Monday, December 29, 2008

January Holiday Challenge #1

Didja notice how the day after Christmas - and I'm talkin' like 12:01 am on the 26th - people started to make Valentine's Day cards?! I know, I know, it's the next 'big' holiday after Christmas, and one to surely require cards to be made, but ... I started to think, which is always a dangerous state for me... so what about poor old January? It's like January does not even exist! So I started to research if there were any worthy holidays in January, and you know what?! There ARE!!! Yeppers, and quite a few. Okay, they are kindof obsure, but still - I think they demand our attention.

Also, I was totally out of ideas for cards for my January workshops, so I was on the hunt. But don't tell anyone.

Also also, I have a pretty-much nekked 2009 calendar just crying for decorating, and I flat-out refuse to make February pink, so I started thinking some more, and guess what? I came up with A NEW CHALLENGE! Yep, I surely did. Maybe if this takes hold, I will increase my readership from 3 (maybe 4) loyal readers up to, oh, I dunno, dare I hope for 6 by the end of the year? It is a lofty goal, I know, but a girl's gotta dream.

So here's the challenge: I'll find an obscure (or maybe just non-mainstream) holiday that I think needs to be loved (I'll try my darndest to find one for which I can make a card), and I'll challenge ALL OF YOU to do the same! I cannot promise a weekly challenge, but I think twice per month is a noble goal, don't you agree? Yeah, the first* and third Monday's of each month, I'll post a new Holiday and you will have 2 weeks to make a card for that holiday. Can you tell I am making this up as I go? No, really, I have thought about it, I just have not written it down until now. No prizes, unless I actually start cleaning The Other Room and find some stuff I'd like to be rid of. You just never know.

So let us begin! Holiday Challenge #1 is: Penguin Awareness Day (Jan 20th). I was looking for this one specifically since I think penguins are cute, and January is still cold in most Northern Hemisphere locales, and one of my customers loooooves everything penguin, and I needed a card for January's workshops, and I also found this VERY cool turorial on how to make penguins out of SU punches. What else could I do? So here's my entry to celebrate Penguin Awareness Day:

Aren't they cute little guys? Or maybe gals (how could you tell?) I used some Frosty Day papers for the punched hats and scarves, I followed the instructions for the rest of the penguins except I used the 5-petal punch for their noses instead of the punch used in the instructions I linked to above. The base card is Bashful Blue, and the snow is torn pieces of Whisper White, edged with the 2-way glue pen and some Dazzling Diamonds. To finish it off, I used the white gen pen to make not only their eyes, but also little dots for snowflakes on the blue background. VERY easy, and I think it will be a hit with The Ladies in January. And if I change it just a little (read: lose the buttons on their hats) it would be 100% SU, and therefore legal for my workshops. I still have 2 weeks to get it right.

So if you'd like to play along, just post your Penguin card somewhere and add a comment here with a link so we can see what you did! And if you can help me think up a clever name for this challenge of mine, I might just slip you a little something from The Other Room. ;-)

*Yeah, I know, it is not Jan 5th yet, but by then I will be panic-y trying to get ready for my workshops, so just this once, pretend it is the first Monday in January, K? Thanks!

5 comments:

  1. Well who doesnt love a penguin??????????????

    These are adorable!!

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  2. Oh, no! An assignment? Okay, this sounds like fun. I don't know if I have anything with penguins; I may have to follow your tutorial.

    I felt odd about posting my Valentine's Day cards so early. I wanted to post warm wishes and more snowmen, but they were on my table begging to be cleaned up.

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  3. This is an excellent idea. I've been wondering how I'm going to keep my mojo going after Hanukkah and all the winter birthday cards. I have no penguins yet but there is a sale at Rubbernecker until tomorrow so I might have to get one of the little guys....

    By the way, did you know there is a National Ferris Wheel Day in February? That's definitely a holiday!

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  4. Oooh! I love a challenge and I have the cutest little penguin for you.

    http://stampingwithbrenda.blogspot.com/2009/01/penguin-awareness-day.html

    Of course, your penguins are cute too!

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I'd love to hear what you really think! :-)

PS: I've had to disable Anonymous comments, because the spammers were killing me. If you are unable to comment, please email me your comment and I'll get it posted for you. Sorry. (stoopid spammers)