Friday, October 23, 2015

Holiday Tradition - Handmade Gifts


I'm pretty sure that a year is still as long as it used to be, so why does the season seem to be arriving earlier and earlier each year?  When I was a kid, holiday decorations and merchandise didn't appear until after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, it is common for retailers to start pushing their wares well before Halloween, and many people have already finished shopping by Thanksgiving night, thanks to Black Friday. While I can't control the commerciality of the holidays, there is at least one tradition that I refuse to relinquish, and that is the tradition of sharing handmade gifts with my family and friends.

As a child, I would give handmade gifts. Back then it had to do more with money, or lack of I should say. But as the years went on, and my skills improved, I continued this tradition with family and close friends. While everyone doesn't appreciate the handmade gift, there are a few of us out there that look forward to them!

Through the years I have given detailed cross stitched pictures, banner flags, hand sewn items and occasionally food.  These days most of my crafting is centered around my card making, but I think family and friends would be unpleasantly surprised if they opened up a Christmas card from me these days and found a store bought one. They have grown to expect my handmade cards and these days occasional handmade gifts.

As a practitioner of handmade arts, I fully support the community of my fellow artists and purchase from them regularly. I get that many people these days are looking for items I cannot create, the new Iphone or perhaps that gift card from the local electronic store. But I still manage to slip in those handmade candles and soaps to a few people. To me, buying handmade is not the cheap way to go, in fact, sometimes it is more expensive, but I believe it is well worth the time and money, and helps build a stronger community for us all.


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Challenge #10 Midway: Optional Theme...Time for Giving--Card for a Child

Hello everyone!  We have reached the midway point of Challenge #10.  It is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their images from Imagine That! Digis by Kris, our guest sponsor this month!

http://www.imaginethatdigistamp.com/

Check out the lovely images that the Merry Maidens got to work with this month for the mid point of the challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in the Imagine That! Digis by Kris store where each of these images can be found.

Snowing Cupcakes
  

Snowmen Trio


Miceskate


While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called You'd Better Not Pout, based on the theme for this challenge.  Check out the preview...


Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of October will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side.


Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you.   Several team members created two cards!  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards.



http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/






http://patacakespages.blogspot.ca/



http://www.fstampaholic.blogspot.com/





http://helenscraftyshed.blogspot.co.uk/

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for?   It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for October.  Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you! 

Here is a refresher of the details for this challenge...

Please remember that this is a CARDS ONLY link up.  While we've had some lovely tag entries in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Optional Theme:  Time for Giving...Card for a Child
Christmas is most definitely a time of giving and who better deserving of our thoughtfulness than the children of the world.  Whether children in our own lives or those that are strangers, there is nothing better than looking upon the face of a child opening a Christmas gift.  Second to that is seeing how excited a child can be when they receive their own special card meant especially for him or her.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, we want to see a Christmas or other holiday card meant for a child between the ages of 0 & 12We can't wait to see how it turns out!  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month, and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies.  You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $10 gift certificate to the Imagine That! Digis by Kris store.

Why not consider donating your card and maybe a few extra to your local hospital or shelter?!  Help make a child's day a special one this Christmas.


If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab.  As this is a unique kind of link up where we have both an anything goes Christmas option and an optional theme to follow, be sure to read all the details and rules you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

You can find the Challenge Details Summary along with the link up for Challenge #10 by clicking HERE.

 Don't Forget...

  • Be sure to join us on October 23rd, when Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.
  • Next up it will be time for our new challenge to start on November 1st.
  • Then, the winners from Challenge #10 will be posted on November 8th.
  • Other special posts may be published throughout the month.  Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!
the_12_moc_linkup@outlook.com

We look forward to seeing you participate!


Sunday, October 11, 2015

Challenge #9 Winners Announcement

First up I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who left me well wishes during my winner announcement delay notification.  That was very sweet of you and much appreciated.  It was a tough week but I'm getting back on track so it is time to get on with announcing the winner and top three of Challenge #9 along with the list of individuals eligible to receive a free digital paper for September.  Are you one of those lucky peeps?!

