Dec 29 Challenge

I don't know about you but I'm almost ready for 2007 to begin. I thought I was caught up on my 2006 pages, but I realized that I had a few photos from January & February that I never got printed so I promptly sent in my surprisingly large photo order and now that I have a stack of 46 new prints, I think I have a little more work to do! I'm not worried about getting them all done before the year ends, but I do have them all lined up and ready to go. I hope you all have had a chance to at least do one more 2006 layout than you had planned and have managed to get some sense of satisfaction from it.

Here is the challenge for this week. I know that you all probably have as many social engagements as I do but I am certain that you are able to dig up an hour or two to complete this easy "photo-less" page documenting your goals for 2007. Make a few lists ( I did six) of five things you want to accomplish in the new year. This is not like a resolution, rather a checklist to revisit through out the year and to help you keep on track. Maybe you could even create pages every time you accomplish one of your goals. Consider topics like: things to teach someone; places to visit; restaurants to try; books to read...the sky is the limit. Be sure to include things that you intend to accomplish and that you won't have guilt about if you don't. Be positive and remember this is FUN!


Vanessa

My Catch Up Pages

These photos totally do NOT do justice to the actual pages, but you can see that in an effort to participate in my own challenge, I have gotten my oldest son's pumpkin patch pages done. I have managed to complete two other 2 page LO's but I'll save those for another day. I tried out a very cool technique that I read about in the newest edition of Scrapbooks Etc. Using the corrugated insides of cardboard and a little acrylic paint, I made my own journaling lines. I am so in love with the look that as my dearest friend predicted "it's gonna show up on the next several pages" and I have a funny feeling that she's right! It gives a great distressed, organic feel to the page and I love that it facilitates hand journaling. I always lame out and opt for the "perfect fit every time" computer printed method.

Now that the chaos of Christmas has passed, my family and I are bracing ourselves for the impending influx of holiday visitors that is estimated to start arriving the day after tomorrow. I suspect there will be numerous photo ops and not nearly as many scrap ops! I'm trying to get caught up before my in-laws move in to my studio for two weeks. So let's raise our glasses (mine's filled with hot buttered rum...how 'bout you?) and make a toast to tying up loose ends before the calendar year ends!! I will be back on Friday to post the next challenge. Don't forget to post your catch-up pages when you get them done!
Happy Holidays Everyone
Vanessa

Dec. 22 Challenge

I am so excited that the holidays are already underway. The kids' last day of school is today and then the true holiday hustle and bustle begins. Our Christmas shopping is 99% finished and now it's time to get caught up on all those layouts that have been in the idea stage since the moment the photos were taken. Personally, I have been creatively challenged with my very old digital camera that only really takes decent photos that are printed at 4x6. I don't know about you, but I love scrapping with larger prints. I have in my studio 4 or 5 layouts waiting to happen and I have every intention of getting them done before watching the ball drop with Dick Clark!

This blog is brand spankin' new, so I don't know how many of you creative folks will visit over the holidays, but if you do I challenge you to finish up as many 2006 layouts as you can and give yourself a huge pat on the back for completing them, regardless of how many or how few!

Once I have finished knitting all the socks and sweaters destined to hang out under my Christmas tree for the next few days, I'll get to my own layouts. I look forward to seeing your accomplishments.

411 (stuff you need to know to play along)

So you've seen the challenges and now you wanna know how to play along. Here's how ::

1) Upload all layouts to our Flickr Group before the end of the month if you want your layout to be considered for the monthly voting process, which means your page could win you a special parcel full of random scrappy goodness! You'll have to create an account if you don't already have one but it's not a big deal.

2) When you upload your LO to the Flickr Group be sure to "tag" your page which you can do in the photo uploading process. We need your tag to look like this { challenge101 } Notice how there's no space between the word "challenge" and the number "101"? That helps us find your page when we (the design team) choose the three finalists. But don't worry if you forget. We check out the Flickr Group all the time and one of us will add it for you if you miss it. We've got your back!

3) We choose the three finalists by the whole design team collaborating on whose layouts are their favorites. The admin (Vanessa & Tania) narrow down the favorites to ensure that there's always new artists making it to the finals, increasing the odds of everyone having a shot at winning. That's just how we roll.

4) You can use any products you like in your layouts. When creating for the challenges, just try to take inspiration from each of the challenges and have fun. You are not required to duplicate the sketches in order for them to "qualify". Interpretation is the name of the game!

5) We consider a month to be officially OVER when the first challenge of the new month goes "live" , that means in order for your layouts to qualify for the voting process, they need to be uploaded before that time.

6) We're always looking for guest designers. If you think you're up for the task, just fire off an email to us at (info at lotuspaperie dot com) with "guest designer" in the subject line and a link to your blog and we'll let you know if there's an available spot for you to guest with us!

7) When scraplifting our monthly Guest Designers' layouts, you need to leave a link to your layout in the comments section of said designer's introduction post. There is always a link on the top right hand side of the web page to make it easy for you to find as the month wears on. You need to leave your comment by the time we introduce the next month's Guest Designer. If you want to upload your scraplift layouts to the flickr group, just be sure to tag them that way {DenaScraplift}

8) Sadly, participation in the Guest Designer Scraplift contest has been really low so we've decided to ditch the contest...but if you lift one of the lovely layouts shared by our GDT, please post the link to your layout anyway...we'd love to see it!

9) We will re-introduce Couture Collection Page kits in the future.