Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Challenge: Hearts!

Hi guys!
Can you believe that Valentine's day is this weekend? And if you have children at school, and are really on top of the ball, you probably already have your projects done! :) But for those who don't, I'd love to challenge you to make a project, card or layout with HEARTS on it! It doesn't have to be Valentine-ish but it has to have hearts! Big hearts, little hearts, one or many- please share your project with us at our Flickr group! 

Here's a layout I made for the challenge, lots of little hearts and using the new Anthology line from Studio Calico!

And a card that I made for my husband last year:
And an older layout I made with hearts as a focal point:
I was peeking through the Flickr group and these projects caught my eye! Amazing and inspiring! People, there's still time to make cute Valentine's projects! :) This is just amazing, Monika!

This is just beautiful, Alexandra s.m.! Unexpected Valentine color and I just love the texture beneath the heart cut out.

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with! :)

Readers Speak!

You guys are really rocking the lifts! I was so impressed with what you came up with. Here's a handful of reader-submitted scraplifts.

First, Margie Scarpignato lifted the esteemed Ali Edwards:

Ali's original:

 

And Margie's lift:

 

I'm lovin' how Margie adapted the design for her number of photos. She writes, "I love to scraplift. Sometimes I do it more literally than others. This one was a pretty straight forward scraplift. I didn't change much out besides the photos, journaling and the stamp. I love how it turned out. I find I learn alot by scraplifting. It helps me step outside of my comfort zone and learn techniques as well as aspects of design I might not discover on my own. Often after scraplifting I then find I can incorporate new things into my own original designs.

In some cultures & art disciplines students learn by copying the masters. In Japan students even take on the name of their master." Impressive job, lady (and can I change my name to Lain WenkeSmithSimickFloresWinnickCostenDillowDickinsonOvertonPalmer... oh, you get the picture!)

Next, MargotMacG lifted Brenda Arnell.

Here's Brenda's layout:

 

And here's Margot's spin:

 

I like how she changed the title just a nudge, and used the edges for journaling. Woohoo, chica!

Now, guess which layout from Wednesday Kate lifted?

 

You got it! She lifted my lift of Celeste Smith's layout... how's that for six degrees of separation! 

Here's another Ali inspiration from Meastmanak (originally in CK 9/09):

 

...and her spin:

 

Once again, NO ONE would ever have guessed these two were "the same." 

Finally, another reader, Agata, shares my Jody love. Here's Jody Wenke's original layout:

 

And Agata's adaptation:

 
 

Now, if I haven't inspired you to give scraplifting a try, then I have failed... and I hate failing! So go give it a try. Save me some angst, will ya? ;) 

Thanks for spending the week with me!

 
 

A Project We All Can Do

Remember when I said at the beginning of the week that there were some projects from Jeffrey Yamaguchi's 52 Projects that I probably wouldn't do? Project #8—make a poster—was on that list. Here is the description of Project #8:

Make a poster. It can be sized however you want, but 8.5 X 11 is easiest to copy and post. In terms of what should be on your poster, that’s wide open. The poster can be political, it can promote something you need to get the word out about, it can feature your art, or it can just be something that looks cool and is totally nonsensical. Anything. Once your poster is done, post it all over. You can post it all over a room, an office, a building, a school, a campus, a town, a city, a state, a nation, the world.

When I read the book, I couldn't imagine why in the world I would want to make a poster and then circulate it. I've since changed my mind, and today I hope I can convince you, too. Bear with me while I explain:

I read yesterday that since Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, the American Red Cross alone has received $8 million dollars in donations from cell phone users texting to the special number the U.S. State Department set up. That's $4 million more than the Red Cross received using this method for all of 2009. People want to help.

For the last few years my sister has organized a group of scrapbookers to make a calendar available for sale on Cafe Press. The 2009 theme required each participant to highlight a particular cause; we donated the proceeds from the sale of the calendars to charity. I chose to feature the organization Nothing But Nets, because it was the first international cause we introduced our oldest daughter to when she was four. As the page says, all kids can understand mosquitoes.

 

If you were to run this through a copy machine, it would look a lot like a poster, wouldn't it?

