Designer Challenge - September Template Challenge

Good Day Everyone!

Its that time again, its time for my monthly Designer Thursday Template Challenge. This template can be used as the template or as a sketch and comes in PSD/PNG formats so that everyone can participate whether digital or hybrid. You will have one week to pick up the template for FREE and will also have 1 week to finish and post your layout to the gallery and forum thread. So go pick up the template..... and lets play!!!

Have a blessed day!
Angel

Take the Challenge and WIN!

Hello to everyone!  Welcome to September!  With the start of a new month comes a new challenge for you.  My name is Vicky Day aka Today's Scrap and I host a monthly challenge entitled, Theme-a-ma-jig.  Every month is different!  It started out being strictly a scraplifting challenge with a monthly theme.  But, lately it has been a template challenge with a theme!

This month, I want you to scrap those end-of-summer activities.  It could be one last trip to the beach, canning summer's bounty, going back to school, school clothes/supply shopping.....Anything, just remember to keep it family friendly!   This month I am supplying a template for you to use.  And, when you participate you will receive a prize!  Why don't you click on the preview of the template below to go to the forum and find out all about it!  We would LOVE to have you participate!

Here's the prize you will get for participating.  This is a new product in my store this month.  It is meant to be a hybrid project using a CD Cover.  It would make a GREAT Christmas gift!

Scrap those memories TODAY before they fade away!

Designer Challenge - Template Challenge

Good Day Everyone!
Its that time again, its time for my monthly Designer Thursday Template Challenge. This template can be used as the template or as a sketch and comes in PSD/PNG formats so that everyone can participate whether digital or hybrid. You will have one week to pick up the template for FREE and will also have 1 week to finish and post your layout to the gallery and forum thread. So go pick up the template..... and lets play!!!

August 1,2,3 Scrap!

Happy Third Thursday! This is pammie~k from ‘by the Shore designs’. Welcome Back to 1,2,3 Scrap! ~ a scrapbook challenge where I provide you with three ‘requirements’ and you take it from there!

This month’s 1,2,3 Scrap ! challenge has a strong focus on COLOR!

I love color (bright bold colors are my favorites, pastels come in a close second) One of my favorite internet sites is www.kuler.adobe.com! If you have not checked it out, it is a fabulous tool. Bookmark this site and explore all of the fabulous color options that are available! I stumbled on Kuler a few years ago and it is definitely a keeper!

Black and White – as much as I love color, I also like the classic look of black and white. Converting photos to black and white is a wonderful approach to take when you have the perfect paper and elements for a layout, but the color does not necessarily go with your photos. On the flip side, when I have a photo that is color rich – I might use black and white papers so the photo takes center stage.

Let’s move on to our challenge….


August 1,2,3 Scrap!

1. Choose your favorite base color on Kuler – then use one of the following color ‘rules’
a. Analogous – base color with adjacent hues
b. Monochromatic – one color with varying intensity and lightness
c. Triad – three colors from around the traditional color wheel
d. Complementary – two opposing colors on the traditional color wheel
e. Shade – subtle variations of the base color/hue

You choose the base color and let Kuler help identify the additional colors in your palette http://kuler.adobe.com/#create/fromacolor -

Try to use only paper and elements that fall within your selected color palette.

2. Convert your photos to black and white. If you wish, you may pop the color of one item in your photo – as long as it is within your color palette identified in requirement one.

3. And your final requirement is to take color away from your title (think transparent or vellum) – use a bold text for your title and the color white – reduce the opacity as low as you feel comfortable so that you can ‘see thru’ the letters. In Photoshop (or PSE) I add a white stroke to the text on the layer above or below to add a bit of definition around the letters

If you have questions, please ask . (I know my directions might be a bit confusing) Give it a whirl! For those that complete the challenge and post your layout no later than September 15th in the Faith Sisters 1,2,3 Scrap! Gallery and the 1,2,3 Scrap Forum! (here) I will send you one of ’by the Shore designs’ layered templates or quick pages of your choice. Just send me a private message at Faith Sisters with your email address and your template or quickpage choice and I will email it directly over to you. I will work on this challenge in the next few days and post my own layout (back to school week is here and I am up to my eyeballs in number 2 pencils, school paper, backpacks, etc)

Be sure to come back next month – Third Thursday – for another edition of 1,2,3 Scrap! Until then, have a wonderful ‘rest of summer’.

August "Inspired By" Challenge

August already?! Where has the time gone? I'm sure those of you with kids still at home are trying to squeeze a bit more fun out of summer while getting the back to school shopping done. Maybe you haven't had much time time to scrap this summer? You are going to want to make some time to complete this challenge this week!

This month I have a two part challenge for you!

First, check out my Faith Sisters shop HERE and choose your favorite Digital Compilations by Cinda product. Right click on the product preview and save the image address. Now go to the forum HERE and reply with your favorite compilation (please paste the image in your reply). I will send you a coupon to get that compilation for FREE! Coupons will begin to be sent Friday afternoon.

Second, complete a layout using the product that you selected before next Thursday (you can also use other products from Digital Compilations by Cinda). Post it in the challenge gallery HERE and again in the forum HERE. Think of this as a creative team layout and show us your best work. I will select my favorite layout and that participant will win my COMPLETE Faith Sisters shop - as much as you can download through August 31st. Winner will be announced Friday, August 12th.

Currently Boys Roll is my favorite compilation:

Here is my favorite of the five layouts I've used it for so far:

I hope my compilations inspire you!

Cinda
Digital Compilations

Can I Inspire You This Time?

It's the first Thursday of the month again - my turn to host the Faith Sisters Designer challenge. This month's "Inspired By" challenge was inspired by a template that I recently saw with clustered elements layered beneath the top layer of paper.

Here is my layout, "All Star Breakfast"

If you complete the challenge, be sure to share it in the gallery at Faith Sisters and add a link to the challenge thread in the forum. Those of you who are able to complete the layout before next Thursday will receive my latest Faith Sisters release, Sunspots for FREE!

Have a blessed week!

Cinda
Digital Compilations

Speed Scraps at Faith Sisters

Hello, friends! This is Barbara, of Precepts & Promises, here to tell you a little about the speed scraps we have at Faith Sisters.
I host them once a month, on the first Tuesday of every month.  So, our next one is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, July 5th, as 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern.
I have a goodie for you each time, too.  Sometimes I have you download it before we scrap so you can use it on the layout we make.  Sometimes, the goodie is a participation prize given to everyone who scraps with us.
And, that is what I'm doing this Tuesday; everyone who makes a layout and posts it to our gallery within 24 hours of our speed scrap ending will be sent the download link for Summer Photo Overlays.

 
Now, some of you might not be familiar with a speed scrap.  No worries!  It's pretty simple.  We have a thread in the forum at Faith Sisters with all the details, and that's where you'll find me at the appointed time.  Every 10 minutes, for one hour, I give you a new direction for your layout.  No one knows what the completed layout will be, except for me, of course!  But, because we're not copying a layout, only the steps to make it, everyone's is different.  It's wonderful!
We are a very friendly and welcoming group, and I hope this post has inspired you to come and scrap with us!

Providence 365 - Week 26

It has been a blessed few weeks since I shared week 24 of Providence 365. And these two weeks have been filled with God’s Love!

Vacation Bible School was, once again, an incredible experience. We had over 420 children registered to attend and were blessed with over 150 volunteers. The church campus was filled with laughter, smiles, lots of hugs and of course, God’s Love.

My husband and I celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary last Monday. Our daughter surprised us by making dinner reservations for the two of us at a local inn (one which we had never visited before) The meal was incredible and the time spent with my husband was priceless. And we were surrounded by God’s Love.

