Hi everyone!

Well I'm back with a new Challenge for the new year, it'll be quite a familiar one for those of you who have played along before but this time I'm needing to pare it back a little while also incorporating the Christmas card element again in hopes of getting ahead come December!

All the info and instructions for the new challenge can be found here on my blog.

Here's how the 2016 challenge works:

  • On the 1st of the month, I'll share 2 Pinterest prompts on my blog here.
  • The 2 prompts will be a general Pinspiration prompt and a Christmas-based prompt.
  • Pinspiration prompt: this prompt is simply an image with elements that could be interpreted in a card, e.g., design elements, colours, words, patterns, objects, layout... so many possibilities! Whatever inspiration you take from the image, incorporate it in your card! As always I will try and come up with a list of what immediately springs to mind when I look at the image to give you a few ideas if you're stumped.
  • Christmas-based prompt: like the Pinspiration prompt just take any elements from the image and translate them on your card - if you want to get super ahead and have the time, try making a batch of the same or similar design so that your stockpile of cards is nicely topped up come December!
  • How many cards you make is totally up to you, but the more the merrier!
  • All prompts past and present for this challenge can be found on my blog via this link and via the 2016 card challenge tag in the tag cloud on my blog.
  • You can share your cards in the dedicated challenge thread here in the UK Scrappers card forum.
  • If you are going to miss the sketch aspect of the challenge, then check out the sketches I pin to my Pinterest board here, hopefully there will be something there to inspire you!
  • What if you don't have time to start now or play along every month? No problem! Just dive in and out of the challenge when you feel like it. Do as much as you want or as little. It's always lovely to have lots of people sharing their makes, but real life doesn't always allow for crafty time as we well know!


Also, a bonus feature of the challenge that I'd love to see you play along with is this:

Show and tell has always been a highlight of any meet-up with my crafty friends in real life.

Back when I started papercrafting I used to hold onto new product that I loved and thought I should best save it for that perfect project. Well more often than not, that perfect project didn't materialise and instead the products that I so loved at the time of purchasing would slowly slip down the love-o-meter rating as newer products came my way.

But that was the old me! Nowadays I look forward to using what is new while it is still fresh and at the top of my "love it!" list!

Rather than usurp old products, new purchases have breathed new life into things I've had for a while, so I would urge you all to enjoy to the max what you have just added to your craft desk, use it while you absolutely love it, share the love and show us why you had to have it!

I got some really lovely crafty treats for Christmas and I am definitely looking forward to putting them to good use very soon! Time and energy are the only limiting factors for me at the moment, but I am striving to do better in 2016!
So, it's onto the prompts for this month!

Pinspiration prompt:
01 - Jan prompt.jpg

Christmas prompt:
01 - Jan Christmas prompt.jpg