Raise The Bar

Challenge #91

2012-02-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!
I hope your week went well and that you're looking forward to the weekend?
Thank you all for your wonderful entries for our Whimsie Doodles' challenge, Melyssa's sketch was so much fun to play with! Congratulations to the following friends:

Meg

Mary

Arielle

Congratulations ladies!
Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com with the subject line: Guest Bar-Tender for your opportunity to help us debut a new challenge theme.
And now on to the random. org winner of Melyssa's gift certificate:

KATHY CURRY

Yay Kathy! Please contact me so I can put you in touch with Melyssa.
Please note that the first Friday of every month will feature a sponsor - be sure to join in on all the fun!

And now on to this week's fun challenge:

CHOCOLATE AND ROSES

We want to see BROWN and RED on your cards or projects!
With Valentine's Day creeping up next week, let's celebrate with these colors. You can use any shade or hue, as long as we can see the browns and reds in it.
For some amazing inspiration, here are our wonderful Guest Bar-Tenders:

Yogi

Bonnie

Carly

Thank you ladies! Beautiful work celebrating Valentine's Day!

And from our Bar-Tenders:

Julie

Peggy

Thanh

Wanda

Joni

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Challenge #90

2012-02-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Happy 1st Friday of February everyone! (Try saying that fast 5 times - heehee!)
Thank you so much for all your beautiful creations for our recipe challenge of pink, silver, tag and ribbon. Congratulations to the following entries:

Bonnie

Yogi

12 year old Carly

Congratulations ladies (and little lady!)! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com with Guest Bar-Tender in the subject line. You will be joining us in debuting a new challenge theme next week!

Well the first Friday also means that this week's challenge is SPONSORED by a wonderful company that is near and dear to my heart:

Melyssa Connolly, owner and illustrator for this company is so amazingly talented! I was privileged to be on her debut design team where I also met the awesome Thanh Vo. Thanks so much Melyssa! :) You can see all the amazing inspiration here on the Whimsie Doodles blog, and all of her wonderful images and cutting files here in the store.

Joining us for the first time is our new Design Team member Peggy McCurry of Arfull Journey:

We are SO excited for her to be a part of our team! Welcome Peggy!

This week Melyssa has drawn up a wonderful sketch for us to use:

And here our the designers showcasing their stuff:

Peggy (using Great Catch)

Julie

Wanda (using Paws I Care)

Thanh (using Dragon New Year)

Joni (using Lollipop Girl)

Come on and join in on the fun! Use the sketch any way you choose, flip it, rotate it, as long as we see all the elements to it. Melyssa offers some adorable freebies here on her store site, so there's no excuse not to play along! (Please note: Whimsie Doodles image is not required to join in on the challenge this week so feel free to use any company's image of your choice!)

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Challenge #89

2012-01-27T10:52:00.002-05:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
I cannot believe we are in the last week of January. Ack! Why do I have the feeling that this year is going to fly by? Oh yes, because I made resolutions, that's why. heehee!
Before I move on to the top picks of our current challenge, I wanted to post the lucky winner of a $10 gc to By LORi Designs from the first of the month (my apologies!):

Congratulations to Melissa Waldorf!

Please email me so I can forward your information to LORi Boyd!

And now, thank you all for your beautiful cards ringing in the New Year! All those circles were just so yummy. Here are our top picks of this past week:

Amy

Micki

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com with the subject Guest Bar-Tender so it doesn't get lost in my inbox.

And now on to this week's recipe challenge:

PINK, SILVER, RIBBON, and a TAG

Interpret this any way your heart desires, as long as we see all 4 elements on your card or project! :)
Joining us this week are 2 of our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Melissa

Susie

Thank you so much ladies!!
And our designers with their gorgeous samples:

Wanda

Joni

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Challenge #88

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone! I hope the weather is cooperating with your plans today. I know some areas are getting snowed in, but here on the East Coast, we are getting nuthin'! ;) But all is well, because any weather is good weather for crafting. Thank you all so much for joining in on our Banner challenge last week! Without further ado, here are our top picks:

Audrey

Melisa Waldorf

Katie

Thank you so much ladies! Please contact me whenever you are ready to be a Guest Bar-Tender at jonjinko@hotmail.com with the subject title Guest Bar-Tender in the subject line (just in case it goes to the spam folder).

And now on to this week's challenge, continuing on in to celebrating 2012:

"Ring" in the New Year!

We want to see CIRCLES (aka 'rings') everywhere on your cards and projects! Fun challenge right? We can't wait to see what you create! For some eye candy, here are our Guest Bar-Tenders Julie and Melissa (thanks ladies!):

Julie Elak

Melissa De Monic

And from our Design Team:

Wanda

Thanh

Julie

Joni

*****

Challenge #87

2012-01-13T08:43:00.002-05:00

Happy beautiful 2o12 everyone!
We are so happy to be back, after a nice little hiatus to enjoy the holidays. I hope yours went well? We'd love to hear about it!
With a new year also comes some fun new challenges as well as some new faces on the Design Team! BUT more on that next week...
Today we wanted to let you know of a wee little change here at the Bar - our challenges will now be posted 8am EST instead of midnight. This way it will be waiting for you when you rise and shine!
On to our top 5 of last month's "It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas" challenge:

Sunshine Honey Bee

Congratulations ladies! Everyone's work was SO beautiful, thank you all for making our December so full of love and inspiration! Please contact me if your card was showcased above at jonjinko@hotmail.com with RAISE THE BAR as the subject. This way if it ends up in my junk folder I can easily sift through it.

And now on to this week's challenge which is our first of the month and SPONSORED!
A big hug and thanks goes out to LORi BOYD for being our sponsor with By LORi Designs:

This week our challenge is:

A Banner of a New Year!

We want to see banners of all types on your card. Here is our wonderful Design Team:

Thanh using Ainsley's Heart

Wanda using Lollipop Saylor

Joni using Puddle Jumper Cole

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Challenge #86

2011-12-02T01:17:00.001-05:00

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!

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Challenge #85

2011-11-25T00:11:00.000-05:00

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

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Challenge #84

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

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

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Challenge #83

2011-11-11T09:29:00.001-05:00

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

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Challenge #82

2011-11-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

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

******

Challenge #81

2011-10-28T00:01:00.003-04:00

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!

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!
*****

Challenge #80

2011-10-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

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

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Challenge #79

2011-10-14T00:03:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone and happy beautiful Friday! First off, I truly apologize if I haven't been able to reply to emails sent to me this past week. While tinkering with some of my other email addresses, I compiled them to the wrong one, which meant that I wasn't getting it in my main box! Grrrr...It's fixed now, so please know that when selected to be a Guest Bar-Tender, it is without expiration! I will contact those who emailed me asap, now that I seem to have all my technological marbles in order. ;)
WOWZA with all the Furry Friends entries last week! Everyone must be ready for hibernation with winter quickly approaching, there were so many bears, mice, kitty cats and pups in the links! Thank you to everyone who continue to play along with our challenges. We love having you here.

Without further ado, congratulations to Carla Gro, you are the lucky winner of 5 free digis from Di's Digi Downloads! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com so I can forward your information to Di's DT Coordinator.
And another round of applause to the following entries for our Furry Friends theme:

Ladies please contact me for your chance to be a Guest Bar-Tender and help us debut our next challenge!
Now on to this week, of course we couldn't let October go by without celebrating the strength and courage of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The DT would like you to show us that:

PINK IS IN!

While this could be our biggest amount of participants yet, please note that while we love all entries, we would LOVE to see your cards geared towards the strength of PINK and what it represents this month. Here is our awesome DT to show their work:

Julie

Jan

Wanda

Thanh

Joni

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Challenge #78

2011-10-07T01:01:00.003-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Do you all have amazing plans for the long weekend? I hope it includes lots of YOU time! :)
First off, thank you for all the wonderful entries in last week's HATS OFF challenge. BEAUTIFUL WORK everyone! Below is a wonderful lineup of the Hats Off winners as well as the Things With Wings challenge from the week before. Ladies if your name and cards are below, please contact me to be a Guest Bar-Tender! :)

From the Hats Off week:

Tamara

Gerda

Nanda

and Things With Wings week:

Debbie

Sarah

Karen

Congratulations ladies!! Please contact me when you're free to be a Guest Bar-Tender! :)

And now for the exciting news about this week's challenge, since it's the first of the month we have a wonderful sponsor! Thank you to Di's Digi Downloads for sponsoring our new challenge:

FURRY FRIENDS

We want to see those sweet animals on your cards before they go into hibernation! :)
One lucky winner will receive 5 free digis from Di, and wow - what a hard decision that will be to make as they are all so cute!
Our designers have used her images straight from her store. Aren't these the cutest faces on animals?

Wanda

Jan

Julie

Thanh

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Challenge #77

2011-09-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy FRIDAY everyone! Sorry for shouting, I am just so excited that the weekend is here. I am also excited that we had 71 entries for last week's challenge! Woohoo! You all make us SO happy when we see how many friends hang out at the Bar with their cards and stamps!

Since we had so many wonderful projects entered into our challenge this week, we will be back a wee bit later with the top picks. Until then, are you ready to start on this week's challenge?

Well then...

HAT'S OFF!

Yes, hat's off to you, that is. :) We are holding on to our hats as we head into Fall, so let's see what image you love donning this great accessory! Here for inspiration is our Guest Bar-Tender Erin with this adorable ode to Halloween:

Erin Reed

Love that little hidden message Erin! Thank you for joining us this week!

And now from our full time employees:

Wanda's beautiful tribute to Christmas
{great paper pieced dress!}

Thanh's adorable Ian

Jan's adorable stocking surprise

Julie's sweet (a bit "cocky" too - lol!) card

Joni's time for bed Anya

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Challenge #76

2011-09-23T00:11:00.002-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Wow, can you believe we are creeping up to the end of September already? Goodness gracious! With the end of a month, a new one brings more challenges and a special call out! (hint hint) Stay tuned for more details on this fun announcement! And don't forget, each weekly challenge brings the opportunity for a crafter to debut the following week's theme with the Bar-Tenders, AND every first challenge of the month is now sponsored!
Thank you all for your wonderful "Leave" Summer entries - now why do those leaves look so gorgeous on cards and not scattered all over my yard? ;)
Congratulations to the following crafters who showcased their leaves:

Joy

Erin

Mary

Deonna B.

Congratulations, ladies! Please contact me at the email located in the sidebar for next week's assignment.
And now on to the theme of the week:

THINGS WITH WINGS

Oh yes, with all the flurry of feathered friends trying to prep for winter, the beautiful monarchs who are heading south, and all the batty-ness going on for October, this will be a fun one to play along with!
Here to join in on our lineup is Guest Bar-TenderS

Jessica

(Oh I just love this, the sentiment and image is perfect!)

and Janice:
(what a precious pair of winged friends!)

and our Bar-Tenders:

Julie

Jan

Wanda

Thanh

Joni

***

Challenge #75

2011-09-16T07:45:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Sorry for the delay but we are ready to go for this week's challenge! Thank you for your White After Labor Day entries, the simplicity of white as a background is just wonderful on all your creations!
Congratulations to the following crafters:

Janice

Gale

Jessica

Ladies, please contact me for your opportunity to be a Guest Bar-Tender next week!
And now on to this week's challenge:

"Leave" Summer

Corny, I know, but we want to see your beautiful FALL LEAVES on your card as we transition out of summer! For inspiration, here are some wonderful samples:

Danni Bindel

Jan

Wanda

Thanh

Anita

Joni

Click on the happy blue frog below so we can see your "Leave" Summer creations so the design team can come by to visit!

Challenge #74

2011-09-09T00:01:00.005-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! I hope all our friends going through inclement weather and power outages are doing okay. Sending hugs your way for safety and quick resolution!
Thank you all again for your continued support with our challenges. It was SO exciting to have our first sponsor! First up, our top 3 crafters who move on to be Guest Bar-Tenders next week:

Denise

Danni

Sharette

And the random winner of our first sponsored challenge and Whimsie Doodles $10 shopping spree:

CHRISTI B.

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for more information on prize and designing details. Thank you all for your adorable paper pieced creations!
And now on to this week's challenge:

White after Labor Day

heehee! Yes, we're breaking the fashion rules and using ALL white backgrounds for our cards. Of course you can sponge it, add texture to it, and design anything with it, but it has to have white dp or papers to showcase. For some fabulous inspiration, the designers have created some amazing cards as always!
First up, our Guest Bar-Tender Margie Cortina:

Margie

Thanh

Wanda

Jan

Anita

Joni

Thank you so much to the designers for the wonderful samples!
To link up your work, click on the blue frog below.

Challenge #73

2011-09-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! I have exciting news to share with you, but first, thank you so much for joining in on our Primary Colors challenge last week. Everyone did such a wonderful job with the cutest images. I love the back to school theme, especially because our kiddos start up on Tuesday. ;)
Congratulations to the following crafters:

Deonna B

Tiggertastic

Margie C

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for your opportunity to be a Guest Bar-Tender and debut next week's challenge with us.

And for this week's challenge, Margie's card actually gave us a little sneak peek (unknowingly, of course).

This week we challenge you to:

PAPER PIECE

and guess what?!? We have a sponsor for the first time ever in RTB history: WHIMSIE DOODLES is proudly giving away a gc to one lucky top pick. {Thank you Melyssa!}
Yes, this will be a first of the month special from now on with different companies - how exciting for us all!

I am so happy to have our Guest Bar-Tenders join in with the DT to debut their paper piecing creations:

(GD) Katie Tate using Circus Clock

(GD) Kim using Diving Leah

Wanda using Sea Shell Leah

Anita using Christmas Undies

Jan using Sea Shell Leah

Joni using Whimsie Ark

Did we get your wheels turning? Whimsie Doodles is giving away a $10 gc to the store for this week's top winner so be sure to join us, simply click on the blue happy frog below to enter in.

Challenge #72

2011-08-26T00:01:00.005-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! Thank you for beating the heat last week with all those yummy creations. I got to drool over every one of them - and not worry about all the calories! ;)
Congratulations to the following entries:

Katie Tate

Kim T

Gro Tjeltveit

Ladies please contact me for your opportunity to be a Guest Bar-Tender next week!

Now this week pays homage to all the kids going back to school.We want to see you use:

PRIMARY COLORS

{Red, Blue, Green}

It doesn't even have to be a school related image, just show us this color palette on your work! Here to inspire you are some wonderful cards by the Design Team:

Jan

Anita

Wanda

Joni

Thanh

See how much fun this can be? Come on over and play along with us, simply click on the happy frog below to enter your card. You have until next Thursday at noon EST to link up your work.

Challenge #71

2011-08-19T00:01:00.003-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
I hope your week went well and that you are looking forward to a great weekend! Thank you all so much for your adorable Dog Days Of Summer cards! Omword, I have to go shopping online for all the great pup images that showed up on the entries. Congratulations to the following crafters:

Kristy

Gro Tjeltveit

Moshie

Ladies please contact me on being a Guest Bar-Tender next week!
And now for our NEW challenge - still celebrating this heat wave:

Beat The Heat!

Let's see a card or project made with a cool treat - ice cream, popsicles, etc. Just make sure it beats the heat!
Here are some wonderful inspiration to get you started, courtesy of the awesome Bar-Tenders:

Wanda

Jan

Anita

Thanh

Joni

Thank you for beating the heat with us! Please click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work.

Challenge #70

2011-08-12T00:05:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
HOLY MOLY! Did you see the amount of entries in last week's Everything Goes challenge? WOWZA - and a huge thank you to everyone who played along!
Congratulations to the following entries, selected by random.org since there was no way we could have limited ourselves to just 3 this week!!

Corry

Wendy

Betty Wright

Ladies please contact me for your opportunity to be a Guest Bar-Tender!

It's a new week and your chance to join in on our new challenge of:

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

This is in honor of everyone who has had quite a hot summer this year: water restrictions, heat waves, lakes drying up - yikes! But let's go to the happier side of that saying and see a card made with DOGS on it. Any kind of pooch will be fine, as you can see by the wonderful Bar-Tenders who are always so great at inspiration:

Thanh

Jan

Wanda

Joni

Leash up your pooch and play along in our challenge! You have until next Thursday to show us your cutest pup creation. Click on the happy blue frog below to enter.

Challenge #69

2011-08-05T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful FRIDAY everyone and welcome back to Raise The Bar!
Yes, we are back in full swing with all the Bar-Tenders ready to take on new challenges with you. I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer thus far? I cannot believe that August is here, but we are ready for a fun new theme that we're sure you'll love:

ANYTHING GOES!

We want to see what you've been up to! Now since this is an open theme, we do have specifications and a few favors to ask:

1. Please link to NEW projects only, no backlinks to something beautiful that was created in July.

2. ONE entry per person please, as this is such an open theme.

3. Item must be craft related, whether it be a card, scrapbook page, altered item, etc.

Are you ready for the fun samples?

First up, our Guest Bar-Tender from our last challenge:

Erin Reed's gorgeous layout

And from our Bar-Tenders:

Anita's sweet back to school card

Jan's sweet anniversary card

Wanda's sunflowery sweetness

Thanh's summery homage

My altered vegetable cans

Now we know you want to join in on the fun! We can't wait to see your creations, simply click on the happy blue frog below to add your link.

Challenge #68

2011-05-27T00:01:00.002-04:00

HAPPY BEAUTIFUL FRIDAY EVERYONE!
First off, thank you for your beautiful Memorial Day tribute cards, they were all so beautiful! This post is a little different than the other Fridays as we have a couple of announcements. First off, the winners of this past challenge as well as this current challenge will be notified individually. The reason being:

Haha! Yes, the reason is because Raise The Bar will be on a summer hiatus! The Bar-Tenders are going to take a breather, start off our summers, plant our gardens, and return on AUGUST 5th with new challenges and fun surprises! This is just a little vaca, so please don't unsubscribe or forget about us. Since we have one more challenge for this week, we will feature the past two groups of winners will help us celebrate our return in a couple of months. This also gives you plenty of time to join in on this challenge as it will be extended to two weeks instead of one!
Without further ado, this week's theme is:

TEACHER'S PET

Since this is the last few weeks of school, let's show off our thank you cards to teachers, mentors, tutors, and those who help mold the future. We have a beautiful lineup this week as always!

Thanh's Whimsie thank you note

Julie's wise owl

Anita's head of the fairy class

Jan's sweet school girl

Wanda's little reader

Joni's bookworm

Challenge #67

2011-05-20T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
First off, today is quite the post with last week's winners as well as this week's top picks! Wow - there were so many beautiful entries for both challenges! Without further ado, here are the winners for our FLOWER POWER challenge:

Sue

Davi

Tracey

Oh my stars, just beautiful blossoms everywhere! And below are the winners from our Apples and Oranges challenge using green and orange in your creation:

Bettina

Erin

Donna

Ladies please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's challenge before we go on a summer hiatus.
This week as we honor our military for Memorial Day weekend, I thought it was appropriate to create sympathy cards. There are so many beautiful and thoughtful creations done by the wonderful Design Team:

Wanda

Thanh

Jan

Julie

Thank you ladies! I know they've inspired you to create a thoughtful, heartfelt card. Link up your card by next Thursday, so we can come by to visit you!

