Monthly Challenge Round 1!

March Madness is the moniker given to the chaos created by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (college basketball) tournaments that traditionally begins the first week of March. This American tradition sends millons of fans into a synchronized frenzy each year due to the concentrated hype surrounding 69 teams vying for college basketball's biggest prize.

While March Madness is a phenomenon typically reserved for the national sports psyche, Imaginisce designers Melinda Spinks and I (Beth Moore) joined forces this month to create a little of that frenzy right here in the Imaginisce papercrafting world.

March Madness Card Sketch Challenge

Let's see if we can go one better than the college basketball and have 70 entries vying for our biggest prize:

i-top package

valued at $75

or a range of popular collections to the same value

The rules:

Use Melinda's sketch,
and incorporate the following game plan into your completed card using atleast 75% Imaginisce products:

1. Three Patterned Papers

2. Three Colors

3. Three Embellishments

(It's all about three's - well March is the third month)

Upload your completed entry into the Mr Linky at the bottom of this post before March 25th and the winner will be announced on April 1.

Before we send you off to create a little chaos in your own craft space, we thought we'd leave you with a whole lot of inspiration from our design team who joined in on our card challenge frenzy... will you be joining us too?

And don't forget
We're giving away:
The i-rock and accessories

just for leaving  a comment on today's post!

(Winner will be announced on Friday)



Melinda Spinks



Beth Moore




Cari Locken

   


Pinky Hobbs

  

Erin Bassett

  

Heather Leopard

Liz Qualman

Sophia Allison



Rhonda VanGinkel



Cari Locken

February Challenge Winner
Wow, did we have a hard time choosing the February challege winner. It was a such a close race as we had some amazing projects. So please be upstanding and charge your glasses (orange juice of course) as we congratulate...

Becky Thackston
And how could we not share Becky's gorgeous project.
You can also view more photos of this darling floral arrangement and find out the story behind Becky's great find at her blog HERE.

Becky could you please email us at contact.imaginisce@gmail.com with your details so we can send out your prize pack. Congratulations!

Sweet Treats February Challenge

Another month brings with it another challenge, but before we find out what's instore for February we need to announce the winner of the January challenge.
We had such a hard time deciding on just one winning entry as there were so many lovely ideas so we would like to thank everyone for your amazing submissions.

Congratulations goes to:

Dawn Gallop

Dawn created this adorable Wall Hanging using a
recycled tic tac toe board!

Dawn could you please email us with you details so we can send out your prize pack.
Congratulations!

And now we can hand over to Aphra who is hosting the February challenge...

Hi there friends! Welcome to the second design team challenge for 2011. This month we have a sweet photo inspiration for you.

Mmmmm . . . isn't that just divine? So many yummy things to inspire you, right? All you need to do is create a project (using at least 75% of Imaginisce product) that is inspired by the above photo and color combo and then link it up at the bottom of this post by February 25th. We will pick a winner, who will receive a $75 I-Top Package OR a selection of Popular Collections valued at $75. Woo hooo!!!

Now, to help you get started, our designers have created some projects of their own. Just hop along to each of the designers' blogs leaving comments along the way and then come back here and tell us what you thought. One lucky hopper will win a BRAND NEW I-Bond cordless heat gun, which several of our designers used on their projects. You have until Thursday, 3rd Feb to finish the hop.

Here's the order of the hop, just in case you get lost along the way.

Amy Coose

Beth Moore

Cari Locken

Keely Yowler

Melinda Spinks

Michelle Unruh

Cristal "Pinky" Hobbs

Rhonda VanGinkel

Aphra Bolyer

We will announce the winner this Friday along with the introduction of a fun new game we like to call i-spy where members of our design team will be on the hunt for YOUR projects using Imaginisce products. Who will be spied this week?
WILL IT BE YOU?

Winner of Cottage Christmas Card Challenge Announced!!!

Hey everyone!! This is Heather from the Imaginisce design team. Back in July, Lori, our DT coordinator issued a challenge to start on your holiday cards before November. I answered that challenge and gave it again to all of you to get started.

Up for grabs was: an I-rock tool with crystals and glam rocks, exclusive i-rock tote and a Cottage Christmas paper!

Due to all of the other give aways that have been going on here on the Imaginisce blog, we somehow overlooked announcing the winner of the Cottage Christmas card challenge. So, without further delay, we are announcing the winner....Abby from Lincoln, Nebraska. Check out her blog for other great card ideas. I even spied some Cottage Christmas 6x6 card pad patterned papers on some of her cards.

So please email us and put "Cottage Christmas card challenge winner" in the subject line and we will get your goodies to you.

Thanks everyone for playing and it is still not too late to get started on those holiday cards.

So get scrappin'!!

Heather

Spooky Cards to Inspire and a Challenge

Are you ready for Halloween?  Have you purchased your candy (and backups) for the hoards of little Ghosts and Goblins that will descend upon your homes next weekend?  Do you have a costume?  Did you finish making all of your cards? Uh-oooooh....help is on the way.

Aphra, Melinda and I (Liz) have cooked up a little challenge for you with a prize opportunity...of course.  Just create a Halloween card using the creepy recipe above and then link your card to inlinkz in this post by next Monday, November 1st and we will draw for two lucky winners!

Two creative beings will receive BOTH of the following:

an amazing and wonderfully creative i-rock with all the accessories





the entire absolutely adorable Christmas Cottage Collection 

Now how is that for a fabulous prize???  So, run to your craft space and start some creating.  Below are a few ideas from our witchy little coven to help you get the Creative Juices flowing...  See if you can find the theme that we all have in common and let us know in the comments section of this post?

Check out this adorable witch hat card from Aphra Bolyer!  Notice how Aphra used the To Love and Cherish collection and some of the brand new Roly Rosies. Here are some details from Aphra, "I started with the To Love and Cherish collection as a great pattern for my witch hat, then I combined the brighter elements of the Roly Rosies and curled paper along with some stick pins to dress it up a bit.  I also added one of the TLC flowers and an itop brad to dangle in decoration.  Time to cackle in style"

Melinda Spinks made this adorable and batty Halloween card.  She used some of what she had left in her stash from the To Love and Cherish Collection.  Here is what Melinda had to say about her spooky project, "Halloween... not something I know a great deal about living in Australia, however the idea has always fascinated me so I was excited to take up the card challenge. I decided to create some furry little bats using the Imaginisce i-top, large brads and some appropriately ...coloured face washers (clean little bats). Their wings and the tree are made using patterned paper from the Imaginisce 'To Love and Cherish' collection which has to be one of my all time favourites! I kept the rest of the card very simple because I didn't want to draw attention away from the funny little critters hanging from their branch!"

I (Liz Qualman) thought To Love and Cherish made for some really great Halloween ideas.  For this card, I used my Cricut Celebrate with Flourish cartridge to cut the adorable Jack O' Lantern,  then added a little bling with my irock to dress it up a tad.  Pumpkins are one of my favorite parts of Halloween.  The orange patterned paper for this little guy is from the Splash Dance collection and the green patterned paper is from the Live Loud collection.  Isn't it fun how you can use everyday papers and materials to create a Halloween project?

Can you see a theme in common?  Let us know in the comments below.  Also link your Halloween Card to inLinkz for an opportunity to win a prize next week.



Thank you so much for stopping by!

Take the (Cottage) Christmas Card Challenge!!!!

Hello everyone!! This is Heather again from the Imaginisce DT. A couple of months ago Lori, our DT coordinator, issued a challenge to start making your Christmas cards before November. So, for once, I actually did this and not only did I take her challenge, but I managed to get 18 handmade Christmas cards made. And last year, I don’t even remember if I mailed Christmas cards. (I know, shame on me).

So, I am going to share with you how I made mine. And believe me, if I can make cards, then you can. I am not much of a card maker, or a stamper for that matter, and I did both. With a few sheets of cardstock, 6x6 card pad, stamps, and a few punches you can make some cute handmade Christmas cards.

First the supplies I used:

Cottage Christmas 6x6 Card Pad

(3) 12x12 sheets each of (3) different cardstocks (coordinate with patterns in card pad)

(1) 12x12 sheet of white cardstock

(3) Christmas Cottage Snag’em stamps (Snow flakes, Holly Berry, Tree Trim)

Stayzon ink

Acrylic stamping block

Variety of Coloring Markers (I used Copic)

2” & 2 ½” Scalloped Circle Punches

I-rock tool & gems and studs

Adhesive

Foam Adhesive

Optional: Border Punches (3 styles)

Now the assembly:

1) I picked out (2) each of three different patterns of the papers in the 6x6 Cottage Christmas card pad and then picked the coordinating snag’em stamps that went with the patterned papers.

2) Then I selected three different colors of cardstock that would match all three of the patterns. I choose a light blue, Christmas red, and a kraft color. Cut (2) pieces of each 12x12 cardstock into 8 ½” x 5 ½” and then fold in half. You should have 6 of each color.

3) Save the cardstock scraps. You will use them on the cards.

4) Cut 1 ½” strips of the patterns and glue to the center of the cards width wise.

5) Punch out (18) 2” scalloped circles from the white cardstock. Stamp (6) each of the three different stamps. Color in your stamped images. Ink the edges of the scallop circles.

6) Now take the leftover cardstock strips from cutting the cards and use a border punch on them and layer over the patterned paper strip on the front of the card.

7) Decorate your card or stamped image with the i-rock tool, crystals and glam rocks.

8) Use foam tape to adhere the stamped images to the cards.

