Challenge #86

Hello everyone and happy December! Just a fair warning - there are a few things that I will be covering in this blog post so get your coffee and get comfy. ;)
First off, a huge thank you for all your participation in last week's Thank You/Grateful challenge last week! It was a beautiful way to celebrate the holidays, seeing all the thankful gorgeous cards. I will be showcasing the winners in a bit...

After seeing the Bar grow, we realize that we need a few more employees to help stir up the concoctions. Yes, we are having a DESIGN TEAM call throughout the entire month of December. The requirements are simple - one card a week, and posting it to your blog on Fridays. Easy peasy, right? We will be resuming our first Friday of the month sponsorship come the new year, which means that you will be receiving some fun digis from different companies as a designer! If you are interested, please put the initials DT next to your entry for this upcoming challenge.

And speaking of challenge, we will be taking a December hiatus for all of our holiday busyness. This challenge will be the only challenge until we see you again in January, so please join in on the fun! The winners will be announced in the new year, along with our newest Bar-Tenders who will be contacted over the holidays.

Before we move on to this week's theme, congratulations to the following Thank You/Grateful participants:

Susie Little

Linda

Margie

Melissa

Congratulations, ladies! Please contact me any time this month for January's theme. Thank you!
And now on to this month's challenge:

It's Beginning To Look a lot Like Christmas!

We want to see what this month means to you, whether it be a wintry card, shopping, religious, or whimsical, share it with us!
Here are some wonderful samples by the Guest Bar-Tender Fiona and the Design Team:

Fiona

Thanh

Wanda

Joni

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM US ALL,
we'll see you in 2012!

****

Thank you so much for joining in on our December challenge! Remember, to be considered for a Design Team positon, please put DT next to your name or entry. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