Saturday – June 25th – is Jesus’ Half Birthday. A wonderful time to share God’s Love with everyone we meet. (OK - we know that it is ALWAYS a wonderful time to share God's Love.)

And each day we awake and see the signs of God’s Love in the beauty around us – a fluttering butterfly reminds us of our new life in Jesus Christ – watching a Doe care for her young fawn – a smile and a hug from a child – His love surrounds us.

In 1 John 4:8 we are reminded that….

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love

This week – open your eyes and realize that God’s Love is EVERYWHERE. As you work on your layout for Providence 365 – look for His love in places that you may not have seen before. You will be amazed that His love surrounds us – God IS love.

Be sure to post your layout in our Providence 365 Gallery at Faith Sisters and share it with us in our Providence 365 Forum - here.

Here is word-art to help you with your layout. Have fun…and God Bless!

June 1,2,3 Scrap!

Checking my calendar - yes, it's the third Thursday of the month - time for our 1,2,3 Scrap! challenge.

If you are new to the challenge, the “rules” are simple – I will provide three ‘requirements’ for your layout – and you take it from there. It is great to see how different each layout is from the others. This month’s challenge will focus on the photos in your layout….

Are you ready…..

1. You will use two and only two photos. One photo should fill most of the page and the second
photo will be significantly smaller.


2. Photos may not be the same “shape”.


3. The smaller photo should have a minimum of 3 mats/layers between it and the background layer.

Everything else on the layout is fair game. When you are done, please post your layout in the 1,2,3 Scrap! gallery – here


Each participant that completes a layout following this month’s 1,2,3 Scrap! challenge will receive a coupon for my recently released Photo Mask Collection (shown below) In order to receive the coupon, I simply ask that you post your layout before July 5th in the 1,2,3 Scrap! gallery and provide a link here in the 1,2,3 Scrap! forum at Faith Sisters.
.


I look forward to seeing what you design! So, ready to go?….1,2,3 Scrap!

Inspired by Challenge hosted by Cinda

Welcome to this May 2011 edition of my "Inspired By" challenge! Yes, it's Cinco de Mayo, but no, I am not asking for a Mexican flair to your layout!


From the book of Ezekiel, chapter 16:9-14


I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.


This month I want you to adorn your layout with jewelry inspired embellishments.


Here is one of my favorite earrings:

It's hand made of copper and I'm hoping to find the designer next month at the Columbus Arts Festival so that I can get a necklace too.


You can see how this earring was behind some of the inspiration for my latest kit, Free to Be Me:

If you are not sure what type of embellishments to use, think gold, silver, copper, beads, gems, etc. For completing this challenge you will receive the following quick page. It's made with my Free to Be Me kit and my Squoval Masks.

Make sure you share your layout in the Faith Sisters gallery as well as the challenge thread in the forum. Links for downloading the free quick page will be sent to participants via private message.


Don't forget, there are more than sixty of my products in the Faith Sisters shop that are being retired soon and are marked at clearance prices.


The passage that I shared with you reminded me to pray for my neighbor's little nephew, Ezekiel. He has a brain tumor and his family has been living at the Ronald McDonald House. If you are lead by the Spirit, please say a prayer for Ezekiel and his family.

It is the third Thursday of the month and time for 1,2,3 Scrap! at Faith Sisters. Wow – April already, this year is flying by.

Did you check out the layouts from our March challenge? FABULOUS!

For anyone new to 1,2,3 Scrap! here is the ‘scoop’.

I will provide 3 specific requirements that need to be included in your layout (or hybrid project) – and you take it from there…. I find that when I am given a challenge – I actually work on and complete a layout (I know, a novel concept) Challenges will often stretch me to try something new I may not have attempted in the past.

Let’s get rocking on our April challenge.

1. Most everyone has a “look” that they use for a majority of their layouts. When you create a layout, where is your eye drawn to – where is the focal point? Center? Right? Bottom? Top? For me, I have to admit that 90% of my layouts have a focal point in the lower right hand corner. Requirement One of this month’s 1,2,3 Scrap! – have the focal point of this layout in a different place – stretch yourself to go somewhere else on the page.

2. Use a minimum of 3 photos

3. Theme of your layout will be an Easter memory or tradition. (if you wish to choose another holiday – that’s okay too) Traditions are so important to family. They create bonds from one generation to the next.

A jellybean hunt has always been a favorite family tradition. I remember as a young child that on Easter morning we would head to my Grandparent’s home still dressed in our Easter best. Upon arrival we would discover that the Easter Bunny had once again hidden jelly beans all over the main level. My brother, sister and I would have so much fun trying to find them all (and I would bet that Grandma was finding unclaimed jelly beans in nooks and crannies on the 4th of July.) The tradition (and memories) continued in my parent’s home and still occurs today in our home.

What special Easter memories do you have? What traditions have carried forward into the next generation? I cannot wait to see what you share.

And simply by completing this challenge by May 15 (must post it in the Faith Sisters 1,2,3 Scrap! gallery and share the link in our 1,2,3 Scrap! Forum), I will send you a discount coupon for $3 off anything in by the Shore designs store at Faith Sisters. (And you will find a lot of digi goodies to choose from)

Are you ready? 1,2,3 Scrap!!!

(And have a Blessed Easter. He is Risen!)

Hi there and welcome to Thursdays Designer Challenge! This month is my birthday month and am so excited to host this challenge the week of my birthday. This template can be used as the template or as a sketch and comes in PSD/PNG formats so that everyone can participate whether digital or hybrid. You will have a week to pick up the template for free here and I will give you 2 weeks to finish and post your layout to the gallery here. I will randomly select one person to win a $5.00 gift certificate to my shop. If you swing by my blog you can pick up my "Happy My Day" kit for free.So go pick up the template..... and lets play!!!

Have fun!
Angel
Designs by Angel

Theme-a-ma-jig Challenge, February 2011 at Faith Sisters

Hi!  I'm Vicky Day of Today's Scrap and I want to WELCOME you to the February edition of the Theme-a-ma-jig challenge!  I'm gonna change things up a little bit to make them easier on you!  YAY!!!  I'm going to change this into a theme-related scraplift challenge!  I personally LOVE to scraplift!  Especially when the mojo just isn't there!  Ever have any times like that?  I'm sure you do!

I will be watching the gallery through the month for a layout to use for the scraplift.   So, for February's challenge, the theme is, DRUM ROLL, PLEASE...............LOVE!    Did you guess it?  Probably.  NOW, the second part is what makes this such an easy challenge......the layout to use as the scraplift.  This month, since "Tammyshere" helped me decide on what direction to take this challenge to make it more fun, I have chosen her layout, "Coen Dean" as the scraplift layout to use in the February challenge.  You can click on the layout name or the layout preview below to leave her some love!

So, to qualify for the prize (see below), use Tammy's layout for inspiration and make a layout about LOVE!  Isn't that simple?!

OK, now for the rules of play:
1.    You have the entire month to post your layout in the gallery here:  THEME-A-MA-JIG GALLERY and also post a link in this forum thread so I will know you are finished with the current month challenge, and we can all give you some loving comments on your layout.  The challenge will be closed at 12:00 MIDNIGHT, EST on the first day of the new month (March, 2011).  I will PM a coupon for the prize to all those who participate!
2.    That's it!  LET’S  HAVE  FUN!  :D

Here is Tammy's layout to scraplift (Thanks, Tammy!)

Here's my scraplift of Tammy's layout (it is linked to the gallery):

Here's You Prize, made using my "Love, the Greatest of These" kit

Hope you will join me this month!

Inspired by Challenge hosted by Cinda

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22 (NIV)

It's winter in my part of the world. The sky is grey, the trees are grey and the ground is covered in snow. It's freezing and I feel like winter will never cease. I'm not feeling very inspired about much of anything these days!

For this edition of my "Inspired By" challenge, I would like for you to show me that your layout can be inspiring while being surrounded by grey and white! That's right, I want you to use just shades of grey and white for your layout (metallics like silver and pewter can be used too). It's up to you whether or not you use black & white photos.

Be sure to share your layout in the Faith Sisters gallery and in the forum.

Next week I am releasing a kit that is bursting with green! It's called Savage Gardens. I have been AMAZED with the layouts my creative team have made with it! Everyone who participates in this edition of my "Inspired By" challenge by the end of January will receive a coupon to save 35 percent off of Savage Gardens!

I can't wait to be inspired by your layouts!

Designer Challenge - Designs by Angel Template Challenge

Hi there and welcome to my first challenge of the New Year! I thought that since everyone is trying to finish up their 2010 books I would help out by offering a template challenge that covered the entire year. This template can be used as the template or as a sketch and comes in PSD/PNG formats so that everyone can participate whether digital or hybrid. You will have a week to pick up the template for free here and I will give you 2 weeks to finish and post your layout to the gallery here. I will randomly select one person to win a $5.00 gift certificate to my shop.
So go pick up the template..... and lets play!!!

And here is some inspiration for you....

Have fun!
Angel
Designs by Angel

Desktop Calendar Challenge

Welcome to the new Desktop Calendar Challenge at Faith Sisters! My name is Vicky Day of Today's Scrap designs and it is my privilege to host this challenge. Each month, I will provide a template for you to use in the creation of your desktop calendar for the next month. In other words, it is December, but I will be providing the template for you to use in creating your January 2011 desktop calendar. The template should be easily adaptable to whatever size of screen you have. I will also provide several versions of a monthly calendar for you to choose from when creating your desktop calendar. You will be able to blend these into your favorite paper or use as is. Also, there is a text file included in the download giving you some instructions on how to find the dimensions of your desktop and how to apply your new desktop once you have it completed. You can also find those instructions in THIS thread. We would love for you to use only Faith Sister Designer products in creating your calendar, but it is not a requirement. We just want you to be creative and have fun!

Post your calendar in the Desktop Calendar Challenge Gallery HERE. Then, post a link to your completed calendar in this forum thread HERE so I will know when you have completed the challenge. Thanks for participating!

Here is my desktop for January 2011. I used my Winter Wonders kit.

Here is the preview for the template and the calendars that you can download from the challenge forum.  Have fun!

DECEMBER 1,2,3 Scrap!

What a wonderful time of the year! During the season of Advent we prepare for a celebration of the birth of Christ. The hustle and bustle; decking the halls, Christmas parties, shopping and the sharing of family traditions are all part of our daily lives in December. Taking time to reflect on the TRUE meaning of the season is something that we each need to do – as often as possible. God’s gift to us came in the form of a newborn Baby Boy.

This week, an email arrived in my in-box. It is one I have seen for the last few years during the Christmas season – and it still moves me…please let me share this message with you :

The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."

I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a “W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And He still is! I hope this special message is one that helps you reflect on CHRISTmas and the reason for this celebration!

AND HERE WE GO!!!!

Our December 1,2,3 Scrap! challenge is about Celebration

1. The theme of your layout is Celebration! Perhaps you can share how your family celebrates Jesus’ birthday. Perhaps it is the celebration of a milestone, a family birthday, a promotion. The choice is yours.

2. Use three photos. (Try to make them all close-ups – really zoom that camera – or crop tool – in close)

3. Use only 3 different papers and only 3 different elements (but you can use these as often as you wish on the layout.

For those that participate in our December 1,2,3 Scrap Challenge, my gift to you will be my just released “Bethlehem” quick page.

Simply post your layout in our 1,2,3 Scrap! Gallery and provide a link to the layout in our 1,2,3, Scrap! Forum

Are you ready? 1,2,3 Scrap!

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Introducing: Monthly Heritage Challenge - Documenting Family Traditions

Welcome to Faith Sister's new monthly heritage scrapbooking challenge.