That is it!!! I used the same pattern, but the cards were all similar.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and get to it!! Take the challenge. Like I said, if I can do it, then you can.

Heather

Imaginisce DT member

So now we would like for you to take part of the challenge. Let us know if you have started your Christmas/Holiday cards for this year. We would love to see them as well. Up for grabs: an I-rock tool with crystals and glam rocks, exclusive i-rock tote and a Cottage Christmas 6x6 Card pad.

What you have to do to enter:
Leave a comment with a link showing us your Christmas cards you've started, or post the image on our Facebook page OR email the image to our blog email address contactimaginiscegmailcom. We'll give you a week (due date 9/20) to show us what you've started and obviously using Imaginisce products always make us happy!!

September SKETCH CHALLENGE by Aida Huron

We are very excited to feature our September Sketch created by Aida Huron. Our design team created some amazing layouts, now lets see what you can do! We would encourage you to submit your layout or card based on the sketch...especially so you can win an awesome prize package and/OR participate in our BLOG HOP today for your chance to win!

 Aida created this fun layout with the Cottage Christmas Collection.

Would you like to win now? Just HOP ON OVER to the following Design Team blogs to see what they did with the sketch. Remember, leave one comment on as many of the blogs (and ours) as you like and you'll have multiple chances to win a prize package of Imaginisce goodies. We'll announce the winner on September 7th. Enjoy!

Aida Huron

Sarah de Guzman

Cari Locken

Kim Holmes

Aphra Bolyer

Tomomi Hiramaru

Erin Bassett

Melinda Spinks

Renata Moni

Pinky Hobbs

Samantha Hauzer 

Cindy Stevens

Lisa Day
Heather Carpenter
Tracy Gardiner
Penny Smith 

Do you like crafting with sketches? And how would you like to win a bunch of Imaginisce products? Try out the sketch for yourself and you could win $75.00+ worth of product (tools and/or paper). Create a card or layout using 75% IMAGINSCE PRODUCTS and Aida's September Sketch for inspiration before SEPTEMBER 25th. 

Post your sketch on your blog or online gallery AND then come back here and list your link via Mr. Linky below. (Please make sure you link to the post with your layout and not just your blog). We will select a winner to be featured on our blog at the end of the month. And of course, that means you could win your choice of the i-top Tool package, i-rock package or a $75 prize Collection package!

Imaginisce's AUGUST Sketch Challenge by Sarah de Guzman

We are very excited to feature our August Sketch created by Sarah de Guzman. Our design team created some amazing layouts, now lets see what you can do! We would encourage you to submit your layout or card based on the sketch...especially so you can win an awesome prize package and/OR participate in our BLOG HOP today for your chance to win! 

Sarah de Guzman's take on her own sketch using the new B-Day Bash Collection:

Would you like to win now? Just HOP ON OVER to the following Design Team blogs to see what they did with the sketch. Remember, leave one comment on as many of the blogs (and ours) as you like and you'll have multiple chances to win a prize package of Imaginisce goodies. We'll announce the winner on August 9th. Enjoy!

Sarah de Guzman

Robyn Schaub

Melinda Spinks

Lori Allred

Tammy Wark

Aida Haron

Renata Moni

Kim Holmes

Cindy Stevens

Shemaine Smith

Penny Smith

Samantha Hauzer 

Liz Qualman

Heather Carpenter

Pinky Hobbs
Cari Locken
Tracy Gardiner 
Tomomi Hiramaru
Akiko Karoki 

Do you like crafting with sketches? And how would you like to win a bunch of Imaginisce products? Try out the sketch for yourself and you could win $75.00 worth of product (tools and/or paper). Create a card or layout using 75% IMAGINSCE PRODUCTS and Sarah's July Sketch for inspiration before August 25th.  

Post your sketch on your blog or online gallery AND then come back here and list your link via Mr. Linky below. (Please make sure you link to the post with your layout and not just your blog). We will select a winner to be featured on our blog at the end of the month. And of course, that means you could win your choice of the i-top Tool package, i-rock package or a $75 prize Collection package!

June Sketch Challenge Winner Announced!!

Congrats goes out to Susan Bourgeois!! Our design team and staff picked Susan's cute layout created from last year's Perfectly Posh Collection. Check out Susan's blog when you have a minute too.

Susan will get to pick between an i-top Tool package , i-rock Tool package OR our new paper collections package...all valued just over $75!! Susan, to claim your prize, simply drop us an email at contactimaginiscegmailcom and let us know your address and which PRIZE package you pick!

Here's a reminder of what the sketch looked like!! Our Kim Holmes created this one.

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner, but our link widget wasn't working right and we didn't think ANYONE entered to the June Sketch Challenge...but we figured out that a WHOLE bunch of very talented ladies entered and we were happy again!

If you'd like to win a great prize package like Susan, check out our July Sketch and enter before July 25th. 

