Challenge #42: Optional Theme...Make It Masculine

Hello, crafters! It is the first day of June and that means it is time for our next challenge to get under way! It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the year already! If you send out a lot of cards during the holiday season, you are definitely going to want to get some additional cards added to your pile. As such, it is time to continue with our quest to work on all those Christmas and other December Holiday cards we will need for year end! To provide you with some extra incentive to get your cards completed, we have some lovely prizes available! So, why not join us for your chance to win?!

Thus, it is time to get down to the business of our latest challenge. Here is what you need to know...

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.
• ALL entries adhering to our basic rules also have the opportunity to win a mini pack of digi papers each month as well.

Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of Challenge #42.

Challenge #42

Optional Theme:  Make it Masculine

Last month our focus was on the women in our lives and this month we want to give our men the special treatment--well, related to Christmas cards anyway.😉 This month, in over 105 different countries around the world, fathers are being honoured during Father's Day. In fact, there is only one month during the year where there isn't a Father's Day celebration and that happens to be January. There is at least one country celebrating in every other month, with the two highest concentrations being in March and June. Since the focus is on dear old dad this month for many people, we thought that it would be a nice idea to focus on masculinity for our theme. When you think of Christmas, what would it be like without a masculine touch?! Growing up, it was my dad who strung up the lights, outside and in. He would spend hours untangling all the lights and checking to make sure that each one worked. He was also the one who hauled out all the boxes of decorations from the crawl space and put them back after the season was over. There are many dads, or men in general, that dress up as Santa Claus each Christmas to surprise their own kids or other lucky children. For these reasons and more, we thought it would be an appropriate time to honour the men in our lives who do so much at Christmas time to make the occasion special.

That is why this month, in order to have a chance to win the prize from our guest sponsor, we want you to create a card that would be considered MASCULINE. Now since many crafters have difficulty with masculine cards, this is the perfect opportunity to get some practice in and stretch those masculine Christmas card muscles. It is time to break out your Santa, elf, snowman, penguin and other images perfect for a card for a special man in your life. It is also an opportunity to bring out your stripes, plaids and grungy textures; give your blue, green and brown markers a workout; delve into your stash bag of twine and burlap; or maybe even find some fun masculine elements as well. Whatever approach you take, as long as your card has a masculine touch, it will qualify. 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.

Keep in mind though, that you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month or for a chance to win the featured paper set. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of three images from the SheepSki Designs store.

Speaking of Sheepski Designs, it is time to make a proper introduction to our newest sponsor:

Hi I'm Andrea Norris, creator and owner of SheepSki Designs - living in Leeds, Yorkshire in the UK, working full time as a Management Accountant, currently working on 4 design teams and an obsessive crafter and creator of cards. I love anything arty. I've always drawn stuff, for as long as I can remember. In my younger days I sold a few watercolour paintings. I love creating canvases mixed media canvasses with flowers.

I finally found software I could gel with in December 2015. January 2016 a challenge team I worked on was short of a designer's images to create with so I drew some. I opened my shop a month later so I could sponsor challenges and give something back to the crafting world, to the lovely ladies who have supported me on my journey.

I've a Facebook group and blog where I hold challenges and I'm now starting to look at inviting guest designers.

Welcome to my world!
Andrea xx

Main Blog: /https://sheepskidesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Store: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SheepSkiDesigns
Private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/SheepSkiDesigns/

Check out the awesome images the team worked with for their projects for the start of this challenge. Clicking on the watermarks will take you to their location in the store.

Gnome for Christmas - image no 122

Snowman Selfie - image no 100

Snow Happy - image no 59

Taking a Break - image no 130

You'll get to see more awesome projects using images from our sponsor during our midway so be sure to come back again at that time!

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called Texture Time: Leathers 1. 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 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 June. Poll will be open until June 30th, 11:59 p.m. EDT. 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 Sleigh Belles and Pat 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...

<<<coming soon>>>

So what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for June!

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, Pat and I and the rest of the gang hope to see you back with us soon!

• I hope to send out the papers to the winners from challenge #37 as quickly as I can get to them.
• We hope to publish the names of the winners and top picks from Challenge #38 soon as well; and might even get Challenge #39 done this month as well. 
• 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! 
• Pat might be back towards the end of the month with a special Christmas Craft for you to try! So check in around the 23rd or 24th in case she has time this month.
• 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 until 11:59 p.m. (23:59 hrs), June 30th, 2018.  All times listed are in EDT (Eastern Daylight Savings Time).
  
• 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. 
• If you receive a free digi paper, you are not obliged to use it in any future link up; though, if you do create something, be sure to let me know as I'd love to see it.
• This is NOT a progressive challenge. You can jump in at any time.
• You are allowed to enter as many Anything Goes cards as you'd like. HOWEVER, please note that if you follow the optional theme for the chance to win this month's prize of  three images from SheepSki Designs, only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the sponsored draw.
• 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.
• 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.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:
If you have any problems linking up, please be sure to leave a comment.

The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up Challenge #42
Please link up your Anything Goes Christmas and/or December holiday themed CARDS with the optional theme of Make It Masculine below. Don't forget that 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. Please see above for all the rules and details.

Members of the EU Please Note:

• By entering your Personal Information (i.e. name, blogpost address, email address) into any type of link up on this blog, you are giving your consent to having your name and blogpost link visible to everyone who visits this site. While we also request that you submit your email address when adding a card to any link up, this particular piece of Personal Information is kept private. It is only visible to me, Lisa Décosse, the owner of this blog or my designate (see more on how your email address is used below).
• By commenting on any post on this blog, you are also giving your consent to having your name and blogpost link visible to everyone who visits this site (unless of course, you have left a comment by remaining anonymous). 
• If you are a winner or top pick in an event that you have entered, a copy of your entry information will be published in a separate winners announcement post. This entry information may include the following: 
• your name and/or possibly your blog name
• the blogpost address of the card that you linked up
• a copy of the image that you originally linked up
• Should you qualify to receive a free digi paper by linking up two or more cards, or possibly win the full set of Digi Papers for any particular month and have linked up two or more cards, we will use the email address provided to send out your prize.

Your continued use of this blog and any services it may provide will constitute your acknowledgement and acceptance of this notice.A full Privacy Policy is being created and when completed will be added to a separate page on this blog.