CHNC challenge 200: if you want to get ahead get a hat!

Can you believe that we have reached challenge 200 - by the end of this year this challenge blog will have been running for four years ... and it's thanks to all of you wonderful crafters who take the time to share your festive creativity here. I am truly blessed to have so many people who regularly contribute their entries and it's always so encouraging to welcome new people too. And, of course, I am so grateful to the sponsors who so generously give prizes.

Please note that I publish the prize winners here and on our facebook page, but don't notify winners individually - it is up to you all to check to see if you have won and email me as requested. There are one or two unclaimed prizes, so it's worth having a look back to see if you were a winner.

Before I get on to today's challenge, I need to let you know the winners of challenge 199:

The first winner: 

Number 36: Marie Bingaman, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Marie. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your free seat at any of the Craft Classes Online workshops with a regular price of $25 or less.

The second winner:

Number 46: Lalkygirl (Tracey), who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Tracey. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive the  CD-rom of your choice from Ooh la la Creations.

The third winner:

Number 50: Billie A,who shared this lovely tag:

Congratulations, Billie. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 5 digital images from Eureka Stamps.

Now on to:

Challenge 200

For today's challenge the theme is 'if you want to get ahead get a hat!' - your Christmas creation must feature a head (person, animal, fairy, angel, snowman) ... with or without a hat!

The first sponsor is Flonz craft:

Flonz craft is a New Zealand based company who are offering a $20 voucher to spend in their online store - and they will generously send to anywhere in the world with free p & p.They have an amazing range of stamps - the winner certainly will have fun choosing, including some lovely Christmas ones that you could then use for a future challenge.

The second sponsor is Whoopsi Daisy:

'Whoopsi Daisy Digi Stamps features all hand drawn images by the amazing Linnie and specialises in cute images of children. Whoopsi Daisy offers a great deal for your money. Take a look at the Whoopsi Daisy shop where you are certain to find awesome images which will fit all your creative needs.'

The randomly chosen winner will receive their choice of two sheets from Linnie's Whoopsi Daisy shop.

The third sponsor  is Crafty Sentiments:

'We are a small family fun online company that offers crafters fun and whimsical unmounted rubber stamps, digital stamps as well as cutting dies all from our very own exclusive range. Perfect for your cards and scrapbooks! Our stamps are made from deep etched grey rubber and our cutting dies are made from good quality metal from the USA and UK. We also stock essential craft products for your scrapbooking and card making needs.'

The prize for the randomly chosen winner will receive three digis of their choice.

Please visit the websites of these generous sponsors and support them -

you will be spoiled for choice!

For my card I used Whoopsi Daisy's sheet 380 snowman (Whoopsi Daisy is one of this week's sponsors)  - you can read more about it here on My Crafty Outlook:

And I made this card for the Glory of Christmas challenge 45 and just had to show it here as this naughty hedggie is running away with Santa's hat, using the lovely Penny Black 'chill day' stamp - more info on My Crafty Outlook here (and we would also love you to join in our Glory of Christmas challenge 45 with your Christmas creations featuring St Nicholas/Santa/Father Christmas.

Now it's over to you. As usual, you can use any materials, any techniques - and this week the theme is 'if you want to get ahead get a hat!' - your Christmas creation must feature a head (person, animal, fairy, angel, snowman) ... with or without a hat!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge - please add a link to your blog post (not your blog, but the actual post where your card can be found) by 22:00 UK time 31 October Friday . Please include a link to this blogpost within the post for your creation.

You can enter as many times as you wish  and also link to any other challenges that allow you to do so, but new work only, please.

A new challenge will be set on Saturday 1 November when there will be three chances to win a prize, thanks to generous sponsors.

Please add your link to inlinkz. If by any chance it disappears, please leave a comment with the link to your blog post and I will make sure it is added.

If you haven't done so already, please become a follower and grab my bright pink button to post on your sidebar and help continue to spread the word about this challenge blog - thank you. Also it would be great if you would consider becoming a follower - lovely to welcome recent new followers and 'likers' on facebook.

Please also consider going to CHNC Facebook page and clicking 'like' if you haven't done so already and encourage your friends to do the same. We now have 302 'likes' , but there's plenty of room for more! I always show at least one of my cards for the next challenge in advance and it's a good place to catch up with any news, winners etc.

