SUO Challenge 32, Thankful

11 / 15 / 1111 / 16 / 11

Here in North America we're right in the middle of our traditional Thanksgiving celebrations, with our Canadian Stampin' Up! community having already celebrated their annual Thanksgiving Holiday in October and our United States Community planning to celebrate their traditional Thanksgiving in just a bit more than a week. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

But Thanksgiving is not the only time or season for thankfulness. We frequently have something for which to be thankful, whether it's for a plentiful harvest for the community or for a simple act of kindness for us personally. So our challenge to you this week is to make a card or gift to express your thankfulness – for anything or anyone – and share it with us here at Stampin' Up! Only Challenges!

Please remember, use ONLY Stampin' Up! products and share only something that you've made in response to this challenge. For a complete list of the guidelines for the SUO Challenges, please refer to our write-up down on the left.

To help you get started, here is some inspiration from our talented Design Team members!

Deb's Card

Cindy's Card

Heidi's Gift

Jennifer's Card

Karen's Card

Pam's Card

Mary's Card

Robin's Card

SUO Challenge 31 – Our Top Three

11 / 15 / 11

What a delight it was to read all about all the projects submitted for our challenge to make a "Thinking of You" card. There were so many beautiful cards and, as always, we had to work hard to pick our Top Three for the challenge.

Kasey from Oz (Australia) wowed us all with her beautifully ornate embossed frame for a simply gorgeous "painting" of a ship. This really is true artistry of the stamping variety!

Tanya Bell (also from Australia!) just pulled this vintage look together perfectly. There was so much beautiful detail that it was hard not to keep looking at it to see if there was one more detail we missed!

Sheri Bradley's card has such a beautifully clean design. We loved the way the dogwood flower popped from the rest of the card, and how well it tied together with the rest of the paper!

SUO Challenge 31, Thinking of You!

11 / 1 / 1111 / 2 / 11

With all of the very specific kinds of greeting cards to make, you'd think that we could all keep busy with those! But so much of the time, I just want to make a card that uses that special stamp set or that special Designer Series Paper or that technique that I just read about on the Internet, and I don't really have any other purpose in mind. Until, that is, when I get to the end of the design process and realize that I really do want to "say" something with the card. More often than not, I end up using a simple greeting such as, "Friend to Friend," or "Thinking of You." But what do you do when you START with the idea of making a "Thinking of You" card? That's what we'd like to find out in this week's challenge.

So join with us in today's challenge – to make a greeting card just for the purpose of sending to someone to say you're thinking about them. I've already used the card I made for today's challenge to send to someone who's going to be undergoing some medical tests. I want her to know that I'm thinking about her as she approaches this day that will be somewhat of an ordeal. I can hardly wait to see what kind of card YOU would make to say, "Thinking of You"!

Here, as always, are some cards from our Design Team to get you started as you design your own card. Please remember to post your card using the InLinkz tool at the end of this post – and be sure to use Stampin' Up! products ONLY, and post only cards that you've made in response to (that is, after) we've posted today's challenge.

SUO Challenge 30 – Congratulations to our Top Three!

10 / 31 / 1110 / 31 / 11

What fun our Challenge #30 – Treats for Everyone! – was for all of us! Such creative projects, both from our Design Team as well as all of you who entered your projects – thanks to everyone who participated – we loved them all and truly did have a hard time picking our top three. But here they are!

Beth Rush. The punched characters that top these treat holders are adorable, especially the Santa. The candy lovers among us love her choice of a long skinny candy bar, which is different from many treat holders. These are adorable and perfect for stocking stuffers, coming right out the top. Kids are just going to love these – almost as much as the treats in them!

Lisa Martz Elegant is the word that came to our minds when we saw this very classy stocking. The pleated rosette with the Mocha Morning paper and the Antique Brad really makes this elegant stocking, as do the stitching and all the great detail. Of course, we all love that different kind of goodie that fits everyone

Stacy Royster What a classy glassy bag! We all loved the cut glass look of the treat box – what a FABULOUS idea to emboss the clear window sheet! This could be used for any occasion and I dare say there's going to be some copying of this great idea.

Thanks again our top 3 and all of our entrants. If you'd like to see more of these projects, just scroll down to last week's challenge post!