October Sketch Challenge Week 2

Here's the first reminder to play along with our sketch challenge this month for a chance to win £20 to spend in store.  You can twist it, flip it, change the shapes to suit - as long as we can see the general starting point for your inspiration was our sketch then you are good to go - just remember to include at least one item from those we sell to be eligible for comments and the prize.

As always the DT have been playing along so we have projects to share with you as the month goes along and here are a couple more to inspire you and they've both taken the sketch underwater....

Anni
using Stamping Bella's Under The Sea Creatures and Lawn Fawn's Happy Birthday Border.

Jill
Using My Favorite Thing's Soak Up The Fun.

You have until 10pm on Wednesday 25th October to play along so link up your entries on our challenge page when you've made them.

September Challenge Week 2 - Spotlight It!

We're back with a reminder and more inspiration to play in our challenge this month and our theme is to spotlight it.  The spotlight technique is an oldie but we think it's still a goodie and there are plenty of ways to interpret it.  Basically you just need to "highlight" one area of your card either through the use of colour whilst the rest is black and white, by using a frame to pick out an area, mats and layers over stamping, or even by creative use of die cuts!  We'd love to see your take on the spotlight technique whether traditional or your modern twist.

If you're still a little confused then hopefully these examples we've brought you as a DT will give you a few ideas of how to take it.

Anni
using Mama Elephant's The Cat's Meow

Jill
I used colour to highlight my die-cut word uisng Altenew's Hennah Elements and My Favourite Thing's Hello There Dienamics.

You've got until 10pm on Sunday 24th September to get your spotlights shining for a chance to win £20 to spend in store.  As always you MUST use at least ONE product from the choice of 8000+ products we have in store.  You can combine with other challenges but we must see that you used our challenge as inspiration to play.

Add your entry via the linky tool on our challenge page

August Challenge Week 2

Here is your first reminder to play along with our colour challenge.  We have a great collection of colours for you to choose from this month for our prize winning challenge.  As always just pick your preferred option and use at least 3 colours from it - NO BACK LINKS - new work only will be accepted.  You can create anything you like and combine with other challenges as long as you use at least one product from the vast arrange within Seven Hills Crafts.  The winning entry will get a £20 voucher to spend in store.

We have a couple more members of our DT with their takes on the challenge

Tara

using Avery Elle's Star Frame, Winnie and Walters Wishing You and Altenew's Halftone Circles
 

Jill

I chose colour selection 3 and used My Favourite Things Scribble Rose Overlay and Hi There Dienamics.

Link up to our challenge page when you're ready to play.  You need a blog post/instagram/flickr page to put your entry on to link it to.  Sorry but direct emailed or facebook posts cannot be accepted - entries must use the link tool provided.   Deadline is 10pm on Sunday 27th August

July Sketch Challenge Week 2

We're here with your first reminder to play along with our sketch challenge this month.  You can interpret it how you like, flip it, rotate it, use it for a page layout or a card or even a piece of artwork.  The shapes can be interpreted too (as you will see from our examples).  We just need to see that you used the sketch as the jumping off point for your inspiration.  As always you must use AT LEAST ONE product from the items we sell in store to be eligible for comments and the chance to win the £20 store voucher prize.

Here are a couple more examples from Anni and Jill to spark your inspiration.  The rest of the team will have more ideas for you next week.

Anni

using My Favorite Things' Soak Up The Fun, Mama Elephant's Ocean Waves Trio and Mini Messages

Jill

using Lawn Fawn's Spring Showers, Blue Skies, Scripty Hello, Stitched Journaling Card and Hello Sunshine, and Hero Arts Rainy Day Bold Prints on my background.

You've got until 10pm on Tuesday 25th July to play along - just link up using the linky tool on our challenge page when ready.  You can play along as many times as you like, and combine with other challenges as long as we can still see our sketch!

June Challenge - Week 2

Have you had a go at our fun challenge this month?  There is a £20 prize up for grabs so its worth getting the creative juices flowing.

The idea is not to see a single die-cut as the "finished" product - take a look at it creatively - if you cut it again with another die - could it be more exciting or give you a different look?  Maybe the word you want to spell out doesn't fit on your card, but if you die cut the next letter into the previous one then it would?

As usual our fabulous DT have some great examples if you're stuck for ideas.  This week Gemma, Jill and Taheerah are sharing theirs.

Gemma
I used a cover die to add pattern to papers, before die-cutting them with a word die.
Using Lil'Inker Quilted Swirl Stitched Pattern die, Mama Elephant Little Dog Agenda, MFT Big Hugs, MFT Label Maker Sentiments, and MFT Watercolour Wash papers.

Jill

Using Paper Smooches Glasses and Paper Smooches Tiny Hearts dies, with a sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Monster Mash.

Taheerah
I used the WPlus9 Starry Background Die to die cut a pattern into my Neat & Tangled Classic Tag 2 die cut. The background die is exactly the right size to fit into the tag die so I was even able to run both dies through in one go! I love the retro colouring of the planets from the Altenew Space Travel stamp set - and the sentiment from Altenew's To The Moon set goes perfectly with them!

Link up to the challenge page when you've finished for a chance to win £20 to spend in store.  Deadline is 10pm on Sunday 25th June.

As always you MUST use at least ONE product from the range we sell in store to be eligible for the prize and for the DT to comment.  Please ensure you list the items you use in your description, particularly if the qualifying item you've used is not obvious. 

May Colour Challenge Week 2

Here's your first reminder to play along in our colour challenge this month - the colours all come from florals with pastel shades.  You don't need to use florals on your project - just at least 3 colours from one of the 3 schemes below. 

As with all our challenges, you must use at least one product from those we sell in store (if it is not the main focus of your card, please make sure you identify it!) and the winner will get a £20 voucher to spend in store!   You can combine with other challenges (5 max) and enter as many times as you like.

Here's a couple more projects from our DT to give you some ideas of how to play.

Anni
using the colours of the middle image and Newton's Nook's Lovable Laundry.

Jill
Using the third option with Lawn Fawn's Fab Flowers and macthing dies and MFT's Stitched Peek-a-boo Window Dienamic.

Remember to link up on our challenge page by 10pm on Friday 26th May.

April Sketch Challenge Week 2

It's challenge reminder time, this month we have a sketch challenge - you are free to interpret it but we need to see that it was the general jumping off point for your inspiration.

You can rotate it to create a landscape card, go square for a scrapbook layout or even pop it in a shadow box to create a piece of art, and even combine with other challenges if you like (5 max), as long as we can see the basic sketch that's fine but don't forget you MUST use product we sell in store to play along (entrants that fail in this basic rule will not be commented on, will not win and may even be deleted)

We have more DT projects to inspire you this week

Anni

Using: Stamping Bella's Sleepy Bunny and Mama Elephant's Mini Messages and Mini Tags

Jill

Using: Wplus9's Enveloper Birthday, and Enveloper OK.

You have until 10pm on Sunday 23rd April to play along - just link up on the challenge page when you're ready

March Theme Challenge Week 2

We've got a fun theme for you this month - we're playing tic-tac-toe!   Just pick a line across the grid below, either vertical, horizontal or diagonal and get creative!   So for example you could create a bright purple watercoloured elephant if you used the top horizontal, or say a big HELLO with bold patterned paper if you pick a diagonal.

As with all our challenges it is important that you use at least one product from the almost 7000 we sell and also that the project you make is inspired by the challenge so links to previously made projects will be rejected.  Qualifying entries will be eligible for our monthly prize which from this month on will be £20!

 

We have a couple more fabulous inspirational entries from our Design Team this week in case you need a kickstart!  They've both gone for a diagonal with animals, big words and die cutting.

Jill

Selected the diagonal line with Animal, Big Words/Letter, & Die-cutting.

Using Wplus9's 'Friends For All Season: Fall', and Lawn Fawn's 'Quinn's abc's: Lower Case'.

