Our World Card Making Day Card Contest is ON!

Susan R. Opel

As we creep closer and closer to September, we here at Paper Crafts magazine start to get a little giddy. What it means is that we are getting closer and closer to World Card Making Day—a little holiday that we started back in 2006.

World Card Making Day is a holiday especially for card makers around the world to:

• Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family
• Kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season

The holiday always falls on the first Saturday in October, which means that this year it’s on October 6^th. And we want you to be a part of our 7^th annual party!

One way you can participate (and there are MANY ways to participate) is by entering our 2012 World Card Making Day Card Contest.

A tableful of cards that we considered for the season’s greetings category in 2011.

The contest is pretty simple. You make some pretty cards in the following categories: thank you, thinking of you/hello, birthday, love, season’s greetings. Then, you mail them to our office. The editorial team then chooses 20 winners who will each get a box full o’ goodies that you can see below!

The official 2012 World Card Making Day Card Contest Prize

Every year we get a lot of questions about the contest, so I’ve gathered up a handy dandy list of Frequently Asked Questions and their answers so that you are totally informed.

FAQs for the 2012 World Card Making Day Card Contest

• Do I have to submit to each category? No. You can submit to one, three, or all five categories (or even 2 or 4). Whatever inspires you at the moment.
• How many cards can I enter? As many as you want! Some people send 20+ cards, some send one for each category and some only send one, period. No limits.
• Can I send all of my entries in one envelope? Yes, please do! Our Editorial Assistant Ahtanya Johnson opens every single envelope and box. If you send one package rather than five… Yeah, I’m sure you can do the math!
• Are internationals welcome to submit to this contest? Since this is WORLD Card Making Day, yes! We had many entries from around the world last year, and our 2011 winners were from the United States, Canada, and Germany!
• What happens to all of those cards that are mailed into your office for this contest once the winners have been chosen? We are so proud to partner with Operation Write Home where the vast majority of the cards are donated. Last May, Operation Write Home President Sandy Allnock wrote this great blog post sharing a photo of a few of the 1,117 cards that we donated after our Stamping Royalty 2012 contest.

Just a few of the 1,117 cards that Paper Crafts magazine donated to Operation Write Home after a recent contest.

So you see, whether you win the big prize or not, EVERYone is a winner by helping this FANTASTIC cause!

Now any time you enter a contest, you probably like to know some dos and don’ts so that your entries shine. Lean in, dear blog reader. I’m about to spill some secrets…

Things to note when entering the 2012 World Card Making Day Card Contest

• Deadline – Make sure to meet the deadline. All entries must be postmarked on or before October 15, 2012. If you are an international entrant, you might even want to ship your entries even earlier JUST in case!
• Personal Information – You saw that we donate your cards to Operation Write Home. It’s likely you don’t want your phone number and address, etc., floating around the world, right? Please attach any information to your card on an easily removable Post-It note so that we can prepare it for shipment to Operation Write Home.
• No staples – please don’t use staples for any reason unless it is a part of your design.
• Glitter – glitter is a safety hazard to the heroes who are the recipients of our card donations, so we won’t be able to donate cards with glitter. You CAN use glitter for our contest, but a glittered card cannot be donated to Operation Write Home.
• Size – The average size of a card is A2 (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″). Any card that is significantly larger or smaller will be harder to photograph with its three partners in any given category. Food for thought.
• Variety of styles – We are always looking for a variety of styles – from fun and cute to clean and graphic to classy and elegant to shabby chic and vintage to freestyle to super stampy to not stamped at all. Find your groove and then hit your mark!
• Eligibility – World Card Making Day Winners from 2011 are not eligible to enter this year. Stamping Royalty 2012 Winners are welcome for this contest!
• Be overt with your sentiments – In the hello/thinking of you category especially, we are MOST likely to choose cards that have some version of hello (hi, hey, what’s up) or the word thinking or thoughts for the thinking of you category. If we have to think too hard if it fits in the category, it’s likely it won’t be chosen.
• Read stuff – like, REALLY carefully! – Oh, yes, that’s my teacher voice coming out. If you really want to WIN that awesome prize – pore over the official rules (posted here on the World Card Making Day website and Facebook). Nothing pains me more than seeing a glorious thanksgiving or baby or graduation card submitted to one of our contests (*psst* those are NOT categories in this competition). And perhaps you should reread this entire blog post so that you can pick up on all of the stuff that you went all Skimmy McSkimmerson on me.

And HERE’s a crazy thought… The prize packages have already been boxed up in 20 boxes all neatly stacked in our warehouse. Wanna get a peek of what it looked like as I divvied up the product?

Preparing the prize packages for our World Card Making Day Card Contest 2012 winners!

Oh! I just had a fantastic idea! On October 6^th (that’s World Card Making Day this year), gather your favorite card making pals, feed them chocolate, put on some music, pull out your cardstock and adhesives, and ALL of you make cards for this contest! What a great excuse to make cards! And then, you could save some money by sending all of your entries in one box. Yes. Who is up for that?

Check out a few of my favorite winning cards from last year:

2011 World Card Making Day Winner Alyssa Scritchfield

Leafy Thanks Card by Alyssa Scritchfield

2011 World Card Making Day Winner Veronica Zalis

Love & Laughter Card by Veronica Zalis

2011 World Card Making Day Winner Tifany DeGough

Born an Original Card by Tifany DeGough

Have I enabled you enough? Do you want to learn more? Here are some very helpful links to help you in your quest to become a 2012 World Card Making Day Card Contest Winner!

• Official Rules – on the World Card Making Day website and Facebook
• FREE Glossary of Design download – lots of tips, examples, and definitions for design
• Submission Tips to make the most of your projects.
• In depth lessons in Composition, Balance, Style, Color, Focal Point, Movement, Repetition, and Asymmetry

What did you learn today? What else do you want to know? I’ll do my best to answer your questions on our Facebook timeline later today!

In the words (or letters) of my mom, “G.F.I.!” (Go for it!)