Mid - Challenge Reminder...

Hi everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well and staying safe as Lockdown begins to ease in some countries. In some ways time seems to pass slowly during these strange socially distanced days, and yet I'm surprised that we've reached reminder time for this challenge so quickly!

Our elf for this challenge is the lovely Robyn from Waterlily Cards and to say that we've been having a blast with this theme would be putting it mildly!

Robyn has been a powerhouse of ideas and inspiration and I know you'll love her latest card!

Isn't it a beauty? If you'd like to see how Robyn created her card then please take a look on her blog where she has a tutorial with all the details.

And, as if that wasn't enough, Robyn has also made a second card (I know, fabulous elfing!) and I'm giving you a little sneak peek here...

Here's my card for the challenge; you can find the details by visiting my blog.

The challenge remains open for another couple of weeks so there's plenty of time to join Robyn and I and play along. Stay safe and keep crafting!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Challenge #31 - Some Inspiration.

Hi guys, I hope that you are all doing well.

I decided to drop by with a short tutorial to share an idea I had for making a wreath card without a wreath stamp. Not everyone has a suitable wreath stamp but we all may have a small, round stamp in our collection or a small leaf or snowflake shape that we could use instead.

Step 1

I die cut a circle and used it as a template to create my basic wreath size and shape.

Step 2

I picked a range of coloured inks and fixed my circle stamp to a clear block.

Step 3

I randomly stamped around the circle, making sure to have some circles 'hang' over the line.

Step 4

I changed colours and stamped around the circle again.

Step 5

Once I felt that I'd built up enough circles in different inks, I carefully erased the pencil lines.

The finished card

I added some tiny bows and matching gems and then stamped a sentiment in the centre of my wreath. A little layering and I was done!

I can imagine this in a variety of colour combos, or stamped with stars, snowflakes or whatever floats your crafting boat! Not got a round stamp? Use that little circular eraser on the end of your pencil. This would also be a great card to make with a child and could even be made using their finger prints!

I hope you found this useful and that it may have inspired those of you without a suitable stamp or die set. Robyn and I are loving the cards that have already appeared in the linky gallery and would love to see a few more appear before the challenge ends. We'll be back later in the month with more inspiration to get your motor running for this challenge!

Take care and stay safe.

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #30

Hi guys, it's good to be back with the results of Challenge #30 - Winter Wonderland (Create a Scene).

A big thank you to our Elf for this challenge: Jane.

Thanks for doing a great job, Jane, it's been lovely creating and chatting with you!

We had some wonderful entries for this challenge and our Top Picks are:

#49 Kim S

Such a lovely scene and such careful stamping.

 #13 Marcia

What a beautifully composed card.

#24 Kath

We both loved that 'pop' of gold.

#17 Birgit

Such a sweet scene and a gorgeous design.

Our winner and star on the tree is:

#44 Valerija

A beautiful snowdome on the outside

And a stunning Christmas scene is revealed on the inside.

Congratulations to our winners for this challenge, please grab your blog badges and wear them with joy and pride!

Finally, here's Rudolph to announce the winner of his Random Raffle Prize:

It's you, #8 Susan B.

Please could you contact me (Jo) at dottypudding@aol.com with your address so I can mail your prize.

If you'd like to play along for a chance of being a Star on the Tree, Top Pick or Rudolph's Random Raffle winner why not come and join the fun for Challenge #31 - Wreathed in Christmas Smiles...

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #31 - Wreathed in Christmas Smiles!

Welcome to another fun challenge here at Christmas Kickstart and I hope that you are all hanging on in there during these times of Lockdown and Social Distancing. A big thank you to everyone who played along with Jane and I for Challenge #30, we'll be back with the challenge results within the next few days.

I'm delighted welcome a new elf for the month of May and it's another long term blogging buddy of mine: Robyn O from Queensland, Australia. I think I first got to know Robyn through the Hero Arts Flickr Group (plus the original incarnation of Card Chain Challenge), and I've always been a fan of her gorgeous cards.

"Hi from sunny Queensland, Australia where I live with hubby, son and 4 cats.  I fell in love with rubber stamping 25 years ago and it just grew from one Happy Birthday stamp and a Colorbox ink pad, to a whole array of “stuff”.. wow how much has card making changed in that time... I am addicted.  I share my time with my garden, crochet – I’d better stop there... I love most handcrafts!! ...  and spending time with our family and two gorgeous granddaughters whom we miss seeing at the moment.  Great to have a craft and enough supplies to last forever in these tough isolating times... Stay Safe and Happy cardmaking...Robyn."