Challenge #66

2011-05-13T21:02:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful challenge day everyone! Phew, are we glad that blogger is back up and running again! Since it put a bit of a delay on commenting, we will be back here tomorrow with an updated post of the winners for last week's "Flower Power" challenge.
We're still debuting our NEW challenge today and it is a special one indeed, a color combo called:

{Green} APPLES and ORANGES

This is a special one because it happens to be my daughter's favorite color combo and May 14th is her 10th birthday! I also think it's so summery and fun so I couldn't resist. ;)
Here are some YUMMY samples by the amazing designers, starting with our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Svitlana

Nikki

Awww! Thank you for the sweet cards Svitlana and Nikki! My daughter will just squeal when she sees this post. :)

And now on to our awesome Bar-Tenders:

Jan

Wanda

Joni

Now it's your turn! You can use other colors, of course, but please be sure to have lots of happy greens and oranges (any hues) in your creation. {It need not be a happy birthday card either, the girls were just so sweet to do this!}
Please note that when you link up your card, this week will just be a text link. Our regular inlinkz thumbnail widget will be adjusted soon. :)

Challenge #65

2011-05-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy May everyone! Thank you for your beautiful beachy creations last week, I felt like it was summer in blogland. :) Congratulations to the following crafters:

Angela of Angelwood's Crafting Corner:

Nikki of NM Creations

Svit of SVIT Dreams:

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment as Guest Bar-Tender.
And now on to this week's challenge:

FLOWER POWER!

Create a card using 3 patterned papers and flowers! The Guest Bar-Tenders did a beautiful job with their creation debut today:

Hannelie

Joan

Thank you ladies!

And now from our Bar-Tenders:

Thanh

Julie

Anita

Wanda

Jan

Joni

Now it's your turn to show us some flower power! Just click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work, and we'll come by to pay you a visit.

Challenge #64

2011-04-29T00:01:00.013-04:00

What a beautiful week of entries! Thank you all so much for diving in the recipe of blue, white and stripes. Your creations were so nautically delightful, congratulations to the following crafters:

Joan of J J Creations

Hannelie

Karin

Beautifully done ladies! I loved all the different interpretations of our recipe. Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's new challenge.

And now to continue our warmer weather theme for the week:

We "Shell!"

Yup! We want to see your seashells and beachy cards! Now this is a bit different from last week's nautical recipe challenge, you can create any type of beach cards that your sunny heart desires. For wonderful inspiration, come and take a look at what our guest bar-tenders have created:

Joyce

Monica

Lisa

Wonderful! I feel like donning my swimsuit right now (not - heehee!). Thank you so much ladies! And now from our full time Bar-tenders:

Julie

Jan

Joni

Anita

We can't wait to see what seashells you sell by the seashore! :)

Challenge #63

2011-04-22T00:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! Thank you all so much for your Tree-Mendous entries - they were SO beautiful and such a wonderful sight for those of us longing for spring. :0)
Without further adieu, congratulations to the following entries:

Monica's dimensional Fall tree

Lisa's beautiful scrapbook page

(and wonderful title!!)

Joyce's gilded framed beauty

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.
And now on to this week's fun theme:

NAUTICAL RECIPE:

blue, white, stripes

I am SO excited this week as we have a handful of Guest Bar-Tenders joining in on the fun. These ladies have won previous challenges and had the opportunity to play along:

Veronica

Trisha

Linda

Maxine

Chris

What a GREAT lineup from the guest designers, thank you so much for joining us, ladies!
And now from our full time Bar-Tenders:

Anita

Julie

Wanda

Thanh

Jan

Joni

Now it's YOUR turn! Click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work.

Challenge #62

2011-04-15T00:03:00.000-04:00

Hey Chicks! WOW! You all are so amazing, thank you for the wonderful entries in last week's challenge. Of course plenty of entries means plenty of beautiful creations! Congratulations to the following crafters:

Cammi's sweet chick candle

Linda's Maya Angelou inspired card

Trisha's sweet chicakdees

Chris' Happy Bird-day (heehee!)

Ladies please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment. :0)
And now are you ready for this week's theme? Thanks to a wonderful suggestion from our Bar-Tender Wanda, we are celebrating Earth Day (April 22nd) called:

TREE-MENDOUS

We can't wait to see lovely trees (any type will do!) on your card. It can be the focal point, in the background, as an embellishment, BUT it does have to be visibly obvious. Here are some amazing samples by the Guest Bar-Tenders of the week:

Devlin

Donna

Thank you ladies for joining us this week!
And from our amazing Bar-Tenders:

Anita's tiki party

Julie's beautiful bloomer

Wanda's heartfelt sympathy card

Thanh's paper pieced perfection

Jan's blossoming creation

Joni's ode to Twilight's forest

We can't wait to see your Tree-Mendous creations! Click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work.

Challenge #61

2011-04-08T00:05:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! Thank you for your beautiful weather cards last week, I loved seeing the April showers, dusting of snow, and the promise of warmer weather as well! Congratulations to the following designers:

Nana Donna

Susan

Devlin

Congratulations, ladies! Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.
And now for this week's fun challenge:

HEY CHICK!

We want to see cute little chicks on your cards or projects (or any type of baby bird or duck will do!). Need some inspiration? Because our Guest Bar-Tenders are ready to wow you:

Amy Duff

Margo Smith

Sarah-Louise

Thank you so much for your tweet cards ladies! heehee! (Sorry...I couldn't help it.)

And now from our awesome Bar-Tenders:

Thanh

Wanda

Julie

Jan

Anita

Joni

Now it's your turn to show us your feathered friends, click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work.

Challenge #60

2011-04-01T08:19:00.000-04:00

60 weeks of challenges already? WOW! Thank you to all who have played along with us, I am honored that you come by to visit! Last week's challenge seemed to prove a bit daunting, perhaps with the high cost of travel we should stay closer to home? haha! Thank you who all played along, here are the top 3 picks of the week:

Margo's Hawaii card

(love the hibiscus accents!)

Tiggertastic's Finland inspired hottie

(wowza!)

Marie's Paris inspired collage

(the monochromaticity is amazing!)

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's fun assignment.
And now on to this week's challenge:

APRIL SHOWERS

(or any kind of weather)

Which of course, will bring May flowers, right? :) If you don't have any rainy day cards then we welcome sunshine, storms, rainbows, etc.

Joining us this week are a couple of guest Bar-Tenders:

Henrikke

Chris

Thanks ladies for the Spring-y cards!
And now from our full time Bar-Tenders, a sweet lineup of April Showers:

Julie

Thanh

Wanda

Jan

Anita

Joni

Come grab your umbrellas, sunglasses, or galoshes and join in on the fun! Click the happy blue frog below to link up your card, we'll come by to pay you a visit.

Pardon the delay...

2011-03-31T23:55:00.002-04:00

But we will be back in the morning to announce our winners and new challenge! Thank you for your understanding! :)

Challenge #59

2011-03-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! I know many of you have awesome and amazing plans for this weekend so I will keep this short and happy. First off, thank you for your fun interpretations of last week's little fairy picture! All of the entries were so well done, we look forward to seeing your creativity every week. Without further waiting, congratulations to the following cards:

Cabio

Veronica

Chris

Ladies please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment!
And now please get your passports ready for this week's theme:

NOW BOARDING!