My name is Theresa and I design under the name of Forget-Me-Nots.  I’m one of the new designers here and I’m very excited to “visit” with you today in my first monthly heritage challenge.  Heritage scrapbooking is near and dear to my heart.  Each month I hope to work with you on getting some of your family story scrapped.  On the 2^nd Thursday, I will post a new topic in the forum that we can work on.  You can expect the next one to arrive on January 13, 2011.

Some people panic when they think of heritage scrapbooking, but if we break it down into bite sized chunks, it will be fun.  You don’t have to have a lot of photos to be able to scrap your heritage.  And by the way – it doesn’t have to be 100 years old to be heritage!  We will explore all kinds of ideas for getting it done. Your story, and more importantly God’s story woven in your life is important. Let’s work on it together and have some fun along the way!  I’m looking forward to getting to know you.

When I decided to do a December Heritage challenge, I first thought of “traditions”, not realizing that the topic of the wonderful  My Lifetime Story Challenge  this week is also traditions!  That’s all right, the more the merrier! (If you are participating in that challenge your layout could serve for both challenges.)

Whenever I hear the word “tradition” I automatically think of the song from Fiddler on the Roof and Tevya begins singing in my brain.  What do you think about when you think of traditions?

Traditions can be habits of daily life, they can be a part of celebration, they can be the things you remember when you think of home or they could be ways of doing things that your family has passed on to you.  This month a lot of us are focused on the holidays, so it is a good time to think about this topic.  Be mindful as you go through your busy days this month and take photographs of the small things that might be forgotten if you don’t document them.

What if you don’t have photographs to go with your memories?  Maybe you have some memorabilia.  In this layout I used a scanned recipe card to illustrate my memories of baking sugar cookies as a child with my Mom and Grandma.  For me it’s special because the writing is my Mom’s, the recipe is Grandma’s and the smudges may be mine!  Look for ideas of creative things you can scan or photograph now to share your memories of the past.  You might also find photographs on the Internet, but please be respectful of copyright.  (Layout uses Forget-Me-Nots by Theresa Lindamood's  Holiday Baking Kit and Family, Home and Tradition Word Art )

  

Another way to document your traditions is to write about their history and significance.  Research online or in books or write from your own family knowledge.  Most of us have faith based traditions that would fit in this category.  You may have this knowledge in your head, but your children won’t know unless you tell them and write it down.  It’s possible to create a lovely page full of journaling.  Others will enjoy reading  the background story. (Layout uses Toucan Scraps' Chanukkah Miracle kit  and the lovely photograph is from my friend Christina Hskubes).

Lastly, when you are scrapbooking your traditions, don’t just show what they are, but explain the why.  Share with your reader why you like it, hate it, enjoy it, fear it, anticipate it, find it sad, disagree with it, pray for it and so on.  If you merely describe a tradition your children may later wonder if you participated because you had to or if you loved it.  This layout is a simplified version, but it talks about the fun family aspects of celebrating Chanukkah.  The first layout told much of the “what” and this layout explains some of the “why”.  (Layout uses pictures from my friend Christina Hskubes and Toucan Scraps' Chanukkah Miracle Kit ).

As you go through the next year, be thinking about your traditions.  Make a list of things you want to be sure and document and/or photograph.  Are there any traditions you want to get rid of or change?  Or maybe you have always wanted to try something.  Will you add a new tradition this year?  Remember to journal about how and why that change took place.  How do you see your faith in your traditions?

Please don’t let me scare you off with all this talk of journaling!  Most of this can be done simply.  Look at your photographs and memorabilia and pretend you are sitting down on your couch with a new friend, showing her your scrapbook.  What kind of questions do you think she will have?  Look at your page and think about that and the journaling ideas will begin to flow.  Have fun with this.  Our scrapbooks shouldn’t be a chore!