Thanks, Robyn, it's great to have you here!

Our challenge is:

Challenge #31 - Wreathed in Christmas Smiles!

We'd like to see a Christmas wreath or wreaths on your card.

Robyn's cards

Aren't they stunning? Robyn has used a robin (love that) and one wreath 'points' up and one down - what a clever way to achieve two very different looks!

My take on the theme.

Rudolph has come up with a gorgeous Random Raffle prize for this challenge:

Just look at all those lovely Christmas sentiments. Nice one, Rudolph.

Robyn and I really hope you'll come and play along with this challenge!

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 monthly on a Tuesday. 
• 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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Slightly Belated Challenge Reminder!

Hi everyone, I'm very late with the reminder post for Challenge #30 - Winter Wonderland (Create a Scene) as the last couple of weeks seem to have been a little bit of a blur.

Anyhow, I hope that you are all doing well in the circumstances and finding ways to work through these worrying times.

During this month we've been inspired by our fabulous guest elf, Jane from Purplejet Loves Crafts. The gallery is filling up well and your cards have been lovely - we're delighted that this has proved to be a very popular theme.

From reading your comments I know just how many of you were as 'wowed' by Jane's card as I was.  For my reminder card I decided to make an 'inspired by' version of Jane's sweet original.

I've not added a sentiment to the front of the card, but may produce an inside on my PC with wording something like 'The First Snowflake of Winter'. 

You have until Monday 4th May to join Jane and myself for this challenge and you can link up on the original challenge post here or below. We'd love you to play along!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #29!

Happy Lockdown Easter greetings to you all!

It's time to Trim the Tree for Challenge #29, where my buddies The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers put on their elf caps to bring you Christmas Cheer - AKA Alcohol. A big thank you to Edna and the gang for inspiring us with their fabulous, fun creations.

This one seemed to be a bit of a curve ball for many of you, while others embraced the challenge and came up with some really creative interpretations of the theme!

Let's see who made the top picks:

Gail

Gail's witty moose card certainly raised a chuckle!

Marina

What a clever way to use a non-Christmas stamp.

Karen

Love the negative glasses and festive colours.

Topping the Tree for this challenge is this fabulously CAS card:

Chrissie

Love how well the sentiment and image work together.

Big congratulations to our top picks and winner, hope you enjoy your blog badges!

Once again, thanks to everyone who played along with this challenge - your entries were brilliant and picking just a few to showcase was soooo tricky!

Rudolph is here again (looking good, Rudie) to announce the winner of his Random Raffle. 

It's big congratulations to you: 

#17 Marina

Well done, Marina! Please could you email me at dottypudding(at) aol (dot) com so I can get your prize into the post and on it's way to you!

There's a new challenge on offer and the gallery is already filling up with fabulous entries. Our elf is the lovely Jane from Purplejet loves Crafts, and we'd love you to come play along with Challenge #30: Winter Wonderland - Create a Scene!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge Challenge #30 - Winter Wonderland (Create a Scene)

Greeting friends, I hope that you are keeping well and that you are coping during these difficult times. I'm finding crafting and blogging to be a huge comfort and want to thank everyone for keeping the fun going, for playing along and for sending much needed love and friendship around the world.

It's new month and a new theme:

Challenge #30 - Winter Wonderland (Create a Scene)

I'm thrilled to welcome long-term blogging buddy Jane from Purplejet Loves Crafts as our elf this challenge!

"Hi, I'm a craft loving retired primary school teacher and a bit hooked on all things purple. My current passions are taking photos, scrapbooking and cardmaking interspersed with crochet and knitting, although over the years I've given most crafts a try."

I'm a huge fan of Jane's cards and have been following her blog for quite a while now. I fairly swooned when this adorable creation downloaded on my PC.

Here's my take on the theme:

Rudolph is here to share his prize for this month's Random Raffle: it's a sweet stack of presents by PaperArtsy JOFY!

Jane and I really hope you'll play along with this challenge and can't wait to see your Winter Wonderland scenes!

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 monthly on a Tuesday.
• 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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter