Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Challenge #18: Optional Theme--Silver & Gold

Hello and welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up.  It is the first day of June and that means it is time for our next challenge to get started!

Before I continue, I once again have some more team changes to share with you all.  First off the bad news.  Unfortunately, Helen H., one of our Merry Maidens has decided to leave.  You'll see Helen's last project during the midway.  Helen is another uniquely talented individual that will genuinely be missed on the team.  Helen joined us September of last year and it has been a joy to see her cards each month.  Helen's positive attitude and seriously talented skills will be greatly missed.

I do have some good news though.  Remember Julie O.?  Julie was part of our inaugural design team but regrettably had to leave due to an increase in hours and  responsibilities at her place of employment this past December, after having been with us for a full year.  Well, Julie missed being on the team and working on her Christmas card stash so much that she asked to come back.  Given that I didn't want to let her go in the first place, I jumped at the chance to bring her back home where she belonged.

So,  please join me in wishing...
  • Helen H. nothing but good fortune as she moves on to new adventures in her crafting life!
  • Julie O. a gigantic welcome back! This time around Julie will be part of the Sleigh Belles team.
Now it is time to get on with the new challenge...

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 #18.

Challenge #18

Optional Theme:  Silver & Gold

"Silver and Gold means so much more when I see
Silver and Gold decorations on every Christmas tree."

These lyrics are from a song sung by Burl Ives that appears in one of my favourite Christmas shows, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".  Sam the snowman (Ives) sings the song after we meet Yukon Cornelius, an Arctic prospector searching for valuable minerals who meets Rudolph and Hermey while they are trying to avoid the Abominable Snowmonster.   Well, Yukon Cornelius isn't the only one who likes silver and gold.  There is just something about those two minerals together that can enrich any environment.  Silver and gold are especially beautiful during the Christmas season.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that you use a combination of BOTH silver AND gold somewhere on your card.  Whether you choose to use these colours in your image or your paper or choose to use silver or gold embellishments, it is completely up to you.  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 $15.00 gift card from Lunagirl.

Speaking of Lunagirl, it is time to refresh ourselves with the details of this amazing returning sponsor...

http://www.lunagirl.com/
My name is Karen, owner of Lunagirl Images. In 2004, after collecting vintage ephemera for most of my life, I started digitizing and restoring images and designing digital supplies for artists and crafters (my husband collected antique books and prints, so we had quite a house full!) We are proud to have been the first company to offer digital vintage image collections of this size and quality at prices affordable to the home crafter.

At Lunagirl.com (and in my etsy shop) I currently offer you several hundred unique digital collage sheets and dozens of themed craft CDs -- over 30,000 images so far! They are a great resource for card making, scrapbooking, jewelry making, and much more, easy to use, carefully researched and curated, all thoughtfully organized and lovingly cleaned up, ready to you to use in your projects. I love altering and embellishing these beautiful and fascinating images and seeing what my customers create with them.

In addition to digital art and design, I enjoy painting on wood, creating assemblage icons and shrines, reading history books, bellydancing, cooking, and sewing with my vintage Singer. I'm also blessed to be the mom of two teenaged boys.

If you're looking for something in particular in vintage style, feel free to email me at info@Lunagirl.com!

Main Bloghttp://www.LunagirlMoonbeams.com Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lunagirl-Images Pinterest:    https://www.pinterest.com/lunagirlart/ Store:         http://www.lunagirl.com/ Etsy:          https://www.etsy.com/shop/Lunagirl
Check out the great images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge. Clicking on the names of the images below will take you to their location in the store.


https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0208/2062/products/Christmas-minis-1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1365096316


https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0208/2062/products/Jolly-Old-St-Nick_1024x1024.jpg?v=1365771965


https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0208/2062/products/christmasminis-2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1365096351


https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0208/2062/products/Copy_of_Lunagirl-christmasphotos1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1365096254
 
While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called An Eclectic Christmas 1:  Silver & Gold.  Check out the preview...


Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of June 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.   Julie was so excited to be back that she created two cards for the challenge start!  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

http://susanrenshaw0404.blogspot.com/


http://indianainking.blogspot.com


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





So what are you waiting for?  It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for June!  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 and the rest of the gang hope to see you back with us soon!
  • Join us on June 8th, when we hope to publish the names of the winners and top picks from Challenge #16. 
  • Then, be sure to join us again on June 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!
  • Then during the third week of May, Monica should be here to share a Christmas recipe with us 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), June 1st - 11:55 p.m. (23:55 hrs), June 30th, 2016.  
  • If you wish to receive the free digi paper being offered up for this month, you need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards
  • 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.  HOWEVER, if you decide to follow the optional theme of Silver & Gold (see specific details above), only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's prize of a $15.00 gift card from Lunagirl.  You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize.
  • No backlinking.
  • 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. Only permalinks are accepted.
the_12_moc_linkup@outlook.com

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:

2 comments:

Margreet said...

Gorgeous DT inspirational cards!
I forgot to put FT behind my name (nr 19). I tried to delete my entrance in order to enter it in the right way, but unfortunately that is not allowed.
xxx Margreet

Decosse's Dynamite Doodles said...

Hey Margreet!

So glad you could join us this month. I'm not sure why Inlinkz won't allow you to delete your entry, I have it set up so that people can do so. Anyway, as the challenge is live, I was able to fix your entry and FT is now after your name.

Lisa