Challenge #85: ANYTHING GOES CHRISTMAS with the Optional Twist…HEARTS

Welcome Christmas Crafters! It is the first of the month and time for our new challenge! I hope that you and your families continue to stay well!

 

Before we start, I just wanted to once again say thank you for the well wishes and prayers that many of you left or sent me regarding my parents. They continue on their path to healing from covid--now I just have to hope that their other health issues stay in check for a while. I realize that things will only become more challenging as they continue to age and I age as well. Let's hope that I have the strength to cope.

 

I also wanted to say thanks for understanding about the time I had to take off to deal with stress and scare related to my parents' illness, and also understanding about the changes I've needed to make in order to keep the challenge running (if you missed that post and would like to read about the changes for 2022, click HERE). I am hoping that with the changes we are implementing (here and on my other challenge blog), I will be able to free up some time and reduce the amount of stress I've been experiencing trying to juggle my online life with my offline one. 

 

Now back to the Link Up. It is a brand new year it is time for our very first link up of 2022 to get under way! Now, I realize that the last thing that many of you want to do is think about Christmas right now but it is never too early to get started on all the Christmas and other December Holiday cards you are going to need when December rolls around! I swear, the older I get, the faster time goes; so, we're going to need those Christmas cards sooner than we think!!! For those of you embarking on getting a start to your stash, we'd love to have you join us and add your cards to our Link Up for a chance to win some goodies!

 

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I created it under the Introductions tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the Challenge Details tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog). For your convenience, a summary of the most important rules can be found in the right sidebar under the heading Basic Rules Summary.

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

 

Challenge #85

  ANYTHING GOES with the 

Optional Twist: HEARTS

Our theme, as always, is ANYTHING GOES CHRISTMAS (or in celebration of other December holidays). If you want to challenge yourself, you can always follow our optional twist of adding one or more HEARTS to your card.

Keep in mind though, that you don't need to follow the twist to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month or for a chance to win your choice of TWO Christmas or Winter themed mini kits of digital papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles. Following the twist is simply for fun. 

Here is a preview of February's paper for those adding TWO cards to this month's link up:

 

 

 

Now check out what the Sleigh Belles came up with to inspire you. Clicking on the DT names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the specific details for these wonderful cards.

 

 

 

 

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

 

Please remember that this is a CARDS ONLY link up. While we've had some lovely tag entries, ornaments and other creative projects in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Please join us again on February 15th, for our midway post when the Merry Maidens will be here to share their awesome cards. If everything goes according to plan, our winner announcement for Challenge #84 will be posted before month's end as long as I can pull it off. 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!

Link Up Below:
Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), February 1st until 11:59 p.m. (23:59 hrs), February 28th, 2022 (all times listed are in Eastern Time).  Please click the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page above for all the rules and details. Maximum 10 entries.