Let's Trim the Tree - Challenge #3

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry to be a little late trimming the tree this week, but I've been laid low with a heavy cold.

Before we get to our top picks and winner, I'd like to say a very big thank you to the lovely Janis for being my Guest Elf for this challenge. Her support, advice and general hand-holding (in addition to creating a gorgeous card) has really meant a lot to me. Thanks again, sweet lady.

The entries for this challenge were amazing!

Our Tops Picks (in no particular order) are:

Monika

We loved the lovely layers, embossed background and vertical sentiment strip.

Shirley Bee

Such a sweet CAS design, a gorgeous PB image and delightful colouring.

Jane

Janis loved the bright colours and caroling cat, and I loved the sweet scene that 

Jane created using a variety of stamp sets

Our winner this week is Jenny! 

Jenny blew us both away by creating this adorable festive portrait of her own cats! 

Congratulations to you all, please grab your blog badges.

Finally, it's time to announce the results of Rudolph's Random Raffle to discover who will be joining me as a Guest Elf for Challenge #6. 

It's Brenda!

Congratulations, Brenda, please could you email me using the form in the sidebar so we can make the arrangements.

Thanks again to everyone who entered this challenge. Challenge #4 is currently underway with a new theme and another fabulous, inspirational Guest Elf.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #3 - Festive Felines.

Welcome to Challenge #3 at Christmas Kickstart Challenge. 

I'm super excited today because we have our very first Guest Elf! Let's give a very warm welcome to Janis from Her Peaceful Garden. Thanks for agreeing to 'Elf Yourself', Janis, it's great to have you here. 

Many of you will already know Janis from her yearly Cat Lover's Blog Hop. I played along in 2017 and 2018, and got chatting with Janis by email after I was lucky enough to be one of her 2018 winners. Janis is a committed Christian; a wife, mom, and grandma. She lives in rural Idaho, USA and loves papercrafting and cats, and is a very lovely lady. 

Janis's presence should give you a big clue about the new theme... 

Challenge #3 is Festive Felines!

Janis's card

I know you'll agree that Janis's card is adorable. I love the plaid, the heart and snowflakes, and the sweet little kitty who is all ready for Santa. Who wouldn't be delighted to be the recipient of this lovely card. For all the details on how she made her card, please visit Janis's blog.

My card is one that has taken me outside my comfort zone. To be honest, I'm not sure it completely works. I knew I wanted to use this image, which I found on the internet last year, and felt it would work well as a masculine make. However, I can't help but feel it's a little bottom heavy. The beautiful sentiment is a die cut from Stampin' Up.

Now let's see what you guys can come up with!

An InLinkz Link-up

Challenge Rules and Guidelines: 

• Like and/or follow this blog either via Blogger or Bloglovin, or Email. 
• Add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery or blog to the Linky tool. 
• Please mention and link back to this post/blog to let people know about this fun challenge!
• I'd appreciate cards made especially for this challenge, but I understand that we all love challenges and the additional traffic they bring, so please link a card that fits NO MORE THAN 8 CHALLENGES including this. 
• New Challenges will commence fortnightly on a Tuesday. 
• Please enter a max of 3 cards per challenge.
• Preferably no back linking to older projects, please.

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Would you like to be a Guest Elf at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge?

I'm looking for someone to to keep me company for Challenge #6. If you'd like to go into Rudolf's Random Raffle, please include the world 'Elf' next to your name when you sign up! The lucky winner, drawn at random by Rudolph, will guest on Tuesday 12th March and will need to be available for commenting in the fortnight following the challenge launch.