Challenge 109

Man, this week's layouts are out of this world! Things have been very busy on my end recently with farm year-end but I have managed to get some serious layouts made. We have a lot going on here at Lotus Paperie too! There are only a two days left to add your comment to THIS post which, if you haven't already done so you will want to get in on the giveaway! Also, our voting is now closed and the Flickr Winner for December's contributions is AAMummy! Yeah! Email me at info@lotuspaperie.com with your mailing information and I'll get your RAK in the mail!

Oh ya, and this is Kathie's last week with us and it has been wonderful having her join us this month...pages that I'm gonna have to lift for sure! But don't forget that you have until the end of the month to upload a link to your scraplift of one of Kathie's pages in the comments section of THIS post. You'll have a chance to win a RAK bursting with scrappy goodness.

If you are a lover of scrap challenges, then you don't wanna miss out on the monthly prizes being handed out right here. All you have to do is create a layout from our weekly challenges, upload your work to our Flickr Group (make sure you mention which challenge your page is for!) and our Design Team picks their favorites from those uploaded to the group. On the sidebar here, we have a vote of the top 3 picks and everyone gets to have their say as to which page is their favorite. C'mon...you know you love free scrap stuff, why not give it a shot?! You have until the end of the month to upload each month's challenge layouts.

Now for this week's challenge. We are not working from a sketch this week, rather we're using a really fab art supply (I have to confess, this was my first time but it was on my to-do list forever!)...the challenge is to:

USE MOLDING PASTE

So I'm sure many of you are asking yourselves, "what the heck is molding paste?" Go here to see what it is and if that's not enough, just Google it...but make sure you spell it right! Some of the designers chose to use Gesso instead. Similar results...amazing stuff, really.

Vanessa
I used the molding paste for the pink flourish. I used the matrix from a chipboard shape which was gently taped in place. I mixed metallic pink paint with the molding paste and smoothed it into all the grooves of the matrix with a popsicle stick. It took several hours to dry but now it's solid and a fab raised embellishment.

Tania
Tania's stars are made using a similar technique I think... (the chipboard matrix) with just straight white molding paste

Kirsten
Check out the amazing texture at the edges of this layout...that's shmooshed with a texturizing tool (you could use a plastic comb if you don't have a texturizing tool on hand)

Zoe
This is a different variation on using the chipboard matrix for the shape. Zoe used the matrix with white molding paste, then she inked it and sprayed it with Glimmer Mist. Just fantastic!


Christi
Looks like there was some more very skilled shmooshing going on here!

Carol
Carol used a credit card to make shmooshy lines all over her page. Cool results, to be sure!

Kathie
Incredible shmooshing results on this layout...get a load of those fluffy clouds! And let's face it, who doesn't love Glimmer Mist?!

Ever get the feeling...

that you've totally forgot something? Like when you're driving to work in the morning and you ask yourself if you remembered to turn off the oven or lock the door? Well, this morning I had that nagging feeling that there was a contest that I TOTALLY forgot to announce winners for!!! ACK!

So, ages ago on our Blogoversary, there was a fun challenge for everyone to enter a layout made from any challenge we've ever used and to upload it in the comments section of this post. Only two entries were received because it was pretty darned close to the holidays which is a good way tfor it to get overlooked! So I've decided to award the prize to both players!!! So our Tania (who I love to bits, I'll admit it!) did a great one of her little guy, Mikhail which you can see in her post here and this layout contributed by Michelle. Gorgeous pages guys! So I have Tania's mailing info but Michelle, I need yours so I can get your goodies off to ya! Email me at info@lotuspaperie.com and your stuff should be on its way by Monday.

And I gotta say , the comments in our Word of the Year pendant contest are very emotional...it's gonna be hard to pick just one winner! If you haven't contributed your word yet, you have a few more days! Don't miss out!

Challenge 108

Wow, these challenges are flying by!

We are having a pendant giveaway! Tell us your word of the year and why you picked it (in this post), and get a chance to win a beautiful pendant with your word on it. You have until the end of the month.

This month's Guest Designer is Kathie Link. Lift one of her favourite layouts and link here for a chance to win a RAK.
This week's challenge is a sketch, play along and upload your layout to our flickr gallery for your chance to win a fabulously loaded RAK. If you haven't voted on your favourite layout from last month's participants there is just two days left to vote!

I can't wait to show you what the DT has done for you this week!! :)

Tania

Vanessa
Christi

Kirsten

Carol

Zoe

Kathie

Challenge 107

Oh my goodness, look at the inspiration this week! The layouts are absolutely beautiful! I think this challenge might have got everyone's creativity going. :)

This week's challenge is to

Use a Frame!

Join our challenge and post it in the flickr gallery for a chance to win some really sweet scrap supplies. Make sure you put the challenge number in the title when you post.

We also have a challenge up to scraplift the Guest Designer, Kathie Link. To join this challenge, link up your scraplifts to this post for another chance to win some awesome stuff :)

Here's what the DT came up with this month. :)

Vanessa

Tania

Christi

Kirsten


Carol

Zoe

Kathie

Kathie's beautiful layout was done using a transparency, check it out...

Let's have a word, shall we?

I'm sure you've seen on the various blogs that people are getting on Ali's bandwagon and choosing their word for the year. The purpose of this word is to serve in place of resolutions - which, let's face it are impossible to stick to all year long- whereas these words serve as positive affirmations of our goals and hopes for the coming year...much more do-able, don't you think!

I've chosen my word for this year to be believe because I need reminders that all the seeds that I've planted for my life will sprout if I believe. I blogged about my reasons for choosing this word here.

We want to know what your word for the year is and would love to hear the reasons you've chosen your word. Share your story in the comments section and at the end of the month, one of you will be chosen to win a gorgeous custom pendant created by the ever-talented Lynn at Oak Hill Designs. Below is a photo of my pendant - can I tell you how much I LOVE it- and she has a custom listing available for anyone who wants to order their own Word of the Year pendant. They're only $17!!! Holy COW! ~thanks a million, Lynn :)

You have until the end of January to leave a comment and the winner will be announced in early February once we've had a chance to read everyone's stories!

WOOPS!

It was just brought to my attention that I mixed up two of the finalsts layouts!!! Please notice that I've re-posted the poll so if you've cast your vote already, you'll have to do it again...that way we vote for who we truly mean to. Sorry for the mixup everyone!!! The layouts have been correctly rearranged to be posted with the name of the actual artist in the post found below this one. Please have another look and be sure to cast your vote (again if need be!)

Time to choose your favorite!

It's so hard to carve out creative time during the holidays but a few hardcore scrappers managed to pull it off! These ladies were able to drag themselves away from all the cooking and cleaning that goes hand-in-hand with Christmas and forced themselves to make a few pages for December's challenges! Phew, what a feat!! So our design team has chosen their favorites from the very few that were uploaded to our Flickr Group and these are the three finalists. You will see on the sidebar to the right a place for you to vote on your favorite layout. At the end of the two weeks that we're giving everyone to cast their vote, the winner will be announced and that talented scrapper will receive a fabulous RAK in the mail...so that is YOUR incentive to check out January's challenges here and here to get some inspiration for your own layouts to upload to the Flickr Group by the end of January for your chance to win FREE SCRAP STUFF!!!

So without further ado...here's the finalists for December:

AAMummy

Patricia.Pr

Scrappingfrommysoul

Challenge 106

Wow, the holidays are finally behind us and life seems pretty normal again. The scrapbooking to-do list is longer than ever and I don't even want to think about the 150+ print order waiting for me at the printers...guess I'll be scrapping a whole lot soon!

This week's challenge is just perfect for a little more catch -up. Granted, it only uses one photo but you can always change that up if it suits you better.

Show us what you do with this sketch and share your interpretation with us on our Flickr Group...who knows, at the end of the month, your layout could be one of the three being voted on to win a RAK (and if you've received one of those lately, you know how great they are!) You can use any products you wish just be sure to include the challenge number in the name of the file you upload to Flickr, so we know to include it in the voting process.

Here's this week's challenge:

Vanessa

Tania

none of us have ever said any of this stuff before, have we! LOL
Zoe
KirstenChristi

Carol

Kathie
Don't forget to go check out this post and scraplift one of Kathie's layouts for your chance to win a RAK. Link up to your scraplift in the comments section of Kathie's introduction post.

and the winner is...

Allison Curry!! YAY! All the votes were tallied and it looks like everyone's favorite layout from the three finalists is Allison. So, Allison, please email me at info@lotuspaperie.com with your mailing address and I'll ship your delicious little RAK. Don't forget to play along with our weekly challenges and upload your work to our Flickr Group... that's how you win the prizes. Be sure to check back on Friday for our next challenge...it's a good one fo' sho'.

Challenge 105

How exciting! The first challenge of the new year and we're SO ready for the upcoming challenges. I love how the new year brings endless inspiration and possibilities. I pulled out some old photos of my Granny's yard and it felt so great to remember something so beautiful that I haven't seen in so long. Her property was sold years ago and has since been developed into a seniors home. Seems fitting. But the plum tree is gone. Sad. but this photo captures it's annual beauty. The photo even had my Gran's handwriting on the back. It read "May 1, 1972". That tree was always in bloom on that date. Gorgeous...and nostalgic!

So as always, we encourage you to participate in our weekly challenges. Our Flickr Group is getting fuller and fuller of wonderfully talented artists and if you aren't a member yet, please come by and join. At the end of each month, we - the design team- choose our favorite layouts from those uploaded to the Flickr Group and we give you - our lovely blog readers- the chance to vote on your favorite from 3 finalists. The winner of the vote will receive a RAK which is choc-a-block full of scrappy goodness!

