Wednesday, September 28, 2022

The Card Concept #180 {Travel Abroad} or {Stay At Home}- There's Still Time!

  Just a reminder that you still have a few days left to play along with us for the        

                      #180 {Travel Abroad or Stay At Home} Challenge!




Our gallery link will be open until  

Monday, October 3rd at noon (EST)!  
Click HERE to play along!

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

The Card Concept #180 {Travel Abroad} or {Stay At Home}

               Welcome to The Card Concept !

For those of you who are new to our challenge, every two weeks we will post our inspiration photo challenge and hope that you will join us by creating a card for our challenge gallery.  

We are starting something new this year- the second challenge of every month, we are posting two challenge photos!  You can choose whichever photo you prefer, or you could create two separate cards, one for each photo!    

We hope this new option will be one that you enjoy as much as we do- our Designers will let you know which one they decided as well. 

Remember, an inspiration photo is exactly that- a starting point for inspiration. Will it be the colors, the overall theme, the texture, the actual items and/or something else that will inspire your card? 





Choose a design style (or combine styles), create a card, and in your blog post, let us know what inspired you from the photo, what style and/or styles you chose and don't forget to display our inspiration photo and link back to our challenge :-)

At the end of the challenge, our Design Team will choose one Main Winner and at least three Honorable Mentions.  We will announce the winners here on our challenge blog, as well as our Facebook page and our new Pinterest board.  

Again, as we mentioned above, please feel free to use any of the styles we have defined or create your own with a combination of styles.  We want you to have fun with our inspiration!

So come and join us!  We'd love for you to try your hand at a brand new style of card making or feel free to work in your comfort zone.  It is totally up to you!

In case you missed the link above, the styles are explained HERE.

Now for our Design Team's inspiration: 

Esther's Inspiration: I was inspired by the travel theme and 
elements in the second inspiration photo (flowers, clock, globe, 
and postcards) to create this Mixed Media card. 


Kerry's Inspiration: The inspiration for my Mixed Media card 
was one of my favourite overseas destinations.


Julie's Inspiration: I was inspired by the Travel Abroad photo, 
the color dots and the Paris picture in the top right corner.  
I decided to pull out a few of my older stamps and create a 
Clean and Layered Mixed Media card!



Michele's Inspiration: I was inspired by Travel Abroad - Africa! 
I haven't visited Africa yet, but I certainly love the wildlife 
and the adventure! I made a Mixed Media card.


Karen's Inspiration: I was inspired by the colors from 
the first photo and the stamp like images 
for my Clean and Layered card.


Karen's Inspiration: I am very much a HOME body, so I
was inspired by the idea of being close to home
when I created this Clean and Layered Card.

Jenny's Inspiration: I was inspired by the Globe and
 Vintage style of the 2nd photo to create a 
Clean and Layered/ Freestyle Collage Card.

Nancy's Inspiration: The globe and colors of the inspiration 
photo. The style? A bit of vintage, a bit of Freestyle Collage 
combined with layering. Layered Vintage Freestyle Collage?


Mackie is taking a break for this challenge and 
will be back soon!  


Kim will be taking an extended break and
 will be back with us as soon as she can!


Betty's Inspiration: I was inspired by the first inspiration photo.  
I chose one of the pictures in the grid to create my 
Clean and Layered Styled card!

The Card Concept Guidelines:

1.  Use the challenge inspiration photo to create a card- no back linking.

2.  Use one of the challenge styles to create a card (or if you prefer, combine a few styles).

3.  Explain in a post which style or combination of styles you used and what inspired you from our photo. 
 
4.  Link your post using the linky tool (please link to the actual post on your blog and not just your blog) and please display our inspiration photo in your blog post.  

5. We do not mind if you combine our challenge with others, but please do not combine ours with another inspiration challenge.  
 
6.  Please try to comment on the cards ahead of you and behind you in the gallery.  Everyone loves comments!


The deadline to participate will be  
Monday, October 3rd at 12:00 pm EST.

We look forward to seeing your artwork in our gallery!
---------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to be included in our entries for possible Winner or Honorable Mention, please make sure you include our inspiration photo in your blog post, and, if possible, explain how you were inspired by our challenge.  Also, please make sure that we are the only inspiration challenge and direct link to our challenge site.  
Thanks again for playing along with us!

Winners #179 {Change of Seasons}

 Happy Wednesday!  

Julie, here with the Winners and Honorable Mentions for our

   #179 {Change of Seasons} Challenge!

Thank you for playing along with our first challenge in the fall! We know how busy the back to school season can be and we were thrilled that you joined us!   

Our Design Team has voted and our Main Winner is

 



     And our three Honorable Mentions ...



 listed in order that they appeared in our gallery...

Entry #1- Samantha P
(link above is to her Instagram post- IG does not allow us to
 post the photo- sorry for the blurred image, this is copied from 
the thumbnail for her entry #1 in The Card Concept gallery). 



                            Entry #3- Arlene R.