Please note that there are still prizes and digital papers that have not been claimed from past months.  Were you a lucky past winner and may have missed it?  It might behoove you to check our Challenge Win Information page listed at the top of the blog (or you can click HERE to go there now but be sure to come back and check this post as well).



April, you are the winner of 3 digital stamps from Fresh Brewed Designs, our guest sponsor for September (chosen by Mini Web Tool), based on all eligible participants (i.e., those entrants who followed the optional theme).


April,  please send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click HERE to bring the address up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC Challenge #9 WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize.  Please note that it may take me several days to get back to you.  Thank you for your patience.  In the interim, please grab a copy of the winner badge below for your blog.






Next, it is time to get on with showcasing the Top Three for Challenge #9.  With so many wonderful entries to choose from, this was once again a difficult task for the design team.  We did however settle on three wonderful creations.  So, without further ado, here are our Stocking Stuffers for Challenge #9:




Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers!  Barbara, Raineyand Gail L., please grab a copy of the badge below for your blog.





Next up, it is time to share all the names of those people who linked up two cards in September which makes each of them eligible to receive the ninth free digital paper of 2015.

29 people linked a total of 60 cards.  Only 15 of those individuals linked up a minimum of two cards each qualifying them to receive the digital paper from September. With 40% of the votes the choice was the bottom left image which is the grungy trees on the painted background.   I have included the watermark of it, below.

So, the following people need to send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click  HERE to bring the address up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC September Paper" to make arrangements to receive your free paper:
  • Cathy(KraftyKoolKat)
  • Hazel
  • Marie Bingaman
  • Margaret A
  • Terrie (Paper Addict)
  • Crafting Vicky
  • Meg
  • Megan
  • Wies
  • Ginny B
  • Mandy 
  • Rainey
  • Carrie
  • April (Stampwilly)
  • Sheena
Welcome to Meg, Wies, Ginny B, Rainey, April and Sheena, all linking up two cards for the first time this month.  We also once again saw several new faces linking up just one card.  Hopefully these ladies, along with our other regulars who only linked up one card during September, will get the chance to link up two this month so they can earn the next free paper.  To all of you who linked up this past month, thanks ever so much!  We are so happy to have all of you with us and hope that you'll continue to link up your holiday cards throughout the year!!!

Now, as always, if you thought you had linked up two cards but don't find your name in the list above, just let me know and we'll sort things out. We will also add these names to the 'Challenge Win Information' page as soon as we get the chance, for anyone who doesn't see this post.  I ask that you be patient with waiting for me to send out your paper. I promise that I'll get to it as quick as I can.  In the new year I will be implementing a new system and will be sending out the papers to everyone who earned them without you having to request it.  I am hoping that it will actually save both those of you who have earned the paper and myself some time.  For the remaining months of this year though, we'll stick out the old system.

Once again, we are going to have a random draw from all the entries and give out the set of six papers to one lucky individual.  The papers are all made so why not have an extra prize!  Here is the watermark for the full set..


The winner of the Treemendous Mini Set of Papers is (chosen by random.org)...


So Marie, instead of simply requesting your paper for September, instead please send me an email (address and link above).  Use the subject, "12MoC:  Treemendous Set" and I'll make arrangements for you to receive the full set of six papers.

Well folks, that is it for today.  While you are here, please be sure to check out the details for our current challenge going on now (if you haven't already), with the Optional Theme this month of being a "Card for a Child".  You can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

Also, be sure to join us on October 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!  Then on October 23rd, Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.  Other special posts may be published throughout the month.  Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

Until next time,

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Delay--Winner Announcement

Sorry folks but I have been unwell these past few days and haven't been able to put together the winner announcement post.  I will get to it as soon as I possibly can!




Thursday, October 01, 2015

Challenge #10: Optional Theme--Time for Giving...Card for a Child

Hello and welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up.   Last month's challenge saw as back around the 60 mark.  Time is quickly running out to get all our Christmas cards completed as we quickly make our way towards the big day!  As such, let's get October's challenge under way, shall we?!