1.	Patti	113.	Lisa aka Myran	225.	patty
2.	DebbieM	114.	Samantha :0)	226.	charlene
3.	Kym's Crafty Cards	115.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	227.	Hazel
4.	Kym's Crafty Cards	116.	Ann Kristin E.	228.	Katie Tate
5.	Jo	117.	Tammie E	229.	Patti DT
6.	Gro Tjeltveit	118.	Kym's Crafty Cards	230.	Catherine
7.	Debbie B	119.	-Anne-	231.	Lea L.
8.	Maria	120.	cliodana	232.	Eemeli
9.	elizabeth H	121.	Scrappy	233.	darling Ho
10.	Amy Duff	122.	Tanya S	234.	darling Ho
11.	Nikki C	123.	Betty Wright	235.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
12.	Kim C	124.	Scrappy	236.	keeley
13.	Chelsea	125.	Kim Mc	237.	Katie Tate
14.	Sheena B	126.	Shelly Schmidt	238.	SAMARA
15.	Miss Sue DT	127.	Julie E	239.	Rosalien
16.	lalkygirl	128.	Ellen	240.	Audrey
17.	Tracey Brossart	129.	Katie Tate	241.	SAMARA
18.	Kaija	130.	JANIEL	242.	MaryB
19.	Terry	131.	Crafty Teacher	243.	Tina Phillips
20.	laney	132.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	244.	Hazel
21.	Hazel	133.	michelle	245.	Hazel
22.	Monika/buzsy	134.	patty	246.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
23.	Jane	135.	Judy L	247.	JANIEL second entry
24.	Jackie Edwards	136.	Kym's Crafty Cards	248.	Hazel
25.	CraftyC	137.	chris olsen	249.	Tracey Brossart
26.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	138.	Kellylou DT	250.	~Jenn~
27.	Samantha :0)	139.	Lisa s	251.	Nataliya
28.	Ann Cutts	140.	Sally McD	252.	Emma H
29.	Lisa aka Myran	141.	Katie Tate	253.	Kalindi
30.	Indira	142.	Patti	254.	mary marsh
31.	Min	143.	Lori T	255.	Gaynor
32.	NiMu(age5)	144.	Vanessa M. (Tootsie)	256.	Terry
33.	darling Ho	145.	Sandy's Stamping Scene	257.	Samantha :0)
34.	Joan Ervin	146.	Jo	258.	Hazel
35.	Sarah T	147.	Dragonlady	259.	Shirley C
36.	Hazel	148.	Sammibug	260.	Gro Tjeltveit
37.	Lawren F - DT	149.	Nataliya	261.	Joan Ervin
38.	Nikki C	150.	darling Ho	262.	Corry
39.	Joynana	151.	jo price (DT)	263.	Heike
40.	yogi	152.	Spyder	264.	Maria
41.	Sara I.	153.	Spyder	265.	JanR
42.	lalkygirl	154.	Megan	266.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
43.	CG - DT	155.	patty	267.	Hazel
44.	Lovely Linda	156.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	268.	Maria B.
45.	Tamara M	157.	Teresa Arsenault	269.	juelmarie
46.	Teri Sherman	158.	Katie Tate	270.	Jenni
47.	Gro Tjeltveit	159.	darling Ho	271.	Doreen
48.	Miesje	160.	Jenn Zeeb	272.	Vivi Casale
49.	Michaela	161.	Shelley	273.	Bettina DT
50.	Ane Lene	162.	Bunny	274.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
51.	Ellen	163.	Indira	275.	StephC #2
52.	chris olsen	164.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	276.	Katie Tate
53.	Lorraine A	165.	Theresa	277.	darling Ho
54.	Katie Tate	166.	DIANA L.	278.	Katie
55.	Katie Tate	167.	Heidi-Mari	279.	Maria
56.	StephC - DT	168.	Eternal Princess Ryan	280.	Grace N
57.	sue	169.	Heike	281.	Ellen Kristiansen
58.	Helen	170.	Katie Tate	282.	chris
59.	Tammie E	171.	Katie Tate	283.	Nikki C
60.	Melanie	172.	cindy groh	284.	Joanna K
61.	Laine	173.	Sheryl C.	285.	Hazel
62.	Cammy	174.	Jen Leeflang	286.	Anita hovey
63.	BethieJ	175.	Hazel	287.	Mervi
64.	Renata	176.	Viji	288.	Bonnie O'Clair
65.	Kym's Crafty Cards	177.	Samantha :0)	289.	Ellen
66.	Hazel	178.	Julie J	290.	Elin
67.	Hazel	179.	Hazel	291.	Gro Tjeltveit
68.	Hazel	180.	Sarah T	292.	Sarah M DT
69.	Victoria Lavender	181.	Julia Vazquez	293.	Audrey E.
70.	Hazel	182.	Angela P.	294.	LaDiva
71.	Hazel	183.	Doreen	295.	juelmarie
72.	Hazel	184.	darling Ho	296.	Einat
73.	Lisa T	185.	Carol Ann DT	297.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
74.	BethieJ	186.	Cathy D.	298.	Mona Evy
75.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	187.	Katie Tate	299.	Georgina B
76.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	188.	Miesje	300.	BethieJ
77.	Scrappy	189.	Shelby	301.	Vivi Casale
78.	Sheryl C.	190.	NancyD	302.	Shanna
79.	JUELMARIE	191.	Lora	303.	Amy Duff
80.	Sally J	192.	KristyLeesWorld	304.	Karen Letchworth
81.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	193.	Shell♥	305.	Jennifer Scull
82.	patty	194.	Janette G.	306.	Tanya J
83.	Wijskuikentjes DT	195.	KristyLee'sWorld	307.	SuzanneK
84.	Lea L.	196.	Kevin	308.	Kalindi
85.	Ardilla	197.	Lovely Linda	309.	Hazel
86.	Ellen	198.	Tina Phillips	310.	Elaine sparklingblackrose
87.	Lisa s	199.	Kristi S.	311.	Joni52DT
88.	Ann D.	200.	Scrappy	312.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
89.	Lori T	201.	Scrappy	313.	Katie Tate
90.	JANIEL	202.	Scrappy	314.	Gemma
91.	Sammibug	203.	jane w.	315.	Vivi Casale
92.	Lene	204.	Vicki Sunshine	316.	darling Ho
93.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	205.	Susie Little	317.	Eternal Princess Ryan
94.	Crafting Marfa DT	206.	Bettina	318.	Vixykins
95.	Jacky - Paddington Fan	207.	Julie P	319.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
96.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	208.	Fliss	320.	JANIEL
97.	Jessie B.	209.	chris olsen	321.	Katie Tate
98.	Spyder	210.	Peggy-DT	322.	patty
99.	Spyder	211.	Jacki R	323.	Merethe
100.	Marjo	212.	patty	324.	Nikki C
101.	mary marsh	213.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	325.	Bettina DT
102.	Brenda Frame	214.	Eemeli	326.	patty
103.	Mary C	215.	Karina	327.	SAMARA
104.	lalkygirl	216.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	328.	Hazel
105.	Hilde - DT	217.	Peggy McCurry	329.	Samantha :0)
106.	Rebekah	218.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	330.	darling Ho
107.	Carla DT	219.	Sammibug	331.	Audrey E.
108.	Helen/Creamieke - DT	220.	Katie Tate	332.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)
109.	Marilyn Webb	221.	Crafty Teacher	333.	*Jellie*
110.	NanaConnie DT	222.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	334.	Scrappy
111.	Peggy R	223.	Hlora
112.	Olivia	224.	Ira

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #85

Happy day after Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope your holidays are off to a good start - and that if you were one of the fun and brave ones who ventured out into Black Friday, you had a great time and found all that you wanted! 

Thank you all for the beautiful food entries - after getting stuffed it was fun to visit all the yummy cards! Congratulations to the following entries:

Marilyn

Sarah

Fiona

Such a great variety, thank you all for joining in on our weekly challenges! Ladies, please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for your chance to debut next week's challenge with us.
And speaking of challenge, are you ready for this easy peasy theme? One that I know will come in handy this time of year, for sure:

Thank You/Grateful

All that is required that either of these words are on your card (any form is totally acceptable too!). To get you inspired, here is some inspiration from our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Sally

Naomi

Just beautiful creations ladies! Thank you Sally and Naomi!
And from our Designers:

Wanda

Thanh

Joni

********

We are truly grateful for your participation here at Raise The Bar. Have a wonderful week!

1.	Olga	8.	Susie Little	15.	margie c
2.	Olga	9.	Lovely Linda	16.	Scrappy
3.	Hilde	10.	Kim Yu	17.	samara
4.	Catherine	11.	Tess	18.	LerLer(age3)
5.	DIANA L.	12.	yogi	19.	NiMu(age5)
6.	libeeti-1st card	13.	Sheena B	20.	Vanessa M. (Tootsie)
7.	darling Ho	14.	Melissa Craig	21.	jo price

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #84

Hello beautiful friends and a very happy Friday to you all! This time of year is so exciting, I just love the busyness of it all. Thank you so much for joining us every week here at Raise The Bar, we truly appreciate your participation as the holidays approach! Thank you especially to our two entries from last week, such beautiful cards that celebrated Veteran's Day:

Naomi

Sally J

Aren't these just amazing? Just beautiful! I love the poppies and color scheme of Naomi's card, what an elegant creation. Sally's gorgeous layout makes me wish I scrapbooked. The vintage colors are just stunning with her photos. Thank you ladies! Please contact me for next week's assignment, you are joining in on the fun as Guest Bar-Tenders!
Now for this week's challenge, we'd like to get a jump start on the holidays. Next week is our Thanksgiving, so our challenge is:

TIME TO FEAST

We would like to see food on your cards! Well, not literally, but you get the idea. ;) heehee! It doesn't have to be turkeys, just any type of delicacy is fine with us.

For some amazing inspiration, here are the wonderful Guest Bar-Tenders who joined in on the fun this week:

Laurel

Helen

Susie

And from the designers:

Wanda

Thanh

Joni

****

Thank you for joining us in this week's challenge. We can't wait to see all the yummy foods on your card! Have a wonderful week everyone, we'll see you on Friday!