Don't forget

Don't forget that 'anything goes' monthly challenges are on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra blog - you can share any Christmas card you make throughout the whole month, including those that you link here - there is no restriction on the number of entries you can make throughout the month - the link for CHNC challenge extra for October is here.

At the beginning of the year I started up a new challenge called Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - anything goes as long as you cover your card with patterned paper - a randomly chosen prize winner every month. Please click on the link to find out more. If you have used patterned paper to cover your card blank for your Christmas card, why not enter it there too. And please be aware that the new Patterned Paper Challenge is not restricted to Christmas - it is for any occasions.

Thank you for your support

I look forward to seeing your entries

An InLinkz Link-up

CHNC challenge 199: Use something forgotten or never used

I certainly enjoyed seeing all the round things incorporated into your Christmas creations during this past week. It is now getting to the serious season for making Christmas cards - even those who always think it's too early to start thinking about making them are beginning to do just that ... so I hope to see some new folk joining in this week as well as lots of 'regulars' who, like me, make their Christmas cards throughout the year.

Please note that I publish the prize winners here and on our facebook page, but don't notify winners individually - it is up to you all to check to see if you have won and email me as requested. There are one or two unclaimed prizes, so it's worth having a look back to see if you were a winner.

Before I get on to today's challenge, I need to let you know the winners of challenge 198, when there were four opportunities to win a prize:

The first winner: 

Number 52: Elizabeth W, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Elizabeth. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your £10 to spend in the Dawn till dusk crafts website

The second winner:

Number 32: Brenda's Card Corner, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Brenda. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your $21 of digital stamps from Bugaboo Stamps.

The third winner:

Number 7: Buschcreations (Penny),who shared this lovely tag:

Congratulations, . Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your $25 gift certificate from CAS-ual Fridays.

The fourth winner:

Number 53: Jose,, who shared this lovely tag:

Congratulations, Jose. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 3 images from Digital Paper Craft.

Now on to:

Challenge 199

For today's challenge I'd like you to make a Christmas card using something that has been forgotten or never used - even a technique that you haven't used for a long time or a new one ... please have a look further down for more ideas.

The first sponsor is Craft Classes Online (replacing My Creative Classroom):

'Craft Classes Online (CCO) brings multiple Creative Arts Instructors together on one site to provide students with the best choice in online craft workshops. Classes are advertised on the CCO website, but are paid for and held on individual instructor's blog/website. This enable instructors to have more freedom and flexibility in their independent businesses. 

Our instructors offer online workshops that are engaging, affordable, and time-saving. Students from across the globe can learn any number of techniques andcreative projects from the comfort of their own home and on their schedule.

In September we will relaunch our blog, My Creative Life 2014, where we issue challenges to help us use all of our craft supplies during the year.'

Craft Classes Online will offer the randomly chosen winner a free seat to any of their online workshops that are on the CCO website with a regular price of $25 or less. The winner will have until the end of this year to claim their prize.

The second sponsor is Ooh la la Creations:

A randomly chosen winner will be able to choose a CD-rom of their choice - and there are so many wonderful ones to choose from.

The third sponsor is Eureka Stamps:

Finally, The Stamps You've been Looking for! Eureka stamps offers a large variety of images and sentiments in many different categories for all of your stamping needs. Our Paper Sculpting stamps add an extra dimension to your creations. Or, Mix and match our Balloons and Balloon Holders to celebrate every occasion. Our Stamps are available as unmounted, deep etched, natural red rubber stamps OR as digital stamps. If Eureka Stamps aren't exactly what you are looking for, Don't miss out on the sister companies: QKR Stampede, Biblical Impressions Rubber Stamps, or the newest addition; Alluring Impressions.

The randomly chosen winner will receive 5 digital images of their choice from Eureka Stamps.

Please visit the websites of these generous sponsors and support them -

you will be spoiled for choice!

For my card I used a lovely Stampotique image by Maryse Carrier called 'Christmas tree tile' - I confess I've had this for quite a long while and this is the first time it's been inked - you can read more about it here on My Crafty Outlook:

This picture taken this morning without flash is a bit better:

Here's another card that you can read about here on My Crafty Outlook, using a reindeer stamp that I bought long ago that's not been inked before and a small round stamp, one of a set of six, that I bought very recently and have used for the first time:

Now it's over to you. As usual, you can use any materials, any techniques - and this week I'd like you to use something that you've had for a long time, but not used. Perhaps you have a stamp that has never been inked or one that you haven't used in a while or perhaps some papers that you've been keeping to use at some point in the future ... well, now is the time! Perhaps you have some bits that you've saved from cards received that you could recycle, but have never got round to doing so, or magazine freebies. It could even be a technique that you haven't used for a while or perhaps a new one that you would like to try out. I'm sure, as usual, you can come up with ideas ... please let me know in your blogpost what it is that you have used.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge - please add a link to your blog post (not your blog, but the actual post where your card can be found) by 22:00 UK time 24 October Friday . Please include a link to this blogpost within the post for your creation.

You can enter as many times as you wish  and also link to any other challenges that allow you to do so, but new work only, please.

A new challenge will be set on Saturday 25 October when there will be three chances to win a prize, thanks to generous sponsors.

Please add your link to inlinkz. If by any chance it disappears, please leave a comment with the link to your blog post and I will make sure it is added.

If you haven't done so already, please become a follower and grab my bright pink button to post on your sidebar and help continue to spread the word about this challenge blog - thank you. Also it would be great if you would consider becoming a follower - lovely to welcome recent new followers and 'likers' on facebook.

Please also consider going to CHNC Facebook page and clicking 'like' if you haven't done so already and encourage your friends to do the same. We now have 297 'likes' - it would be great to get that up to 300 and beyond. I always show at least one of my cards for the next challenge in advance and it's a good place to catch up with any news, winners etc.

Don't forget

Don't forget that 'anything goes' monthly challenges are on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra blog - you can share any Christmas card you make throughout the whole month, including those that you link here - there is no restriction on the number of entries you can make throughout the month - the link for CHNC challenge extra for October is here.

At the beginning of the year I started up a new challenge called Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - anything goes as long as you cover your card with patterned paper - a randomly chosen prize winner every month. Please click on the link to find out more. If you have used patterned paper to cover your card blank for your Christmas card, why not enter it there too. And please be aware that the new Patterned Paper Challenge is not restricted to Christmas - it is for any occasions.

Thank you for your support

I look forward to seeing your entries

An InLinkz Link-up

CHNC challenge 198: something round

I am delighted to see so many joining in the challenges - thank you so much for your support and encouraging comments.

Please note that I publish the prize winners here and on our facebook page, but don't notify winners individually - it is up to you all to check to see if you have won and email me as requested. There are one or two unclaimed prizes, so it's worth having a look back to see if you were a winner.

Before I get on to today's challenge, I need to let you know the winners of challenge 197, when there were three opportunities to win a prize:

The first winner: 

Number 8: DebiB, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Debi. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your £20 of goods from Craftybren's Embroidered Embellishments

The second winner:

Number 21: Aartje, who shared this lovely creation:

Congratulations, Aartje. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 3 digital stamps from Robyn'sFetish Digital Stamps And More. Please note that DIGITAL PAPERS are not included in the prize.

The third winner:

Number 67: Melissa SunshineHoneyBee, who shared this lovely tag:

Congratulations, Melissa. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 5 digital images from from QKR Stampede.

Now on to:

Challenge 198

For today's challenge I'd like you to make a Christmas card using something round - it doesn't have to be a shaped card (unless you want it to be) as long as there is something round on your creation - circles, dots, spots, brads, buttons ... I'm sure you get the idea!

This week there are four sponsors, so more chance to win a prize!

The first sponsor  is Dawn till dusk crafts:

The randomly chosen winner will receive £10 to spend in the Dawn till dusk crafts website.

The second sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps:

Bugaboo Stamps are proud to sponsor this challenge:

Everything That You Ever Wanted to Know About Bugaboo Stamps: A Short Essay

As if raising five children in the frozen land of the North was not enough of a challenge, Jodie Mackrell decided to dip her cold little Canadian toes into the world of papercrafting by opening an online store full of her illustrations. That was two years ago. Today Bugaboo Stamps is one of the leading companies in digital images, and we're still growing! From seriously snarky to sugary sweet to sublimely soulful all the way over to the other side of the super sexy spectrum, you're bound to find all that you need and more to create your paper projects. Jodie works very hard to provide New Releases and Freebies every week!

