Challenge #25 Winner Announcement

Oh boy! I am really, really, REALLY behind in the winner announcements. Apologies to anyone who has been waiting to find out if they are a winner.

Right now, I'm popping in to announce the winners and our top three Stocking Stuffers from Challenge #25. We had 44 entries in our January challenge which isn't too bad for the start of the year. Are you one of those lucky peeps?! Let's find out!

TREEBUG

Treebug's old item was the penny black stamp 'gentle breeze' 

and the new item was the square stitched die.

Treebug, you are the winner of a $15 gift certificate to the Ike's Art store, our guest sponsor for January (chosen by miniwebtool.com based on all eligible entries).

Treebug, 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 #25 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. With so many wonderful entries to choose from, it is always such a difficult task for the design team. We did however settle on three awesome creations. So, without further ado, here are our Stocking Stuffers for Challenge #25:

VERONIKA (cheiro urgia)

ROSINA

 TRACY

Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers! Veronika, Rosina and Tracy, please grab a copy of the badge below for your blog.

Everyone who links up two cards each month is eligible to receive a free digital paper. All those who linked up two cards during the month of December have previously been mailed their paper. If you thought that you had linked two, but did not receive a free paper, please contact us and let us know and we'll look into it for you.

Now things are going to work a little bit differently for the January digi paper winners. Unfortunately, I never did get a special set created for the January challenge. With it having been Christmas at the time, and then getting so far behind in everything, I just couldn't seem to find any time to whip up a set of six papers. I did however manage to at least create one paper for the 12 individuals who linked up a minimum of two cards each during the month of JANUARY. I have included the watermark of it, below...

 

To all of you who linked up during January, 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 as you work on your stash for 2017!!!

Papers will be sent to the email address that qualifying participants used when they added their cards to the Link Up. I'm hoping to get them sent as soon as I finish publishing this post.

As always, we are going to have a random draw from all the entries and give out a set of six digital papers to one lucky individual. Now as there isn't a specific set for January, we are going to do this prize a little differently as well. Our winner will have their choice of any ONE of the sets that was made during 2016.

The winner of any ONE Mini Kit from 2016 is 

CRAFTING VICKY

(chosen by random.org)

Vicky, 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 #25 PAPER KIT WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize. Please let me know the name of the one mini kit that you would like. Here are the watermarks of the sets that you can choose from. You can click on the watermarks to bring them up in the lightbox to see them all a bit better...

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 "Ghosts of Christmas Past (VINTAGE theme)". There are still six days left to join in and you can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

Oh and if there is someone out there who'd like to vote on the paper for April, I'd really appreciate it. Strangely there have been no votes so far this month. You can find the poll by clicking the link in the above paragraph and scrolling down until you see the paper kit advertised for April.

Then, please join us again on Monday, May 1st when our new challenge begins. Other special posts may be published throughout the month; so, 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,

Christmas Traditions - Holiday Superstitions

"He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake; 

He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake!" 

-from the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Frank Gillespie

Everyone has heard of countless superstitions, old wives' tales and myths, but I was surprised to find many holiday ones circulating around the globe. Just look above at the refrain from the popular Christmas song. Thousands of children looked behind them when they did something wrong, hoping that jolly old man didn't witness their crimes.

I grew up with a weather superstition: "If it snows by Thanksgiving, we'll have a white Christmas." My sisters and I would anxiously look out the window every day in November in hopes that there would be snow for Christmas. I found another weather myth at The Holiday Spot. "Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green."

I know better than to walk under a ladder or to cross a street after a black cat has crossed it, but some holiday myths threatening bad luck were new to me: 

"Singing Christmas carols outside of the festive season is unlucky."

I personally think this warning should be extended to the month of November. In Chicago we have a radio station that starts playing Christmas Carols on Thanksgiving Day - and that's all they play until Christmas Day! 

I think this next one came from a disgruntled child:

"Never give shoes to someone you love during Christmas 

or they can walk out of your life in future."

In Greece, some people burn their old shoes at Christmas time to prevent bad luck in the coming year. I know someone who lives in Greece, so I'll have to ask her about this.

I don't know how kissing under the mistletoe originated, but somebody must have been refused that holiday kiss because one myth is that "If someone avoids the kiss under the mistletoe they will have bad luck." Again, my personal opinion is that you could have bad luck even when you kiss the guy, so beware!

Here are just a few more superstitions and old wives' tales that might remind you of your childhood, tickle your fancy or raise the hairs on your arm:

"A blowing wind can bring good luck during Christmas." 

"The dog who screams on Christmas Eve 

will go mad by the end of the year." ???

"If a rooster crows at midnight on Christmas Eve, it's a good omen" 

"If Christmas Day on a Sunday fall

A troublesome Winter we shall have all."

"The doors of a home should be flung open at midnight on Christmas Eve to let out any trapped evil spirits. You can also use a broom first thing on Christmas morning to sweep out any trouble."

Who would have known how many superstitions hover over the holidays. I hope they have made you giggle and get into the holiday spirit.  Do you have any interesting myths, old wives' tales or superstitions you grew up with (or are starting with your children LOL) that you can share with us? Wherever you are in the world, holidays are special times and sure to bring us cheer.

Challenge #28 Midway: Optional Theme....Ghosts of Christmas Past (A Vintage Challenge)

Goodness, where does the time go?! I got online this afternoon with plenty of time to get this post done before six but then my parents called and that extra hour & 1/2 went out the window; so, apologies to my Merry Maidens team and our readers for the lateness of this post.

I have three birthday gals to send comments/cards to today and one of those just happens to be our very own Pat M., my co-coordinator and also a member of the Merry Maidens. Wishing you all the best dearest Pat, today and in the coming year ahead!!!

Now since it is the 15th of the month, it is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their images from Lunagirl, our guest sponsor this month!

Retro cards, Robbins and Yellow Flowers Digital Collage Sheet

Pink Xmas #2 Digital Collage Sheet

Winter Fun Digital Collage Sheet

 

Victorian Christmas Digital Collage Sheet

 

Christmas Inchies

 

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called Vintage Damask 1: Rich Colors. Check out the preview.

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of April 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 below.

DIGI PAPER POLL
Please click "like" to choose the ONE paper that you would like offered up to participants who link up a minimum of two cards during the month of April. Poll will be open until April 30th, 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that you can get a better idea of what the actual paper looks like by bringing the preview ABOVE up in the lightbox.

Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you. Diane Louise is also sharing the inside of her card featuring items from Lunagirl. Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards.

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 April. 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.

Challenge #28

Optional Theme:

 Ghosts of Christmas Past - A Vintage Challenge

The best part of Christmas is the memories of Christmases past. Charles Dickens hit it spot-on when he wrote "A Christmas Carol", pulling Ebeneezer Scrooge and his readers into the heart of Christmas with his spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Around my dinner table on Christmas, we always leave one chair empty for those who can no longer celebrate with us. Memories of their laughter and love keep them alive every year.

This spirit of Christmas Past inspires this month’s Optional theme of The Ghost of Christmas Past (a Vintage Theme). Our guest sponsor is Lunagirl, a perfect match for this theme as you will see from the offerings of our DT.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your card has a vintage feel (i.e. vintage image, vintage looking paper, etc.).  IMPORTANT: 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 certificate from Luna Girl.

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 different 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 #28 by clicking HERE.

 Don't Forget, if everything goes according to plan...

• Hopefully this week I'll get a chance to post the winners from Challenge #25 (If I keep saying it often enough, maybe it will actually get done. 😉)
• Be sure to join us during the third week of April when Pat will be here to share a special post on Christmas Superstitions.
• Next up it will be time for our new challenge to start on May1st.
• 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!

We look forward to seeing you participate!