Good morning crafters.  Wow! Where did the last two weeks disappear to?  We are now half way through our Mega Christmas challenge and we have to say we are stunned by all your gorgeous entries so far.  The theme is “anything goes” and don’t forget you still have until 7th January 2020 to enter our challenge, although there is a maximum of 3 entries per person.

Before we show you the wonderful creations by Team 1 here is a quick reminder of the prizes up for grabs:

Dies to Die For are offering 1 lucky winner a £15.00 gift voucher

Uniko Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 1 stamp set (must be in stock)

Di's Digi Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner a $12.00 gift voucher

Dr Digi's House of Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

Leann’s World 101 are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

Crafty Sentiments Designs are offering 1 lucky winner 3 digi images

Colour of Love digis are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

All Dressed Up stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

WOW amazing prizes – we’re sure you’ll agree!

In the last post two week’s ago we shared team 2’s beautiful creations so this time we are going to share the gorgeous creations from Team 1 (please click on their names to visit their personal blogs):

Julie

Lisa

Marie

Nic

Shelly

Sue

We’re sure you’ll agree that their cards are stunning.

So to re-cap the challenge will run until 7th January 2020 and you can enter a maximum of 3 times.  Please continue to link up your cards with Mr Linky in our original post here.

We can’t wait to see your creations and look forward to visiting your blogs.  We’ll be back in 2 week’s time to launch our new challenge and also to announce all the lucky winners of our amazing prizes.  Don’t forget you have to be in it to win it lol!

Before we go we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year and thank you for all the love and support that you’ve shown us in 2019.  Without you and all of our generous sponsors our little blog would not be the success it is and still going strong after all these years.  We hope you will all continue to support us in the new year.


Crafty hugs,

and all the Passion for Promarkers Team!

Passion for Promarkers - Mega Christmas Challenge...

*** WARNING – LONG POST ***

Grab a cuppa and a biscuit (or two) and make yourself comfortable!

Good morning dear crafters!

This week at Passion for Promarkers,we are launching our very special “Mega Christmas challenge” which runs for a whole month and ends on 7th January 2020!  I’m sure you’ll agree that both design teams have worked extremely hard once again this year and they deserve a little break to catch up on their last minute gifts and cards.  However to make up for the lack of challenges we have some fantastic prizes up for grabs!

Our very simple theme for the Mega Christmas challenge is “anything goes”.  We would like to see absolutely anything for this challenge, no restrictions apart from the obvious one of course!  You are welcome to make Christmas creations but as the challenge will still be running after the ‘BIG’ day you can of course make any type of creation.  As time is precious for our DT at this time of year we are limiting the number of entries you can make to just 3 for this month long challenge.  Please remember to be eligible for our prizes you must use your promarkers, flex markers, tria markers, metallic or aqua markers.  Please can you help us by stating which Letraset products you have used on your creation i.e. ‘coloured with promarkers’ etc.  Thanks x x

So now for the exciting bit – the prizes!

Dies to Die For are offering 1 lucky winner a £15.00 gift voucher

Uniko Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 1 stamp set (must be in stock)

Di's Digi Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner a $12.00 gift voucher

Dr Digi's House of Stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

Leann’s World 101 are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

Crafty Sentiments Designs are offering 1 lucky winner 3 digi images

Colour of Love digis are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

All Dressed Up stamps are offering 1 lucky winner 2 digi images

Wow we are sure you’ll agree our sponsors have been super generous once again this year!

We have asked both design teams to share some inspiration with you but as it such a long challenge we will be posting the inspiration from Team 2 today and then in two week’s time we will be posting inspiration from Team 1. So here are the gorgeous cards from team 2 (please click on their names to visit their personal blogs):

Elaine

Jacky

Karen

Kitty

Linda

Lorraine C.

Nat

We’re sure you’ll agree that their cards are stunning.

So to re-cap the challenge will run until 7th January 2020 and you can enter a maximum of 3 times.  Unfortunately during the Mega Christmas challenge we will not be choosing a top 5 passionista but this will re-commence for the first challenge in 2020.

We cannot wait to see your creations and look forward to visiting your blogs. We’ll be back on 24th December to share Team 1’s gorgeous selection of cards, so don’t forget to stop by for more wonderful inspiration.


Crafty hugs,

(and all of the Passion for Promarkers team)

Passion for Promarkers - Christmas critters...

Good morning, crafty buddies! The festive season is definitely upon us and it's the age old conundrum of when to put the Christmas tree up? In our house, if I put it up too soon, I am itching to take it down on Boxing Day, so I think it will be at least this weekend before I contemplate getting it down from the loft! But as we're all getting in the Christmas mood, it's time for a topical challenge over at Passion for Promarkers!...

