Challenge135

Can I tell you how grossly hot it has been at my house?!?! We've been breaking temperature records, I'm sure - too much of a good thing if you ask me! I am not so sure how I feel about these 30+ temps but I AM very glad that my darling husband decided to dig out our portable A/C unit and hook it up in our bedroom! YAY!

Tania is not with us this week again as her injury is just making her ouchy all over - send her some love tho, I think it's bumming her out to not be able to even lift her own camera (I'm tempted to make a special trip to her place to A) help with dishes and B) take photos for her!) So sadly she's unable to create a layout for us this week and I'm blaming my total lack of layout on intolerable temperatures, house guest overload & farming duties! (weak excuse, perhaps but it's true!)

However, our super-duper kick-ass design team (who live in milder climates than mine!) have all whipped up some stellar layouts and mini albums (thanks Keandra!) for this week's challenge, to

USE FINGER PAINT!

Also, don't forget that this is the last week you have to scraplift one of Gretchen's dynamite layouts...awe Gretchen, we're sad to see you go. Your pages rock, baby! This is Gretchen's last week with us but you can see more of her work on her blog (click on her name in the previous sentence!).

If you haven't already done so, be sure to join our new Lotus Paperie Network where you can "friend" any of the existing memebers, invite new members to join, share your artwork and chat with other scrappers! Check it out!

If you are new to our challenges get the lowdown on what to do and how to do it HERE. It's super fun.

Marit
this girl loves her paints!

Keely
Have I ever mentioned how I envy you guys who have "pink" in your lives? Seriously!

Keandra
Holy mini-book Batman! Get a load of all these great pages! Sorry, Keandra, they're prolly out of order!

Gudrun
Seriously, I think all your pages make me swoon!

Carol
Prolly the ONLY person I know who can rock out hand-painted irises with fingerpaint. Now that's skills!

Tania D
Oh, the stitching & the buttons...this is sooooo good!

Gretchen
I'm SO gonna scraplift this one! Thanks for sharing your amazing artwork, Gretchen. We'll miss you! Don't be a stranger :)

challenge 134

Oh dear. My poor computer is not well. I do NOT have the time it will inevitably take for me to fix the stupid thing so instead I throw caution to the wind and post this anyway and hope to GOD that it's up for you guys at exactly the time it should be.

So, that said, I have almost everyone's layouts to share with you. Tania L's layout is missing because her injuries from last year's car accident are currently winning the battle to get her better. BOOO to that! My layout isn't available because my Photoshop keeps crashing. BOOOO to that too!

But. There's more for you to see :) We've got the rest of the team's layouts for you to enjoy as well as a snazzy sketch to play with. Show us how this sketch moves you to create by uploading it to our Flickr Group. Get more details on playing along HERE.

Also, don't forget that you have until the end of the month to create a layout using Gretchen's artwork as your inspiration. Find out more HERE.

Oh, and there's that poll on the sidebar. IF you have not yet voted, please do so. You have until the 31st to get your vote in!!

While you're still hangin' around and checking out all our new fandangled links n' such, get a load of our new network. Click HERE to find out all about that and see the pure awesomeness with your own two eyes!!

Vanessa
***coming later ***


Gudrun

Marit

Keely

Tania D

Keandra

Carol

Gretchen

New Lotus Paperie Network!

*********CHECK IT OUT!!!!*********

I've been thinking about setting up a forum/gallery/social network for all of you faithful blog readers for a loooooooooong time and I'm tickled to announce that it's ready. It's live and it's waiting for you! Click HERE and check it out. Sign up and create a profile for yourself and start customizing your content! I'm really excited that we've been able to make this available to you all and I'm so anxious to see you all start using it!

Time to choose your favorite!

Here we are, another month of amazing layouts uploaded to our Flickr Group and I have got to tell you how overwhelmed I am at the jaw-droppig talent that we see each month in the gallery. You all should be so proud of yourselves for creating so many beautiful layouts. We are honored that you share them with us in our gallery!

Our team has chosen some of their favorites to be finalists in this month's vote. The pages below are just a sampling of ways to use our weekly challenges. If you have not yet joined us on our artistic adventure and are wondering how it all works, check out the details in our 411 page.

You will have until the 31st to cast your vote. You can only vote once and you can only select one layout as your favorite. Votes can be changed anytime before the poll closes on the 31st. Finalists are encouraged to spread the word of the vote. We love it when new visitors find their way here as a result of the poll :)

Good luck everyone.

Click on their names to see more of their work on Flickr!

Nrllybird

MCAtelier

LGLadygrace

Challenge 133

I was awake last night around 1:00am to let the puppy outside to pee and it occurred to me that I hadn't set up todays post. Oops. It also occurred to me that during the craziness of farming and 3 weeks of house guests, I'd also forgotten to make this week's layout. So, in keeping with last week's disorganization, I present to you a very tardy post! Oh well...that's life :)

This week, our challenge was to use a blurry/crappy photo. I chose to use an old snapshot of my oldest son from many moons ago, long before I owned a "real" camera - made evident by the blurry photo and cluttered background...but I love it because every time he yawned as an infant, my heart melted. I had forgotten how it made me feel until I found this photo.

This challenge is really useful in reminding us that important moments aren't always captured in a perfectly composed, skillfully exposed image. Sometimes, the memory comes right back like it was happening at this very moment despite the bad photo. They are still worth scrapping. Easy to forget, good to remember.

If you are new to our challenges, go HERE to learn the ins & outs of how it all works.

If you haven't yet participated in the monthly Guest Designer Scraplift contest, check out the details HERE.

And in the meantime, let's see what everyone created this week.

Vanessa

Tania

Tania D

Marit

Keely

Keandra

Gudrun

Carol

Gretchen

{layout temporarily removed for publication}

What??? Not another one!

How can this be? Is it possible that I have actually reached my multitasking limit? I don't know how I did it, but I missed another layout. Ugh. I think there's a long sandy beach with my name on it...maybe my brain is already there waiting for me!

Oh Keely... I missed your layout. I don't know what happened. I feel like a colossal dork this week. Soooo sorry (sooooo embarrassed!)

OH Crap! I forgot Keandra!

In my haste to prepare Friday's post I accidentally forgot to include Keandra's layout! How embarrassing! Her layouts are so creative and I gotta tell ya, we're pretty darned excited every time we share another one...so even though it's a little late, here it is in all its awesomeness!!

Challenge 132

Booyah! Another week down and some more smokin' hot layouts to top it off! Summer is ticking along, the weather is amazing and I don't know about you but my collection of photos to scrap over the cold months is steadily growing... Can't wait to get them printed and fill up my albums that seem to gather dust a little this time of year.

At my house, we're settling our new puppy into the family routine with as much ease as can be expected...but of course, there's the inevitable puddles and poops (hey, that sounds like a layout waiting to happen!). I miss sleeping through the night but this little dog is so stinkin' cute! She might just get her own album :) You can see photos of her here.

Remember, you are invited to scraplift any or all of Gretchen's layouts that she shared with us here...upload the link in the comments section of that post by the end of the month!


This week, we're working from a fantastic sketch created by the one and only fabulous Tania - who's on holidays with her fam this week - I love what this sketch invoked in me...I used 12x12 rather than 6x12 (which you're totally allowed to do!!) and really loved using my old OLD baby photo.

If you've never participated in our challenges, check out the 411 page to get the scoop! Are you ready? Let's go!

Vanessa

Tania

Tania D

Marit

Gudrun

Carol

Gretchen

Challenge 131

Hey! How did Friday sneak past me? Sheesh...y'know I've got this new puppy and it's EXACTLY like having a new baby. I'm up at the weirdest hours of the night to take her outside so she can pee...needless to say, I'm not really getting top-notch sleep. So, having said that...sorry I'm late posting. I feel like a dork. But a sleep-deprived dork!

So here's the scoop...we've got a new Guest Designer, Gretchen McElveen (swoon!) and we've got a winner in our Flickr Vote...the winner of the May Flicker Favorites is AAMUMMY! So, if you are AAMUMMY, email me at info at lotuspaperie dot com with your mailing info and I'll get your kit mailed off to you asap!

If you have never played along with our weekly challenges, find out all the details here. We wanna see how our challenges inspire your layouts :)

I bet you wanna know what the plan is for this weeks (slightly late) challenge!! This week we are using hand cut bits of patterned paper. Interpret this one however the mojo indicates. There is no wrong way to do this (or any challenge) the ultimate purpose is to get pages made and feed your creative soul.

Are you ready? Let's do this!

edited: I totally suck. I posted the wrong thing for Gretchen. The correct image is there now...sorry Gretchen, it was my mistake not yours :)

Vanessa

Tania L

Tania D

Marit

Keely

Keandra

Gudrun

Carol

Gretchen