Anni

Selected the diagonal line with Animal, Big Words/Letter, & Die-cutting, too.

Using a lot of products by Lawn Fawn: Stamp sets: Elphie Selfie, Plan On It: Birthday and the die called Scripty Happy.

You have until 10pm on Sunday 26th March to play along.

Link up to our challenges page when you're ready to play

February Challenge - Week 2

Our challenge this month is a colour challenge and this month I've gone with my personal "go to schemes"   As I'm sure you've guessed - teals and turquoise feature in lots of my makes along with lime greens (just like the logo) but one of my favourite options for card making is greys and yellows so hopefully you will find something that you can work with too.

You must use at least 3 shades from one of the options above AND use at least one product from the range we sell in store to be eligible for the £15 prize.  New projects only - no back linking.

Here's the inspiring projects this week from our fabulous DT

Anni

I totally love the colors of the image on the right and used the stamp sets Friends For All Seasons - Winter by W Plus 9, So Happy by Avery Elle for the sentiment and the dies set Meadow Border by Lawn Fawn.

Jill
I went for the first option and used Neat and Tangled's Parquet stencil, Sugar Pea Designs Celebrate die, and Lawn Fawn's Speech Bubble Border.

Lydia
I went for the last colour combo, as it's watercolour it soften the colours down but I still think it fits in ;). I used Mama Elephant 'Organic Blooms' for the images coloured with Zig Clean Colour Pens and Altenew 'Label Love' for the sentiment.

You have until 10pm on Saturday 25th February to play along this month.  Link up to the challenges page here

January 2017 Challenge Week 2

Good morning - if you've come to the blog expecting my usual Sunday morning post with a news update, then bear with me, I'm running behind this week so have switched things around and swapped with this post that should have been this afternoon so I'll be back in a few hours with my weekly post.

For now we have your first reminder to play along with our sketch challenge using the simple sketch below.  We have noticed a few cards in the gallery which were made BEFORE we set the challenge and that do not follow the sketch - these will be discounted as we do need to see you used the sketch as your inspiration point - we work hard to bring you these challenges so let's play fair folks!

Here are a couple more of the cards our wonderful Design Team created using the sketch as their inspiration.

Anni

using the super cute bear from Reverse Confetti's Bearing Gifts, My Favorite Things' Happy Birthday die and the sentiment from Reverse Confetti's Whole Lotta Happy

Jill
Using Echo Park's Hearts Stencil, Paper Smooches Love Word Die, Lawn Fawn's Heart Dies, and Mama Elephant's Happy Everything.

When you have your project completed, jump over to our challenge page and link it up but do make sure you've followed the rules!   (no linking previous posts, follow the sketch and make sure you use at least one product from the range we sell in store)

November Challenge Week 2

Here's your first reminder to play along in our final challenge this year!

This month our challenge is Christmas related - we'd like you to be inspired by your favourite Christmas song, Christmas movie or Chistmas Carol to create your project this month.  That's a pretty wide scope to go with so we hope you'll have lots of fun with it like we have!   Just remember you MUST USE AT LEAST ONE PRODUCT FROM THOSE WE SELL IN STORE TO ENTER.

Here's how the DT were inspired

Jill

inspired by 'We Three Kings of Orient Are', because when I was little, I LOVED singing the part when it kicks in to 'Oh, star of wonder, star of might; Star with royal beauty bright'!

using Wplus9's Starry Background Die, and Mama Elephant's Shooting Star.

Julia

inspired by "Silent Night". It's my favorite Christmas song of all times (my favorite movie is the remake of "Miracle on 34th Street"), but when I thought of "Silent Night", I knew immediately that the Concord & 9th stamp set Holy Night, paired with Christmas Cottage and Mama Elephant's All Prettied Up were a perfect match.

As we're not running a challenge in December we're giving you an extra week to play in this on so the challenge will close at 10pm on 30th November.  Link up your entries to the challenge page.

October Challenge Week 2

It's your first reminder to play along in our tone on tone colour challenge this month.

