New Challenge Starts Soon

Please note - the January challenge goes live in the early hours of the 3rd January - please pop back then to check it out.  

Happy New Year from all the St Luke's DT - we look forward to sharing an exciting year of challenges with you all in 2012 :-D

I'll leave you with our traditional New Year rhyme - I think it may be a "Yorkshire" thing but as a child (the youngest in my family) I was always made to go outside just before midnight with a lump of coal and I had to knock on the door, say the poem, and "bring the New Year in"  so...

 Happy New Year, Happy New Year

Plenty of money and lots of good cheer

A horse and a gig

And a big fat pig to kill next year

Hole in me stocking, hole in me shoe

Please can you spare a penny or two

If you haven't a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't a ha'penny then God bless you!

at that point I was allowed in and got a coin in exhange for the coal (I think the coal represented being able to keep warm all year) and allowed back into the warmth!   Therefore I wish you all warmth, wealth and happiness (the coal, the money and the cheer) and whatever the horse, gig and pig (I think that's for enough food) are meant to represent.  And of course - our extra wish - lots of creativity ;-)

A bit strange I know, but they do say up here that "there's nowt so queer as folk!"

Do share your New Year traditions with us in your comments :-)

Let it Snow!

This month our challenge is "Let it snow" so we're looking for snowflakes, icicles, polar bears, penguins, snowmen - anything goes as long as its cold and frosty so plenty of opportunities to get your glitter and crystals out :-)

Our prize this month has kindly been donated by our very own DT member Deborah  - thanks so much Deborah :-)  As Deborah, like me, is a huge Waltzingmouse fan, she's decided to offer another one of Claire's wonderful sets - Dainty Doilies which is  a wonderfully useful and versatile set.

We'll be back to announce November's winners in a few days.

So time for the DT eye candy - the team have come up with some amazing and varied cards for us this month.

Anne

Deborah

Jenny

Lynne

Tara

So now we've inspired you - get out your dies, snowflakes and glitter and let's get a chill on and hope that the snow just stays on our cards and not on the pavement....

Now that our challenge is growing - which is wonderful - we've decided to set a limit to the number of entries to make it fair for everyone - so from this month onwards you can enter a MAXIMUM of 6 ENTRIES per month.  Entries over and above 6 will be deleted.  I do hope this won't offend anyone or put you off from playing along, but we do need to try to keep a balance.

Mid-month Update

Hi everyone

Just to let you know that there will be no mid-month inspiration post this month - sorry but with the countdown to Christmas now getting ever closer, the DT and I are rather busy.  I will get around all your entries to comment before the end of the month but it might not be until the Box Day lull.....  Please accept my apologies.

Also, as I normally prepare the posts to go live at midnight each month, giving that at the end of this month that would be with the chimes of Big Ben, I'm afraid I may be a little too drunk to see the keyboard....  So with that in mind and to give us all a little longer to prepare our DT projects, the new challenge will be going live on Monday 3rd January.  Do come back then to check out our new challenge - it's a good one to start off the New Year ;-)

In the meantime, can I take this opportunity to thank you all for playing along so far, and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a great slide into a Happy and Healthy New Year :-D

Tara
and the St Luke's Charity Cards Challenge Design Team

November Winners

Sorry it's taken a while to announce but with Christmas coming it's getting quite busy in our house so I've been struggling to find time to collate all our votes.

Our winner this month was Sasha for her wonderful white on white layered snowflake - we just love the intricate yet simplistic design - and of course all the glitter ;-)  I will be in touch via email for your details Sasha so I can get your LOTV stamps in the post - hope you have fun with them!

Choosing our runners up this month was very difficult as we had so many entries - Hazel gets a special mention for an astonishing 18 cards - well done Hazel!

Our runners up this month were:

Sylvia-Anne - who made great use of snippets to create this gorgeous wreath. 
Vicky with this delightful little bird and luscious ribbon.

Caroline with her delightful little bear - we all loved your cool colour combo.
Sue produced a lovely set of cards all in traditional green and red which are just so simple and elegant.

 

We loved all of Mary J's entries but this little guy with his rather sad looking bear left out in the snow really caught our eye.

 

Blog badges will also be winging their way to you ladies in due course.  Thanks so much for all your wonderful entries - hope you'll all play with our snowy challenge too ;-)

Christmas is coming....

It's the first of the month - November already - so time for another challenge here at St Luke's Charity Cards Challenge and this month we thought it was time to get ready for Christmas so our challenge is to make a Christmas card.  Hope this is a bit easier for those of you who disliked our boy card challenge last month ;-)  You can make anything you like, any style as long as it's Christmassy then anything goes!

We have a lovely prize this month for our winner (we'll announce the winner from October in the next couple of days so watch this space!) from Lili of the Valley - a pair of their gorgeous stamps.

We're getting quite a following now and it's lovely to see so many regulars joining us month after month - thank you to you all - we love to see your entries.  Here are the DT's cards to get your ideas flowing - details of what they used can be found on their personal blogs so do pop along to see them and say hello.

Anne

 Deborah

Jenny

Lynne

Tara

There is a Christmas Fayre in aid of St Luke's at the end of November and I will be having a stall there to sell the cards so should have an update on funds raised early December.  Unfortunately I had to cancel the small fayre I was due to attend at the end of September due to ill health but I'm fine now and looking forward to a good fayre.

Don't forget - if you can spare it - we'd love to receive your challenge card at the hospice (and any other handmade cards you can spare for that matter - particularly your Christmas cards in advance of our Christmas Fayre on 27th November.) Address to post them is on the right hand side bar. :-)

Winter Winner!

Good evening everyone - I am happy to report that today's sale has been a massive success :-)   I have to say that fairs in warm pubs in November are MUCH nicer than fairs in windy tents in August!!!!

We sold lots of Christmas cards so thank you to those who posted them quickly to get to us, but also lots of general cards too and made almost as much in one day as we did over two days at August Bank Holiday - £152 in total    We did have a couple of St Luke's bears which we also sold and had a bucket for donations and those together raised another £25.82 - so all in all a pretty good day.

This means our grand total to date is now £487 - so a HUGE thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to enter the challenge, spread the word or send us a card - however you get involved, it all helps and everyone was so impressed by your fabulous cards and your generosity in donating them.

Tara x

Christmas Fair Reminder

Just in case you're looking for something to do this Sunday and live locally.......

Christmas is still coming.....

.....and you still have 9 days left to play along in our Christmas card making challenge.  We've had some fabulous entries so far but we all need extra cards for our stash at this time of year so why not use our challenge as an excuse to make a few more???? 

Here's a little more inspiration from the Design Team to get you in the mood:

Deborah

 Tara

 Anne

 Lynne

Hope that's put you all in the mood for Christmas!  Dig out your stash and have a little play and remember the fayre is on this Sunday so if you want to send cards for that, please post them by tomorrow at the latest as I will be collecting from the hospice on Friday and the Sheffield postal system is taking a while for things to get through at the minute.

Thanks

Tara x

Look what the postman delivered.....

Just a really quick post - I haven't been up to the hospice since September for various reasons, so the hospice staff have been storing the cards safely for me.  This week when I went to collect your donated cards, they suggested I bring a box.  I think from the photo you can see why........

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has sent their card - this little blog has gone not just nationwide but worldwide - we get cards from Germany, Gibralta, Spain and have even had cards all the way from Bermuda and Las Vegas!!!   You are truly all very generous soles and your donations are gratefully received.  I'll update the 'card counter' once I've managed to count them all.....

I'd better get busy getting them all sorted and priced ready for our Christmas Fayre which is two weeks tomorrow at The Greystones (so there will be beer for the boys while the girls shop) so if you're local, do pop in an say hello.

If you're playing along in our Christmas challenge, I will be going to the hospice to collect cards again on the 25th November, so it would be great if you could send your cards to arrive by then.

Tara x

October's Winners

It was a really tough decision last month - we had so many wonderful masculine entries - but we finally reaches a consensus and can now announce that the winner our wonderful prize from Craftie Charlie was entrant no 21 - Jacqueline with her wonderful stamped autumnal scene.

We hope you really enjoy your bumper prize package Jacqueline - do have fun with it :-)

 Our top 3 card who will be getting our winners badge for their blogs are:

Susan - we loved the wood grain background, clean design and strong masculine colours.

Jayne - we loved the cheeky image and definite masculine appeal.

Katina - we loved this super cute teddy with his little teddy brother - and the colouring is superb.

Thanks to everyone for joining us - do get your Christmas images out and play along this month too if you can.

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

Thanks again to everyone who played along in our buffet last month - we'll be back in a couple of days to announce the winner.

A new month brings a new challenge, a new sponsor and a great new prize - and boy what a prize we have this time!

The prize package includes all these fabulous goodies:

• My Mind's Eye Limited Edition 6x6 Double Sided Paper Pad - Dwell
• East of India Pale Pink Ric Rac
• Inkadinkado Mini Stamp - Thanks
• Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - New Sprout
• Ranger Liquid Pearls - White Opal
• K&Co Glitter Chipboard Alphabet - Smitten
• K&Co Amy Butler Lotus Embellishment Jars
• Creative Expressions Decorative Pins - Cream Pearl

This month our generous sponsor is the great online craft store Craftie Charlie and this is what they had to say about sponsoring our challenge.  Thanks for the chance to support such a great cause - we are based in Sheffield so know all about the fantastic work that St Luke's does.  At Craftie-Charlie you'll find a fantastic range of cardmaking, scrapbooking & general craft items - we are keen crafters and we stock the products that we like to use in our crafting projects.  We are adding new items all the time so enjoy looking and keep coming back!  Good luck with the challenge :)



So - what about the actual challenge - well this month it's ALL ABOUT THE BOYS - you can make ANY style card you like for ANY OCCASION for ANY MALE of ANY AGE - it just has to have a masculine feel.  

