Thanks so much for participating in the Coloring Color Trends Challenge! We all had a great time using all sorts of coloring mediums including markers, paints, and even crayons. The team truly enjoyed all of the entries.

EDITED TO ADD: We selected Lindsay’s ice cream card as the winner for this challenge. Congratulations, Lindsay! However, I made a mistake because Lindsay is a design team member for The Craft’s Meow. Since she has all of their wonderful stamps, she ever so humbly declined the prize and asked for us to select another winner. Thanks Lindsay for notifying us of this oversight. We usually do not allow design team member to win a prize from a sponsored challenge. With the cancellation of a sponsored challenges, we will no longer encounter this issue, so every one can participate and be featured in the future. **All graphics have been updated**

So, there was a three-way tie on the most number of votes received for the top pick and the we have decided to recognize Jess’ card as the winner. Jess created a beautiful card full of texture and a unique coloring technique. Congratulations, Jess! Please contact us with your favorite The Craft’s Meow stamp set and mailing address and we will see that you receive your prize!

There were a lot of top selections for this challenge and selecting the winner was very difficult. Please take a moment and click on over to the other hot designs created for this challenge. They will surely “WOW” you and spark a coloring creative energy that you may be searching for.

Don’t forget about our current Embossed Flowers Color Trends Challenge. Take a look at the entries so far and then create something to join us if you have not already!

Hello Embellish fans! We are starting our second year of challenges and we wanted to change up a few things. We decided to discontinue our sponsorship program for the Color Trends Challenges. Although we love our sponsors, we also thought you all would like to see projects that the design team creates using products from various manufacturers. This change also means that there will not be a prize for the challenge winner; however, we will continue to highlight and feature those “hot” designs! Everything else will continue to function the same with fun color challenges and a theme to spice it up a bit! So, we welcome you to join us for the next couple of weeks and create something for the new challenge.

This challenge requires you to create a card, scrapbook layout, or altered item using the color challenge and embossed flowers. Embossing add so much character and texture to projects and we would love to see what new ideas you can come up with. Please feel free to use dry or heat embossing, but just make sure they are flowers! Let the photo inspire you.

The main colors are featured in the challenge inspiration board above. Remember, colors can be incorporated into your project in more ways than cardstock.

Upload a photo of your project to your blog or online gallery, such as Flickr, then copy the direct link to your project/post to the embedded link widget below or on one of the design team’s blogs. If you do not have a direct link to your blog/gallery posting that features the challenge, your link may be deleted. If it is deleted, no biggie, just come back and re-link the correct link! Only links left in the link widget will be considered for challenge submissions.

NOTE: **If you are having difficulties with our link widget, please click the question mark link to get help from their blog. They offer useful step-by-step instructions.

IE v6 Browser Users: The link widget is not compatible with IE version 6. Please feel free to download Firefox for free here. You can also update your IE browser here. Sorry for any inconvenience in the cross-browser issues, but we hope you give Firefox a try!

We also have a Flickr Group available to share your projects. Please add your projects to Embellish Magazine Flickr group.

If you want to use the graphic above, feel free to, but make sure you right-click and choose the “Save Image As” choice to save it to your computer, then upload to your blog!

The team has created some fabulous projects with an array of embossed flower techniques, so take a peek below, then check out the projects in more detail on their blogs!

Ashley dry embossed flower die cuts for her love card.

Charlene used both heat and dry embossing techniques on her cheerful card. Don’t you just love that “smile” sentiment on the label die cut with the flower embellishment?

Cristina embraced her clean and graphic style by heat embossing a flower. The bottom weighted layout is perfect!

Mariana heat embossed a flower background and created her own patterned paper. The red embossed flower on the newsprint pattern is simply fabulous!

Sarah dry embossed her flowers. She even used a fun corrugated technique and shared a video tutorial on her blog!

Tina created a fun card with heat embossed flowers. Don’t you just love her layout?!!

Click the image above for additional rules. There are new rules, so please visit the link. Your entry may be deleted if your submission is also a part of a lot of other challenges.

