31 Days of Halloween 2017- Sign Up Now!

Welcome to the planning stages of 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN 2017! Are you ready for round NINE? I almost let it pass this year without hosting, but alas the holiday just wouldn't be the same. I am super excited to be hosting this 9th annual Halloween/Day of The Dead themed celebration, and cannot wait to see where this year takes us!

Those of you who have been around for the long haul of this yearly celebration have seen it progress and morph each year, and this ninth year will be no different. What started as a two-blog personal challenge has grown into a huge tradition with many bloggers participating and showcasing some amazing art! 2017 will continue the growth and metamorphosis that we implemented last year to truly honor and encompass what I (and I'm sure many others) love about Halloween and Day of the Dead. The season really has it's own feelings, sights, smells, and sounds, so let's try to capture and share those experiences through our celebration! Read on for the details, and then sign up to join in.

As in years past we are recruiting Wicked Blogs to join in this 31 Days extravaganza, so you'll have a plethora of Halloween goodness to feast your eyes on all month long. The challenge for the Wicked Blogs is to participate all month by posting a project each and every day in October. If they complete the task, they will earn fierce bragging rights and a pretty amazing survivor button to feature on their blog, and join the elite group of past Wicked Blog participants.

As with last year, we will be broadening the criteria for featured projects in 2017. Instead of limiting projects to rubber stamping, we will be allowing any hand made or hand created Halloween or Day of the Dead themed projects. Examples of projects allowed are:

Rubber or Digital Stamped Projects

Scrapbooking

Mixed Media Art, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture

Sewing and Fabric Arts

Woodcraft

Jewelry Making and Metalwork/Metalsmithing

Culinary/Recipes

Written Works (Short Stories, Poetry, etc)

Holiday Tutorials

Costuming & Body Art

Holiday Decor and Prop Making

As you can imagine, this opens up many options for our Wicked Bloggers and their projects.

Rather than hosting sponsors,Wicked Bloggers are welcome to have their own giveaways and you will find more information on how to do it below.

Here are the rules for participating as a Wicked Blogger and guidelines to follow for featured projects:

*Wicked Bloggers will sign up to make and post one Halloween or Day of the Dead themed project for each and every day in October. These projects should strive to remain true to the tradition of 31 Days of Halloween- cute is okay, but scary, magical, gory, haunted, macabre, weird and unusual is much better!

*Wicked Bloggers must post one project each day in October on their blog by 9AM Pacific time in order to qualify for a survivor button at the end of the month.

*The projects featured MUST be handmade/hand crafted and the blogger's original work.

*Wicked Blogger projects must be "new" in that they can't have been posted anywhere before, including on your own blog, other blogs, forums, publications, or other websites. In other words, no re-using previous projects. If you are participating in 31 Days with more than one blog (for example, participating on your personal blog, as well as a team member on a design team blog), your featured project MUST be different for each blog. In past years we've allowed duplicate posts but have run into the issue of having many of the same projects featured on several blogs on the list, so this rule has changed. Please take into account any extra projects you will need to create when signing up with more than one blog.

*Bloggers are allowed to combine 31 Days projects to fit into other non-31 Days scheduled postings (for instance, if you have to post a Design Team project that day on a non participating blog, or are following other challenge criteria). If you make your other-scheduled project fit our required theme, it can count for 31 Days as well.

*Bloggers are allowed to feature a variety of projects throughout the month. For example, they can feature a stamped project one day, a decoration tutorial the next, and a recipe the next, as long as each post fits with the Halloween/Day of the Dead theme of 31 Days. This is not a requirement-if you would like to stick with one type of project, you can!

*Blog posts must mention 31 Days of Halloween, either in title or description, in order to count for survivor buttons.

*Bloggers must post the Wicked Blog list with links to all participating blogs in either their daily posts or on the sidebar of their blog for easy access. The Wicked Blogger list will be posted here by September 25, 2017.

To sign up as a Wicked Blogger:

31 Days of Halloween 2017 sign ups begin on July 1, 2017 and end on September 21, 2017. To sign up, add your NAME and BLOG ADDRESS to a comment under this post by September 21, 201. All Wicked Bloggers who complete the whole month of posting (all rules must be followed) will receive a coveted Survival Button at the end of the month to proudly post on their blog. I will also be having a special giveaway of one of my handmade books for Wicked Bloggers who participate all month long.

To host a giveaway during 31 Days of Halloween:

If you are interested in hosting a giveaway during 31 Days of Halloween for our blog roll visitors, you are welcome to do so. Here's what you need to do:

*You or the blog that will feature your giveaway must be signed up and participate (with projects) as a Wicked Blogger for the event. In years past, we have had Design Team blogs sign up as participants with much success and fun.

*You or the blog that will feature your giveaway will set your own criteria for giveaway participation, which should be plainly stated in your post. Please direct your visitors to follow your giveaway instructions which should include the step(s) that need to be taken to enter (leave a comment on this post, like this facebook page, etc), as well as when you will be drawing for the winner.

*You or the blog that will feature your giveaway is completely responsible for announcing your own winner, relaying claim information, and giving out/shipping your own prize. I will not be participating in or responsible for any giveaways on Wicked Blogs unless I choose to host my own giveaway on my own blog. If I receive communication from visitors regarding giveaways, I will direct them to contact the blog owner. Thank you for your understanding on this.

That just about covers all the rules and regulations for this year's celebration. If you'd like to spread the news about 31 Days, feel free to grab the button below, link it to this page and post it on your blog or website, share on Facebook, or email it to your favorite Halloween loving friends. I can't wait to share this new beast of 31 Days of Halloween 2017 with you all!!