I know we often find male cards difficult but I actually quite like making them so hopefully the inspiration we provide throughout the month will help you come up with some new ideas for easy male cards.  Let's see what the DT came up with for launch day - you find the details of what we used on our personal blogs so do pop by and say hello:

Anne

Deborah

Jenny

Lynne

Tara

Please do take our blog badge if you haven't already and display it on your sidebar (along with a picture of the prize too if you've room for it...) to help us get the word around blog land about our challenge.  We encourage you to enter any other challenges that match ours too as this all helps spread the word.

So - dig out your masculine stamps, papers and inks and celebrate the men in your lives and click the little blue frog when you're ready :-)

Mid Month Inspiration

Thought it was time for a little reminder about our month long challenge to make masculine cards for St Luke's Charity Cards Challenge - any card you like as long as it has a masculine theme is what we're looking for.

We have an AMAZING prize package this month for our favourite card - kindly donated by the lovely ladies at Craftie Charlie who also made this fabulous boys cupcake card to kick off the inspiration reminder:

Craftie Charlie - even cake can be masculine if you add kraft and some plaid ;-)

 Deborah - add a guitar and some grunge for a great rock themed teenage card

Lynne - add some black, some cogs and a bike and most guys are covered!

Tara  - more kraft and strong colours add a TV and you can't go wrong!

You've still got a couple of weeks to enter - so dig out your masculine colours and get creative for the fellas and you could still be in with a chance of winning all the craft goodiness that's on offer - check out the original blog post that is a sticky at the top of the blog for prize details and the linky tool.

Buffet Winners

Good afternoon ladies

Sorry we've been a while making our decision on a winner this month but there was a very close tie for first place so it went back out to a second vote and I am now thrilled to announce that our top card for last month and therefore the winner of the gorgeous stamp set from Waltzingmouse was VAL with this gorgeous white on white wedding card

I'll be dropping you an email shortly Val with your winners badge and to get your snail mail so I can post off your prize.

Our top 5 for this month who will also be receiving their winners badge by email shortly were:

Gibsmiss - we loved your delicate frame cut out and subtle colours

Irene - we loved your white on white card and pretty little flower cut outs

Jacqueline - we loved the strong geometry on your card and of course the cute owl ;-)

 Mary J - we loved all of your entries Mary but the gorgeous image on this one won us over

Nicki LT - we loved your cute image and the co-ordinating colours and snowflakes

Thanks again for your continued support and for making our little challenge such a fun place to play along :-)

Speaking of which - don't forget that this month we want to see your guy cards - any style, any theme - just something you could send to a fella - here's another one of mine for a little inspiration if you're struggling to get your creative juices flowing:

I'll be back with more ideas from me and the design team next week for our mid-month inspiration spot.  We have such an amazing prize from the generous ladies at Craftie Charlie this month that you really don't want to miss out on the chance to win it!

Tara  (aka Craftilicious) x

Card Buffet

Well our beside the sea challenge is over and it looks like we finished summer off with it too!  We'll be back later in the week to announce this months winners.

Today is the start of our new challenge for September, and with a new challenge comes a new sponsor and this month we have a wonderful set of stamps from Waltzingmouse.  Now I know many of our followers are already fans of Waltzingmouse, but if you're new to them, I promise you'll be hooked so go and check out the shop.

 This month we have "Wanda's Party" which will be with the winner in time to play for Halloween (click the link for inspiration from the WM DT on the great projects you can make with this set):

The really exciting news is that Claire Brennan, owner and stamp designer for Waltzingmouse, being the wonderfully generous person that she is, has VERY KINDLY dontated SIX WHOLE SETS of her amazing stamps - so if you are a fan (and if you're not now, you soon will be!) - you are going to want to keep coming back to play over the coming months as there will be another 5 sets up for grabs in the future!

The challenge this month is a CARD BUFFET - you have to pick FOUR items from the list of 10 below and include them in your card - not 3, not 5, but just FOUR.  If you want to include a focal image and a sentiment as well, then these can be in addition to the 4 buffet items (but you can also count them as part of your 4 items - ie an embossed sentiment)

Here are the fabulous creations the Design Team came up with to inspire you all with, along with the details of the four items they each chose - do click on their names to go to their blogs to see the full details and to leave them a little love :-)

Anne

Patterned Paper, Embossing, Ribbon and Pearls

Deborah

Ribbon, Gems, Punches (die cut) and Embossing

Jenny

Flowers, Buttons, Patterned Paper and Ribbon

Lynne

Patterned Paper, Ribbon, Flowers and Pearls

Tara

Punches, Ribbon, Embossing, and Pearls

Enter your card below for a chance to win, and check back in a few days when we'll announce our beachy winners from August's challenge.