1.	Fiona	9.	Sheryl C.	17.	Catherine
2.	Hazel	10.	Joynana	18.	NikkiByrne
3.	Renata	11.	Carolina Girl	19.	Sarah T
4.	Marilyn Webb	12.	Katie Tate	20.	Debs
5.	Jen Leeflang	13.	jo price	21.	Kim Mc
6.	Cheryl First	14.	Scrappy	22.	Lorianna
7.	Michele C	15.	The Crafty Den	23.	NanaConnie
8.	Nana Donna	16.	Cindy Lou	24.	Sally J

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #83

Hello everyone and happy Friday!
Thank you so much for joining us on this nice long weekend.
You will notice that our gallery is a bit more sparse than usual, there was a last minute change in our challenge and I didn't want our Guest Bar-Tenders to scramble at the last minute. For those of you who contacted me, I will be emailing you with next week's theme to join us! We also have our wonderful Julie on a hiatus, and our lovely Jan has stepped down from our design team. We will be doing a month long design team call in December, so please keep us in mind if you would like to be a Bar-Tender!
And now on with the show...
Congratulations to the following entries in last week's no embellishment challenge:

Nerdette

Susie

Helen

Beautiful job ladies! Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for your next assignment, joining us as a Guest Bar-Tender!

And now, since it is Veteran's Day in the US, we are dedicating the challenge to a:

MILITARY THEME

Create anything patriotic like our lovely designers did below, please click on their links to see the details of their gorgeous cards and Thanh's special post and poem:

Wanda

Thanh

Joni

******

Thank you so much for joining us this week, honoring all those who have served our country. Have a beautiful week everyone!

1.

Naomi

2.

Sally J

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #82

It's a beautiful Friday! How wonderful is it that the weekend is upon us? We also have an extended weekend with teacher conferences happening on Monday and Tuesday - yeah! No school for the kiddos so we get to {hopefully} sleep in a bit later and enjoy the lazy time together. Thank you all so much for your beautiful entries in last week's Sew What challenge! WOWZA! You all amaze me with your incredible creations. I can sew a semi-straight line, then after that my Genome goes back on to the shelf until I am brave enough to try it again. lol!
Without further ado, congratulations to the following entries:

Laurel Seabrook's adorable wood grain sewing:

 Natascha's awesome panel stitching:

 Joanne's sewn balloons and birds:

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for your opportunity to debut

the next Raise The Bar challenge with us!

And now on for this week's fun theme. Are you ready?

NO EMBELLISHMENTS

As in no brads, eyelets, ribbon, do hickeys, doodads, hardware, etc. BUT you are free to use paper related decor as in die cuts, paper edges (as in Martha Stewart punches), or anything paper made. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
Here are some wonderful examples done by the Guest Bar-Tenders for this week:

Ali's {aka Dragonlady} beautiful distressed piece:

Jennifer's awesome paper pieced and gel-pen accented card:

Thank you so much Ali and Jennifer! 

I hope you had fun debuting this difficult challenge! :0)

And from our Bar-Tenders:

Thanh

Wanda

Joni

 ******

Thank you for joining us in this challenge - and a challenge it is! We can't wait to see what you create, have a great week and we'll see you back here on Friday!

1.	DebbieM	10.	Scrappy	19.	Rejka
2.	Ann Whitfield	11.	Sally McD	20.	Emma
3.	Sheena B	12.	Monique F	21.	Susie Little
4.	yogi	13.	Sammibug	22.	blackdragon
5.	sandra's crafty corner	14.	Merlyn	23.	Made By Mandy
6.	Shar B	15.	Hazel	24.	jo price
7.	Susan's Crafty Chaos	16.	Rhonda Miller	25.	Sue N
8.	Joyce	17.	Sally J	26.	Nerdette Stephanie
9.	i dont do straight	18.	Helen

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #81

It's Friday! Yay! I hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend? It's going to be chilly here in VA so we are ready for some baking and crock-potting. Uh. That didn't sound right. At any rate, THANK YOU for your awesome orange & black creations last week! I loved how it ranged from Halloween to everyday cards. Beautiful work everyone!
Without further ado, congratulations to the following crafters:

Dragon Lady

Lea

Jennifer Scull

If your card or project was featured above, please contact me for your opportunity to debut a new challenge with us as a Guest Bar-Tender!