Challenge: April Sketch by Aphra Bolyer

We are NOT FOOLIN' around here...we're excited for another Sketch Challenge. And thank you to all that participated in our sketch challenge last month!! We're excited once again to share with you the newest sketch by Aphra Bolyer. Our design team created some amazing layouts, now lets see what you can do. Also read on to find out how you can get free stuff for being a fan!

Here's Aphra's layout...
Would you like to win now? Just HOP ON OVER to the following Design Team blogs to see what they did with the sketch. Remember, leave one comment on as many of their blogs (and ours) as you like and you'll have multiple chances to win a prize package of Imaginisce goodies. We'll announce the winner for just being a fan by April 5th. Enjoy!

• Aphra Bolyer
• Sarah de Guzman
• Kim Holmes
• Cindy Stevens
• Akiko Kuroki
• Aida Haron
• Samantha Hauzer
• Tracy Gardiner
• Erin Bassett
• Cari Locken
• Melinda Spinks
• Tomomi Hiramaru
• Renata Moni
• Liz Qualman
• Lisa Day
• Heather Carpenter
• Julie Bonner
• Shemaine Smith
• Penny Smith
  

NOW YOU CAN SKETCH TOO....

Do you want to play with this sketch too!! Create a card or layout using 75% IMAGINSCE PRODUCTS and Aphra's sketch for inspiration before April 25th. Post your sketch on your blog or online gallery AND then come back here and list your link below. (Please make sure you link to the post with your layout and not just your blog.) We will select a winner to be featured on our blog at the end of the month. And of course, that means you could win your choice of the i-top Tool package or a $75 prize pack!!

March Sketch Challenge Reminder

Just a reminder that you still have until March 25th to submit your sketch for our March Sketch Challenge. Once you've created one and posted it online, simple return to the original posting about the challenge and add your name to "mr. linky" with a link directly to where we can find your layout. We'll select a winner by the end of the month!! Good luck!

Challenge: March Sketch by Erin Bassett

Welcome back to our monthly "Sketch Challenge". We had so much fun last month with our sketch that we couldn't wait to play with this fun sketch created by Erin Bassett. And we've challenged our entire Design Team to show you what they came up with for this sketch and post to their blogs today!!

So leave a comment here and on Erin Bassett's blog....then HOP ON OVER to the other design team blogs and leave a comment there too...you'll be entered to win an Imaginisce Prize Package (value $50+)....please only one comment per blog, but you can enter 23 times if you leave a comment on each of the blogs today only (and here too)!! The winner will be revealed by the end of the week!!

Love this sketch by Erin!!


Now HOP ON OVER to the following Design Team blogs to see what they did with the sketch. Remember, leave one comment on as many of their blogs (and ours) as you like and you'll have multiple chances to win a prize package of Imaginisce goodies.

1. Erin Bassett
2. Cari Locken
3. Aida Haron
4. Sarah de Guzman
5. Akiko Kuroki
6. Tracy Gardiner
7. Aphra Bolyer
8. Tammy Wark
9. Melinda Spinks
10. Tomomi Hiramaru
11. Robyn Schaub
12. Cristal "Pinky" Hobbs
13. Julie Bonner
14. Renata Moni
15. Shemaine Smith
16. Penny Smith
17. Lisa Day
18. Liz Qualman
19. Heather Carpenter
20. Samantha Hauzer
21. Cindy Stevens
22. Kim Holmes

NOW YOU CAN SKETCH TOO....

Do you want to play with this sketch too!! Create a card or layout using IMAGINSCE PRODUCTS and Erin's sketch for inspiration before March 25th. Post a link to your blog or online gallery below and we'll select a winner to be featured on our blog at the end of the month. And of course, that means you could win your choice of the i-top Tool package or a $75 prize pack

February Sketch Challenge Winner...congrats!

Congratulations to Kim Johnson-Martin!! She won the February fan sketch challenge. It was so hard to narrow it down to the final three, but after the help of our awesome design team and some staff designers, Kim was selected as our layout winner for February. So be sure to jump over to Kim's blog and check out her darling layout up close (especially her fun flowers).

Hey KIM!! We just need you to drop us an email and let us know where to ship your products. Email us at contact@imaginisce.com.

Facebook Challenge

We posted this on our Facebook Page this weekend:

WEEKEND CHALLENGE: Post a photo here on our Facebook page... or your blog (post the link here) OF**YOU HOLDING the i-TOP TOOL** (if you don't have one, then photoshop one onto a picture, borrow a friends or go to the store & take a photo of you holding it). Monday morning we'll post the winner!!

But since we know not all our fans are on Facebook, we thought we'd share some of the pictures we've seen posted so far. There is still time, so if you'd like to play along, simply post your photo online and leave the link in a comment to this post. All entries are due before Monday (2/22) morning.