The lovely Shelly has set this week's challenge theme of 'Christmas critters'...so whether it's reindeer or penguins, kittens or mice, we'd like to see all of those festive critters...

We're being sponsored by Clearly Besotted Stamps who are kindly offering one lucky winner a £20 voucher to their store...can I play along, please?!...

Don't forget, to be in with a chance of winning this fab prize, you MUST use your Letraset/Winsor & Newton mediums and follow the challenge theme. It also really helps if you can tell us where you've used them, for example, coloured with Promarkers

For my card, I used the ever so sweet Penguin digistamp which is available in my Etsy store HERE...he comes in 3 designs...There's the little Penguin on his own, in his winter hat and scarf (like this one) and the other sees him donning his party hat and balloon, so a Penguin is for life, not just for Christmas! Ha, ha!

I kept my card quite simple (my preferred style these days) and used a panel that was intended for another project - waste not, want not and all that! A touch of glitter card adds to the wintry feel and I added mini pom poms to his hat and scarf. Finishing off, I stamped a simple sentiment and added a few waste stars that had come out of a die cut that were on my table...

Right, off to try and make my house look a little more presentable and do mushroom soup for lunch!
I hope you can play along with our fun challenge this week and wish you all good luck in the draw - definitely a prize worth winning, I'd say!

Crafty hugs,

Passion for Promarkers - Sparkle and Shine...

Good morning, crafty friends! We have a brand new challenge starting today over at Passion for Promarkers and the lovely Nic (aka Coops) has given us a nice, easy theme to follow - 'Sparkle and Shine'...think glitter, gems, mirror card, Glossy Accents and anything else that adds that extra touch of bling!
We're being sponsored by the fun and fabulous Bugaboo Stamps, who are offering one lucky winner a $12 gift voucher to their online store...

Now, for those of you that saw my last DT card, you will probably recognise the image, as the numpty in me managed to use it for the wrong challenge! But all it means is that you get another chance to see the fun 'Reindeer Peeker' image that I got to pick as my freebie to work with...

This time, I decided to go with a cooler colour scheme and coloured my reindeer in grey tones with aqua and blue accents. I added lots of sparkle on the baubles, his antlers and the stripy glitter cardstock that I used, plus a bit of shine on his nose with Glossy Accents. The papers were from my scrap drawers (as I am trying to use some of them up!) and I added a doodled border and black sentiment, to echo the black of the line image. A couple of bauble die cuts with peel off chains to reflect the baubles on his antlers and I was done!

I am really finding it hard to get the motivation to craft for crafting's sake at the moment and find myself just doing what I have to...it always seems to happen at this time of year, plus, now that I am working in the evenings, time is even more precious!

I am still here though (if only on occasion!) and would love it if you could play along with our fun challenge this week...I always love to visit your blogs and see what you create!
Crafty hugs,

Passion for Promarkers - Christmas is coming...

Good afternoon, crafty buddies! Christmas certainly is coming...and at break neck speed too! I can't believe how quickly the days have gone since the end of the Summer and even though fear of wishing the year away, I still can't wait for next March and the clocks going forward!

But it's still Christmas in the crafty world and so our topical challenge at Passion for Promarkers this week, has been set by the lovely Marie who would like to see all of those festive projects...

Now you're getting a sneak peek at an image that I should have used for another upcoming challenge, but in my confusion, managed to make a card using it for this week! I can't believe I was so daft...well, actually...?!!

We're being sponsored by Cowling and Wilcox this week, who are offering one lucky winner a set of 6 Promarker pens (Skin Tones 1)....and it's always good to expand our collection!

I love this quirky reindeer image, bedecked with all his Christmas baubles and thought he needed to take centre stage on a 'not too fussy' composition. The background was embossed with one of my oldest embossing folders, Swiss Dots and I added a few circles to reflect the baubles in the image. I glittered his antlers with brown glitter and gave him a shiny nose with Glossy Accents.

I hope you all have a happy and safe Bonfire Night, then it really will be almost a countdown to Christmas...I hope you can find the time to play along with our fun challenge this week and look forward to seeing what you all create!
Hugs,

Passion for Promarkers - Clean and Simple...

Good morning, crafty friends! It's my turn to do the hosting over at Passion for Promarkers and I would like to see all of your Clean and Simple creations...so put away the froo froo and pare it back! Whether it's single layer cards or a minimal layout, this week, less is definitely more!
We're being sponsored by Di's Digi Stamps, who are offering one lucky winner a $6 voucher to their online store...

Don't forget, to be in with a chance of winning the prize, you must use your Letraset/Winsor & Newton mediums and follow the challenge theme! It also helps if you could let us know where you've used them, for example, coloured with Promarkers...

I picked out one of my own images to create this simple card and coloured with my Pro/Flexmarkers. I doodled a border and added some sprinkles and glitter for a touch of bling...one of the gems looks a bit like a googly eye in the photo, but I promise it isn't...I hadn't been on anything stronger than tea when I made this!?!

