Holiday Thank You ~ MM; NBUS #22; OLW #148; PPA #163 and My Challenge Process

Happy Monday, Mid-July!

 

And here I am already writing my Christmas thank you notes!  Whah?! 

 

That's because it's what this week's terrific hostess Cheryl wants us to do for One-Layer Wednesday.  Oh, was that confusing spelled out that way?  We crafters do love our acronyms and I've only added to the pile of them!  I meant to say OLW, which means you are to make a OLC (one-layer card).  Because it's a OLC, it's usually CAS (clean and simple), sometimes it's QACAS (quick and clean and simple), sometimes it's made with NBUS (never-before-used schtuff), and always it contains TLC.  Got it? 

 

How clearly I can remember when I first stuck my nose into the Intertube just a year and a half ago, I didn't think I'd ever learn what all the initials stood for!  If you're new, just hang in there, you'll soon be speaking Cardese like a pro!

 

So, back to my card, Cheryl has given me my theme.

 

For colors, I'm playing with Pals Paper Arts.  I haven't visited there for a while and it's fun to join in again!  The current challenge is cherry cobbler, midnight muse, and very vanilla colors.  You don't know whether to craft with them or make a pie for Rhonda Vue.

 

Since my theme is Christmas-related, and the month-long challenge at Merry Monday is "Anything Goes," I'm linking up there again.  This challenge runs until August 4th, if you want to join in!  There are already a ton of entries so it's going to be your go-to place for holiday card inspirations!!

 

Here is my card:

 

Pretty straight-forward.  As a matter of fact, the whole darn card is made from NBUS!  I say that like you should be impressed, even though I only used a total of three stamps.  It takes very little to make me becited about NBUS!!

 

~~~

 

For Challenge Newbies:

 

A few friends have asked lately how I get one card to fit so many challenges.  Actually, there are many card artists out there who are pros at linking up with challenges. I don't consider myself one because I really prefer to stick to around three.  Still, I thought I might say a few lot of words about my process. 

 

I started out entering challenges timidly, like anyone does.  Over the course of a few months, I found my "style" to be clean and simple ~ oops, I mean CAS, and so I kept my eyes open for those types of challenges.  In the last year, there has been an increase in CAS challenges, much to my delight. 

 

You prolly like CAS, too, if you're here, but whatever your style, you will find challenges to enter!  So over time, I settled in and got to know many of the challenges and what they're about, whether it be color, sketch, or theme.  Some challenges I try to enter every week, others are more hit-and-miss.

 

My card idea is sometimes self-igniting or it is launched by a desire to use a particular image or die or NBUS.  At those times, I then take a look at a few of my favorite color and sketch and theme challenges to very quickly see if anything "clicks."  (You can find a list of my go-to challenges at the top of my home page on the tab called "Challenge Badges.")

 

Other times, I'll run across a color, sketch, or theme challenge while visiting another blog and that will spark my interest.  At those times, I then think about what image or die or paper I have that will work with the challenge. 

 

Because I'm a "it-never-hurts-to-ask/look/try" type of person, once I have the idea and a challenge, I'll also quickly check a few other challenges, just in case I can create one card and nail two bushes, to pair a phrase.  It's truly a crap shoot, so it's a fun surprise when the challenges seem to be quietly in sync with each other on any given day and I hit a jackpot!  That's rare and okay with me because I like to lay out the challenges in my posts for the owners and Design Teams who go to a lot of effort to put them together, so my posts get overly long if I link up with a lot of them.  You will see blogs with 10, 15, 30 challenge hookups and I have no clue how they do that! 

 

It may sound like a lot of work, however, since I'm not into making anything about my hobby even remotely hint at being work, I don't find it to be.  It does take a bit of time, clicking in and out of the challenges, but again, over time you will get quite adept at it. 

 

I hope that made sense.  If you ever have any questions or need help with a link or whatever, please just ask in a comment or email.

I was coming back to edit this and I see that Suze already mentioned them in her comment.  There is an extremely useful website called Paper Playful (Used to Be Feline Playful) that lists dozens of challenges of all types.  It is a great jumping off point to start you on your challenge journey or for even seasoned carders to refer to for what's happening out in the world of challenges.  The wonderful ladies who own the site work extremely hard to put this site together.  I thank them for the up-to-the-minute information they give to us for free!

 

~~~

Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  LITS*!

 

Thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment and/or join as a follower! 

 

*Life Is Too Short!  

Paper:  SU! very vanilla
Stamps (NBUS):  ornament from "Summer,"
  Technique Tuesday; "holiday" from PTI #2436,
  "Think Big Favorites #9; "thank you" from PTI
  "Cupcake Collection"
Ink:  SU! cherry cobbler and midnight muse
  Sakura "clear star" gel pen