Welcome to October's challenge!!

Good morning to you all, welcome to October's challenge!!  Now you might think that, being autumn and the month of Halloween, that we'd be following a seasonal theme....?  Nope, this month our lovely Doreen is choosing the theme for the challenge and she has decided to open it right up with the fabulous theme of......

Those of you that want to create Halloween pieces can do so, but the theme is completely open. What we want to see is a clear dose of anything that sparkles and shines so metal, foil, glaze, glossy accents, glitter, enamels, lustre paints and shiny finishes, acetate, mirri card, buttons, whatever you can think of that will meet the theme!

We invite all to enter, wherever you are in the world and the winner will receive a £20 shop voucher from our fabulous sponsor, Country View Crafts. Doreen will also be choosing her Top 3 entries and our Special mention award for the one she thinks has shown the most original and creative representation of her theme - all of whom will receive blog badges.  We also invite all of our winners to join us the month after the winners' announcement as guest designers.

For the launch of our challenge, ALL of our wonderful DT Members have created a project to get you thinking and to offer some inspiration. (Normally the line up would be led by our most recent winner but Dagmar cannot join us until later this month so do watch out for her project later on.)  Here is our sparkly line up...

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Doreen

Well this months Challenge has been set by me, and when I think of Sparkle and Shine I think Christmas....Lets face it we only have about 11 weeks left till the big day.

 I have gone for a misty, frosty look for this card. Full details can be seen on my blog here.

Gabrielle

I love our monthly challenges as they really make me think! I don't really do much with sparkle or shine usually so I was really challenged! For my first project this month I made a tag using metallic glaze paint, glossy accents, clear embossing paste and a little distress glitter. I enjoyed it so much I made a Christmassy one! You can see that one on my blog.

Jennie

Having recently purchased (at long last) the Tattered Poinsettia die I was inspired to make this fabulous flower which Tim Holtz showcased on his December 2013 tag. I thought it would make a perfect sparkly centre piece on a Christmas card - my first of the season. There are more details on my blog and a link to Tim's flower tutorial.

Sue D
I'm not prepared to give up on Summer just yet so I'm staying in the garden for my 1st project.

 

We have gilding flakes, and all manner of shiny things, and you can find more details here at Sue The Iron x

Trace

I love all things vintage and the found relative cards make the perfect festive vintage make with a hint of vintage sparkle. For all the details please see my blog here .

Alison

Sparkly shininess is fairly unusual for me, but I had lots of fun playing with Doreen's theme this month.  This first piece is full of gilding, and it also has a satiny ribbon and even some glittery accents!  Come over to Words and Pictures to see all the details.

Astrid

When I saw the theme of the challenge, I was delighted, as I knew this would be the perfect chance to start on my Christmas cards. I kept the card relatively plain without to many embellishments, so it will be easier to post. There is lots of Sparkle on the snowflakes, but it was hard to capture that in the photo. More details of how I put it together, can be found on my blog.

Brenda

Ok so I had great fun with the embossing powder and distress glitters for Doreen's great challenge and it also gave me the chance to a) start my Christmas cards and b) open a new pack of  Tim Holtz stamps. There's plenty of sparkle and shine on this card.

Chris

 I'm busy making Christmas cards to sell for my charities and I also make loads for my friends who don't craft but love to give handmade cards. Seizing the opportunity of this fabulous theme, I've used textured silver mirri card, crystals, glitter, silver gilding wax with some shiny heart-shaped brads just to put the cherry on top! Details of the what and how can be found on My corner of Heaven. Chris xxx

Donna

With Christmas fast approaching and with a them of Sparkle and Shine I just had to create a festive make! So got the glitter, some gilding wax and a few dies to make this Christmas bauble......

 ..more pics and details are on my blog.   Donna xx

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There we have it, a lustrous line-up to get you started. We're hoping to see lots of lovely, sparkling entries as we start the countdown to Christmas. Your makes don't have to be seasonal, you have complete choice of topic, just remember to include something that sparkles and shines! (Before entering, PLEASE read our rules if you're not familiar with them as we would hate to see you disqualify yourself - they are very precise and simple.)

We will be following our usual schedule by posting a new project every other day throughout the month, some from our DTMs and some from our guests, so please do pop back and visit to see what they are sharing with you.  Most of all, have a wonderful month and HAVE FUN - GOOD LUCK! >:o)

Chris and the team xxx