Christmas Kickstart Challenge #89 - Reminder

 

Welcome back, can you believe we're half-way through August? 

We're in excellent company this month as my sweet friend Gundi is performing the elfin duties for us. Thanks, Gundi, it's great to have you here!

Gundi picked a great theme for our August Challenge

Challenge #89 - Animal Antics

We'd love to see your take on animals playing in the snow. 

At the time of typing this we have twelve gorgeous creations in the gallery, including this beauty from Nives. Thanks, Nives! Gundi and I would love to see a few more cards in the gallery before the end of the month.

Gundi has very kindly created a card for this Reminder, and what a cutie it is too! I love the skating friends framed by the tree, and just look at how Gundi has created the frozen pond - so pretty. You can see her post here. 

Here's a little reminder of Gundi's first card for this challenge...

Inspired by her naughty mice, I made this card, plus a little story:

"Sybil the Shrew was sad; the mice had been so naughty towards her friend the snowman. She found a special present for him, wrapped it carefully in pretty paper, and went to wish him a Merry Christmas." 

My final card is a sweet penguin waddling a little happy dance as the snow begins to fall.

Rudolph has a fun prize to match our theme for his Random Raffle:

Gundi and I both hope you'll come and join the fun!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #88

Hi guys, it's time to Trim the Tree for Challenge #88, but before we break out the baubles and unpack the tinsel I need to say a huge thank you to guest elf Leslie from Running with Scissors. Leslie has been having a truly tough month (which she explains in her blog post here), but she's still commented and chatted, and helped choose our Top Picks. Thank you so much, Leslie, you are one amazing lady, and I'm sending heaps of love to both you and Rich. 

Here are our picks for this challenge. This proved to be a very popular theme and we had some fabulous entries. Thanks to all our participants. 

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#26 - Denise

We both love Denise's clean and crisp design, 

her sweet hedgehog and the 'pop' of polka dot trim on the frame.

#34 - Lorraine

Just look at the adorable scene Lorraine has created! 

So much gorgeous detail, and her use of the kraft card. 

#39 - Melanie

Just look at how Melanie used the window to 'frame' her gorgeous snowman.

#48 Claire

This sweet little card is simply loaded with Christmas cheer.

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

#10 - Linda

Leslie said "I love Linda's use of patterned paper and the holly embellishment with the 

wood grain frame for the beautifully colored and very happy penguins." and I couldn't agree more!

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

Rudolph is here to announce his Random Raffle WINNER:

 

#27 - Heather M... It's you!

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

There's already a new challenge underway, so why not come and play along... Those Christmas cards won't make themselves, you know!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #89 - Animal Antics

 

I'm delighted to be joined again by my dear friend Gundi from Papierelle!

Welcome back, Gundi, it's good to have you here to inspire us once more.

Gundi has chosen such a fun theme...

Challenge #89 - Animal Antics

We'd like to see animals playing in the snow - yes, it's as simple as that! We've both had so much fun creating our cards for this challenge, and hope you'll enjoy this theme too!

Here's Gundi's card:

Love the cheeky mice so much. If you'd like to see how Gundi made her card, please drop by at her blog here and leave her some love. 

And here's my card for the challenge. I always love an excuse to ink-up this cute bunny stamp. If you drop by over at my blog you can find out why I've given this little bun these distinctive markings. 

 

Finally, here's Rudolph with another fun Random Raffle Prize on offer.

 

We hope you'll come and play along!

Challenge Rules and Guidelines: 

This is a Christmas Card Making Challenge

• 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 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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Reminder for Challenge #88

Another month is speeding by! 

Welcome back to Christmas Kickstart where we're joined for the whole of July by lovely Leslie from Running With Scissors. Thanks for being with us, Leslie.

There are some gorgeous cards in the linky gallery and we'd both like to say a big thank you to everyone who has played along thus far. 

Our theme for July is

Festive Frames

We'd like to see a FRAME on your Christmas card!

Here's a little reminder of the beautiful card Leslie has created for our challenge...

There's so much inspiration on offer in Leslie's card! Leslie has used a cute pup PB stamp, so I decided to ink-up these adorable PB mice. I also decided to steal Leslie's wide frame and faux stitching, and where she added a 'pop' of design paper with that pretty ric-rac die, I put a design paper panel behind the mice. This was so much fun to do, thanks for letting me CaSE your card, Leslie!

Rudolph has a sweet little prize on offer this month. Don't forget to read the challenge guidelines before you enter so as to be eligible for his Random Raffle Draw. 

Leslie and I can't wait to see what you create!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Let's Trim the Tree for Challenge #87

It's time to Trim the Tree for Challenge #87!

For this challenge we were joined by the lovely Denise from The Crafty Den.

Thanks so much for your company and your inspiration, Denise, it was great fun having you as our elf for this challenge. 

We had 32 fabulous entries for this challenge - which I think is pretty amazing for a Christmas Challenge in June. Thank you to everyone who played along. 

Our theme was:

It's a Gift

Our Top Picks for this challenge are:

#24 - Meghan

Isn't Meghan's card just the sweetest!

#4 - Gail

Love all the detail on Gail's card - just look at the background 

and the palm trees behind those fabulous guys!

#19 - Susan B.

We both love this so much!

#30 - Bonnie

Just look at Bonnie's perfect placement of the star 

and that added fluffy stuff!

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

#28 - Leslie

Oh what fun! indeed. Just look at Leslie's beautiful colouring.

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

It's time to announce the winner of Rudolph's Random Raffle... 

 

#6 - Helen  It's you!

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

Thanks again to Denise for all the creativity, fun and friendship she brought to this challenge. There's a brand new challenge in progress, and as you know, I always love a crafting coincidence, so why not drop by and discover the identity of our new elfin muse! See you there. 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #88 - Festive Frames!

 

Hi, Kickstarters, welcome to a brand new challenge! 

For the whole of July we're lucky to be joined by another very talented cardmaking lady, so please say hello to Leslie from Running With Scissors!

"Hi!  It's me, Leslie, waving hello from the Oregon coast, USA.  My young Golden Retriever, Sophie, and my dear husband, Rich, are close by as I compose this bio at my craft room window where I can watch over the garden and enjoy the birds at the feeders.  I've been making cards for many years and somehow I never grow tired of it.  What a pleasure it is to sit among my vast supply of stamps, dies, embossing folders, inks, papers... on and on.  It's a roomful of possibilities and I'm always eager to get started.  I would love to have you come visit me at Running With Scissors... "

Thanks so much for accepting the elf hat this month, Leslie, it's great to have you here.

Our theme for July is

Festive Frames

We'd like to see a FRAME on your Christmas card!

 Take a look at what Leslie has created for our challenge...

Just take a moment to enjoy all the different elements she's included! You can find the details about Leslie's beautiful card by heading to her blog here. 

Here's what I made for the theme.

Rudolph is here to announce his fabulous Random Raffle Prize for this challenge:

 

Look everyone, it's a baby Rudolph!

Leslie and I hope you'll come and join the fun for our challenge; we can't wait to see what you create!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter