Challenge #309

Hello, friends of Time Out. Welcome back! If you are a newcomer to Time Out Challenges, we extend a very warm welcome to you. We're glad you are here.

We have a new challenge that opens today and runs through April 1. This time it is a Theme challenge:

USE A CLEAR ELEMENT OR ELEMENTS ON YOUR PROJECT.

Think sequins, enamel dots, gemstones, stickers, and nylon thread,  to name a few. Also, clear elements like acetate sheets or window plastic can be used on handmade cards to create shaker windows, floating elements, interactive overlays, or full transparent card bases. They add dimension and a modern feel, perfect for highlighting stamped, embossed, or die-cut designs behind a glossy surface. YouTube has many videos on how to use acetate on cards. Here's a wonderful one by Jennifer McGuire in case you are interested: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/52424783146996336/

Challenge #309

Our wonderful sponsor, UNIKO, is generously offering a $25.00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by Verena Shapiro of Simple Stamper on Instagram, and winner of Time Out #304 as Guest Designer. Verena is a frequent player at Time Out. She has a wonderful sense of color and design and we are so pleased to have her with us as Guest Designer again. Here is a little bit about Verena's crafting journey in her own words:

"Hi! My name is Verena, and I live in Ottawa, Canada. I originally started paper crafting about 20 years ago, but as a mom of three life got too busy to fully get into it. Now, as I have more time again, I'm fully embracing card challenges as they push me out of my comfort zone and make me look at my stash differently. I tend to lean towards clean and simple cards. Life can be pretty chaotic, and there's just something incredibly calming about clean lines and white space. Thank you everyone at Time Out for the wonderful inspiration you always provide!"

This is Verena's gorgeous Challenge Card. Check out all the details HERE. Do treat yourself to a visit to her Instagram and leave her some love. You can't help but be inspired by her work. 

And now for some inspiration from our design team!

Jenny

Kate

Nancy

Stephanie 

Bobby

Deepti

Carol Mc 

Helen 

Ishani

Jaydee

Fantastic inspiration from everyone, I'm sure you'll agree! Now it's your turn to Take Time Out to Craft!

Here are some details to keep in mind (See full list of rules on challenge sidebar):

• Upload your project using the Inlinkz below by 5:00 GMT (London), 12:00 Noon EDT (New York) on Wednesday, April 1st.
• Be sure your link is a direct link to your NEW project, not just a generic link to your blog. No back linking.
• Be sure you are actually following the challenge theme and explain in your post how your project fits the challenge. 
• Per our challenge rules, combining of challenges is limited to a total of 5, including ours. A total of 5 entries per challenge is allowed.

Thank you and happy crafting!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Winners #307 - Photo Challenge

 Welcome back, and we extend a very warm welcome to newcomers to Time Out Challenges! We are here to announce the Winners of Challenge #307, which was a special Photo Challenge. Kim Heggins' handmade bag was not only the muse for our challenge but is also the prize for the winner!

There were many wonderful interpretations of the pretty bag in the gallery. We didn't have as many entries as we usually do, but the ones you shared were so well done and obviously inspired by the photo. It was so much fun to see which elements of the photo caught the eye of our participants in designing their projects. Thanks to all who took Time Out to play with us. And now for our winner...

Fran W.

The team was very taken by this very creative CASE of the hand sewn bag from Kim. The papers that Fran had in her stash could not have been more perfect for the challenge, as was the die set she used. 

Congratulations on your win Fran! We absolutely loved your gorgeous card and the way our photo inspired your design. Please grab your Winner's Badge from the tab beneath our Blog Header and display it proudly on your blog and/or other social media.

Please contact Stephanie at slan(dot)zal(at)verizon(dot)net within one week with "TO WINNER" in the subject field for details on how to claim your prize. With your win, you are also invited to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge. When contacting Stephanie, please let her know if you are interested. We'd love to have you!

The Honorable Mentions go to these talented card makers:

Arlene R.

Arlene's soft colors and stripes along the bottom made this sweet bunny card the perfect Easter CASE version of our photo!

Kerry

Kerry's expert coloring mades these dies look so real in addition to being pretty!

Julie B.

Julie's pretty pastel rainbow idea was a fun creative twist on the handmade bag stripes.

Such wonderful and inspiring work from everyone, I'm sure you'll agree! Crafters, please grab your Honors Badge from the tab beneath our Blog Header and and display it proudly on your blog and/or other social media.

