December Challenge 2014

Hi everyone, Darcy here. Wow, what a great month. As we are almost in the holiday season we had lots of wintery and festive projects. Our designers brought you everything from cards and tags to wrapping paper and gift bags, not forgetting a video on making bows. All you could ever need for your Christmas gifts. Between the flurry of Christmas themed projects we also had birthday cards and canvasses, a stunning Mardi Gras mask, some shabby hearts and a fantastic folio for storing your artwork.

Thanks to everyone who joined in with our November challenge. It is a busy time for everyone and we really appreciate that you take time out to join in. 

You know we love seeing how you interpret these ideas in your own projects so keep them coming. Thanks too for all your support and comments over the month, it means a lot to our designers, and they read all of them. 

The winner of the November Monthly Challenge is: Jane Castle

Please get in touch with Darcy (darcydotneedles@hotmail.com) to find out how to claim your prize. 

December Challenge {2014}

Our challenge is a monthly one, open from the first to the last day of the calendar month. 

This is the final month of the last semester for 2014. We will be saying sad goodbyes to our fabulous guest designers of the past 4 months: Lelainia, Wanda, Anneke and of course Liz and Clare, our newest signature designers did a job-share this semester. 

They and we would love you to join in via the linky system and show us what you do in your spare time. We know you are busy at this time of year, so if you can't link a project, please at least leave a comment to say thank you to each of them as the month progresses. We know our designers come up with some fabulous ideas, and we hope this makes you want to have a go and play along too. So go ahead, make something, blog about it and share the link so we can see what you've been inspired by in the calendar month of December!

If you enter the challenge, you will go in the draw to win £50 (this includes VAT and postage) to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. (Think of it as £40 prize with £10 to cover the VAT and postage costs, worldwide) 

You need to add your link by 17:00 (London time) Dec 31st 2014. To finish the year, the announcement of the winner will follow shortly after at 19:00, the same day December 31st, 2014. Please ensure you are familiar with our challenge guidelines below.

Challenge Etiquette:

1. The challenge is to show how you have been inspired by our designer(s) to try a particular technique. Your entry should contain:

- a mention of which designer inspired you and why, and 
- a link in your blog post to that designer's original post on the PA blog.
The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog, don't feel obliged to copy an idea exactly.

2. The link must come directly from the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. You cannot link to the home page of your blog, or we will be unable to find the post to leave you comments. (NB. Linking to your home page also looks like you are spamming us to drive traffic to your blog)

3. Spam links will be deleted. 

4. We prefer your post is created exclusive to our challenge. Multiple challenge links in one blog post is poor challenge etiquette. We know you have busy lives, and it's easier to do multiple links, but from our point it can potentially result in a conflict of interest. 

5. You are welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - but of course it's lovely when you do! Try to be sensitive to these things :)

6. You can enter as many times as you like. We don't want to restrict your creativity or participation!

6. Entries can be inspired by any post on our blog for the duration of that same calendar month.

7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total (including VAT and postage) must not exceed £50 The voucher can only be used once, so you must redeem it in a single transaction.

8. The first day of every month (in this, the Challenge post) is when the winner of the month will be announced, also, in the same post, the link for the new month is posted. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy: email her darcydotneedles@hotmail.com

9. Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!