Challenge ends Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST

You all love some patterned paper! Check out all of the great designs submitted for the challenge here. Sharon D. created a great clean and graphic card that received the most votes by the design team. Congratulations, Sharon! Please contact us with your mailing address to receive your free stamp set of your choice from The Craft’s Meow.

There were a few other projects that caught the design team’s attention and you can check out the featured “hot” designs by clicking on the thumbnails above. Thanks so much for participating. Although this challenge is over, feel free to still use the color combination and patterned paper on many more projects.

Our current Coloring Color Trends Challenge is still open to submit some creative projects. For some inspiration, check out what the design team created and also what other designers have already submitted. There’s lots of projects out there that will surely bring color into your creative spirit.

We offer an array of stamps, kits and bits and bobs that will make your paper crafting more fun!

And this is just the beginning… I hope you’ll stay with me for more delectable things to come!

This challenge requires you to create a card, scrapbook layout, or altered item using the color challenge and coloring. We want to see what you can do with the coloring technique. So gather up your markers, paints, and inks and add lots of fun color to your designs.

The main colors are featured in the challenge inspiration board above. Remember, colors can be incorporated into your project in more ways than cardstock. Feel free to use white or cream/black or brown as neturals in your projects.

Upload a photo of your project to your blog or online gallery, such as Flickr, then copy the direct link to your project/post to the embedded link widget below or on one of the design team’s blogs. If you do not have a direct link to your blog/gallery posting that features the challenge, your link may be deleted. If it is deleted, no biggie, just come back and re-link the correct link! Only links left in the link widget will be considered for challenge submissions.

NOTE: **If you are having difficulties with our link widget, please click the question mark link to get help from their blog. They offer useful step-by-step instructions.

IE v6 Browser Users: The link widget is not compatible with IE version 6. Please feel free to download Firefox for free here. You can also update your IE browser here. Sorry for any inconvenience in the cross-browser issues, but we hope you give Firefox a try!

We also have a Flickr Group available to share your projects. Please add your projects to Embellish Magazine Flickr group.

If you want to use the graphic above, feel free to, but make sure you right-click and choose the “Save Image As” choice to save it to your computer, then upload to your blog!

After the challenge ends, the design team will select top designers who created hot projects to highlight. The designers will be highlighted in a blog posting. You can find all blog postings related to challenge winners in the category menu in the footer below, called “Embellish What’s Hot.”

Additionally, there will be a designer who will be featured and will win ONE STAMP SET from The Craft’s Meow, allowing the winner to select any set they want! The winner must contact Embellish within 48 hours of the announcement. We reserve the right to select a new winner if the designer makes no contact.

The Craft’s Meow has a variety of paper craft products, including patterned paper, kits, and stamps. The design team is using The Craft’s Meow’s stamps again to add a punch or color to their projects. Check out each of their designs below and click on the photo to visit their blogs for additional photos and information.

Ashley added lots of coloring techniques to a summer-filled mini album using the Life is a Carnival stamp set.

Charlene created this blissful and cheery card using the Baggin’ Some Rays stamp set.

Cristina applied a water color technique to her cheerful card and used the Lovely Birds stamp set.

Mariana colored the images from the Lovely Birds stamp set to create this beautiful card.

Sarah designed a soft and romantic card using ink and  Life is a Carnival stamps.

Tina spritzed color on her daisy love layout and used the It’s a Banner Day stamp set.

Click the image above for additional rules. There are new rules, so please visit the link. Your entry may be deleted if your submission is also a part of a lot of other challenges.

Challenge ends Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST

Whether you spent time on a beach, by the lake, or at the pool, this summer has surrounded us with nautical trends. The entries for this challenge were really awesome. Congratulations to Chunyuan for her clean and graphic sailboat card. Please contact us to retrieve your DeNami Design gift certificate. Also, make sure you check out the other hot designs featured in the graphic above by clicking each thumbnail. Unfortunately, we were not able to highlight all of the designs, so if you are looking for more nautical inspiration, click here for more submissions to this challenge.

There is still time to submit to the current Patterned Paper Color Trends Challenge. You can even win a stamp set of your choice from The Craft’s Meow! Thanks so much for your interest our creative inspirational challenges.