Challenge No 17 - Winner, Top 3, an apology and an announcement

Phew that's a lot for one post.

Better get down to business then.  The winner, as usual, is chosen using Random.org and here it is:

Congratulations, Designeal.  Email me on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll sort out your voucher code.

The top 3 this challenge were

1 - Pinky

5  - Paul

22  - Dragonllew

Congratulations to you all.  Grab our top 3 badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.

Now what's next?  Oh yes, and apology.  Well really I wanted to send a big apology out to all our followers and to my wonderful Design Team because I really haven't been on here very much for the last month (or two) and have lacked motivation.  The design team have kept it all together for me and all our followers have made it worth while.  Thanks so much.  The reason for my lack-lustre approach lately (and here comes the announcement) is that my online shop, Donna's Den of Crafts, has been performing poorly for a very long time and I finally decided to close down.  I really have clung on as long as our pockets would allow and now the whole family has breathed a huge sigh of relief.

On the upside, there is a huge 30% off everything (automatic at the checkout) until the end of September so head over and see if you can grab a bargain.

I'm hoping that by the end of the month, you'll see the old me back again and thanks again for sticking with us.

Challenge No 18 - Long Summer Days

Wow, the weeks are just flying by.  I must apologise for the lateness of our challenge.  I thought I had scheduled it but must have done something wrong as it didn't work.  Here we are at last anyway with a wonderful challenge and a great prize from our sponsor, Phindy's Place.

Our theme is 'Long Summer Days' and we had some beautiful images from Phindy to use.  If you haven't had a look around her shop, go now, you'll love it.  And if you have, you already know how great her images are.  Here's what the girls on the design team came up with,

Patricia

Alison

Sarah

Shirley

Mandy

Kitty

Issy

So how's that for some wonderful inspiration?  Bet you want to know the rules now?  Here they are:

1. The card must be for a man/boy.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. It must be a new card.

The challenge will close at 12 midnight (BST) on the 12th September 2010.  Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Challenge No 16 - Winner, Top 3 and 500 followers!

Well, I'm back from my hols now and getting back into the swing of things.  We had mixed weather but on the nice days, we never moved from the beach.  The kids just loved it.

My holidays are the reason this is a week late, but I'm sure you all understand.  As usual, the winner was chosen using random.org and it was

Kylie!  Congratulations, Kylie, please send me an email at cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll pass it on to Tracy to forward your images.  I'm sure you'll have a fun time with them.  Thanks again to our sponsor, Squiggle Stamps.  If you haven't taken a look, please do, there's some wonderful images and not just for boys.

The top three was really tough this week.  I know I say it's hard every week, and it is, but this week it was exceptionally hard.  Anyway, in no particular order (actually in numerical order, lol), here they are

9 - Sandra

50 - Maya

63 - Zoe (Aus)

Congratulations to you all.  Grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

And finally, woohoo!  I see we've topped 500 followers over the last couple of days.  I can't believe how much this blog has grown and we're not even at our first year yet.  Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us, either by following, sponsoring but especially, joining in.  Let's keep on and get to a 1000.

Challenge No. 17 - Decoupage

I'm scheduling this in advance because I'm on holiday now so hopefully it's all gone to plan and you're able to join in.  Our challenge this time is to use some Decoupage on your cards.  The sponsor this time is

which is me!  Donna's Den of Crafts is a family-run business where we aim to please.  We stock a wide range of  cardmaking and scrapbooking items from Dovecraft, Joanna Sheen, Crafter's Companion, Spellbinders.....to name but a few.  Our prices are reasonable and p&p is only £1.  Most in-stock orders are dispatched next working day.  Why not pop along and take advantage of a 10% discount for the duration of this challenge.  Just enter the code CFM0410 in your shopping basket.

I don't have all the Design Team Samples yet (as I'm writing this early) so I'll leave their links and you can check out the blogs for updates.  Here's some insiration for now, though,

Sarah

Shirley

Mandy

Alison

Donna

Kitty

Issy

Patricia

Kym

Hopefully you found those really useful.  I think they're all wonderful and can't wait to see your creations.  The challenge will close at midnight BST (British Summer Time) on 29th August 2010 and the rules are:

1. The card must be for a man/boy.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. It must be a new card.

Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Challenge No. 15 - winner & Top 3

Last weeks challenge went well, didn't it?  Probably due to having such a fab sponsor, One Stop Card Crafts.  I hope you all got time to have a look at the website because it's well worth it.

As usual, I chose the winner with Random.org

and surprise, surprise it chose number 1!  That's quite unusual (even though it's random).  Congratulations, Suzi, please email me on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll pass your details on to Shelley.

Now onto the top three, which is always a difficult job.  They are (in no particular order),

63 - Sally Atkins 

(two weeks in a row!)

15 - Melissa 75

38 - Vicky

Congratulations to you all.  Grab the top 3 badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge No 16 - Off On An Adventure

Last weeks challenge had a wonderful, 65 entries.  That's great.  I'll be back later with a winner and top 3.

This week's challenge was rescued by the wonderful, Squiggle Stamps, when the scheduled sponsor, unfortunately, had to close shop and I was in a bit of a panic.

Squiggle Stamps carry a unique range of cute, quirky and whimsical stamps designed by a talented team of illustrators. Our images are available as both Rubber and Digital Stamps with new designs added regularly. We are lucky to have a wonderful Design Team and you can see all their fabulous creations and take part in monthly prize challenges on the blog at www.squigglestamps.blogspot.com

Tracy has really come through for us with a wonderful prize of the following five digi stamps:

I'm sure that there'll be loads of you out there who'd like that now.

As the title says, we're 'Off on an adventure' so we want to see wonderful images but equally you could apply the theme to 'Moving Home', 'Leaving work', 'Retirement' or any of life's great adventures.  That should give you something to think about as should these great ideas from our design team.

Kitty

Shirley

Mandy

Issy

Sarah

Alison

Kym

Patricia

Donna

Hopefully that's given you some ideas.  The challenge will close at midnight BST (British Summer Time) on 15th August 2010 and the rules are:

1. The card must be for a man/boy.
2. You need to follow the theme/sketch that is set.
3. It must be a new card.

Leave your name and a direct link to your entry (not just to your blog) below.  If the link tool is not there for some reason then leave the details in the comments and I'll add you in when I'm doing the draw.

Challenge No.14 - Winner & Top 3

I must apologise for the lateness of this post.  I have been extremely busy of late and tiredness has very much caught up with me.  Before I go on, I'd like to thank our sponsor, Prairie Fairy, once again for her fantastic support.  Please pop over to her shop and have a look around.

As usual, I have used Random.org to pick the winner which is,

Susan.  Congratulations, Susan, please take a look around Prairie Fairy's shop and let me have your 5 image choices.  You can email me on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk.

The top 3 was soooooo difficult this time.  I find all Christmas cards appealing and the other 'judges' said it was hard too.

52 - Cindy (Royal Things)

56 - Sally Atkins

71 - Dorte K

Well done to you all.  Please grab the 'Top 3' badge from the sidebar and add it to your own.

Finally, don't forget to have a go at the current challenge where the prize is a £10 gift voucher to spend at One Stop Card Crafts.