Challenge #15: Optional Theme--Holiday Decorations

Hello and welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up.  It is a brand new month and time for our next challenge to get under way!  I do need to apologize AGAIN before we start.  It has been a rather taxing month healthwise and as you will have noted, the winner announcement for the last challenge still hasn't been posted.  Amazing how getting behind in one little thing has a snowball effect and you can never get back to it.  I am really HOPING that I can pull it off this week.  Your continued patience is appreciated more than you know.

Now let's 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 #15.

Challenge #14

Optional Theme:  Holiday Decorations

I don't know about you, but one of the things that I love about Christmas time is the decorations that I see up all over the place.  Whether in people's homes, or out and about in the community, there are such a wide variety of beautiful holiday decorations to choose from.  Strings of lights, wreaths on doors, stockings on mantles (or in the case of my house, hanging from the piano!), window paintings, tree ornaments, angels on trees--the list goes on and on!  This month, let's bring some of those holiday decorations to your cards!

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your card has a holiday decoration on it in some form or other (i.e. lights, wreaths, ornaments, etc.).  The decoration can be in the image, part of your papers or even as a separate embellishment.  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 $12.00 gift certificate from A Day For Daisies.

A Day For Daisies is a brand new sponsor with us this year and we are so pleased to have them with us.  How about we get to know them a little bit better...
 

A Day For Daisies provides themed categories of over 3000 digital illustrations and a fast growing line of new clear polymer stamp sets, including fairy tales and magical mermaids, cutie kids, vintage illustrations, sentiments and lovely designs for all occasions!

ADFD WEBSITE: www.adayfordaisies.com
ADFD BLOG: http://adayfordaisies.blogspot.com
ADFD FACE BOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Day-For Daisies/142905905744876?ref=ts
ADFD ETSY: http://www.etsy.com/shop/adayfordaisies

Check out the sweet 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 spot in the A Day For Daisies store.

Tower of Gifts

 Christmas Bulbs

Sparkle Angels

Dressed Up for Christmas

 Christmas Tree Time

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set aptly called Holiday Decorations.  Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of March 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.   As I mentioned in the new DT announcement, this will be Sharon's last month with us. However, it is the beginning of the journey for two new Sleigh Belles--Donna and Sheena!  And, for a change, I was able to whip a card up too!  I'm really behind in my Christmas cards (along with everything else apparently), so it was high time I create one!  Please note that if you are looking for Christina's card, she is away on business right now so she'll be joining us at mid-month instead.  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

 So what are you waiting for?  It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for March!  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 March 4th when Pat will be here to share a combined holiday tradition and recipe.
• Then on March 8th, we hope to publish the names of the winners and top picks from Challenge #14.  Of course, I'm also hoping to be back before then to publish the names of the winners from Challenge #13. 
• Be sure to join us again on March 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens! We'll have three new peeps showcasing their cards at that time.
• Then during the third week of March, Monica should be here to share a Christmas recipe 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), March 1st - 11:55 p.m. (23:55 hrs), March 31st, 2016.  
• 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.  HOWEVER, if you decide to follow the optional theme of Holiday Decorations (see specific details above), only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's prize of  a $12.00 gift certificate from A Day For Daisies.  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 winners and top picks for this challenge (#15) will hopefully be announced on April 8th in a special post.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:

An InLinkz Link-up