Like all of you, I've watched news coverage all week with a sense of frustration that there isn't more I could do beyond donating money. It occurred to me yesterday, though, that scrapbookers can do something more. We can complete Project #8. We have the tools, the design sense, the ability to convey a message on paper with simple design techniques. I sat down at the computer to see if I could create a poster in ten minutes that could be copied and tacked up on the bulletin boards you see everywhere you go—the library, the grocery store, the hallways at Panera and Starbucks that are usually covered with apartment rentals, for sale signs, and foreign language chat group meetings.

It was so easy I made three more:

This took ten minutes. I'll print out a handful at different sizes and stick a few pins and some tape in my purse when I'm out during the next week. Feel free to swipe mine to print and distribute where you live, too. If you design your own poster, you can make it say anything you want. The end result is the same: you'll be raising awareness and reminding people that this is an ongoing tragedy that we can't turn away from.

Here at Write. Click. Scrapbook, the disaster is personal. Our own Tina Cockburn and her husband Chris adopted their oldest child from Haiti, and have witnessed firsthand the challenges this country faced even before the earthquake. Together, we can do something more, however small.

Thanks for reading this week!

Last Minute Change of Plans

Good morning, glories!

We've had a slight change of plans at Write. Click. Scrapbook. today. You see, Jody Wenke (otherwise known as USAJody, or Miss USA, or One of the Two Awesome Jodys, er, Jodies) was supposed to be your hostess this week. You can imagine her (and our) horror to learn that her entire scrapbook area—a room lovingly and beautifully carved out of her basement—was the victim of a burst water pipe just after Christmas. While she and her husband (and their insurance company) work to repair the damage, I'm filling in with a little help from my friends! We thought it would be nice to let Jody know we understand her frustration. Those of us who have been there got together to cheer her up with our own home disasters!

12 x 12 page by Elizabeth Dillow

A few years ago, we discovered that our basement water heater had bottomed out—the second time it had happened to us (though in two different houses). During the discovery, hand-wringing, clean-up, and completion phases, I didn't take a single photo—but that doesn't mean I can't include the story in our family scrapbook. I actually did blog about the incident, so pulling the journaling straight from my blog made this a quick and easy page to create. Luckily (knock on wood)(there will be a lot of knocking on wood today) we haven't replaced a water heater since!

11 x 8.5 page by Jody Dent-Pruks

Jody documented her family's swimming pool disaster with her trademark sense of humor—and had the presence of mind to take photos of the aftermath of their collapsed pool. According to Jody, "the pool collapsed in the middle of the night (such a loud crack and so much water pouring everywhere). Insurance dithered for 7 weeks and then said no – too old, rust present, yadda yadda! Not a problem, we will just pay to put a new one in but now it’s school holidays, the weather is hot and the pool suppliers close down during Christmas and the first 3 weeks of January. So here we are, hot days, no pool and sad kids!"

Jody also documented a more dangerous, scary home disaster that occurred in 2007 when her family's shed (think detached, large garage with storage) caught fire and burned to the ground on their property (farm). Not only did it destroy outdoor equipment, but all of her Christmas decorations and many sentimentally valuable papers and ephemera from her sons' lives. With the pictures she took, she created an album to document the devastation and rebuilding process—a truly therapeutic endeavor!

mini-album by Jody Dent-Pruks

 



 
Sheds are pretty important in Australia. So important, they have their own associations!

In Vermont, Katrina deals with a different kind of challenge: spring flooding, dangerous ice, and foot after foot of snow (which might be pretty and calming once in a while, but try driving to work every day in it). Using a few photos of her driveway and neighborhood looking more like a lake, she documented a facet of her life that might otherwise have been lost!

8.5 x 11 digital page by Katrina Simeck

Emily Pitts might not have a disaster on her hands, but she sure has a house that requires a lot of special knowledge and care to live in it (which, after a long day, might feel a bit disastrous, right?) Documenting these quirks now will ensure her family will remember the experience of living there in so much more detail one day.

12 x 12 page by Emily Pitts

Instead of one disastrous occurence, Erin Sweeney documented a multitude of catastrophes on her page, where you can almost relive each and every hour of those terrible 24 along with her. You might not think you'll want to relive experiences like these, but sometimes these are the stories that become the stuff of family legend—and can strengthen a family's bond just by merely surviving it all!

8 1/2 x 11 page by Erin Sweeney

Sara Winnick decided to spin our last-minute assignment a different way: she will be prepared the next time diasaster strikes with one of these:

card by Sara Winnick

Don't you just need a card like this on hand? I know I would have felt better the day my water heater came crashing down had someone handed me a "sorry about your water heater fiasco" card. : ) 

What about you? Have you had any home disasters or other catastrophes that you're far enough removed from now to document? These debacles are part of our life's story just like the happier (and drier) moments are too, and it's worth sitting down to document them. Help Jody know she's not alone and share your story this week in our Flickr gallery! And if you don't have a disaster to document... well, now's the time to knock on wood again!

A (15 Minute) New Year Challenge!

Welcome, 2010, and the last day of Write. Click. Scrapbook. for the Holidays! We hope you've enjoyed this month-long celebration as much as we have. Be sure to check out January's new gallery if you haven't yet! Our regularly scheduled program will return on Monday with a new hostess (you'll just have to tune in then to find out who!) but for now: one last idea to help you usher in the new year...

A Note From Stacy

Sometimes we forget how easy it is to make something cute. I got a new wallet that does not hold my checkbook, so I bought one of those ugly $1 ones at Walmart and made it pretty. It has a 2010 calendar inside too.

I like doing these kind of things in preparation for the new year.

Your challenge: make something cute for 2010. It doesn't have to be involved—in fact, the less time it takes the better! Make a bookmark. Put pretty stickers or punches on your calendar to label the birthdays of loved ones. Stamp a postcard and send to someone to wish them a happy January. Tie a few ribbons to your napkin holder. Whatever you do, it will be sure to bring a smile to your face in this new year. Take a minute to upload your creation to our Flickr gallery so everyone can see what cute thing you've added to your life in 2010!

H is for....Heart

 Melanie here… thanks for the enthusiastic welcome yesterday! I’m Canadian, and we celebrated our Thanksgiving last month. But I’m so glad Stacy asked me to join her in celebration of it again. This gives me another chance to reflect on all that I’m thankful for. Today’s letter is : H, for Heart. My heart definitely belongs to my family- my husband and two sons. They’re the reason I started scrapbooking, and the reason I continue to scrapbook. To tell the story of us, to add words to the photos that I love, that I know will slowly disappear from my (aging!) memory if I don’t have them written down. My heart is full when I’m with them, and it aches when I’m away from them. 

Here are a few pages I’ve done about my family.layout from Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class at Big Picture Scrapbooking

 

 

Here is a challenge to you: scrapbook a page about your family, and add journaling about how you really feel about them. Write it from your 'heart', and try including a photo with YOU in it!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's day! I'd like to publicly say "Thank you!" to the many men and women out there who are currently serving or have served our country. Your sacrifice and service is an amazing offering of yourself and does not go unnoticed around here. (Photo of the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Elizabeth Dillow.)

I personally have a brother who has served in the Air Force and is now in the National Guard (way to go big brother, Brian!).




And my father-in-law served in the Army 40ish years ago (yeah, Boyd!).

This is a photo of Emily Pitts' great-grandfather and his buddies in WWI:

I've always wondered what I could do with my limited resources and skills to let these amazing people know how loved and thought of they are. Recently, a fellow scrapbooking friend sent me the link to an amazing organization who sends cards that scrapbookers/crafters/cardmakers have created, to people who are serving in all branches of the United States military. (Photo of Sec. 1 of Arlington National Cemetery. Courtesy Elizabeth Dillow.)

Operation Write Home is an organization with a mission "To support our nation's armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." What a cool, and might I say, simple goal, that each of us can get involved in! I encourage you to take some time to look around their website, to learn the guidelines and then write an "AnyHero" greeting to let these unsung heroes know they are thought of warmly. If you're a little more ambitious get out a few more supplies, a cup of cocoa and create a bundle of blank wintry-themed cards, blank thank you notes or blank birthday cards for the soldiers to use. This is just what I did! On Monday afternoon I held a card making party at my home where my friends and I made 50 thank you cards for our Troops who are currently serving in the military! Thanks, ladies!

I challenged my fellow WCS team members to create at least one AnyHero card to send out and they came up with some amazing cards! Thank you, Ladies!

Card by Angie Lucas

Cards by Celeste Smith

Cards by Elizabeth Dillow.

 
Cards by Sara Winnick.

Since today is Veteran's Day, remember to thank someone who is serving our great country. Heck! Throw a card-making party yourself and then go to our Flickr Gallery and show us what you've made. This is a great way to use up your extra scraps AND brighten someone's day.

While you're making these cards, remember to involve your children so they will learn to love and respect our military men and women.(These girls live in my neighborhood and joined in on the fun.)

Women in Military Service to America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery (that's Maddie and Gracie looking into the water!) Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Dillow.

If you don't live in the United States, remember that you also have amazing men and women serving in your country's military. WCS team member, Melanie Louette, lives in Canada and her community throws a Remembrance Day Parade every year in honor of their veterans. Melanie and her family attended the parade this past Sunday and she was kind enough to share her photos.

What's in a Story?

Have you ever stopped to consider the impact your family's stories have on yourself or your children? What about your brothers and sisters? Which family stories do you tell over and over at the dinner table? Now, consider what would happen to your sense of the world if those stories were lost or if you didn't know them. Really! Take a minute, I'll wait. Got it? Okay, read on.

Historically, stories define who we are, what we stand for and ultimately how we see the world. Cultures without a formal written language hand stories down through the generations orally, telling them over and over through a designated orator or someone whose job it is to see that he/she remembers the stories for the village and then retells them. These orators are highly respected Elders for good reason: They are responsible for the entire history of their village. As a scrapbooker, I'm sure you're keenly aware that if you don't tell your story, no one will.

It was this kind of thought pattern that led me on a small journey last week down the path of family history. Being the youngest of six (my oldest brother is 20 years older than I am) and having come from a divorced family, there are many stories that I'm not familiar with. There are also people whom I've never met whose stories I haven't heard.

So I paid a visit to my mom, scanned a few photos and then picked her brain about the people in the photos. I can remember Mom talking about Great Grandma Jenson, her mother's mother, very fondly. But I simply couldn't remember the stories. I remembered that she was deaf, but that was about it. After our interview, I completed this page:

She was an amazing person! It must have been very difficult for her to raise her children without hearing in the late 1800's to early 1900's. (Then again, when my little one spouts off one of her high-pitched screams I wonder...)

materials 8.5x11 | patterned paper (Kaiser Craft) + charm (K&Company) + fonts (Segoe Print, Monotype Corsiva fonts)

It was a treat to hear about my great grandmother. But there was one story that I'd only heard in snippets - the story of my mom and dad's marriage. It just always seemed like a taboo subject so I never asked, fearing that I might hurt someone's feelings. That's the "blue" in me coming out ;) I finally broached the subject and I'm so glad I did.

This is the only photo I have of my parents together and now I have the story saved for my children.

These two pages will always be treasures to me, not just for the photos, but for the stories.

If you're not sure where to start, try using a quiz created just for the occasion and interview your prospect or fill in the quiz according to what you read about a person. Ella Publishing has a brand new eBook called Quick & Creative Quizzes that may be helpful to you. Also, be sure to check out our WCS gallery for more inspiration and ideas about telling your family's stories.

materials 8.5x11 | patterned paper (Kaiser Craft) + ribbon + fonts (Bradley Hand, Monotype Corsiva)

So, what's in a story? It's the essence of who you are and what you will become. It's your history and your future all at the same time. Pretty important stuff, huh?

Here's your challenge: Research one ancestor or family member that you don't know much about and then create a page or two about that person. Be sure to upload it to our Flickr group by clicking on the link above. I can't wait to see what you create. Happy hunting!

What Are You Grateful For?

Hello! Welcome! I'll be your guide for the week. My name is Carolyn Jolley and I'm grateful to be the proud momma of three sons, one daughter and one angel son.

To kick off the week I'm going to focus on gratitude. After all, this is the month traditionally known for celebrating gratitude. According to Dictionary.com, gratitude is "the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful," and being grateful is to be "warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received."

To begin, let me give you a few ideas of ways you can scrapbook your gratitude.

I have a friend who is determined to find something to be grateful for every single day during November and she is following through by updating her Facebook status with a statement of gratitude every single time she updates. When she's finished, she'll have a whole month's worth of gratitude statements that she can put in a scrapbook. Our own Elizabeth Dillow did something similar for Simple Scrapbooks magazine last year where she listed her FB status updates for a whole week on one 12 x 12 page.

A year ago, a friend (thanks, Wendy!) gave me this sweet journal with room to write one thing I was grateful for every single day of the year. She used cute little tags, beautiful scraps of paper and chipboard or cardstock and bound these altogether. It was fun and easy to write one sentence each day.

 See how cute this is? She layered each piece and used a Zutter Bind It All to keep it together. Wouldn't this make a nice Christmas gift this year? I bet most of you have spare tags, paper and other odds n' ends laying around that would work very nicely for this project. A lot of scrapbook stores allow you to use their tools if you go to a crop. Or you might find a store near you that allows you to use their crop room and tools free during certain hours. I did this a lot at the beginning of the year. It's a great way to figure out which tools you like and if you might be willing to spend money on pricier items.

Another scrapbooker (I'm pretty sure it was one of our WCS Collective members - sorry, I don't remember which one) asked each family member at Thanksgiving dinner to write down what they were thankful for and then she took their picture. She paired these next to each other in a small album. Now every year, they can look back and see what they were thankful for at that time in their life. (This is still one of my favorites. Maybe she'll read this and leave a comment telling us where this idea was published and who she is. ;)

This year, I'm grateful that I'm able to stay home with our brand new daughter. What a HUGE blessing in my life.

What are you grateful for? I asked my fellow WCS members to share a few things that they are grateful for. Here is what they said:

I am thankful for community...the people in my life! ~Sara Winnick

I am thankful for the easy transition to our new home in Boston. All the kids are in schools they love, sports they love, and church youth groups they love. Life is good! ~Lain Ehmann

I’m so thankful for my husband’s steady job in this unsteady economy, that he is able to adequately supply for myself and my little family. ~Elisha Snow

I'm thankful for my health. I had a biopsy a couple weeks ago and it came back normal. ~Celeste Smith

Last year at this time my daughter Ryan was battling cancer, so this year I am very thankful she is healthy and cancer-free! ~Jody Wenke

I'm so grateful our baby arrived safe and sound! ~Aly Dosdall

I am grateful that I have the chance to spend one on one time with my kids this year. It’s been a sweet thing, getting to know them as they enter their teen years. I'm also grateful for my siblings. ~Emily Pitts

I am grateful for dedicated people with a vision to build something as cool as the Paul Smith Children's Village (like a big outdoor children's museum) to Cheyenne. This is just one little corner of it, the brick puppet theater. ~Elizabeth Dillow

I am grateful for happy little girls who think jumping in leaf piles is fun, and even more grateful that I am here to watch them do it. ~Elizabeth Dillow

I'm thankful to be a mother. ~Rebecca Cooper

This is a photo of my grandmother, who recently celebrated her 84th birthday.  She is mother of 6, grandmother to 13, and great-grandma to 5.  There are not enough words to describe all the ways in which she has blessed our entire family or that could possibly convey just how amazing she is.  I am so thankful for her strong family values and unwavering faith, and I am so grateful for her selflessness and generosity.  She is and always has been the glue that has held this family together. ~Tina Cockburn

What are you thankful for? If you've created something that shows your gratitude for something or someone, share it with us on our Flickr gallery. Just click the link at the top of the page. Or, if you haven't created anything yet, why not take this opportunity before the holidays get into full swing and capture something that will remind you what you are grateful for right now? In time, you'll be "grateful" you did!

Challenge your preconceptions, or they will challenge you –author unknown

Hi, it's me again! Emily. I loved seeing Marnie's past avatars, so you get to see a few of mine too. Heaven knows I have plenty. :) This was one of my first self portraits I ever took. The first of many. Now back to catalysts.

CATALYST #3 MY FRIENDS
About the same time I started doing the Pub Ad Challenges over at Two Peas (which is still going by the way, if you want to check it out), I found the next catalyst. This one was a much more subtle method of change, but for my personal life, it was huge. They were the subject of one of my first publications in the former magazine Simple Scrapbooks:

Note the changes: I started getting comfortable with more white space because of the influence of advertisements. Stamping started creeping in here–-I found this wonderful handwriting-like font and I started to really enjoy this technique. I started sewing my buttons on at this point too, now I can't leave a button unstitched, it really gets under my skin. Note the similarities: Still using my own handwriting.

It was at this crop where I met my friends that I came across catalyst #4.

CATALYST #4 CATHY ZIELSKE
I won! I won! I won! Not only did gain a whole new group of friends, I won the Cathy's Clean and Simple Scrapbooking, The Sequel, and that completely changed my life. That was where I was introduced to the idea that I didn't need to scrap every photo. It's OK to use a single photo to tell the whole story. It's OK to scrap moments and not just events. Lots of things became OK after I read that book. So thanks Cathy.

CATALYST #5 MORE CHALLENGES
I became a challenge junkie after I started playing the Pub Ad Challenge. It got to the point where one of my friends gave me a non challenge to see if I could scrap without being inspired by a challenge. I did it, but it really was kind of a challenge in itself. I played a product challenge that got me using products that I wouldn't normally use. Note the changes: Lots more product, one photo, and playing with techniques. Punching those circles took a lot more time than I was used to, but I liked the look, so I did it. I think this is the first time I used staples and ephemera, if you can call a candy wrapper ephemera. The embellishments are getting bigger and bigger. I loved those flowers, I bought a bouquet at Michaels and was sad when I'd used the last one. Flowers were a big deal for me for a while. Note the similarities: Sticking with the very ad-like feel. Handwriting again.

I played a challenge called How Much Is Too Much? that encourages you to use up our stash, we'd get a specific number of different items we'd have to use on a layout. Sometimes it was easy, other times it was really hard, but I got some really fun layouts from it. Note changes: PAINT! argh, that was SCARY and I did it to myself, it wasn't one of the requirements, but I decided to try it. Note the similarities: I'd been playing with my photos now in quite a few different ways. Here I'd cut the photo up into 6 smaller ones and sanded the edges. And to bring attention to the main photo, I added rivets (something I'd purchased a LONG time ago, but never used.). Again, handwriting...

I played a color challenge called Color Combos Galore that gives a palette of colors and you can go from there. This is one I struggled with because I thought I had to go out and buy papers to match those exact colors. Once I finally let go of that notion, I had a fun time with it! I

Then came the journaling challenge, which I eventually got the pleasure of co-hosting. It was called Journaler's Junction, it's not active right now, but you can check the archives for lots ideas. This was a huge catalyst for me. I have always loved to write my stories, but this challenge made me find many new ways to write those stories. Here's the first one I participated in, the challenge was to "Write It How You Say It." I realized I changed how I spoke depending on who I was talking to. Note the changes: I started playing with images digitally. Note the similarities: Handwriting still my own. I was still creating things from scratch, like in the beginning––my fancy divider lines (totally an accident, I smudged the line and so had to make them all smudgy like that.) and my fancy hand drawn photo corners. I was sticking to the one photo, one page layout now. I didn't feel the need to have matching pages in my albums anymore.

For the next couple of years I played as many challenges as I could manage a week. I loved them. I got pretty good at combining two and more challenges on one page. It was fun!

This one combined 3 challenges: scrap an old picture, write a letter to someone, and the Pub Ad Challenge. Note the changes: I think the one of only things that was different about this page was the hidden journaling, I got really fancy with how to hide this journaling. This is a special layout because it's a letter to my friend after she passed away. It makes me weepy looking at it again. You can read the journaling in my Two Peas gallery if you want. Oh and I think this is when doodling was big. I didn't do much of it, but I did make it a design element. Note the similarities: Again I'm back to my hand drawn title work. Handwriting again :) No comments on the hair OK?

Here's a couple more from the journaling challenge. While I was co-hosting this challenge, I got more publications from the layouts I created for it than any other challenge. I think my story telling skills became honed because of this catalyst. This challenge had to do with design, journaling down the side, one word at a time. Note the changes: I started using the computer for journaling more. I figured out you could cut the cardstock in half and run it through the printer. HOW EXCITING! This is also the first layout I used floss on. Note the similarities: I love the graphic ad designs, nice and clean. Hand drawn titles. Single pager, but more than one picture because they told the story better.

This challenge was to go to a random word generator and from the first 5 words that came up, you had to pick one of them to jumpstart your journaling. It was one of my top 5 five favorite challenges. Note the changes: Machine stitching. Note the similarities: LOTS. Buttons stitched down, white space, handwriting, clean graphic design.

To sum up, a major catalyst in my scrapping style came from participating in challenges. They push you out of your comfort zone, and sometimes you find things you never knew you'd love. There are so many great challenges out there, I've linked a few, but would love you have you comment and add your favorites as well. I'll post a list of them at the end of the week.

Tomorrow we'll look at some more of my catalysts. Aren't you enjoying me talking about me? :)