long before I was hooked. I especially like die cutting but have tried various different cardmaking styles and techniques over the years. I am also a keen gardener and before cardmaking I used to enjoy flower arranging. In the past I've also knitted, sewed and even dabbled in watercolouring. I'm delighted to be joining you all here at Christmas Kickstart for the next two weeks and look forward to seeing all your beautiful, festive creations."

Our theme is a Blogland favourite - Anything Goes, or as we're calling it:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #45 - If it's Christmassy, Link it Up!

We'd like to see your final Christmas cards of the year and you have until 11.55pm (GMT) on January 4th 2021 to share them with us!

And here's her second card:

Here's what I made. You can find all the details for our cards over on my blog.

Rudolph is here with his final Random Raffle prize of 2020. Nice choice, Mr R.

We hope you'll come and join this fun challenge. Rudolf and I will be back before Christmas day to wrap up 2020 and to wish everyone fun and happiness over the festive season.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #43

 

It's time to Trim that Tree for Challenge #43. Thank you so much to everyone who entered - your creations were just stunning!

Before we get to the results I'd just like to thank the lovely Liz for being our elf and supplying the inspiration for this challenge. Thanks so much, Liz, it's been a blast!

So here we go with our Top Picks and Winners...

Top Picks

Dawn

We both loved Dawn's little mouse with a verse from the poem 

(A Visit from St. Nicholas) that inspired our challenge.

Rosina

A trio of beautiful night skies.

Alison

So sweet!

Topping the Tree for this challenge we have:

LeAnne

A fabulous design and a great colour combo!

Congratulations, ladies, please grab your fabulous, no expense spared blog badges!

Here's Rudolph with his Random Raffle Draw winner:

Congratulations, # 22 Marina, it's you!

Well done, Marina, please could you email me with your address at dottypudding@aol.com.

Thanks once again to Liz, and also to everyone who played along with this challenge. There's a new elf on board and a new challenge is already under way, so why not head on over and take a look! 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #44 - Peace on Earth

Hello and welcome to the penultimate challenge of 2020.

I'm delighted to be joined by the one and only Shirley Bee for this challenge. Shirley will be a very familiar face to many of you out there in Blogland as she is a regular contributor to Craft Stamper Magazine and designs her own range of stamps called The Bees Knees. 

"Hello, I’m Shirley and I’m so happy to be Jo's elf for this Christmas Kickstart Challenge! I'm living in happy retirement with hubby and our mad whippet, Toffee. I’ve been stamping for over 20 years, and it’s never lost its shine (well, some of my years-old embossing powder has, but that's another story!). My go-to product is Distress Ink, as you’ll see from my card. I design The Bee’s Knees stamps for STAMPLORATIONS, and I have a little giveaway on my blog. If you’re anything like me, you won’t have finished making Christmas cards, so why not make one more card and join in the fun with this challenge?"

Our theme is one that seems especially apt as this strange and difficult year draws to a close:

Challenge #44 - Peace on Earth

We'd like you to create something inspired by this phrase or using this phrase as a sentiment.

Here's what Shirley made for this theme:

If you love her fabulous Poinsettia images why not head on over to her blog and check out that giveaway.

Here's one of the cards I made for this challenge. 

You can find all the details by visiting my blog.

Rudolph is here with another lovely Random Raffle prize, and for this challenge he's chosen an angel die from Sizzix.

Both Shirley and I hope that you'll come and play along with this challenge.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter