The Card Creations Week Challenge Winners!

I suppose I was asking for trouble when I extended the deadline for our Card Creations Week Challenges, as the number of astounding entries just continued to grow and grow. And believe you me, after looking at all 806 entries, it has been sheer torture narrowing it down to the final 10. In fact, it was so difficult, I've also linked to three additional cards in each category for your viewing pleasure. And though my shoulder continues to improve, I didn't leave comments this time because it's really all I can do just to post each day. Thanks so much for your understanding.

And now, may I have a drum roll, please?

Here are the winners of our most popular challenge, the Gingham Challenge:

The Road Goes Ever On Card by Nina Yang

Moxie Fab Alert: I absolutely adore the concept and execution of this card. The idea of using gingham to represent a trendy landscape is super clever, and the scale of the road sign and the car to said landscape is just perfect. The sentiment is so incredibly encouraging, and is a perfect compliment to the squiggle in the road sign which implies that life always throws us curves. And the font Nina chose? Another perfect detail that caused this card to rise to the top of the pile.

Hoot & Holla Card by Jinny Newlin

Moxie Fab Alert: This card is so fun and funky I can hardly stand it. I moxie love the gingham fabric ruffle Jinny has stitched to the card, reminding me of a country curtain or tablecloth. I especially love that she took a risk and paired it with the bold damask on the wood grain background paper, giving it a mixxy-matchy sophistication that is simply delightful. And once again, check out the movement in the design. Your eye first lands on the rooster whose beak takes you up to the button where the ribbon takes your eye to the right of the card where it's picked up by the fence post which takes it down to the sentiment where it's swept up by the gingham ruffle which takes you straight back to the rooster. Now that's some great flow in design!

Other gingham noteworthies you'll want to "check" out include Clare, Jingle, and Michele Gross.

I was utterly blown away by the number of you brave Moxie Fabbers who tackled the Spatter Challenge, and I delighted in the many engaging diatribes that explored the nature of the word "spatter" versus "splatter." Hilarious! Though each word works, to me "splatter" has more of a negative connotation, so I chose the word "spatter" for the purposes of our challenge.

To be honest, I thought this would be the least popular of the five challenges, but I was pleasantly surprised, and even more so, because this was one of the most difficult categories to judge.

Happy Happy Birthday Card by Piali

Moxie Fab Alert: What I love most about this card is that it just feels like a celebration from top to bottom. The bright colors; the fun, layered and stitched banners; and the double "happy" in the sentiment make me grin from ear to ear. But what I love the very most is that the multi-colored spatters Piali has incorporated add so much to the festive atmosphere she has created. It's as though someone has thrown confetti into the card just as it came into our view.

 Hey! Card by Jackie Rockwell

Moxie Fab Alert: Once again, the spatter in this card adds so much to the design of the card. It fits perfectly with the retro-messy vibe this card has going on--and I mean that in a really good way!

Here are three additional spatter-ific cards you'll want to take a look at:  Alice W. (second card), Heather Maria, and Jaclyn Miller.

We all love our brocade and damask, don't we? While it's a go-to pattern for classy and elegant projects, I was especially enamored of these two projects that took the classy and elegant style and jazzed it up notch. Check it:

Celebrate Today Card by Chupa

Moxie Fab Alert: I'm not sure I would have ever thought to pair wood grain with damask, but Chupa has done it with such flare and such style that I can't take my eyes off of it. It doesn't hurt that the color combination is surprisingly astounding either, does it?

U R Fabulous Card by Arlene

Moxie Fab Alert: Talk about turning classy and elegant on its proverbial ear! The idea of coloring each element of this brocade pattern in such pleasingly different colors has my eyes popping in wonder and awe! But you know what makes this card really work? The sentiment stylized in that funky font! If Ardyth had chosen something scripty and pretty? Notsamuch.

Again, there were so many yummies in this category, I just have to offer you three more: erin t, Donna M., and Karen B.

Of all the trends I've covered in the last couple of years, the doilies and lace trend is one of my favorites, and clearly it's one of yours, too. Here are the winning entries:

 

Doily Thank You Card by AnitaRex

Moxie Fab Alert: If there ever were a card that personifies "pretty," this is it. From the doily-stamped kraft background to the actual doily itself to the beautifully stamped and colored flower to the banner with its scripty font, this card does what doilies do--exaggerate the feminine. And the rhinestones? Sheer perfection!

 You Make Me Smile Card by Lin

Moxie Fab Alert: Today's gasp goes to this moxie gorgeous card. The "why" of this card is difficult for me to put into words. For the "why" is in the unbelievably soft color that is repeated in the butterfly and the flower. It's in the lacey-ness of the doily that is repeated in the die-cut butterfly. It's in the simplicity of the stylized sentiment. It's in the exquisite placement of each of these magnificent elements. I find that in cards where it is difficult to examine the "why"--they always begin with a gasp.

Other lovelies include these cards by Emily Niehaus, Kerrianne Gwin, and Nona.

And last but certainly not least, the Postage Challenge. Check out these moxie fab winning entries:

Sending Love Card by Gayatri

Moxie Fab Alert: This fun and cute card is perfectly executed. I love that the bike and postcard elements are on a diagonal, causing the sentiment to stand out on its own. The fact that Gayatri has raised the front panel gives me the sense that we're dealing with an envelope somehow, which adds to the "postal" nature of the card itself. I wouldn't necessarily think of a bike in terms of postage, but it works absolutely perfectly. It is as though the message is being "sent" on the bike, the "love" is the postcard, and the cancelled stamp is all the validation that we need that this card is as heartfelt as it ever gets. And the color choices? Moxie to the fab!

Be Mine, Darling Card by Yvonne Yam

 Moxie Fab Alert: Here's a smile for you. The vintage elements in this card are so sweet I can almost taste them. A kraft envie wrapped in lace? A strawberry-topped die-cut flap? A ticket that poses as a stamp? Zig-zag stitching that functions as cancellation marks? Put it all together and what do you have? A moxie creative approach to this challenge that makes my heart sing with love and joy!

Here are three more innovative postage projects that will make your hearts sing as well: Lin, Emily Niehaus, and Trinh.

Phew! I am exhausted and in need of some ice on my poor shoulder after all of that! But what a way to go! I mean, the entries to these challenges were about as fun as it ever gets around here. Thanks for giving me so much eye candy to cheer me up through my rehabilitation!

Winners (that is, those of you whose pictured cards were featured), please send me your address in an email to cedvalson@papercraftsmag.com and I'll set you up with your "I'm Moxie Fab" challenge winning buttons for your blogs as well as a copy of Card Creations, Volume 10.

And lest we forget, it's Independence Day here in the States, so let's celebrate with a giveaway, shall we? Leave these talented ladies a comment by midnight EST on Sunday, July 8 and I'll draw 2 random luckies to win a copy of Card Creations to inspire your card making!

Bring on the Stamp It! Cards Week challenges!

~Cath