In honor of our beautiful world and all of its great countries, let's see a card inspired by a foreign land. Our guest Bar-Tenders have done a wonderful job paying homage to Japan, first with Maya's card using Japan's colors and a fund raiser image from Mo Manning:

And Cassie's card using an adorable image by My Cute Stamps called Konnichiwa:

Our full time Bar-Tenders also created an amazing lineup as well!

First with Thanh's tribute to Japan, using a fund raiser image by Sparkle's Creations:

Thanh

Anita's adorable tribute to Down Under:

Anita

Jan's beautiful tribute to Japan also using a Mo Manning image:

Jan

Wanda's beautiful scene of Paris:

Wanda

My Belle Du jour traveler:

Joni

Grab your suitcases and join us on our flight! Show us which country inspired you, we would love to come and visit. :)

Challenge #58

2011-03-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
I am so excited to post today's announcement, we have 2 new Bar-Tenders who will be joining in on our weekly fun! Congratulations to the following ladies who have just been hired:

Jan Marshall and Wanda Cullen

They will join in on the fun as full time employees next week. Yay!
And now, a huge THANK YOU for all the amazing entries in our G.R.E.E.N. acrostic challenge last week. Wow - you all were so creative with your acronyms, they all had me smiling at your clever concoctions! Without further ado, congratulations to the following entries:
(Please click their names to discover what their acrostic stood for.)

Amy Duff of Paper Trails Leaver

Cassie Trask of A Day in the life of a Homeschooling Mom

Maxine of Scrappy Max

Maya of Maya's hobby blogg

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.

Now are you ready for a picture perfect Spring day? Me too! Especially with this week's photo inspiration:

Isn't she just adorable? Now here's where you have full creative license - you can take this picture literally, you can use the colors from this image, you can create a card inspired by this cutie, just be sure to let us know your interpretation of it!

And starting us off this week is our bar-tender Susan who used this picture as a sketch and image inspiration (brilliant!!):

Susan Margarson

Thanh's beautiful homage with such a gorgeous image!

Julie's wonderful outdoorsy color scheme:

My color combo inspired card:

Come and show us how that spring picture inspired you! Click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work. Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Challenge #57

2011-03-11T00:01:00.011-05:00

It's a great day!
Happy Friday everyone, and thank you so much for coming by. We truly love and appreciate your support here on Raise The Bar!
Thank you for your entries in the "I'm just sayin'" challenge last week - just BEAUTIFUL! If you have time to scroll through all the entries, you will see all the beautiful cards made with just sentiments. Amazing, and truly breathtaking!
It was no easy task to decide since everyone's creations were fit to be published in all the popular magazines. ;) Congratulations to the following friends:

(I have been inspired to create more sentiment cards with everyone's entries this week!) Ladies, please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.
And now on to our fun challenge for this week:

Create your own
G.R.E.E.N. acrostic!

Yes, you have full creative license to create a card or project with this acronym. To jump start your creativity, here are some amazing cards by two of our Guest Bar-Tenders, followed by our full time Bar-Tenders:

Shaz

Girl image/Ribbon/Embellishment (button)/Embellishment (ribbon slider)/Nestie

Christi

Garden/Rhinestones/Embossing/Embellishment/Nestabilities

Anita

Green/Raffia/Embellishment (washer)/Embellishment (bling) /New Image

Julie

Thanh

Guy image/Ribbon/Embellishment: vintage brads/Embellishment: linen thread/Navy cardstock

Joni

Green cardstock/Ribbon/Easel card/Embellishment (pearls)/New Image

See? Don't be intimidated to go G.R.E.E.N.! Click on the happy blue frog below, we will announce the Guest Bar-Tenders on next week's post, as well as introduce you to the new DT members joining us here at Raise The Bar.

Challenge #56

2011-03-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!
Thank you so much for your wonderful Mug Shots card last week - who knew there were so many adorable stamps with mugs on them?!?! Don't forget that if you want to be considered for the Design Team, please indicate so by putting {DT} next to your entries.
And without further ado, congratulations on the following cards, it was so hard to choose!

Simply Shaz's adorable paper pieced card:

Paulines' floral beauty:

Christi Bryant's adorable large ventis:

Wanda's sweet latte:

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.

And now on to this week's challenge:

I'm just sayin'...

Create a card made with JUST a sentiment - no other images allowed! I have seen these cards everywhere in blog land and have fallen in love with it. And just to show you what I mean, we welcome back our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Renee's classy birthday wishes

Juelmarie's recipe for friendship:

Marilyn's quilted creation:

Stunning, just stunning! Beautiful job ladies, thank you so much for joining in this week!

And now on to our designers:

Anita's stunning fold

Thanh's orange dreamsicle:

Julie's beautiful blue affirmation:

Beautiful sentiments ladies!

Now it's your turn to enter in on the fun. Remember, no big image to take center stage,

keep the sentiment as the focal point. Click on the happy blue guy below to link up your work.

Challenge #55

2011-02-25T01:20:00.002-05:00

Hello Friday!
Thank you all so much for joining in on our cartoon character challenge, we loves seeing our favorite icons - from Strawberry Shortcake to the Simpsons, you all are so creative!
Before I introduce our new theme, we here at Raise The Bar are looking for a few more employees. heehee! That's right - we'd like to add to our Design Team and want you to apply! All you have to do for the next couple of challenges is add {DT} to your name. We'll pay you a visit, and will announce the new members on the 11th of March.
And now on to the following entries who make up our winners round for the week:

Marilyn

Renee

Juelmarie

Congratulations ladies!
Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment.

And now for this week's theme:
As we say goodbye to cold weather, we want to see your

MUG SHOTS!

No no, not as in criminal lineups! heehee! Let's pull out any image we have of hot drinks - lattes, cocoa, and coffees. To start you off with some awesome inspiration, here are this week's Guest Bar-~~Tenders~~, uh I mean Bar-istas:

Nela

Cec

Sheila

Hanna

Oooh! I love love love their gallery today! I think I'll celebrate and use my Keurig as they've got me in the mug mood right now. Thank you ladies for serving up some hot inspiration!
And now to our full time always so talented Bar-istas:

Thanh

Anita

Julie

Joni

Come on and join in on the fun! Click the happy blue frog below to participate and don't forget to add {DT} next to your name if you'd like to apply to be a Bar-Tender.