And now on to this week's fun challenge:

SEW WHAT?

We would like to see stitching on your cards! Whether it be faux or real, let's see your lovely handiwork. With us today are some fab-o guest designers who wow'ed me with their creations!

Jo

Mary

Jackie

Eeek! I just love it all! Thank you Guest Bar-Tenders!
And now for our full time employees:

Thanh

Wanda

Jan

Joni

Please click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work. You have until noon EST on Thursday to join in on the fun!
*****

Thank you for joining our challenge here at Raise The Bar! Have a wonderful week, we'll see you on Friday!

1.	Olga	20.	DesigNeAl	39.	Ellen
2.	Laurel S	21.	Rejka	40.	Beth aka BR-T
3.	DebbieM	22.	Jo	41.	Maria Matter
4.	Colleen Holmes	23.	keeley	42.	-Anne-
5.	hilda	24.	Natascha	43.	Hazel
6.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	25.	Dori	44.	Val
7.	Samantha :0)	26.	Deanna	45.	Lorraine A
8.	Rebekah	27.	Evik	46.	Monika/buzsy
9.	khushboo	28.	jenn zeeb	47.	Helen
10.	Jennifer Scull	29.	Sammibug	48.	Pat P
11.	Hazel	30.	inkypinkycraft	49.	SallyB
12.	Deanne :)	31.	cheryl	50.	America
13.	Dorcas	32.	jo price	51.	NanaConnie
14.	Sylvia Blum	33.	Carolina Girl	52.	Fiona
15.	Katie Tate	34.	Cheryl (Shestamps)	53.	Lisa s
16.	vernon / Kamila	35.	Tamara M	54.	Cheryl (Shestamps)
17.	Scrappy	36.	Sally J	55.	Katie Tate
18.	Natali	37.	Sheena B
19.	Susie Little	38.	Lori

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Challenge #80

Happy beautiful Friday everyone! I hope your week went well and that you're looking forward to this weekend? It is ch-ch-chilly up here in VA, but I love the Fall weather...minus all those leaves on our ground. ;) THANK YOU for your inspirational Pink is IN cards last week, if you have time, browsing through that gallery is so wonderful. I loved all the ideas on there for October and beyond!
Congratulations to the following friends:

Mary

 

Lea

Susan

Such beautiful pink creations everywhere! Ladies please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com to debut next week's theme as a Guest Bar-Tender!
And not on to this week's challenge:

ORANGE and BLACK

Now there is NO requirement as to what holiday or non holiday this pertains to, we just thought it would be fun to celebrate this month! Here to inspire are our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Hazel

Mary

Shanna

And our amazing DT with more eye candy:

Julie

Thanh

Wanda

Jan

Joni

***

Thank you for joining us in our color challenge this week, have a wonderful day everyone!

1.	Fliss	13.	vanessa	25.	Sammibug
2.	Hazel	14.	NanaConnie	26.	-Anne-
3.	Sarah T	15.	yogi	27.	DebbieM
4.	Melissa (Sunshine HoneyBee)	16.	Abby (10)	28.	Carissa
5.	Susan	17.	S`andra V ~ OhMyScraps	29.	Marilyn Webb
6.	Helen	18.	Tip Top	30.	Dragonlady
7.	hilda	19.	Stargroves (Anne)	31.	Sammibug
8.	Susan G	20.	Kathleen	32.	kali
9.	Jennifer Scull	21.	Susan's Crafty Chaos	33.	Sammibug
10.	Lea L.	22.	Sally J	34.	Vanessa M. (Tootsie)
11.	Lena Løken	23.	Crafty Teacher	35.	Sammibug
12.	Sande	24.	Rejka

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)