Sunday 1 December 2019

Rudolph Days Extra Challenge

In every challenge, there are those who never miss a month. It was brought to my attention by a faithful follower that she has never missed a challenge, yet sadly never won.

So, once again I am hosting a special "extra" challenge this month for all those who have entered the Rudolph Days Challenge every month, Jan - Nov 2019 (excluding any months that I previously announced were exempt this year).

I am allowing my designers to enter also, if they entered cards for the alternate months that they do not design for.

This challenge is a  special thank you for the Rudolph Days Faithful.  If you do not qualify for this year, you have ample notice for next year!

So check your blogs to see if you posted a card for those months. If so, then use Mr Linky below, to enter!

You have the whole month of December to enter and I will draw the winner in the first couple of days in January.

The prize will be a choice of this Memory Box Peace Circle



or this Find it Media Traditional Christmas YCEMB 10007 Embossing Folder



November Rudolph Challenge winner

We had a total of 56 wonderful entries in our last Rudolph Days Challenge of the year!
I have been busy with company as well as attending a two day craft weekend at a local church, so I will finish visiting you all over the next day or two.
I always so enjoy my visits to your blogs.
 As always, I have used Random Org to choose our winner #40 Donna R.



Donna ,  will you please drop me an email at  maureenkane@telus.net and let me know which prize you prefer. Please give me your mailing address so I can get your prize off to you!

Monday 25 November 2019

November Rudolph Days Challenge

Hi there. Once again, it is time for the Rudolph Days Challenge. Here are the rules for your perusal...

1. The Rudolph Days Challenge will start each month (January to November) on the 25th, and will close at midnight PST, on the last day of that month.
2. The theme is always Anything Goes, as long as it is Christmas.
3. One entry per person and you just need to enter one Christmas card or Christmas project.
4. You may combine your entry with other challenges (maximum of 10 in total).
5. Your card (or Christmas project) should not have been previously posted to your blog. It should be posted to your blog during the current months Rudolph Days Challenge, (between the 25th and last day of the current month)
6. Please link back to or at least mention, the Rudolph Days Challenge.
7. Please leave a comment on the challenge post.
8. The winner will be selected by random draw and announced on the first day of the following month. Prizes will be mailed anywhere in the world.

9. A special draw will be held at the end of the year, in December,  for all those who submitted a card or project every month that year, January to November.

Our design team ladies have been busy creating lots of inspiration for you!

First up is Jenny at Cardsarus
Jenny has made us some beautiful die cut cards to inspire us all.
I love this blue and silver design. I think the background almost looks ombre...from blue to a silvery blue. Could just be the lighting, but I will be checking Jenny's blog to read about how she made this beautiful card.


Jenny's second card is another die cut one. Make me want to pull out my dies and plan something similar!  Love the background paper/ The script is so pretty and looks great with the Merry Christmas die cut!



Next up is Sue at Sue's Crafty Corner blog. 
Sue not only makes her own Christmas cards, but also makes them for her Mum and her Father-in-law! She has made up seven cards. Yes, seven Christmas cards to inspire us!!! They are all so lovely that I can not pick a favourite.












I will save my cards for a mid challenge post,  as we have so many to inspire you now!

Our prizes this month are this Woodware Snowglobe stamp
Or this Blueprint Crafts die, Merry Sugar Script


Friday 1 November 2019

October Rudolph Days Challenge Winner

Sixty glorious entries.
Wow! I am so amazed by all your creativity.

I am racing to an appointment so without further delay our winner is #32, Shartl.

Please contact me via email at maureenkane@telus.com and let me know which prize you wish.




Friday 25 October 2019

October Rudolph Days Challenge

Hi there. Once again, it is time for the Rudolph Days Challenge. Here are the rules for your perusal...

1. The Rudolph Days Challenge will start each month (January to November) on the 25th, and will close at midnight PST, on the last day of that month.
2. The theme is always Anything Goes, as long as it is Christmas.
3. One entry per person and you just need to enter one Christmas card or Christmas project.
4. You may combine your entry with other challenges (maximum of 10 in total).
5. Your card (or Christmas project) should not have been previously posted to your blog. It should be posted to your blog during the current months Rudolph Days Challenge, (between the 25th and last day of the current month)
6. Please link back to or at least mention, the Rudolph Days Challenge.
7. Please leave a comment on the challenge post.
8. The winner will be selected by random draw and announced on the first day of the following month. Prizes will be mailed anywhere in the world.

9. A special draw will be held at the end of the year, in December,  for all those who submitted a card or project every month that year, January to November.

Our design team ladies have been busy creating lots of inspiration for you!

Linda at Snails Space Blog is up first with two very thought provoking and meaningful sentiments. I will let you pop over to Linda's blog to read why.
The first card is so pretty. I like the image and the way it is coloured in lovely soft but "Christmassy" colours.

This second card lets the die cut sentiment pop off the card. The muted background colours are very effective here.
These are two very beautiful cards made from the heart, Linda!


Next up is Sam at Whispers Cards blog. Sam has made us two adorable cards. 
First up is this adorable puppy wearing the cutest Santa hat ever! I really like the way Sam added the three smaller Santa hats above the puppy image.  The colouring of this puppy is so lovely...wish I could shade like that.

Sam's second card is a sweet little snowman. The birds are attracted to this little guy and the diecut bird and branches were a great addition! The snow is realistic...must remember to use dots and clumps of snow as that is how it collects on the ground in real life!  I also like  the muted colours of the background papers here.



Finally, here is my card.  It is an upcycle of a set of twelve matching Christmas cards and envelopes that I picked up at the local thrift shop for a dollar. The poinsettia detail is embossed and looks quite lovely as is, but I decided to fussy cut the poinsettia image from six of the cards and use them to create layered poinsettias on the remaining cards.


I cut a circle of a dark green printed DP and slid it behind the aperture that already existed in the store bought cards. I then matted with the striped Making Memories Twinkle DP and finally added a red mirri card Creative Expressions, Sue Wilson Merry and Bright sentiment, die cut.


I used those six  fussy cut poinsettia images to pop forward on the remaining cards. Sadly, I screwed up one of the images and so was left with five finished cards at the end. 



The inside is stamped with my Recollections, Christmas sentiment which continues the Merry and Bright theme. The envelopes were stamped in red and green Momento ink to create that two toned red/green look that poinsettias seem to have in real life. The image is a Tim Holtz  Stampers Anonymous one



Our prizes this month are a choice of this Impression Obsession #108F die 

or this  Holiday Trendz,  Let It Snow stamp.




Monday 7 October 2019

Seventy-two

I am still catching my breath from the 72 birthday cards I made for giveaways at a charity event my daughter was involved with.

I kept them very, very simple in design and tried very hard to use up some VOS (very old stash) in the creating of them.  I seemed to have a plethora of embellishments suitable for toddler cards and also cards for school age children. Mostly leftovers from previous card making forays, and lots from the many garage sales I have attended each summer at my local papercraft store parking lot. Most of those garage sale embellies were 10 cents to 25 cents for a package of four items or more, so these were very economical cards to make!

 I made up 24 sets of 3 cards each...One adult, one girl and one boy. It was great fun and although they may be very simple in design, I am still proud of them. I packaged them up three at a time, in large size Avery Elle envelopes. I could have easily slid in a fourth or maybe even a fifth card as their was lots of room...but sadly my fingers did not fly fast enough to finish more.

I forgot to take photos as I made them so you have to settle for rather poor photos of some the 3 packs already in their Avery Elle envelopes...in other words, photos with a bit of glare. You will have to imagine the middle card as it is hidden...





Each had a verse and I decorated the envelopes to match. I mostly used a balloon on the front of each envelope, coloured with pencil crayons and blended with gamsol to match the cards.