Since you have made it this far in my post, you really deserve a reward.  I’d like to offer you this freebie of glittery  titles to help you scrap your traditions.  You can download by clicking layout for the next 2 weeks: 

Please post your layout in the Monthly Heritage Challenge Gallery. 

And let us know in the Monthly Heritage Challenge Forum.

Remember next month to look for the next challenge.  I’ll be working on some posting bonuses  and goodies  for the upcoming challenges as well.  Thank you for joining me today!  Happy Scrapping!

Designer Challenge Thursday - 3D Tags

Hello folks, my name is Angela and it's blessing to do the Designer Thursday Challenge again this week. My challenge is for you to make a 3D gift tag (you can make more than 1 if you want to). My tag is hybrid - that means I'm using a digital scrapbooking kit, cropping it in my software and then printing it out to assemble. If you are new to hybrid or 3D paper crafting, I have a tutorial below for you. If you are going hybrid, please use at least 1 item from one of the current Designers at the Faith Sisters Store. Otherwise feel free to use your physical paper scraps etc to make your tag(s).

I made my tag using the Orange Spice kit by Toucan Scraps available in the Faith Sisters Store.

I'll have a special gift for people taking part in this challenge by the 1st Dec 2010. Please upload a photo of your tag(s) to the Toucan Scraps Challenges Gallery at Faith Sisters, and let me know that you have taken part either as a comment to this blog post, or in my Designer Challenge thread on the Faith Sisters Forum.

Tutorial

Set-up the page in your software to the size of card stock you are printing on. I've set mine to metric A5.

Most printers have a margin where it doesn't print anyth

ing. check your printer settings and place guidelines at the margin points (.6 cm for me).

If your software doesn't support guidelines then draw vertical and horizontal lines in the top layer.

Choose your background paper (I'm using the stars background from the Orange Spice Kit by Toucan Scraps). Crop it to 3 x 5 inches.

Create an element cluster on the layer above it. (I'm using one of the Ivy Leaves and one of the Winter Roses from the Orange Spice Kit.)

Make a copy of the cluster and place it in the blank space on the page.

Make a copy of the top part of the cluster (the rose for mine) and place that on the blank space

Print onto sturdy white card-stock. (I don't know the imperial equivalent, but my preference is for 210 gsm.)

Cut out

At the opposite end to the image cluster, on the back, use a pencil to mark 3/4 inches from the corner on both long edges. And 1 inch from the corners along the short edge. Join the marks and cut along the lines to make the tag shape.

If you wish to write on the back of the tag, now is the best time to do so, as the 3D image will make it tricky.

Stick 3D foam pads on the back of the cut out images. (If you don't have any then cut small pieces of cardboard or foam and stick them with glue).

Stick the larger image directly on top of the image printed on the tag.

Stick the smaller image directly on top of the same image on the tag (for me the rose on top of the rose)

This layering technique is called 3D decoupage.

Punch a hole in the narrow end of the tag.

Optional - insert an eyelet into the hole.

Thread yarn/ribbon/string/twine through the hole.

Thursday, November 18 Designer Challenge

Hello scrappers and welcome to the Thursday designers challenge.

Today I have a new challenge for you. You've probably done scripture challenges where you use a Bible verse as inspiration and scrap a page. This challenge is somewhat like that, but it's with a bit of a difference.

There are a lot of phrases in the Bible, some of which have become well known sayings. Your challenge this week will be to take the phrase I give you and use it for inspiration to make a layout. 

Your phrase can be found in Song of Solomon 8:14 and is just 3 words. It is "mountains of spices". I like this phrase since we are not in the holiday season of the year when. Here are some hints that may help your inspiration to start working: pumpkin pie spice, Spice Islands, spice trade, spices prepared by the women for Jesus' burial (see Luke 23:56-24:1), and even herb tea.

Don't forget to post your layout in the gallery and put a link in the forum. Also, if you are a digital scrapbooking, don't forget to check our shop for some kits that would go well with this challenge!

I look forward to see what you do.
Tirza for Major Scrapola