The Card Concept #199 {Country Style}

            Welcome to The Card Concept !

We are changing things up a bit for 2023-2024 and we will now offer a monthly challenge (vs. bi-weekly)!

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

If you would like to join us on Instagram, please follow us at our new IG acct-  @thecardconceptchallenges2.  

Also, if you post on social media, please tag @thecardconceptchallenges2 and use the hashtag #tccxxx (xxx=challenge # for ex: this challenge would be #tcc199.

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.  

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 the photo, what style and/or styles you chose and don't forget to display our inspiration photo and link back to our challenge :-)

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 Asbury

Esther's Inspiration: I was inspired by the theme to create 

these matching Mixed Media cards.

Kerry Parkinson

Kerry's Inspiration: My Mixed Media card was inspired by 

the theme, flowers and gingham.

Julie Gearinger

Julie's Inspiration: My Shabby and Vintage/Mixed Media 

card was inspired by the sunflowers in the wreath. 

Michele K. Henderson

Michele's card is on the way!

Karen Ksenzakovic

Karen's Inspiration: I was inspired by the sunflowers in 

the photo and the black Gingham and red ribbons 

for my Clean and Layered card

Karen Letchworth

Karen's Inspiration: My Shabby Chic Farm card was

inspired by the barn image, rooster, gingham ribbon,

and the overall color scheme and farmhouse feel.

Jenny Martin

Jenny will be back with us for next month's challenge!

Mackie Robertson

Mackie's Inspiration: I was inspired by the rooster and 

the farm theme to create my Clean and Elegant Style card.

Betty Wright

Betty's Inspiration: I was inspired by the sunflowers, 

background, and welcome sentiment. 

I created a Clean and Simple styled card. 

The deadline to participate will be  

Monday, October 9th at 12:00 pm EDT.

We look forward to seeing your artwork in our gallery!

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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!

Introducing Our Fall/Winter 2023 Design Team!

             Welcome Back to The Card Concept!  

  We hope all of you had a wonderful summer holiday and we will be back with our new fall/winter challenge starting next Wednesday, September 13th at 8 am EST.

In the meantime, please help us say goodbye to one of our beloved teammates and a warm welcome to our returning Design Team members along with a major change!

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

Also, our big change- this coming year, we will be changing our challenge to a monthly challenge versus bi-weekly.  We hope this change will be helpful for all!  

Now, please welcome our Fall 2023 Design Team 

Esther Asbury

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. 

Julie Gearinger

Hi Everyone!  I’m Julie- I live in Maryland and am a fairly recent widow plus my last beloved kitty passed away this year.  A lot of changes on the home front and I seem to have less time to create cards but I still love designing when I can!  I have been artistic all of my life, and in addition to creating cards, I enjoying sewing/quilting, drawing/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!

 Michele K. Henderson

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 16 yrs 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.

Karen Letchworth 

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.

Jenny Martin

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.

Kerry Parkinson

Hi, I'm Kerry from Melbourne, Australia. I have two gorgeous adult daughters and a very new and adorable grandson. My crafting journey began when my girls 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 for another year. 

Mackie Robertson

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!

Betty Wright

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 monthly  

Fall/Winter 2023 Challenge! 

We are changing up things a bit this year, so stop back next Wednesday, September 13th at 8 am EST to check out our new challenge !!