Sunday 6 October 2019

Upcycling furniture for the craft room

For the past year, while I was having difficulty sitting comfortabley,  I have been working on getting more organized in my craft room. I accomplished this in 10 or 20 minute segments, and will have other posts coming up about these projects.

Today I want to show you the beauty of chalk paint on old, mismatched furniture items that are suitable for storage in the craft room.

We had a dark stained pine bedroom suite when we were first married. Forty-five years later, it was really showing all the nicks and scratches that were created over the years by various house movers. Although we were reimbursed for the damage and  replaced the furniture, I kept this one dresser from the set, to use in the craft room. It has lovely deep drawers that easily hold card boxes from Michaels.

My first thought was to chalk paint the dresser white, thereby matching the other painted furniture in my room. But then I read that dark brown or mahogany coloured stains can bleed thru chalk paint, so using an old rough looking  paintbrush, I painted on two coats of KILZ primer. Then I used two coats of Folk Art  Teal textured teal chalk paint that was purchased on clearance at Joannes for $5 a can.  It went on so nicely as it was really thick, and helped to hide the many fine surface scratches. Sadly,  it was a very bright teal and just did not look right in my aqua and teal room.  So I used two more coats of a duller Folk Art "Cascade"  teal chalk paint from Walmart, and then hand painted white in all the cracks and grooves with a fine art paint brush. Two coats of Behr white decorative finishing wax highlighted the white even more so, and I was happy with the end result.

I had a white French Provincial bedroom set that I used in the bunkhouse up at the old RV lot.. When we sold the lot, we had to leave most of the furnishings behind. I was able to keep the desk and desk hutch.

I moved that hutch downstairs to the craft room and painted the outside boards with the same teal chalk technique and then just added a little more paint across the detailing on the front. This hutch was again finished with the white Behr decorative finishing wax.

I had a devil of a time getting a good photo.


Here are some shots of the drawer interiors...
Washi tape and bling on  rolls

Envelopes
More envelopes, varying sizes
Envelopes again...do you think I have enough? Some preprinted card too as well as hessian, aida cloth, linen and others materials and fibers.

I am really happy with the end result. I put two layers of wax on the whole piece and then two more layers on the dresser top. Hopefully this will give a little extra protection to the top, as I usually drag the finished card baskets forward to browse through them!

I had three brushed silver drawer pulls leftover from a previous kitchen remodel. Luckily they fit over the old screw holes. I will have to pick up four more and this project will be done!

Tuesday 1 October 2019

September Rudolph Days Challenge

Once again I used Random Org to choose our winner, #13 Michelle.


Michelle, could you please drop me an email to maureenkane@telus.net and let me know which prize you would prefer. Please provide your mailing address too, so I can get your prize mailed off to you.



Wednesday 25 September 2019

September Rudolph Days Challenge

Once again, it is time for the Rudolph Days Challenge. Here are the rules for your perusal...

1. The Rudolph Days Challenge will start each month (January to November) on the 25th, and will close at midnight PST, on the last day of that month.
2. The theme is always Anything Goes, as long as it is Christmas.
3. One entry per person and you just need to enter one Christmas card or Christmas project.
4. You may combine your entry with other challenges (maximum of 10 in total).
5. Your card (or Christmas project) should not have been previously posted to your blog. It should be posted to your blog during the current months Rudolph Days Challenge, (between the 25th and last day of the current month)
6. Please link back to or at least mention, the Rudolph Days Challenge.
7. Please leave a comment on the challenge post.
8. The winner will be selected by random draw and announced on the first day of the following month. Prizes will be mailed anywhere in the world.

9. A special draw will be held at the end of the year, in December,  for all those who submitted a card or project every month that year, January to November.

Our design team ladies have been busy creating lots of inspiration for you!


Sue has made a gorgeous Christmas Bauble themed card. Love the beautiful turquoise colour used here. I think I spy a little mirri card here too! When I was a kid my Mum always had this style of ornaments (baubles) on the tree. I used to love their "pushed in" beauty. Now, I go around the thrift shops looking for this style for myself. I have them displayed in a crystal bowl, to showcase their old fashioned charm. 
If you pop over to Sue's blog, you can read about how she made it and leave her some love!


Next up is Jenny at Cardsarus blog.

Jenny has made a fabulous Red Truck and Christmas Tree card. I love the look of these truck themed stamps. They have an old fashioned charm that many of us remember from having old trucks like these...or at least our parents did!
I think Jenny has done a fabulous jopb of creating the snow. If you pop over to her blog, you can read just how she made it, methinks! Be sure to leave her some love while you are there.



My card is Christmas tree themed as well. A bit more modern and not sure that I will do it again. I have been trying to use some of my unstamped stash and this card is one of those...

This card is a series of three Christmas tree images by My Minds Eye, the Winter Wonderland stamp.  As I stamped it off , I decided that it was not a keeper. I am going to donate this stamp to the thrift shop (with a small warning note inside the stamp)  as it was hard to align the center tree so that all the trees were straight.  The tallest tree in particular is sort of tilted at the top and no matter how many times I straightened it on the block, it still tilts so that the stamped star is off kilter. I hid this with the red star topper, but truly it is not worth the agro to use again. I was so wrapped up in correcting that issue, that I missed the fact that the other trees are not quite sitting level either,,,but that is due to operator error!  

The colours and choices of the DP and even the theme of this card, were made with the envelope in mind. A while back, I purchased some preprinted envelopes, mostly 5x7 but a few other sizes as well, at our local thrift shop. If my memory is correct, they were only a dollar for a fairly large bag!  Wherever possible this year, I plan to use up some of these envelopes.

The background DP is Here Comes Santa Claus, by Doodlebug. I used a strip of Carta Bella, Merry and Bright,  for the central border. The wee presents that run along the border strip have a bit of aqua  in their packaging, so I matted the image with Joanne's aqua blue glittered paper. A second mat of red glitter paper was added as well, for just a bit more sparkle.

I randomly scattered the smallest green diamonds on the images and also used pale gold teensier diamonds to accent the tree stars. These are Scottish diamonds as they were bought in Inverness on our last visit to Britain! They are a long narrow sheet of individual diamonds and I bought silver as well as gold. It is hard to get the really teensy ones like these over here, without paying a fortune.

The sentiment is Elizabeth Craft, cut from a Joanne's green glittered card snippet and glued on top of  second cut of a green mirri card snippet, for some added depth. A couple of green diamonds balanced out the design.

I used a snippet of blue card for the inside of the card and stamped my favourite generic Christmas  sentiment by Inkadinkado.


Our presents this month are a choice of this Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Christmas Blueprint 2 stamp, CMS168


or this Creative Expressions Festive - Industrial Chic Gear Flower Die

  

Sunday 1 September 2019

August Rudolph Days Challenge Winner


I am delighted to see we had 56 entries this month. It is getting closer and closer to Christmas Day, and I for one, am certainly glad to have a good supply of finished Christmas cards! By the looks of our entry numbers, many of you feel the same.


Once again , I have used Random Org to choose our winner, # 5, Kate P.
Luckily, Kate P left a comment as per the rules. Her comment is under Mamapez5., so I am glad to declare KateP our winner..

Kate, could you send me your mailing address and let me know which prize you would like.

And now, I have to bring up a topic that is hard to write about...
Although we had 56 entries, we only had 49 comments and some of those were from people who  did not submit an entry. As this happens every month, I just want to gently remind you all, that the rules state you must leave a comment. I fund the gifts myself, and they are purchased in brick and mortar stores in my community. I spend a lot of time finding them and feel that it is is a reasonable request of your time to leave a comment.

We all forget once in a while, but there are those who never leave a comment. I would not wish to draw a name for the prize and then have to redraw because there is no comment. It would make my heart very sad.

I like the fact that we have small numbers here. In my opinion, we are like a little family of Christmas crafters. I love reading your blog posts and enjoy your work and commitment to Christmas card making and any Christmas projects you do.  The love and support you all have given me over the past year when I struggled with my knee, was so touching. We get to know each other by visiting, and the reward is fantastic!

If you get in the habit of leaving a comment, you will get so many comments in return from this lovely family of ours! If you have a browser problem that prevents you from leaving a comment, just drop me a comment on a quick email and then you will qualify for the prize draw.


Sunday 25 August 2019

August Rudolph Days Challenge

Once again, it is time for the Rudolph Days Challenge. Here are the rules for your perusal...

1. The Rudolph Days Challenge will start each month (January to November) on the 25th, and will close at midnight PST, on the last day of that month.
2. The theme is always Anything Goes, as long as it is Christmas.
3. One entry per person and you just need to enter one Christmas card or Christmas project.
4. You may combine your entry with other challenges (maximum of 10 in total).
5. Your card (or Christmas project) should not have been previously posted to your blog. It should be posted to your blog during the current months Rudolph Days Challenge, (between the 25th and last day of the current month)
6. Please link back to or at least mention, the Rudolph Days Challenge.
7. Please leave a comment on the challenge post.
8. The winner will be selected by random draw and announced on the first day of the following month. Prizes will be mailed anywhere in the world.

9. A special draw will be held at the end of the year, in December,  for all those who submitted a card or project every month that year, January to November.

Our design team ladies have been busy creating lots of inspiration for you!

First up is Linda at Snails Space blog.
Linda has created a sweet set of tiny cards that are housed in a beautiful handmade box. I think these are an amazing idea and would make a great hostess gift! They could even be used as Christmas present thank you cards. 

This is the holder for the mini cards...

And here are the adorable mini cards...


I hope you will drop by Linda's blog https://snailzpace.com/  and leave some love...


Next up is Sam at Whisper's Cards blog.
Sam has made this traditional Santa card. You can see he has flown in on his sleigh and methinks he is taking a wee nap and having a cuddle with the kitty before he starts off again. He is one busy Santa after all!



Sam has also made us this very pretty non traditional coloured card. I think this is such an adorable image and the non traditional colours look so great. Please pop on over to Sam's Blog and leave her some love!



My card is an oldie but I hope it is a goody. The image is Stampin Up but I am not sure of the name, it might be Flaky Friends.  I bought it at my local paper craft garage sale where there is a lady who sells 10 stamped images for a dollar. I just liked this image and remembered I had a wacky snowman envelope at home so I grabbed a set.

I used a card design I learned when I first started making cards. The snowmen were a little Wacky looking, so I decided to make the card look a bit that way too. I coloured the image with copics and used snippets to make my card. I cut the image with a mini scalloped Tutti Designs die from a snippet of green holly DP and then cut the black mat with the same die, one size larger. The background is another snippet, leftovers from a 12x12 Christmas album.

And here is the back of the envelope...I bought it at the thrift shop in a large bag of Christmas envelopes!


Snowflake is Martha Stewart and the Noel sentiment is Taylored Expressions Punchables.  Because the card was a bit weighty up front, I covered the back of the card with another snippet of the holly DP.

I am enclosing a photo of the envelope too as it is so adorable!

Prizes are a choice of this Kaisercraft Silver Bells stamp


 or this Creative Expressions Silent Night die


Thursday 1 August 2019

July Rudolph Days Challenge Winner

This month we had 55 entries. in the Rudolph days Challenge.  That is great number and I am so pleased. I always enjoy looking at every entry and visiting your blogs. Our designers work hard to inspire you and it is nice to see so many participated.

This month we had several entries that did not leave a comment on this blog post. I just want to remind you that our rules ask you to do so. I would not want to have to pass you buy for the prize if your entry was drawn. It just takes a moment to comment here...

Well, it is nearly 9am here on the west coast of Canada, so it is time to announce our winner.  I am too old now to stay up till midnighte and make the draw.  lol

As always, I used Random Org to choose our winner.  Our July winner is #45 Janis in ID



 Janis,  Could you please send me an email to maureenkane@telus.net and let me know which prize you prefer.