                  Entry #10- Deborah Wheeler



                 
Congratulations to all of our winners!!
We hope that you will take the time to visit each of the Winner/HM 
blogs to see how they created their cards, and, if you have time, leave a comment and show them some "love" :-) 

Just a reminder, this year we will be highlighting our winners and honorable mentions on our Facebook page as well as on our Pinterest board.  

Stop back at 8 am EST to check out our new challenge- we have a surprise for you!

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

The Card Concept #179 {Change of Seasons}- There's Still Time!

 Just a reminder that you still have a few days left to play along with us for the        

                      #179 {Change of Seasons} Challenge!




Our gallery link will be open until  
Monday, September 19th at noon (EST)!  
Click HERE to play along!

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

The Card Concept #179 {Change of Seasons}

            Welcome to The Card Concept !

For those of you who are new to our challenge, every two weeks we will post our inspiration photo challenge and hope that you will join us by creating a card for our challenge gallery.  

This year we will be changing up things a bit in our mid-month challenge, we will have two inspiration photos versus one! We will have more details in our next challenge regarding the two options, we hope you will play along!


Just a reminder, an inspiration photo is exactly that- a starting point for inspiration. Will it be the colors, the overall theme, the texture, the actual items and/or something else that will inspire your card? 




Choose a design style (or combine styles), create a card, and in your blog post, let us know what inspired you from the photo, what style and/or styles you chose and don't forget to display our inspiration photo and link back to our challenge :-)

At the end of the challenge, our Design Team will choose one Main Winner and at least three Honorable Mentions.  We will announce the winners here on our challenge blog, as well as our Facebook page and our new Pinterest board.  

Again, as we mentioned above, please feel free to use any of the styles we have defined or create your own with a combination of styles.  We want you to have fun with our inspiration!

So come and join us!  We'd love for you to try your hand at a brand new style of card making or feel free to work in your comfort zone.  It is totally up to you!

In case you missed the link above, the styles are explained HERE.

Now for our Design Team's inspiration: 

         Esther's Inspiration:  I was inspired by the butterfly 
and flower when I created my Mixed Media card.


                     Kerry's Inspiration: 
Here in Australia we're emerging 
from the cold winter months so I've used fresh spring 
colours on my Shabby and Vintage/Mixed Media card 
inspired by that gorgeous swallowtail butterfly. 


Julie's Inspiration: I was inspired by the beautiful
 butterfly and colors for my Clean and Layered/
Mixed Media card!


Michele's Inspiration: I used the inspiration from the 
sharp yellow and black colors in the butterfly for my 
super Clean and Simple style card!


Karen's Inspiration: I was inspired by the 
beautiful butterfly and the colors for my 
Clean and Simple card today.


Karen's Inspiration: I was inspired by the butterfly &
the beautiful colors when creating my Mixed
Media/Layered Card,


Jenny Martin
Jenny's Inspiration: I chose to use the colours from the
 'out of focus' background to make a Clean and Layered/
Mixed Media Card.

Nancy's Inspiration: The butterfly, but also the grey 
background inspired my Elegant and Layered card.





Mackie's Inspiration: I was inspired to create my 
Clean and Layered Style card by the colors 
and the big bold butterfly.



Kim's Inspiration:  I was inspired by the big detailed butterfly
 and by the muted and misty background that made that 
butterfly pop for my Clean and Layered card!




Betty's Inspiration: I was inspired by the background, 
theme, and colors.  I created a Mixed Media styled card.


The Card Concept Guidelines:

1.  Use the challenge inspiration photo to create a card- no back linking.

2.  Use one of the challenge styles to create a card (or if you prefer, combine a few styles).

3.  Explain in a post which style or combination of styles you used and what inspired you from our photo. 
 
4.  Link your post using the linky tool (please link to the actual post on your blog and not just your blog) and please display our inspiration photo in your blog post.  

5. We do not mind if you combine our challenge with others, but please do not combine ours with another inspiration challenge.  
 
6.  Please try to comment on the cards ahead of you and behind you in the gallery.  Everyone loves comments!


The deadline to participate will be  
Monday,  September 19th at 12:00 pm EST.

We look forward to seeing your artwork in our gallery!
---------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to be included in our entries for possible Winner or Honorable Mention, please make sure you include our inspiration photo in your blog post, and, if possible, explain how you were inspired by our challenge.  And remember, we do not mind if you combine our challenge with others, but please do not combine ours with another inspiration challenge.   
Thanks again for playing along with us!


Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Introducing our Fall/Winter 2022 Design Team!

                     Welcome Back to The Card Concept!  

  We hope all of you had a fabulous summer holiday and we will be back with our new fall/winter challenges starting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7th at 8 am EST.

In the meantime, please help us say goodbye to one of our beloved teammates and a welcome to our new and returning Design Team members!

We are sad to announce that LeAnne Pugliese will be stepping down from our Design Team to spend with family and we fully understand.  Being part of a Design Team can be rewarding but it does take time - we wish LeAnne all the best and will miss her! Hugs and love, LeAnne!