The Basics

While you can find out ALL the information you need to know in order to participate in the challenge by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page (or by clicking HERE), here is a refresher of the basics.
  • Anyone can link up as many Christmas and/or December holiday themed cards (including Happy New Year's cards) throughout the month with an ANYTHING GOES theme.
  • Every person who has linked up a MINIMUM of two (2) cards will be eligible to receive a specially designed Christmas themed digital paper.
  • Each month there will be an OPTIONAL theme to follow.  Anyone who submits a card adhering to the monthly theme, will have the chance to win a prize from that month's guest sponsor.
  • Every holiday card you submit to the link up, earns you one chance to win a special digital Christmas kit that will be offered up after the year is complete.
Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of Challenge #10.


Challenge #10

Optional Theme:  Time for Giving...Card for a Child
Christmas is most definitely a time of giving and who better deserving of our thoughtfulness than the children of the world.  Whether children in our own lives or those that are strangers, there is nothing better than looking upon the face of a child opening a Christmas gift.  Second to that is seeing how excited a child can be when they receive their own special card meant especially for him or her.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, we want to see a Christmas or other holiday card meant for a child between the ages of 0 & 12We can't wait to see how it turns out!  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month, and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies.  You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $10 gift certificate to the Imagine That! Digis by Kris store.

Why not consider donating your card and maybe a few extra to your local hospital or shelter?!  Help make a child's day a special one this Christmas.

Talking about Imagine That! Digis by Kris, how about we get to know them a little bit better...

http://www.imaginethatdigistamp.com/
Imagine That! Digis by Kris™ is a mother/daughter team bringing you our cutest hand-drawn images that you can flip, re-size, re-color, print & use in your crafting creations!  Almost all our digi sets include both color & outline formats & include sentiments for a great value.  In addition to carrying family-friendly digi stamps, we also offer digital papers and KD-Kits, all available as instant downloads!  You may want to check out our Free blogwear category, as well as find freebies on our Facebook Page and join in our monthly progressive challenge where everyone who plays, Wins!  You can read more about us here on our 'About the Arists' page.
Check out the adorable images that the team worked with this month for the start of the challenge. Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in the Imagine That! Digis by Kris store where each of these images can be found.


Snowing Cupcakes
  

Snowmen Trio


Miceskate


While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called You'd Better Not Pout, based on the theme for this challenge.  Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of October will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side.


Now check out what the Sleigh Belles came up with to inspire you.  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

http://moni-myway.blogspot.com/


http://www.molliemooscraftyplace.blogspot.com/


http://craftinghelen.blogspot.co.uk/


http://www.designedbydel.blogspot.co.uk/


http://bubblegumpaper.blogspot.com/


http://susanrenshaw0404.blogspot.com/


So what are you waiting for?  It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for October!  Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

We have a packed month as usual; so, Monica and I hope to see you back with us soon!
  • Join us soon on October 8th,when we'll publish the names of the people who earned the free paper for September along with the winners and top picks from Challenge #9. 
  • Next, be sure to join us on October 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!
  • Then on October 23rd, Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.
  • Other special posts may be published throughout the month.  Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Each month we'll include a summary of details for the particular challenge taking place.  If you are new, please be sure to familiarize yourself with all the details and rules in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page.  Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:
  • Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), October 1st - 11:55 p.m. (23:55 hrs), October 31st, 2015.  
  • You need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards each month in order to qualify to receive that month's digital paper.
  • This is NOT a progressive challenge.  You can jump in at any time.
  • You can link up as many holiday themed cards as you want as long as each entry is with a new project.  No backlinking.  HOWEVER, if you decide to follow the optional theme of  Card for a Child (see specific details above), only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's prize of  a $10 gift certificate to the Imagine That! Digis by Kris store.  You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize.
  • Make sure when entering your project that you mention The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up in your post with a link back to this blog.
  • Please remember to link directly to your blog post where we can see your creation, and not just the generic link to your blog. Generic blog links will be disabled or deleted. 
  • The winners and top picks for this challenge (#10) will be announced on November 8th in a special post.
the_12_moc_linkup@outlook.com

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below: