Challenge No. 25 and our Anniversary Blog Hop

So here I am, scheduling our first ever blog hop.  I'm very nervous and keeping everything crossed that there are no hiccups.  This is a first time for quite a few of us (including me) although, I've taken part in a few hops to know the basics.

First of all, I want to say a huge thankyou to all the participants of our last challenge (over 160 at the time of posting).  We've had tons of entries for the last few months and it really feels like we're making a successful go at this blogging lark.

There's a lot to get through this week so please bear with me and such a long post.  Our challenge this week has a Christmas Theme.  We're actually going to have two categories, Card or Gift, and you can enter either one or both.  The prizes will be:

For the Card Category

A £15 gift voucher from One Stop Card Crafts

At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount card making and cardmaking craft supplies.  We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.  Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage* and our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.  Our prices are very competitive and this makes us an ideal place to buy your cardmaking supplies online.

For the Gift Category

A set of 12 Promarkers from Letraset

ProMarkers are made by Letraset and are a twin tipped, dye based alcohol marker offering a high quality product at a great price. Avilable in 148 colours, they give incredible tonal range and can be applied to a diverse range of materials, not just paper and card. ProMarkers produce vivid, bright colours right through to the subtlest pastel shades - the translucent inks can also be overlaid and blended, even further extending the range of shades and hues on offer. ProMarker's quality nibs and inks provide flawless colour lay down with consistent coverage and no unsightly streaking.

Two wonderful prizes there, I'm sure you'll agree.  Our Design Team have been busy making cards and gifts to give you some inspiration and here's what they've come up with:

Kitty

Shirley

Alison

Sarah

Mandy

Patricia

Viv

Donna

Amy

Aren't they fab?  The usual rules apply:

1. Your card/gift must be suitable for a man/boy

2. It must be new for the challenge

3. It must follow the theme set.

Both challenges will close at midnight (GMT) on 19 December 2010 and winners will be chosen at Random on the 20th.  Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tools are not there for some reason, then please leave details in the comments and I'll add you in before I do the draw.

Now for our second event, the anniversary blog hop.  As I said we've not done this before, so fingers crossed all goes to plan.  The hop has 10 stops and at each stop you'll get a word (or two in some cases).  when you have finished you should have 11 words which can be re-arranged to make a festive phrase.  You'll need to come back to this post and leave your phrase in the comments.  I've turned the review function back on for this challenge so your comments wont be visible until the end of the hop.  I'd like it if you can post about us on your own blog but it's not a requirement for entry, just a request.

The full list of stops are here, so if at any point you get lost or you find a broken link, come back here and check it out.

Stop 1 - Donna - http://donnasdenofcrafts.blogspot.com
Stop 2 - Alison - http://handmadebytillymint.blogspot.com
Stop 3 - Amy - http://amyscraft.blogspot.com
Stop 4 - Kitty - http://kittyskrafty.blogspot.com
Stop 5 - Kym - http://nanaskeepsakes.blogspot.com
Stop 6 - Mandy - http://craftyfoxcards.blogspot.com
Stop 7 - Patricia - http://rubberstampingismygame.blogspot.com
Stop 8 - Sarah - http://rainmacsplace.blogspot.com
Stop 9 - Viv - http://craftinghaven.blogspot.com
Stop 10 - Shirley - http://nannieflash.blogspot.com

At the end of the hop we'll choose a random winner who will get a Dovecraft Gift set from my leftover stock.  You may remember I closed my shop in September.  I have lots of surplus stock and you can find some of it listed at very reasonable prices here.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but it contains more than £40 worth of cardmaking goodies.

Along the way, you'll find each stop has a candy to give away.  Leave a comment at each stop to be in with a chance of winning their prize.  We originally had 11 stops but one of our girls has had a major meltdown with her internet and had to drop out.  We rejiggled everything, but I'm left with one candy prize to give away.  It's a digi image from Squiggle Stamps:

I think the fairest thing to do would be to have a random draw of all our followers and send someone an extra xmas present.  I'll do that at the same time as all the other draws on the 20 December 2010.

I have to say that, my mind is starting to go now.  It's very late but I think I've covered everything.  Good luck and we hope you enjoy our blog hop.  Finally, a big thankyou to all our sponsors throughout the year.  We wouldn't be here without you.