Pick at least 3 shades from one of the 3 options above and then get your stash out!  Remember you must use products we sell to be considered for the prize.

Here's some more DT projects to spark your creativity.

Jill
I chose option 3, and used Lawn Fawn's Monster Mash in my halloween inspired card.

Julia
I chose option 1 (I LOVE purple) using Wplus9 Summer Blooms, Sunshine Layers, and Handlettered Hello

[Note from Tara - the first colours are actually shades of grey, but you can use purples too!  As long as the card is all tones of purple]

The deadline is 10pm on Tuesday 25th October so you have plenty of time to play and you can play as often as you like and combine us with other challenges where it fits.  Link up your project to the Challenge Page when you're ready.

September Sketch Challenge Week 2

It's reminder time for our challenge and this month we have a fabulous fun sketch for you to play with!

You can choose to interpret the sketch in any way you like, as long as we see that it was the jumping point for your inspiration.  You can rotate it, make a card, a scrapbook or anything you like.  You must however use at least one product we sell in Seven Hills Crafts to be eligible to receive comments and for the chance to win the £15 prize.

Here's the DT with some ideas to get you going.

Jill
Using Paper Smooches Best Buds, Mama Elephant Woodland Gifts, Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Pens and Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles.

Julia
using MFT Distress Patterns, ME All Prettied Up & PS Fun and Flirty

The deadline is 10pm on Sunday 25th September   Link up to our challenge page when you're ready to play. 

August Challenge Week 2 Reminder

Here we are with a reminder for our challenge and this month we have a theme for you inspired by a window display I spotted on a recent trip to Liverpool.

So our theme this month is GEOMETRY - its time to start playing with pattern - you can stamp it, die cut it, emboss it, score it or even draw it with a ruler - we just want to see some geometric pattern on your project somewhere.  Don't forget though - you have to use at least one product from Seven Hill's Crafts to be eligible for the £15 prize.  With over 5500 items to choose from we don't think this is too hard a rule!   Entrants that don't follow this rule may be deleted.

Here's more inspiration from our DT to get your creative juices flowing.

Jill

using Hero Arts Two Ways Arrow Stencil and Mama Elephant's Spring Garden.

Julia

using HA Two Ways Stencil, Concord & 9th Wildflowers and Sophisticated Script.

You can link up your project on our dedicated Challenge Page once you're ready to play.  The deadline is 10pm on Friday 26th August.   So get your geometry thinking caps and and get busy!

July Challenge Week 2

It's reminder time for this months fruity colour challenge.  You don't have to use fruit in your project - although you can if you like - you just have to use a minimum of 3 colours from one of the 3 options and YOU MUST USE PRODUCTS WE SELL IN STORE somewhere on the card.   Don't forget if you don't use at least one product we sell (and you have over 5000 to choose from!) then your entry will not be eligible for the prize and the Design Team won't visit you.

Here is some more fabulous inspiration from our Design Team:

Julia

using the second color scheme (Apple) and products: Neat & Tangled "Dala Horse" and My Favorite Things "Hello There"

Jill

using the third colour scheme (oranges & cinnamon), and Concord & 9th's Eat Cake & Celebrate.

So, pick your fruit and get creating - you can win £15 if you do and you have until 10 pm on Sunday 24th July to play along.  Link up your finished project on our challenges page.

June Sketch Challenge Week 2

We have a sketch for you to play with this month.   You can flip it, rotate it, make a picture, a card, a scrapbook page - anything you like as long as we see the sketch was the jumping off point for your make.   You must also use at least one item we sell in store to be eligible for the £15 prize.

Here are some more makes from the DT to kick start your inspiration

Julia (CASEing Sandy Allnock)

using MFT Out of This World, MFT Blueprints 20, ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers, and white embossing powder

Jill

using Lawn Fawn's Chirpy Chirp Chirp stamp set and Cheers die.

You have until 10pm on Sunday 26th June to play along and link up your makes on our challenge page when you're done.