We also have our guest Designer, Kathie Link with us this week working her scrap-magic on paper. You can't honestly tell me that you don't feel inspired looking at these amazing pages!

I bet you wanna know what this week's challenge is, don't ya?! It's a non-sketch challenge and all you have to do this week is

MAKE YOUR OWN FLOWERS

You can be as intricate or as simple as you like but try to create some of your own embellishments so that you're never caught without the 'perfect' color or shape again!

Vanessa

Tania

Zoe

Carol
Kirsten

Christi

Kathie

Meet Kathie!

Well, the month of December didn't exactly pan out as we had hoped with our Guest Designer. Poor Emilie...she was so very, very sick. We only got to see one of her layouts for our weekly challenges but she did offer us some incredible layouts on her introduction day! I hope you've all had a chance to post your scraplifts in the comments section of that post! Emilie, we all hope you're feeling much better and that you get back to scrapping in no time!


Now let's get to the good stuff! This month's Guest Designer is Kathie Link. She is a busy scrapper indeed who (I'm a little jealous of this next fact) lives in Australia...Right now where I live, it's -30. Where she is it's the opposite!! As usual, she will share her 3 favorite layouts with us and you get to choose one to scraplift. Upload the link to your page in the comments section and we'll announce a winner after the end of January. So here she is...

Q:Tell us a bit about you and your family.

A: I live in Adelaide, Australia, with my husband and three year old son, Jamie. I used to work as a human resources manager, but when Jamie was born I decided to take a bit of a sea-change and I now only work a couple of days a week as an occupational health and safety adviser. My husband is a sales engineer, but loves to renovate houses in his spare time. That and an active little boy keep us really busy.

Q: How long have you been scrapbooking and where did you get your start in this craft?

A: I started scrapbooking about four years ago when Phil and I got married. I wanted to make a wedding album with the photos a friend took at our wedding. LOL, twenty scrapbooking albums later, and I’m yet to make that wedding album! I think that my wedding pages will be an eclectic mix that I do from time to time over the years now.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: Scrapbooking started out being a creative thing for me. But since Jamie was born, my greatest source of inspiration is the funny little things that he says and does. I am conscious of wanting to record my life, so that I can look back later and remember.

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I would say that my work is fresh and playful. But I’m pretty versatile. I scrap for a lot of themes and challenges, and that keeps me flexible. There’s nothing like getting papers that you’d never have selected in a blue fit, and trying to create something inspirational out of them. It keeps me on my toes.

Q:What are your three favorite products/techniques right now?

A: I love paper piecing! I know, I know. So old fashioned. But I can’t help myself! When Jamie was born there were so few embellishments out there for little boy pages. I was bored of stars and spots and stripes. So I started using his toys as templates for either drawing pictures for his pages, or paper-piecing embellishments to use on his layouts. It sort of grew from there.
I love distressing and inking. I started scrapbooking vintage photos and using lots of ageing and distressing techniques. Even though my pages now tend to be more about modern-day life, my love of distressing has translated across into the work I do now.
I am also a patterned paper addict. I love all of them. I especially love papers I can carve up into shapes to use as embellishments, or to add to my paper-piecing scenes.
Q:What project(s) are you currently working on?

A: I was recently named as an Australian Scrapbooking Memories Master, and with that came a twelve month contract with Scrapbooking Memories magazine. I’ve just finished one project for them and I’ll soon have to start on my January project. I also work as a design team member for Shop and Crop, an Australian scrapbooking store, and Scrapware, an Australian manufacturer of chipboard elements. Between those three commitments I usually have a bit of a list of projects that are either on the go, or that I’m mulling over in the back of my mind. Life’s never dull!

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: Aaah. I had my perfect day while we were on holiday recently. We stayed at the best resort; it was true luxury. The weather was around twenty-six degrees (Celsius) with a blue sky and little wispy clouds. We were close to the beach – white sandy beaches and gentle surf. The three of us went out down to the beach in the morning and browsed the shops on the way home. In the afternoon, when Jamie went down for his nap Phil and I took turns in heading down to the pool while the other one stayed in the apartment. I read two novels, sitting by that pool. Bliss! In the evening we found some beautiful restaurants close by where we were staying, and then came home, curled up on the couch and watched movies. I can’t wait for our next holiday, lol.

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?

A: At Two – the journaling is from the journal I keep. Every month I write all the things that Jamie’s up to. It’s a great source of inspiration and journaling. I love the photos too. And the design is typical of me.
Little Gardener – my pages often look like pictures from old children’s picture books. I love using distressed book papers and vintage colours really resonate with me. I am particularly in love with vintage red at the moment.
When I Grow Up – I don’t get much of a chance to do girly pages, so when I do, I go all out and really enjoy the process. This page is one of those instances.