Autumn has definitely made an appearance this week, with a real chill to the air, so what better way to keep warm than to be inside crafting? I do hope that you can find the time to play along with my challenge this week and look forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations!
Crafty hugs,

Passion for Promarkers - Autumn Colours...

Good evening and sorry for the late post! I don't know where today went - I turned around and it was time to go to work, then cooking pasta for boys lunches and playing fridge Tetris, as I've been shopping this morning too!
Anyway, I'm here now...which can only mean one thing...yep, that's right! It's time for a brand new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers! The lovely Julie is in the hostess chair and she's given us a topical theme of 'Autumn Colours' - so think of all those lovely red, yellow, orange and brown tones...
We're being sponsored by Uniko Stamps who are offering one lucky winner a choice of stamp set from their online store (must be in stock)...

For my DT card, I used one of my own bear images and coloured him up with my Pro/Flexmarkers. I picked out some Autumn theme papers from my scrap stash and added some doodling to the layers, before framing my bear with a gold stitched frame and simple sentiment. Some die cut leaves anda few sparkly gems finished things off...
I'd love it if you could find the time to play along with our fun challenge this week and look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations!
Right, off to sit for a little while and chill...this working lark is harder than it looks!
Hugs,

Passion for Promarkers - Christmas in September...

Good afternoon, my crafty friends! Just popping in quickly to tell you all about the new challenge that's starting over at Passion for Promarkers...
The lovely Sue is in the hostess chair and she's given us a theme of 'Christmas in September'...they say it's never too early to start your Christmas cards, but I'm still reeling from the fact that Summer only just ended! We are being sponsored by the fun Dr Digi's House of Stamps, who are offering one lucky winner (who follows the challenge theme and uses their Letraset/Winsor & Newton mediums!) the chance to win a choice of 2 digital images from their online store...

We were lucky enough to choose an image to play with and I picked the simple 'Mistletoe' image - which I thought fit with my current favourite style of clean and simple...

This image reminded me of the wonderfully simple style of Digistamp Boutique (whose digistamps I loved!) and I decided to keep everything in green and white tones, apart from the dark brown frame surrounding the image.  The papers were all from my scrap drawers and I highlighted some of the stripes on the plaid with crystal glitter.  Some pearls, a simple sentiment and a little pink bow is all I felt it needed in the way of embellishment and I was done!
I couldn't believe how many Christmas items are already adorning the supermarket shelves when I did my food shop this morning, I mean, even Advent calendars?!! Do they not grasp the concept that they are the countdown to Christmas...I could fit nearly three in before the 1st December!...now there's a thought?! Though it would be better if it were crackers and cheese rather than chocolate!
Right, off to get the tea on before I have to go out to work - it's taking a bit of getting used to, this working lark...especially when it's in the evenings, but it fits around life at the moment and I'm sure I'll feel better once I get my first pay packet!
Hope you can find the time to play along with our festive challenge this week and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!
Crafty hugs,

Frugal crafting...

Good afternoon, crafty friends! Well, this is a rarity for me these days - a post between challenges! I have to admit to having lost my crafty motivation since starting work (just a little job four evenings a week, but it's surprising how much more organised I seem to have to be with my time!) but one of the few things that I am always inspired by is the beautiful floral creations I see, made using the Lady E flower dies!

I have to say that I am quite a frugal crafter (my family would call me tight, but hey...tom-A-to, tomato!), so I like to make my crafty stash work to it's best potential and am always looking for new ways of using my existing stash. I have put myself on a crafty stop, mainly because (since starting work) I am more conscious of all the 'stuff' I have and need to find some sense of tidiness and organisation in my home...a huge task, but feel I have to start somewhere...

Anyway, digressing!...I decided to see if I could replicate some of those stunning flowers with some of the flower dies that I already have and I was rather pleased with the result...

I used a couple of Sweet Dixie die sets, including the Christmas Rose, Stylised Daisy and Delicate Blossoms, plus a couple of foliage dies. I thought I would share a quick tutorial on how I created the Poinsettias and the Sunflowers were created in the same way...

Now I know that this would be so much easier and quicker if I had the Lady E poinsettia dies, but I thoroughly enjoyed the couple of hours I had, altering a plain piece of white pearl paper into these pretty floral creations, so know that my love of crafting hasn't waned - I just need to have a destash and get rid of all the clutter that seems to be filling my head too! Plus, it would be nice to actually use the dining room table for it's intended purpose once in a while!
Right, off to put the kettle on and see what's for tea...hope you like my tutorial and maybe it will inspire you to look at your existing dies in a different way...

Until next time, have a wonderfully wacky Wednesday!