If your taste runs to rubber (and you know who you are), you can find Bugaboo Stamps at Totally Stampalicious. And finally, join the Bugaboo Stamps DT for weekly challenges at Catch the Bug.

Bugaboo Stamps are offering $21 of digital stamps to the randomly chosen winner.

The third sponsor is CAS-ual Fridays:

'CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is a small company with big ideas located in beautiful Colorado. All the stamps are proudly made in the USA from the finest clear photopolymer. They love ink and stamp like a dream! While the stamps are created with Clean And Simple design in mind (hence the CAS in our name) they will absolutely delight any stamper's style. Whether you are a CAS enthusiast, or lover of all things layer-licious, you will have a blast getting inky with them. New stamps are released nearly every month, and the Girl Fridays provide continuous inspiration, and tips, for your oohing and aahing pleasure. Be sure to follow along on our store blog so you don't miss a thing!'

The randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 gift certificate:

The fourth sponsor is Digital Paper Craft:

'Digital Paper Craft is your source of Digital Clipart, Scrapbook Supplies, Digital Stamps, Scrapbook Kits and Graphic Design. All images, papers, etc. created by gifted artist Siobhan and can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DigitalPaperCraft?ref=si_shop.

The randomly chosen winner will receive 3 images of their choice.

Please visit the websites of these generous sponsors and support them -

you will be spoiled for choice!

My card was created using my Scan n Cut with four layers of the image, Bugaboo Stamps winter circle sentiments - chimney, kindly supplied by one of the sponsors - you can read more about it here on My Crafty Outlook:

Now it's over to you. As usual, you can use any materials, any techniques - and this week I'd like you to include something round.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge - please add a link to your blog post (not your blog, but the actual post where your card can be found) by 22:00 UK time 17 October Friday . Please include a link to this blogpost within the post for your creation.

You can enter as many times as you wish  and also link to any other challenges that allow you to do so, but new work only, please.

A new challenge will be set on Saturday 18 October when there will be three chances to win a prize, thanks to generous sponsors.

Please add your link to inlinkz. If by any chance it disappears, please leave a comment with the link to your blog post and I will make sure it is added.

If you haven't done so already, please become a follower and grab my bright pink button to post on your sidebar and help continue to spread the word about this challenge blog - thank you. Also it would be great if you would consider becoming a follower - lovely to welcome recent new followers and 'likers' on facebook.

Please also consider going to CHNC Facebook page and clicking 'like' if you haven't done so already and encourage your friends to do the same. We now have 297 'likes' - it would be great to get that up to 300 and beyond. I always show at least one of my cards for the next challenge in advance and it's a good place to catch up with any news, winners etc.

Don't forget

Don't forget that 'anything goes' monthly challenges are on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra blog - you can share any Christmas card you make throughout the whole month, including those that you link here - there is no restriction on the number of entries you can make throughout the month - the link for CHNC challenge extra for October is here.

At the beginning of the year I started up a new challenge called Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - anything goes as long as you cover your card with patterned paper - a randomly chosen prize winner every month. Please click on the link to find out more. If you have used patterned paper to cover your card blank for your Christmas card, why not enter it there too. And please be aware that the new Patterned Paper Challenge is not restricted to Christmas - it is for any occasions.

Thank you for your support

I look forward to seeing your entries

An InLinkz Link-up

CHNC challenge 197: something beginning with P

You really did rock the colours for your entries for last week's CHNC challenge 196 - thank you so much. Lovely to see 'regulars' still getting on with their Christmas creations, but good to see new folk joining in as well.

Please note that I publish the prize winners here and on our facebook page, but don't notify winners individually - it is up to you all to check to see if you have won and email me as requested. There are one or two unclaimed prizes, so it's worth having a look back to see if you were a winner.

Before I get on to today's challenge, I need to let you know the winners of challenge 196, when there were four opportunities to win a prize:

The first winner: 

Number 9: Lisa, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Lisa. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 4 digital images from Delicious Doodles.

The second winner:

Number 46: coldwaters2, who shared this lovely creation:

Congratulations, Lorraine. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your £10 voucher from Live & Love Crafts.

The third winner:

Number 69: Irena, who shared this lovely card:

Congratulations, Irena. Please email me at hazelharris@ntlworld.com so I can arrange for you to receive your 3 digis from Crafty Sentiments.

Now on to:

Challenge 197

For today's challenge I'd like you to make a Christmas card or any other creation that features something beginning with P - if you're stuck for ideas, you could always include some Patterned Paper

The first sponsor  is Craftybren's Embroidered Embellishments:

'Hi my name is Bren, I have been crafting since the year dot. I like to have a few different things on the go at once, knitting, sewing, paper crafting etc, just so I can swap and change around a bit.
I made a few cards with my machine embroidery on, and was asked if I made embroidery to sell, that is how Craftybrens was born. Hope you like what you see.'

The randomly chosen winner will receive £20 of goods from Craftybren's Embroidered Embellishments - please note that if the winner lives outside the UK he/she will be expected to pay for the P & P.

The second sponsor is Robyn'sFetish Digital Stamps And More:

'Robyn'sFetish Digital Stamps And More, a division of I Did It Creations, was created and is owned by Robyn Weinrib. Robyn offers a wonderful variety of digital stamps and digital papers, designed to meet the needs of all digital paper crafting addicts for every occasion.'

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is happy to award the randomly chosen winner the choice of 3 digital stamps. These will be stamps that the winner chooses. Please note that DIGITAL PAPERS are not included in the prize.

The third sponsor is QKR Stampede:

'Do you have a sense of humor? Are you looking for a cute stamp? Then, we are the company for you! QKR Stampede is the somewhat cute somewhat quirky rubber and digital stamp company. We showcase the artwork of Ken Herrod, who had a unique, somewhat quirky style with lots of humor and character. You are sure to get a chuckle out of our stamps! We have been offering our unique stamps and supplies to the craft industry for over 15 years. At QKR Stampede our images are available as un-mounted, natural red rubber stamps OR as digital stamps! If QKR Stampede Stamps aren't exactly what you are looking for, don’t miss out on the sister companies: Eureka Stamps, Biblical Impressions Rubber Stamps, or the newest addition; Alluring Impressions.'

The randomly chosen winner will receive five digital images of their choice from QKR Stampede.

Please visit the websites of these generous sponsors and support them -

you will be spoiled for choice!

I'm pleased that Crafty Bren, one of our sponsors, is joining me once again as a guest designer today with her lovely card -  you can read more about it here on Brenda's blog.

I've made two cards. The first one features penguins, using the Penny Black 'caroling penguins' stamp - you can read more about it here on My Crafty Outlook:

My second card features a polar bear and a penguin carrying a present - so that's three things beginning with P on this card - more about it here:

Now it's over to you. As usual, you can use any materials, any techniques - and this week I'd like you to include something beginning with P.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge - please add a link to your blog post (not your blog, but the actual post where your card can be found) by 22:00 UK time 10 October Friday . Please include a link to this blogpost within the post for your creation.

You can enter as many times as you wish  and also link to any other challenges that allow you to do so, but new work only, please.

A new challenge will be set on Saturday 11 October when there will be three chances to win a prize, thanks to generous sponsors.

Please add your link to inlinkz. If by any chance it disappears, please leave a comment with the link to your blog post and I will make sure it is added.

If you haven't done so already, please become a follower and grab my bright pink button to post on your sidebar and help continue to spread the word about this challenge blog - thank you. Also it would be great if you would consider becoming a follower - lovely to welcome recent new followers and 'likers' on facebook.

Please also consider going to CHNC Facebook page and clicking 'like' if you haven't done so already and encourage your friends to do the same. I always show at least one of my cards for the next challenge in advance and it's a good place to catch up with any news, winners etc.

Don't forget

Don't forget that 'anything goes' monthly challenges are on my Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra blog - you can share any Christmas card you make throughout the whole month, including those that you link here - there is no restriction on the number of entries you can make throughout the month - the link for CHNC challenge extra for October is here.

At the beginning of the year I started up a new challenge called Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - anything goes as long as you cover your card with patterned paper - a randomly chosen prize winner every month. Please click on the link to find out more. If you have used patterned paper to cover your card blank for your Christmas card, why not enter it there too. And please be aware that the new Patterned Paper Challenge is not restricted to Christmas - it is for any occasions.

Thank you for your support

I look forward to seeing your entries

An InLinkz Link-up