Now, please welcome our Fall 2022 Design Team 

(returning members and one new member, Jenny Martin):




Hello, my name is Esther, and I live in the beautiful state of Virginia with my husband and daughter. My mom encouraged me to take up cardmaking in 2005, and I've been hooked ever since. I’ve made some wonderful friends through this hobby, and love that I can use my creations to brighten someone’s day with a bit of handmade kindness in their mailbox! It's a pleasure to be a part of The Card Concept team. 

Hi, I'm Kerry Bunting from Melbourne, Australia. I have two gorgeous adult daughters and began my crafting journey when they were young and I discovered scrapbooking, then from there progressed to card making. My style has evolved over the years from primarily clean and layered to experimenting with shabby chic, clean and simple, and dabbling more and more into mixed media. I currently work from home, so have plenty of opportunities to slip into my craft room and lose myself in creating. It's a pleasure to be part of The Card Concept design team. 

Hi Everyone!  I’m Julie- I live in Maryland with my sweet almost 18 yr old "fur-baby", Victoria. My beloved hubby of 39+ years passed away this past spring from a glioblastoma and now that I am a widow, I have less time to create cards.  I still love creating and designing when I can :-)  I have been artistic all of my life and in addition to  creating cards, I love sewing, painting and recently, creating vintage junk journals!  Since I enjoy experimenting with different styles and mediums, my overall style tends to be a bit eclectic. Hopefully I will inspire you to create a card and join us!
Hi! My name is Michele. My husband and I, along with our feline fur babies live here in tropical Florida where we love the beautiful beaches and the year-round golf! When I'm not crafting, I am a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant. I love working with layers of paper and color and am thrilled to be a part of The Card Concept!

                                                           Karen Ksenzakovic
Hello stampers!  My name is Karen Ksenzakovic and I am so excited to be a part of this creative team.  I live in central New Jersey with my husband of 34 years, 2 adult children and my 4-month-old puppy.  I have a soccer coach son and a daughter who is in college for Forensic Chemistry.  I've worked in accounting for over 38 years and also work for a Dog Bakery Boutique for the past 5 years.  I love to cook & bake, and I've always done some kind of crafting. I've sewed, crocheted, knitted, cross stitched and have been doing paper crafting for over 16yrs when I was introduced to Stampin' Up!  I decided to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator 4 years ago and love it.  I love designing all styles of cards from clean and simple to collage and I've also done some scrap booking.  I love layering and especially love water coloring and coloring with alcohol markers.

Hey there, crafty friends!  I'm Karen Letchworth of My Cup Runneth Over.  I've been crafting most of my life...cross stitch, scrapbooking, card-making and now even doing fun arts & crafts projects with my (3) beautiful grandbabies.  I'm a retired, married (37+ yrs), wife and mother (3 grown kids) who spends the vast majority of my free-time either in my craft room or in front of the tv watching my favorite shows.  I'm excited to be part of The Card Concept Design Team, and I hope that some of my cards/designs will inspire you.

Our new Design Team member, 

Hi there! My name is Jenny and I’m from Melbourne Australia. I began sporadically card-making 25 years ago, but many years later, when I discovered the wonderful online community and challenges, I became hooked!  Do I have have a style? I think it changes constantly. I guess you would call it ‘Clean and Layered’ these days. However, as a Designer for The Card Concept, I look forward challenging myself to try new styles.


Hi! I'm Nancy Penir, and I'm overjoyed to be joining one of my favorite challenges, The Card Concept! Married, mom of 5, and grandmother of 11 darlings; 6 boys, 5 girls. I'd like to say my life's slowed down with an empty nest, but I've filled it with crafting! I love making cards, sewing, keeping up the garden, (we live on 2 1/2 acres), raising chickens, and watching it all grow! I've found the most wonderful community of talent and kindness through all of you. Nurturing our connection is my passion! Style? Making layers and patterns all work on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" canvas!


Hello! My name is Mackie Robertson! I live in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina.  I have been married over 40 years. We have a grown son and lovely daughter-in-law. I am a retired Dental Hygienist. I went to my first Stampin' Up party several years ago and I have been inky ever since! I love ALL styles of stamping...from CAS to Mixed Media.  I started my blog to share my creations, and to hopefully inspire others to join this wonderful art form! Happy Stamping!


Hello! My name is Kim Singdahlsen and I live in Colorado with my husband and two cats. We have two college-aged sons - one is nearby, the other far away.  I fill my weekdays as an accountant for my local town government and weekends enjoying our Colorado mountains. Living in a household of men and spending my days with numbers and spreadsheets, is it any wonder that I love the world of cardmaking?! I am most comfortable in the Clean and Layered style - a fresh look but not necessarily simple!

Hello, I am Betty. I am thrilled to design for The Card Concept Challenge. Inspiration Challenges are my favorite.  I live in North Carolina with my husband, Greg, and our two cats. I am a high school English teacher. I have two children. My daughter Erica is a nurse, and my son Dawson is in college. I feel I have always done some sort of crafting since I was a kid. However, I really started paper crafting when I was a stay at home mom. I started scrapbooking our memories which led to cardmaking.

We are looking forward to inspiring you to join us for our new 
Fall/Winter 2022 Challenges! 

We are changing up things a bit this year, so stop back tomorrow to check out our new challenge and the details at 8 am EST !!