Let's trim the Tree for Challenge #67

It's time to Trim the Tree for Challenge #67. 

Our guest elf for this challenge was the lovely Janet from Swanlady Impressions.

Janet picked a brilliant theme for our challenge and the cards you made showed that this one really hit the spot for so many of you.

Choosing a few cards to showcase wasn't easy, but here are the one's that really got our pulses racing.

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#34 - Susan B.

Both Janet and I love the CAS styling and beautiful embellishments on this card. 

                                                        #11 - Sally

The combination of gold foiling and dreamy watercolouring really make Sally's card something special.

#58 - Fran W.

Janet was especially wowed by how Fran’s highlighted elements of her 

background stamp and given it a focal point and dimension. 

The colours really 'pop' and work so well together for a classic Christmas combo.

Our Winner and Tree Topper for this week is:

#1 - Linda W.

Isn't Linda's box card a thing of beauty! 

Just look at the layers and the details: amazing creation! 

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

Once again, many thanks to everyone who played along. And a very big, big thank you to Janet who was the dream date for this challenge. Thanks you so much, Janet it's been brilliant having you as elf for this challenge.

Rudolph is here to announce his Random Raffle Winner...

#37  It's you, Helen!

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

Reminder Post for Challenge #67

Hi there, it is just me or is Reminder Post time coming round a little quicker the nearer we get to Christmas?

This month we have a fabulous guest and a fabulous theme as we play...

in the company of the lovely Janet from Swanlady - Impressions.

Janet created a gorgeous card to kickstart our challenge, which you can see by clicking here. Not only did Janet create one card for this challenge, she created a whole gaggle of cards and here they all are looking glorious!

For my inspired by card I hunted through my stash and found a Woodware Poinsettia background to work with. Janet's cards are beautifully CAS and I love how she has so much white space on each design. I 'borrowed' Janet's black sentiment on a white space and die cut the background to create a window. However, the card just didn't look right until I stamp and coloured a second background and cut two poinsettia to soften the centre of the card. Again, I was inspired to do this because of the dimension Janet had achieved with her cards. 

This is so different to my usual style but I enjoyed the challenge of working with a stamp set that wouldn't have otherwise seen the light of day. 

There are currently twenty-three amazing cards in the gallery. If you haven't got a poinsettia stamp then any Christmas florals will be just fine and Janet and I look forward to seeing yet more beautiful flowery creations before the challenge closes at the end of the month.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #67 - Poinsettias and Posies

Happy October, everyone! 

I'm thrilled to be joined by the very talented Janet from Swanlady - Impressions as our elfin muse this month. 

"I’m a Zimbabwean Born, South African raised, Mauritian settled, enthusiast of all things paper, ink, stamps etc. I started stamping 28 years ago and it’s amazing how the craft has developed with amazing new products over the years. I also enjoy scrapping, watercoloring, decoupage, crochet, sewing, baking, gardening and reading.  I love creating and want to do it all but there are just not enough hours in the day!  I love using colour when I create -  especially blues, greens and rainbows.  I find that I am gravitating towards CAS more and more but I as I can’t resist playing with techniques it can be a challenge."

I'm a huge fan of Janet's stunning cards and I know you'll love what she's created for this challenge. It's great to have you here, Janet, thanks so much.

Our theme, chosen by Janet, is

Challenge #67 - Poinsettias and Posies 

Here's how Janet interpreted our theme...

Just look at the layers and that stencilling - such stunning details. You can find out how Janet made this beautiful card by clicking here to visit her blog. 

And here's my take on the challenge; same theme, yet so completely different in design.

The handsome Rudolph is here to join the fun and he's chosen a great little prize for his Randon Raffle this month.

Just look at all those gorgeous border stamps - nice work, Rudolph!  Please remember to read the Challenge Guidelines so you can be in the drawer to win this prize.

Challenge Rules and Guidelines: 

• Like and/or follow this blog either via Blogger or Bloglovin, or Email. 
• 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 on the first Tuesday of each new month. 
• Please enter a max of 3 cards per challenge.
• Preferably no back linking to older projects, please.
• Please remember to reference a fellow crafter's creations if your card has been inspired by their work.

Janet and I both look forward top seeing what you create!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter