Challenge #96 Midway: ANYTHING GOES CHRISTMAS with the Optional Twist…Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW

Welcome back crafters! I hope that you and your families all continue to stay safe and well in the various regions that you reside.

 

Right now, as we are halfway through our January challenge, it is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to! Clicking on the DT 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 January. Below you will find 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, ornaments and other creative projects in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Challenge #96

  ANYTHING GOES with the 

Optional Twist: Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW

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 Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW. 

 

It is a brand new year and odds are that you will have acquired some new crafting items over the holidays. There are also good odds on the fact that there is probably stuff in your stash that you have never touched, or at least haven't touched for quite a while. That is why we've decided that the optional twist for January is Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW -- Use something OLD (an old piece of equipment that hasn't been used in at least six months) or something from your stash that is more than one year old; PLUS use something NEW (a brand new embossing folder, punch or other new item you've acquired) or use something that you received during the holidays or acquired in the last three months.

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 and to challenge yourself if you'd like.
  

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

 

 

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 or other December Holiday option AND an optional twist 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). I have provided a summary of the most important rules in the right sidebar.

You can find the link up for
Challenge #96 by clicking HERE.

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

I'll hopefully be publishing an outstanding winner announcement sometime in the next two weeks. Then, please join us on February 1st when we'll be back with our newest link up! 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!

 

Challenge #94 Winner Announcement (November)

Hello there to all our Christmas crafting friends!  I hope that those of you in the northern hemisphere aren't freezing too badly this winter and that those of you in the southern hemisphere aren't facing too much heat during your summer. If only we could swap a bit of each other's weather with the other to be a bit more comfortable!

 

I'm finally back to share the winners and our top three Stocking Stuffers from Challenge #94 (Anything Goes CHRISTMAS with the Opt. Twist of Use Patterned Paper).

 

 Oh and I apologize for the last winner announcement. I spent over an hour the other day trying to unconfuse myself (yeah, I know 'unconfuse' isn't a real word but it is the best I can come up with). I had the month wrong in the last challenge stating it was for September instead of October and it totally screwed up with everything. No wonder nothing was adding up properly for me. Anyway, I finally figured it out and that post has now been edited to reflect the correct month. This is what happens when you are trying to catch up on stuff while also attempting to get things ready for Christmas at the same time!

 

If I was impressed with the 91 entries we had in October, you can imagine how pleased I am with the 167 entries added to our link up for November! Once again, that is a record. The highest number we ever saw during the month of November occurred in our first year with 154 entries total. After that, the highest it got was 101. So, it is awesome to see us surpassing our original record!

 

Right now, it is time to get on with finding out who our winners for November are. Are you one of those lucky peeps?! Let's find out!

 

#118. BONNIE G.

 

Bonnie, you are the winner of your choice of TWO Christmas or Winter themed mini kits of digital papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles. (chosen by random.org based on all eligible entries).

Bonnie, 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 #94 WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize. Please note that it may take me a while to get back to you so thank you for your patience (I am caught currently up with the mail in this account). 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. So, without further ado, here are the Stocking Stuffers for November:

#83. SILKE

#135. JANET H.

 

#102. PINKY

 

Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers! Silke, Janet and Pinky, 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. Paper for October has now been sent out. If you were expecting one but haven't received it yet, please leave me a comment and I'll look into it for you. 

The individuals who linked up a minimum of two cards each during the month of NOVEMBER, qualifying them to receive the digital paper from that month, will receive the Christmas Cake Patterned Paper on 2 different colour backgrounds. I have included the preview of the papers below... 

 

 

To all of you who linked up during November, 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 begin or continue to work on your stockpile for 2023!!! Papers will be sent to the email address that qualifying participants used when they added their cards to the Link Up, as soon as I can manage! PLEASE NOTE: If you want to receive your paper, PLEASE BE CERTAIN to enter your email address correctly. I was able to catch one 'xom' instead of 'com' but there have been instances where there were problems with an address not being recognized and therefore sent back to me; and of course, in those cases, I have no way of contacting the individuals in question. So make sure to double check when adding your info to the link up.

 

Well folks, that is it for this one! If you haven't already, be sure to check out our current challenge going on now, with the Optional Twist this month of "Out with the Old AND In with the New". There are still 12 days to go and you can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

 

Please join us again tomorrow when we'll be back with the midway of our current challenge. Then, join us on February 1st for a new link up! If I can manage to get it together, I will try and get December's winner announcement done before the end of the month. I'm still sick and catching up on a bunch of other stuff (including having to get February's paper ready); so, no promises but I will try to at least get it started if nothing else.

Until next time,

Challenge #96: ANYTHING GOES CHRISTMAS with the Optional Twist…Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW

Welcome Christmas Crafters! It is the first of the month and time for our new challenge! I hope that you and your families are happy and well! I also hope that your holiday was a pleasant one. 

 

My hubby and I got sick on Christmas day and while we are both on the mend, we're still experiencing lingering symptoms. We finally felt well enough to make our 'Christmas Dinner' last night and it was yummy (tofurkey, rutabaga and a special rice dish that cooks in the oven)! This coming weekend, we're hoping to celebrate 'New Year's'! Hopefully this isn't an omen that I'm going to be two weeks behind throughout the year for other important stuff as well! 😉 Once our festivities are over, we can then put away our Christmas decorations. It is actually the first time in around seven years that we've put them out. While we love Christmas, my hubby's mom died in 2015 and he just didn't feel the 'Christmas spirit'. But we helped my parents get the tree decorated when we were visiting in November and I convinced him it was time for us to get back in the swing of things. It is also the first time in our 33 years of marriage that we've had a Christmas tree and while we didn't have a lot of decorations to put on it, it was still very special. We've had cats almost our entire marriage and cats and Christmas trees are just not a good mix so we never bought one. Our last fur baby died in 2018 and after helping mom with her tree, I knew it was time to get one of our own.

 

Well, it is a brand new year and it is time for our very first link up of 2023 to get underway! As I mentioned in our December posts, in order to give the team a bit of extra down time over the holidays, we decided to wait until today to post our challenge. 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 #96

  ANYTHING GOES with the 

Optional Twist: Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW

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 Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW. 

 

It is a brand new year and odds are that you will have acquired some new crafting items over the holidays. There are also good odds on the fact that there is probably stuff in your stash that you have never touched, or at least haven't touched for quite a while. That is why we've decided that the optional twist for January is Out with the OLD AND In with the NEW -- Use something OLD (an old piece of equipment that hasn't been used in at least six months) or something from your stash that is more than one year old; PLUS use something NEW (a brand new embossing folder, punch or other new item you've acquired) or use something that you received during the holidays or acquired in the last three months.

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 and to challenge yourself if you'd like.
  

Here is a preview of January'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. Be sure to visit them so you can find out what OLD and NEW items each of them used.

 

 

 

 

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

 

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 January 20th, for our midway post when the Merry Maidens will be here to share their awesome cards. January 20th falls about the midpoint between the 8th and 31st which is why we've decided to post the midway at that time. If everything goes according to plan, an outstanding winner announcement will also be posted before month's end as long as I can pull it off. I had hoped to catch up on one in December but with getting ready for the holidays and then getting sick, things didn't go according to plan. Oh well. As much as it pains me to be so far behind, there is nothing I can do about it other than get caught up as I am able to.

 

Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to 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), January 8th until 11:59 p.m. (23:59 hrs), January 31st, 2023 (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.