If the thought of working with Little Mix gives you wings, or you’re simply crazy for arts and crafts, it’s time to get your pens and pencils ready!
A nationwide competition is launching today (7th October), giving youngsters a unique opportunity to create a Christmas card design for a brand new charity card pack starring chart-topping girl group, Little Mix….but entrants have got to be quick, the contest will close on 14th October 2013!
The ‘Sketch Santa’ competition, launched by ITV’s Daybreak and supported by Hallmark, offers children aged 6-16 a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have their drawings brought to life as a card this Christmas. The winning design will be modelled by Little Mix and featured in a limited edition six pack of cards alongside five festive designs starring the group. What’s more, the lucky winner will be announced on national TV too!
Sold as an official product for ITV’s ‘Text Santa’ appeal 2013, the special card packs will be available nationwide from www.hallmark.co.uk and selected Hallmark stores later this year. Each pack sold will see a portion of the proceeds donated to the ‘Text Santa’ appeal; which in turn supports six worthy charities based in the UK.
Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards, said: “We love the idea of getting creative for Christmas and what better reason to get involved in a bit of festive fun than to help the Text Santa appeal? We had such a good time creating our cards for this special pack and now we’re really looking forward to seeing what the Daybreak viewers come up with as their contribution!”
To enter the art contest, children are asked to create a Santa-based design inspired by what Christmas means to them. Entries must be original, creative and drawn on A4 paper in a portrait setting.
Tamsyn Johnston Hughes, Sketch Santa Judge and Campaign Manager for Hallmark (the card and gift specialist helping to create and print the winning design), said:
“Whether you’re a devoted ‘Mixer’, a fundraiser or you simply love to get creative, the Sketch Santa competition really is a fantastic opportunity. Not only could you be changing the lives of those linked to the Text Santa charities but you could also enjoy some life-changing experiences yourself, such as starring on national TV and seeing your very own Christmas design hit the shelves.
“When it comes to penning that winning design, I’d concentrate on two things. Firstly, make sure you base your design on what Christmas means to you as that personal touch will show through in your artwork. Secondly, remember the critical role that Christmas cards play in our festive traditions, they’re kept in the hearts of our homes and are used to decorate mantelpieces, windowsills and walls. As such, your design will need to stand out in this setting.
“We wish everyone involved the best of luck and we can’t wait to see all the wonderful designs that come through. This is the third year we’ve been privileged to work with Daybreak on a creative campaign such as this and we’re sure it’s going to be our best one yet!”
The ‘Text Santa’ appeal aims to raise awareness and donations for UK charities that make a difference to people’s lives. For 2013, the six chosen charities set to benefit from funds raised include: Age UK, Barnardo’s, Beat Bullying, British Heart Foundation, CLIC Sargent and Help the Hospices.
The X Factor-winning quartet, featuring South Shields girls Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, are to perform at Metro Radio Live in Newcastle next month.
The gig, dubbed the North East’s biggest annual pop party, is on at the Metro Radio Arena on Friday, November 29.
Little Mix, also featuring Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, became the first group to win the ITV talent show in 2011.
They’ll be joined on stage by fellow X Factor champion James Arthur, pop star Conor Maynard, singer-songwriter Eliza Doolittle and boy bands Lawson, The Vamps and Union J.
Dom Munnelly, Metro’s marketing director, said: “The event is now in year three, and every year we’ve managed to secure even bigger names, and the line-up for 2013 is shaping up nicely.
“We’re aiming to have around 10 major acts perform, and there is simply no other local live music event that offers so much variety in one night and such good value for money.”
More acts are set to be announced over the next few weeks.
Tickets for the show cost from £25. To book, go to www.metroradioarena.co.uk or call 0844 493 6666.
ANYWAY, the exciting part is that said wordsearch contained both the title AND pre-order date of Little Mix’s hotly anticipated second album – and the girls posted a video confirming the answer once fans had guessed correctly.
Are you ready? *clears throat, waits for drumroll* The album is called Salute, and is available to pre order from October 7th – in just FOUR days time. Aghhhh.
Oh, and here’s the ruddy tracklisting. GAH.
1. Salute
2. Move
3. Little Me
4. Nothing Feels Like You
5. Towers
6. Competition
7. These Four Walls
8. About the Boy
9. Boy
10. Good Enough
11. Mr. Lover Boy
12. A Different Beat
What do you reckon – do you love the name? Are you excited? Will you be pre-ordering the album?
We imagine the news has been particularly well recieved by Perrie Edwards’ fiance Zayn Malik, who is currently touring Oz with his One Direction bandmates. Nothing like being on the same continent as her lover, eh?
Pezza revealed the news on Little Mix’s official twitter account, writing: “Hey mixers! We’re so excited to be coming back to Australia! We can’t wait to see all our amazing mixers in a few weeks! 😀 Perrie <3"
According to TheHotHits.com, the girls will also be returning to their roots while in Oz - with their Australian reps apparently confirming that the girls will be performing on The X Factor Australia on October 21st. Ooh.
The 21-year-old singer and X Factor judge has chosen Little Mix and Fifth Harmony to join her on the road, which she shared during an interview with Ryan Seacrest.
“I think it’s going to be so much fun,” Demi said. “There’s nothing better than woman empowerment and having an all-girls tour.”
She added, “What’s ironic is we are all from The X Factor and that wasn’t even planned. It just kind of happened that way. I helped put Fifth Harmony together…and now they’re going to be opening for me. It’s so awesome.”