Challenge #54

2011-02-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

It's another beautiful Friday and a new challenge here at Raise The Bar!
I hope this post finds everyone doing well and ready to enjoy the weekend? Thank you all for your beautiful Valentine creations without the reds and pinks, I know you all raised your own bar as the entries were just breathtaking in every other color! As always, it is such a difficult decision to narrow down a top 3:

CEC

Nina

Sheila Ho

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's assignment as Guest Bar-Tenders. And speaking of, since I was so tardy in announcing last week's winners with our overwhelming Hearts entries, they will be joining in on the fun next week as we say 'goodbye' to winter. (hint hint) I hope this has your wheels turning! heehee!
This week we are paying tribute to something that we love no matter what our age is:

Children's Cartoon Characters

Yes! Let's celebrate our youth by creating a card inspired by a much loved character. It can be from a book, a movie, a tv show, let your imagination soar!
Here are some adorable designs by our Bar-Tenders:

Anita's inspiration:

and her adorable card:

Thanh's sweet tribute:

(my daughter will go crazy for this picture!)

and rainbow-licious card:

Julie's little blue muse:

and card that would make Gargamel swoon:

And here's my rootin'est tootin'est hero:

and the card that Woody inspired:

So come on and join in on the fun! We would love to see a little picture of your cartoon character inspired card. Link up below by clicking on the happy blue froggy and we will fly, flutter, ride our horses, and magically appear at your blog.

Challenge winners!

2011-02-15T14:26:00.000-05:00

Wow! You all are making our jobs SO hard to decide!
Thank you to all who entered our hearts challenge, my apologies that this post is up so late. Congratulations to the following crafters with their sweet designs:

Ladies please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for your upcoming assignment. Thank you all so much for being patient with me, I just love it when the Bar gets so busy! :)
Have a beautiful Tuesday everyone!

Challenge #53

2011-02-11T00:01:00.003-05:00

Happyyyyyy Friday everyone! Are you ready for a beautiful weekend?
If you are stopping in to check out the winners' round, please check back for an edited post - with 170+ entries we want to be sure that everyone was visited with their adorable hearts entries. Thank you all for your participation and support!
Today's challenge will give you something to ponder over as it is a bit unconventional. heehee! So get ready to put on your thinking caps for:

A Valentine's Day card

with NO pink or red

We have a fun lineup this week with adorable samples, first up from the Guest Bar-Tenders:

Katlyn

Peggy

Cassie

Eeek! I love it! Puppies, little girl with flowers, and monsters - what fun images! Thank you ladies!
And now for the full timers and their concoctions:

Julie's
elegant love card

Thanh's
blue and brown beauty

Anita's
purple yummy creation

Joni's
old school love
{inside says "to my sweetie pie"}

******************

Come along and join in on the fun, just click on the happy blue frog below.

Challenge #52

2011-02-04T00:01:00.004-05:00

It's a wonderful Friday!
Happy beautiful day everyone, the weekend is finally here. :)
Oh those beautiful entries from last week's challenges were so wonderful! Thank you for the purple/blue/yellow combos, all the original ideas were so creative.
Here are the picks of the week:

Cassie

Lisette

K Joy

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's fun challenge.

And now on to this week's theme:

HEARTS

To celebrate all the love in this month, we want to see cards - BUT it must have a heart image somewhere on it. As you can see, we have a fun little lineup below to get you inspired:

From our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Irene

Wanda

And joining in on the fun with a sweet little cupid from Inktegrity:

Jacki

Tammy

Jacquie

Sheri

And from our Bar-Tenders:

Challenge #51

2011-01-28T01:52:00.001-05:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
It snowed her in the Northeast so we are on day 3 of no school. YAY! I feel like one of the kids every time I see the cancellation scroll across the tv. ;)
Whatever the weather may be in your neck of the woods, I do hope you join in on the fun this week!
But first, thank you for all your wonderful N.E.W. entries, they were all SOO beautiful, many of those nesties are now on my wish list. heehee!
Congratulations to the following entries:

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for next week's assignment.

And now for our latest challenge - a color combo that celebrates Spring:

Purple Yellow Blue

Here are some lovely samples by the Guest Bar-Tenders:

Nicki

Bettina

Lori

and now from our Bar-Tenders:

It is a fun combo, use any hue/shade that you want, as long as we see the three colors on your creation please. And as if you need any more inspiration, here is the picture that inspired this color trio:

{this photo serves as a color palette possibility, not a required photo inspiration}

Click on the blue happy frog below to link up your work.

To be a kid again - Winners!

2011-01-24T20:27:00.000-05:00

Wow - you all make every week SO difficult to choose from!
Thank you for your understanding the delay in this post, without further ado, congratulations to the following entries:

Congratulations ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com so I can send you this week's new challenge. Thank you everyone, I hope you enjoy this week's them found in the post below. Enjoy the rest of your week, we'll see you here on Friday!

Challenge #50

2011-01-21T00:46:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone and a very happy Friday to you all!
We had SO many wonderful entries last week with our "Oh To Be a Kid Again" Challenge that I will post our winners round tomorrow. All I can say is WOWZA! You all were so creative and excited to play along!!
For now, we introduce our new challenge so that you can join in on the fun without having to wait. Did I say NEW? Well...I meant:

N.E.W.

{Nestie/Embellishments/White}

Our little recipe can be interpreted so many ways, we can't wait to see what you come up with! And if you don't have any nesties, please use a die cut around your main image and play along.

This week our wonderful set of Guest Bar-Tenders are joining in on the fun with their beautiful creations:

Carlie

Margo Smith

Kelly Santi

Erica Johnson-Wanzer

Oh such great cards with wonderful white nesties! I love those dies, what did we ever do before them? heehee!
And from my always incredible Design Team:

So show us what's N.E.W. with you!
Click on the blue happy frog below to link up your work, you have until next Thursday to enter in on the fun.

Challenge #49

2011-01-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

It's a beautiful Friday and the start of a long weekend! Yay! We thank you all for your awesome entries in last week's photo inspiration. It was a bit of a creative stretch, a good way to start the new crafting year. ;)
Congratulations to the top 3 ladies:

Kelly

Erica

Carlie

Congratulations! Ladies please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's challenge!
Now this week is a FUN one, we are bracing ourselves for a lot of wonderful entries:

OH TO BE A KID AGAIN!

Fun one, right? All you have to do is use a child image on your card - humans only, please. ;) heehee!
From our Bar-Tenders, here are some adorable samples:

Anita

Julie

Joni

Thanh

So put the bills down, grab your jump ropes, and join in on the fun! :)

Challenge #48

2011-01-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

We're baaaack! HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
We hope you all had a beautiful holiday season and a nice transition into 2011. Are you ready to jump into a new year of challenges?
First off, congratulations to the following entries into the S.N.O.W acrostic theme:

Anne of Anne's Creative World

CW of CW Card Creations

KIM MC

Can you believe these cards only used one designer paper? Eeeek! I had to do double takes on everyone's cards - you all are so incredibly talented! Ladies please contact me for next week's challenge here at RTB.

This week is a photo inspired theme, celebrating Father Time (heehee!):

And from our wonderful Full Time Bar-Tenders:

Thanh

Anita

Dana

Julie

Joni

I hope you all join in on the fun! You can combine other challenges with ours, of course, what better way to start off the new year?

From us to you...