Our current Birthday Celebration Challenge #308 is still ongoing until next Wednesday, March 18. 

If you haven't already played, we encourage you to take some Time Out to craft and play along with us. We always look forward to seeing your creative ideas in the gallery. You can read all challenge details and link your project Here.

Challenge #308

  Hello, friends of Time Out. Welcome back! If you are a newcomer to Time Out Challenges, we extend a very warm welcome to you. We're glad you are here.

We have a new challenge that opens today and runs through March 18 in celebration of Time Out's 12th birthday!

Time Out Challenges was founded by Nonni Niskanen and Sandie Munro - two good friends who loved to take "time out" to craft and invite people in blogland with the same interest to join them. They launched the first challenge on March 13, 2014. You can view it HERE.

Time Out Challenges has grown and thrived over the years and features a very talented and close-knit Design Team comprised of 10 paper crafters from around the world. Each of our challenges is sponsored by generous craft industry companies. We post a new challenge every other Thursday, with winners and Honorable Mentions announced on the alternating Thursdays. Our winners receive the sponsor’s prize along with an invitation to join our Design Team as a Guest Designer for a future challenge.

Today, we proudly celebrate our 12th birthday with Challenge #308. In recent years, we have chosen a muse to create a card for our designers and participants to CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit). This year, we are pleased to welcome Stef Perry of Perry Papercrafts as our muse. Stef has created this incredibly beautiful card for our celebration and for us to CASE. Use it as direct inspiration to create your own by reproducing the layout, color scheme, techniques, etc., while adding your own unique changes. Projects can be for any occasion. In your post, please explain how your  project is influenced by Stef's card. 

This enlargement will help you to see Stef's card in more detail.

Waffle Flower Crafts is our generous sponsor offering a $25.00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by Verena Shapiro of Simple Stamper on Instagram, and winner of Time Out #303 as Guest Designer. Verena is a frequent player at Time Out. She has a wonderful sense of color and design and we are so pleased to have her with us as Guest Designer again. Here is a little bit about Verena's crafting journey in her own words:

"Hi! My name is Verena, and I live in Ottawa, Canada. I originally started paper crafting about 20 years ago, but as a mom of three life got too busy to fully get into it. Now, as I have more time again, I'm fully embracing card challenges as they push me out of my comfort zone and make me look at my stash differently. I tend to lean towards clean and simple cards. Life can be pretty chaotic, and there's just something incredibly calming about clean lines and white space. Thank you everyone at Time Out for the wonderful inspiration you always provide!"

This is Verena's gorgeous Challenge Card. Check out all the details HERE. Do treat yourself to a visit to her Instagram and leave her some love. You can't help but be inspired by her work. 

And now for some inspiration from our design team!

Kate

Nancy

Stephanie 

Bobby

Deepti

Carol Mc 

Helen 

Using our sponsor, Waffle Flower - Crocus Flowers stamp set

Ishani

Jaydee

Jenny

Fantastic inspiration from everyone, I'm sure you'll agree! Now it's your turn to Take Time Out to Craft!

Here are some details to keep in mind (See full list of rules on challenge sidebar):

• Upload your project using the Inlinkz below by 5:00 GMT (London), 12:00 Noon EDT (New York) on Wednesday, March 18th.
• Be sure your link is a direct link to your NEW project, not just a generic link to your blog. No back linking.
• Be sure you are actually following the challenge theme and explain in your post how your project fits the challenge. 
• Per our challenge rules, combining of challenges is limited to a total of 5, including ours. A total of 5 entries per challenge is allowed.

Thank you and happy crafting!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Winners #306 - Pick Two

Hello friends of Time Out! Welcome back, and we extend a very warm welcome to newcomers to Time Out Challenges!

We are here to announce the winners of Challenge #306 where we were all challenged to use at least two of our six Pick Two word prompts for our projects. Thanks so much to everyone who shared their creative projects!

We are sponsored by Lawn Fawn with a generous offer of a $25 Store Credit for our winner as chosen by the Design Team. Our Challenge Winner will also receive an invitation to join the Time Out Design Team as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

There were many wonderful projects in the Gallery. It was so much fun to see how the words played out into a wonderful variety of creative cards. 