2010-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Please enjoy this free little sentiment

as a thank you for joining in on our challenges.

{click on image and save to your computer}

We will be back next Friday with a fun new theme

to start off the new year.

Be safe, and enjoy the transition

into a whole new decade!

(By the way, this is ginger ale,

just in case you are under 21. heehee!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

from the Design Team!

Challenge #47

2010-12-10T01:43:00.003-05:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! I am so happy that it's the weekend, how's everyone's planning and shopping going? Eeek! Don't even ask me... ;)
Just to let everyone know that this will be the last week of challenges for December. We will start up in January with a really fun photo inspiration so be sure to join in on the fun!
With that note, thank you all for your incredible Tree entries - amazing! Seeing all the beautiful foliage was such a delight. Without further ado, here are our top 5:

Bev's
beautiful stair step wonder:

Natascha's
wonderful treat holder

Yogi's
amazing tea bag fold tree

Chrissie's
card that looks like a Bob Ross painting:

Annika's
stunning treat and ornament holders

Congratulations ladies! Please visit their blogs for more details on their projects, as well as shared tutorials.
And now on to this week's challenge:

an acrostic for the word "SNOW":

Silver, No ribbon, One designer paper, Wording

{Please note that 'wording' refers to any kind of text or sentiment on the front of the card.}

This week we have our full time hard working Bar-Tenders:

Thanh

Don't be alarmed! Below is a trial link that I am testing. If this is something that doesn't quite work out right, please leave your name and a link in the comment section so we can come and visit you.

Challenge #46

2010-12-03T00:04:00.000-05:00

Happy December oh wonderful friends!

I hope your Thanksgiving weekend and end of November went well? It's a beautiful Friday and time for a new challenge here at the Bar. Before we begin, thank you all so much for your support with our challenges. We love meeting new friends and visiting new blogs each week! While the holidays are upon us, please know that we are making all efforts to stop by and comment. We love your participation!!
Without further ado, congratulations to the following entries for our Grateful theme last week:

Gloria of Gloria's Greetings

(love the balance of this card)

Cheryl of She Stamps

(what great stitching to go with that globe!)

Margo of My Scrappy Spot

(love that fun sentiment to go with Sparkle's image!)

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com so I can give you next week's concoction. :)
And now on to this week's challenge which we truly hope you'll have fun with:

TREES

How fun for this time of year, right? Now while it seems obvious that we mean Christmas trees, please feel free to use any type of tree on the card, as long as it is a focal point. Our Guest Bar-Tenders have joined in this week with their adorable creations:

Gale of Galevarland

Amy Duff of Papertrails Leaver

Thank you so much ladies!
And now from our Full Time Bar-Tenders:

Let's see those trees!

Just a reminder...

2010-11-26T08:46:00.000-05:00

that this week the Design team is sleeping in with a tryptophan induced slumber. ;)
I will announce this week's top 3 next Friday along with our new challenge for December. Have a wonderful rest of your Thanksgiving weekend everyone, we will see you soon!
The Bar-Tenders

Challenge #45

2010-11-19T00:06:00.000-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone! Thank you for your cuuuute baby cards this past week, we loved seeing all the little bundles of joy and sweet sentiments! Before we announce our top cards and new challenge, we here at Raise The Bar want to thank you all so much for joining in on our weekly themes! We will be taking a break next week but will resume on December 3rd for one of two challenges in December due to the holidays. However, we will be BACK with a new year and more fun in January!
Now on to the top 3 cards of our Oh Baby! challenge:

Gale of Galevarland

Ann English

Amy Duff of Papertrails

Thank you so much ladies! The beautiful coloring, the incredible out of frame image, and sentiment as a focal point are such inspiring creations. Please contact me for December's challenge in case you'd like to get a headstart.
And now on to this week's theme:

GRATEFUL

Yes, pretty expected for the soon to be holiday right? :) Let's celebrate with gratitude!

From our Guest Bar-Tenders, here are their amazing cards:

Piali

Tracy

Chelle

Thank you so much ladies for being Guest Bar-Tenders!
And from our Designers:

We can't wait to see your Grateful cards! :)

Challenge #44

2010-11-12T00:01:00.005-05:00

WOWZA! What a wonderful week full of entries! You all continue to amaze us, those curvy cards and projects blew us away. It was so hard to narrow down all those entries to a top 3 so we are doing a top 5 instead:

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for next week's Guest Bar-Tender menu. ;)

And now on to this week's challenge:

**Oh Baby!!**

We want to see your cards celebrating the wee little cuties of the world!
Here are our guest Bar-Tenders for the week with their adorable creations:

Thank you ladies, celebrating a sweet new little one has never been cuter!! :)
And now from our regular employees:

Joni

Let's see your baby cakes - er - cards! Just click on the happy blue frog below to link up your work.

Challenge #43

2010-11-05T00:01:00.002-04:00

Everyone jump for joy! It's Friday, and I do hope you all are looking forward to some fun crafting this weekend? I know it's getting colder here so all I want to do is color. :)
Thank you all so much for your entries into our Go Go Go challenge last week. I loved seeing the different wheeled images - some of which I am going to have to add to my collection. heehee!
Without further ado here are our top 3:

Lilla of Lilla's Hobbyside

Sheri of Paper Crafty's Creations

Mary of My True Blue Creations

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com so I can send you next week's menu as a Guest Bar-Tender.
And now for this week's challenge:

LET'S SEE THOSE CURVES!

That's right, we want to see some curves on your card or project - scallops, circles, even a curvy image! For some great inspiration, here is our gallery starting with our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Annika Ryan

JulieElak

Michelle VP

Love those curves ladies! heehee! And from our full timers:

Come on over and join in on the fun! Be sure that your card is NEW and linked up directly to the post. Let's see those curves! :)

Challenge #42

2010-10-29T00:20:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
I hope you all had a safe and creative week with fun plans ahead. Before I begin today's post, please join me in saying goodbye to our designer Carla! Carla is stepping down from the Design Team, we wish her ALL the best with her future endeavors and will miss her talent! Thank you Carla!
And now for the top 3 of the orange, black, and purple combo (which, by the way, I didn't realize was also another theme for another challenge!!):

Michelle

Julie

Ann

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me for next week's challenge and your opportunity to be a Guest Bar-Tender.
And now on to this week's theme:

Go Go Go!

We want to see any type of vehicle or anything with wheels on your creations. Pretty appropriate since this is the season that I feel like we never stop moving...

From our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Lindsay

Faye

Oh Super cuteness! I love Lindsay's vintage themed locomotive! And how cute is Faye's sweetie on her bicycle? Thank you ladies!
And now for the Design Team's creations:

Click on the cute blue frog below to link up your work. Enjoy your day!

Challenge #41

2010-10-22T00:01:00.011-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Thank you all so much for your hobby cards, I loved seeing all the wonderful activities on your submissions! Once again, this was a hard week - you all really know how to Raise The Bar!
Congratulations to the following entries:

Lindsay

Faye

Annika

Congratulations ladies! Please email me for next week's assignment at jonjinko@hotmail.com.
And now for this week's challenge - are you ready for some COLOR?

ORANGE BLACK PURPLE

Now this doesn't have to be a Halloween card even though the colors may suggest it. You can have one main color as the focal point and little splashes of the others! We don't want to deter anyone from entering in thinking that this is just for October 31st. ;)
Here are some wonderful color combo cards from our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Juanita's adorable Teddy flying high

Susie's beautiful bouquet

Sweet cards ladies! Thank you so much for being designers this week!

And from our Full Time Employees:

Anita's sassy round easel card

Thanh's web delight

Dana's stunning beauty

Carla's happy witch

Julie's nestie wonder

Joni's welcome gate (a free image HERE!)

Now it's your turn to get colorful! We want to see your beautiful work, you have until next Thursday at noon to enter in on the fun for your chance to be a Guest Bar-Tender.
Have a wonderful day everyone!

Challenge #40

2010-10-15T00:19:00.005-04:00

Happy Friday everyone!

Wow, what a beautiful week full of wonderful pink cards! You all are so awesome, thank you for the sweet entries in last week's challenge. I do hope you consider sending that one off to some special friend in your life, just to let her know she was on your mind. :)
Before we begin the announcement of our Guest Bar-Tenders for next week, the random winner of Kristy's beautiful buttons goes to:

#5 Katie Tate

Congratulations Katie! Please email me so I can get your address off to Kristy.

And now for our Pink picks of last week (ohhh it was sooo hard):

Susie

Juanita

Berenice

Congratulations ladies! Please email me for more information about next week's challenge. And now for the theme of the week:

GET A HOBBY!

We want to see a hobby/sport/interest on your card or project.Come on, you know how multi-talented you are! To start us off, here are some adorable cards by our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Deborah is in her garden

Shannon is baking up a yummy dessert

Eeek! So cute - I love that Deborah's fun embellishments go with her image, and Shannon's cutie pie holding a sweet pie! Thank you ladies for joining us this week.
And from our full time employees:

Anita is tending to her flowers

Julie is reading a few good books

Carla is stitching up a storm

Thanh is golfing away!

Dana is stamping in her pretty apron

Joni is should be working out

Come on and join in on the fun! Click on the blue frog below to add your name and card picture. We will be by to visit, until then have a wonderful week everyone.

Challenge #39

2010-10-08T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Friday everyone!

Another week and a new challenge - this one with a very special surprise! Thank you all so very much for the beautiful entries last week. We loved seeing the recipes on everyone's cards, you all are so creative! In no particular order, here are the winners of our F.A.L.L. Acrostic challenge:

Deb

Shannon

Tracy

Congratulations ladies! Please email me for next week's assignment as Guest Bar-Tender at jonjinko@hotmail.com

And now are you ready for this week's challenge?
For the FIRST TIME in Raise The Bar history, we have a PRIZE! And a very special one to go with our theme:

RAISE THE ~~BAR~~ BRA

Yes ladies, it is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we want to show our support in every way that we can. Use pink in your cards as well as a female image OR any cancer awareness image as the wonderful lineup below shows. Here is the adorable prize this week:

These are handmade buttons by my friend Kristy Ketterlin, owner of Buttons & Bows blogspot as well as THIS wonderful button shop on Etsy! Thank you so much Kristy!

Since this a first time for a prize, there will be the top 3 winners as usual, but this set of buttons will go to a RANDOM winner! Woohoo! Please come on over to follow the Buttons & Bows blog HERE as well, where her newest buttons debut.

And now on to the Raise The Bra cards this week from our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Nina

Jude

Debra

And our Full Time employees, including Dana Christiansen, our new Bar-Tender:

Thank you for joining us with this important cause.

Challenge #38

2010-10-01T00:01:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! It's finally Friday! I love every day of the week, but this one always has me smiling. ;)
Thank you so much for bundling up with us last week - all of your entries were so creative and snuggly cute. Congratulations to the following cards:

Debra Shaw

*Jude*

Nina

Please contact me for next week's challenge so you can debut it with us!
Before I announce the new theme, we want to bid a loving adieu to the one and only uber creative Erika Taylor. Thank you so much Erika for gracing us with your amazing work!
And now for our new theme an acrostic challenge of the word FALL:

Flower, At least 2 ribbons/fibers

Lots of Leaves

Fun stuff! Here are our Guest Bar-Tenders from last week showing off their stuff:

Julia Moss

Debbie Moore

Thank you so much ladies!! I love all the warm colors you've used in your cards. :)

And now on to the Bar-Tenders' samples:

The fabulous Erika's last Bar-Tender card:

Come and celebrate October with us, click on the blue happy frog below to add your link and card.
Thank you so much for joining us, we love your company!

Challenge #37

2010-09-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

It's a wonderful Friday and time for a new challenge here at Raise The Bar! But first, THANK YOU for all your yummy submissions for last week's challenge! I think I gained 10 pounds just looking at all you cards. ;)
Congratulations to the following ladies:

Keeley

Julia

Debbie

Yay ladies! Please contact me for next week's assignment for the beginning of October.
This week we have a fun challenge that embraces the change in weather (hopefully soon):

Bundle Up!

Create a card or project with an image that depicts cooler weather - a jacket, a scarf, or be inspired by any of these wonderful cards.
First up from our Guest Bar-Tender:

And our Bar-Tenders:

Brrrr! Just looking at these cards makes me warm and cozy! :)
Click on to our blue happy frog below to enter your card and we'll stop in and pay you a visit. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Challenge #36

2010-09-17T00:11:00.002-04:00

It's Aloha Friday (heehee) and time for another fun challenge here at Raise The Bar! Thank you all soooo much for your beautiful color combo cards last year. We loved seeing all the different hues of greens, oranges, and browns. There was such a wonderful range of cards! I assumed I'd see Autumn and Fall themes, you all are SO creative! Without further ado...

Anne Harada

Edith

Leanne

CONGRATULATIONS ladies! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com for next week's fun challenge assignment.
And now get your forks and napkins out (put away the calorie counters, please), because we want you to make:

SOMETHING YUMMY!

Sweetly named after Thanh's "Yummy Creations" blog, we want you to interpret this as you wish. Here are some delicious samples by our Guest Bar-Tenders:

Felicity Goodwin

Linda Coughlin

Chrissie

Thank you so much ladies! And now for our full time Bar-Tenders:

Come on over and join us in our dessert fest! Create any card with this interpretation and we'll be happy to come by with our appetites. ;)