 Just a reminder regarding playing a Pick Two Challenge at Time Out - we always ask that you mention in your post which words inspired your project. Also, linking to no more than 5 challenges including ours is in our guidelines. In order to qualify for the win, please follow our guidelines on the sidebar. Thank you most sincerely.

And now for our winner...

Karen W.

Congratulations on your win, Karen! We absolutely loved your unique shaped card with the beautiful embossed designs. The pink and red with a touch of white is just beautiful. Please grab your Winner's Badge from the tab beneath our Blog Header and and display it proudly on your blog and/or other social media.

Please contact Stephanie at slan(dot)zal(at)verizon(dot)net within one week with "TO WINNER" in the subject field for details on how to claim your prize. With your win, you are also invited to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge. When contacting Stephanie, please let her know if you are interested. We'd love to have you!

The Honorable Mentions go to these talented card makers in the order they appeared in the gallery:

#4 Paperielle

The red, heart and pink from our list came to life with this cute little piglet and its sweet hearts.

 #7 Leanne S.

The floral embossed background is such a pretty base for the vellum heart, red flowers and sparkle with that sweet sentiment.

#19 Kerry P.

This darling box of chocolates with their yummy detailed decorations is true a labor of love. The words red, heart and pink are evident in your design.

#45 Julia A.

The hearts, pink and red you chose from our words are used so creatively on this fun hugs card.

Such detailed and beautiful makes from everyone, I'm sure you'll agree! Crafters, please grab your Honors Badge from the tab beneath our Blog Header and and display it proudly on your blog and/or other social media.

 

Our current challenge is still running for about another week. We are looking for projects inspired by our

Photo Inspiration and prize, a hand sewn zipper pouch by Kim Heggins of  Running Stitch Designs. All the details are HERE. If you haven't already played, we encourage you to take some Time Out to craft and play with us. We look forward seeing your projects in the gallery! You can read all challenge details, check out the inspiration from the Time Out Design Team and link your project HERE. Happy Crafting!

Challenge #307

Hello, friends of Time Out. Welcome back! If you are a newcomer to Time Out Challenges, we extend a very warm welcome to you. We're glad you are here.

Time Out Challenge #307 opens today and runs through March 4th. It is a special Photo Challenge. We are generously sponsored by Kim Heggins, a former Time Out Design Team Member and owner of Running Stitch Designs. For the past several years, Kim has donated one of her marvelous handmade bags for this special yearly challenge as both the inspiration AND the prize. 

Running Stitch Designs Logo

Time Out Challenge #307

We are challenged to create something inspired by this bag handmade by Kim Heggins. The enlarged  photo will help you to see some detail for your project. How does this photo inspire you? The colors, stripes, polka dots, the shape...? Please let us know in your post how your project was inspired. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Our Challenge Winner, as chosen by our Design Team, will receive Kim's Handmade Bag as a prize, and will also be invited to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by the Marvelous Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone, and winner of Time Out #302 as Guest Designer.  Michele is an incredibly talented designer with a keen eye for design and color, and a  sense of humor equally as keen.  Be forewarned that a stroll through Michele's BLOG may cause a little swooning and is sure to leave you inspired and heading toward your craft space.

Here is a little bit about Michele and her crafting journey in her own words:

 "I'm just a girl, standing before a mountain of supplies, looking for inspiration through many card- making challenges!  Lol I've been making cards for years and years - in fact I just posted my 3000^th card on Christmas day 2025 and still love every moment in my studio!  Thanks for the invitation to play cards with your wonderful team at Time Out!"

This is Michele's wonderful Challenge Card. Check out all the details HERE.

And now for some inspiration from our design team!

Nancy

Stephanie

Bobby

Deepti

Carol Mc 

Helen 

Ishani

Jaydee

Jenny

Kate

Fantastic inspiration from everyone, I'm sure you'll agree! Now it's your turn to Take Time Out to Craft!

Here are some details to keep in mind:

You have until 5:00 GMT (London), 12:00 Noon EDT (New York) on Wednesday, March 4th to upload your project using the Inlinkz below.  Make sure your link is a direct link to your NEW project, not just a generic link to your blog.

Please make sure you are actually following the challenge theme and be sure to add a bit of explanation how your project fits with the challenge. Per our challenge rules which you can find on the sidebar, please limit your combining of challenges to 5 total including ours. Thank you and happy crafting!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter