September 2021: Passport FAQ
 

If you have any questions regarding THIS month's Passport challenges, please post them here.

We have a wonderful team and community here at SSD....
so someone is sure to get back to you ASAP with answers to anything and everything related to our Passport Challenge System!

Here is a list of this month's challenge prompts for easy reference:

#1. One Little Word : Delirious
You can use this word as/in your title work, within your journaling, or simply let it inspire the direction of your layout.

#2. Product : Summer FWPs
Create a page using one of your favorite FWPs collected this summer. [If you weren't able to grab any over the summer, then please feel free to use any FWP from your stash]
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...73139a965.jpeg

#3. Featured : Amanda + Meg
Our brand new series of Featured Designer freebies are here for 2021, and we can’t wait for these fun kits to inspire you! Thanks to a suggestion from community member, Lisa aka Armygrl, our theme this year is focused on all of those special days that make up our sweet memories. From Rainy Days to Ordinary Days, A Day at the Zoo or even a Kinda Nice Day like Erica’s first kit in the series, we can’t wait for you to get your hands on these beauties! Taking inspiration from these fun kits, each month we’ll be asking you to scrap a page focused on the kind of day our designers are celebrating in their featured designer freebies! You’re welcome to use the kit itself, or simply scrap a page inspired by the title, but get creative and let your imagination take the lead.

#4. Inspired By : Random & Quirky
Scrap a page that documents something completely random and quirky in your life. Something that makes you smile and brings you joy. Like this brilliant page by Sugarbabe Kim B.!
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...-t-shirt_b.jpg

#5. Dealers Choice : Rewind - Pie Charts
Let’s bring back the love of pie charts... think paper piecing, photos, and/or graphs!
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/12/08/e8/1...bfb2d729df.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/cb/34/ef/c...bd21c9f5c9.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5a/0c/9d/5...a0621c7c61.jpg

https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...cebypiece8.jpg

#6. Leaving Love :
Leave love on 15 layouts in the gallery and then post the link to each in your tracker thread.
Create your own place marker by using your favorite layout you've left love for during the month to "hold" that spot on your card ♥
Right click on a page in the gallery and save... follow by resizing this saved image to 97 X 97 before adding it to your Passport tracker image.

#7. Photography : Alternate Dimension - Perspective Switch
Take a photo that makes people wonder if they’re going crazy when they see it at first glance by altering the perspective of the photo! This is a great opportunity to either pose your subjects for some fun shots or simply edit a photo in order to flip your viewpoint.
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/b0/0e/f0/b...f06841d4e0.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/e7/a5/dc/e...2f740ab418.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/e8/0d/a4/e...790b603b15.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/7c/c4/d1/7...da9c9df2cf.jpg

#8. So Sketchy : Monthly Inspiration!
Use the following sketch as inspiration for your layout.
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/p...021_sketch.jpg

#9. Seasonal : There’s a Greatness to Your Lateness
Being late for something is a common occurrence. It's caused by a whole host of reasons. Some are intentional, some are not. Fall behind schedule early in the day today, and you’ll be late for everything that follows. Celebrate September 5th’s Be Late for Something Day by scrapping a page that documents your struggles to stay sane while trying to be on time (or not)!

#10. Typography : On the Edge of Crazy Font
Download font and use it on your layout.

#11. Wild Card : Scrap anything you'd like for this challenge ♥

#12. Composition : Weighted Triangle
Scrap a page using a weighted triangle design. Where your composition is heavier on one side and then gradually tapers towards the opposite side of the page.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/62/b9/ed/6...cc66fb2749.jpg

#13. Journal : Feeling Crazy
Do you ever feel “crazy” thanks to anxiety or depression? Dig deep and journal your thoughts on mental health. Is it something you struggle with or something you can’t relate to?

#14. Currently : Avoiding...

#15. List : Crazy Good Top 5
The last two years have made all of us a little crazy! Let’s turn those frowns upside down by scrapping your top 5 crazy good things that have happened to you since Covid began.

#16. Pop Culture : Peopling... Yay or Nay?!
Do you love big crowds or do they make you crazy? Sometimes getting yourself to venture out of the house can be challenging. Especially after so many of us have been pretty isolated for the past year and a half. How well do you [or a loved one] cope with social gatherings, braving shopping centers, attending school, or simply running errands? Create a page documenting your peopling skills.
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com..._BedhairWM.jpg

https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...f842870f7d.jpg

https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...a1fc5b464e.jpg

#17. Details : Dot. Dot. Dot.
Have some fun playing around with circle backgrounds and allow them to take center stage.
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...rnal-It-Up.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c3/af/15/c...a8c8b4b7c2.jpg

https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...o_adoreyou.jpg

#18. Scraplift : Hosted on the Blog
On the first Sunday of each month, Sugarbabe Kim E. will host an inspiring Scraplift Challenge on the SSD Blog.
You have the entire month to play along and complete your page.

To keep in mind while you're scrapping...
These prompts are written and created with fairly broad themes/concepts in mind and I think that personal interpretation is key. You can certainly approach a prompt literally, or I encourage you to think about it in a different way ... take a creative approach on ways to apply prompts so that they'll work for you and your family.

LOL! Passport to Crazy!! That kind of describes EVERYTHING right now, doesn't it?!

Is there a FWP kit list somewhere? Sorry but Ive been gone since Jan, and I am not sure how to figure that out lol ty in advance

I go to blog and search FWP or Featured Designer in the search bar.

https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/i...ured-designer/

thanks so much!

Finally a passport I resemble. Thank you.

I don't know if anybody else feels this but I find the Passport challenges way harder than what we did all Summer even though that was one challenge everyday! These passport challenges are too specific for my needs and it's hard to come up with what I'm going to do with them (minus a few like the sketch or scraplift that are more open challenges)

Yes, I am struggling mostly bc I don't like to scrap about myself and prefer to get all the family photos and trips scrapped.

Oh, I'm glad it wasn't just me who couldn't get motivated to start.
At first it was making me feel depresses, because a lot of the challenges are not happy themed. Don't get me wrong, it's good to scrap about the sad things in life as well. But when I'm feeling blue, I want to scrap something that makes me happy, not even more depressed...
That being said, so far I have done 2 challenges and they turned out pretty happy. Just not sure if I'll be able to do them all this month...

Oh no you guys :wub: That's not how these challenges are supposed to work. I'm so sorry you guys feel this way about this month's challenges.

As far as being specific, I've always been told to use them as guidelines, not law on how it's supposed to be created. Like the Monthly Inspiration challenge, ALL of those photo squares just was overwhelming to me. So I took the inspiration of the blocks and made my own layout with what inspired me from that challenge.

The same can be done for each challenge. I don't have the say, obviously, but I don't think Lydia is going to harass you and say "how is this exactly like I wanted your layout to be". These challenges are supposed to be fun. Interpret the challenges how you need to fit your scrapping photos and needs.

Let me give you another example
#14. Currently : Avoiding...
You know what I plan on scrapping that one? A holiday or birthday layout. You know why? I hate scrapping those photos and I avoid them at all costs. Is my layout going to be about avoiding specifically? Nope. But it's going to be about photos that I'm avoiding to scrap.

Remember the passport challenges, while are specific challenges, are completely open to interpretation to the challenge.

What challenges are you struggling with? Let's put our thinking caps on and work together to find what inspiration you pull from that challenge to scrap your layout!

I was going to say maybe we should write some idea alternatives for all of the challenges every month so that nobody ever feels stuck and is afraid to ask! lol

I love how you explained it Wendy. Thank you.

For example I'm struggling with #7. Photography : Alternate Dimension - Perspective Switch.
I have no photos that are that way and I feel like if I just flip one around it's going to look silly and forced. Know what I mean?

I think that's the only one I will be struggling with. I already did my other more challenging challenges.

I love this! What a great way to look at them. :wub: I will have to rethink some of them now.

These are the ones I am struggling with...
#9: Seasonal : There’s a Greatness to Your Lateness
#15. List : Crazy Good Top 5 (I feel like I have done this one or something similar)
#16. Pop Culture : Peopling... Yay or Nay?!

#`15 - You could expand that to crazy good foods, destinations, games, best times in your day.

#16 - A layout about if you prefer scenic photos, or those with people in them (or both), what we talked about in the other forum - are you a social person, How you act when you have to talk to new people, new situations, new school year,

#9 - Can't provide help yet as I am not sure what I would even do here. I HATE being late, like start to panic when I am not 10 mins early.

Yes!!! I can so relate to this.

I was struggling with this one too but then googled funny perspective twist photos and found these - it's not flipping the photo but easy enough to stage so I thought I'd try it

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...qO-VQ&usqp=CAU

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/b7...0bea130037.jpg

https://steemitimages.com/DQmQpXfhfY...hy%20Ideas.png

https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads...09-599x800.jpg

I also found a video on my daughter's ipad that she took upside down, so I might play with that ... but hopefully that gives you some ideas!

#9 I did a page about how I do NOT like to be late for this same reason


Other ideas:

#15. List : Crazy Good Top 5 (I feel like I have done this one or something similar) - Top 5 favourite pictures you've taken since the pandemic began?



#16. Pop Culture : Peopling... Yay or Nay?!
Ever have a scenic pic wrecked because there's too many tourists/people in the background? Maybe something like that?

#7. Photography : Alternate Dimension - Perspective Switch
Take a photo that makes people wonder if they’re going crazy when they see it at first glance by altering the perspective of the photo! This is a great opportunity to either pose your subjects for some fun shots or simply edit a photo in order to flip your viewpoint.

I will confess this one had me scratching my head figuring out how I was going to do it. And then I realized . . . .do you see my photo next to my name? I took that one upside down. I had to rotate it vertically to make it the way that it was. So my plan for that one, is to scrap those series of photos (you'll see my layout after the new releases get published). While it isn't an a crazy perspective, knowing that my photos were taken upside down gave a different view of my face - which I actually liked!

So maybe you can take a selfie upside and flip your photo rightside up?

#9. Seasonal : There’s a Greatness to Your Lateness
Being late for something is a common occurrence. It's caused by a whole host of reasons. Some are intentional, some are not. Fall behind schedule early in the day today, and you’ll be late for everything that follows. Celebrate September 5th’s Be Late for Something Day by scrapping a page that documents your struggles to stay sane while trying to be on time (or not)!

I may be wrong, but I believe you go to church and you have experienced the "hurry up kids, we'll be late" that gets thrown out when you have to be some where. For this, you can always scrap a photo or series of photos of you guys before church (school, whatever function) because every parent has gone down that road before and has told their child(ren), "hurry up, we will be late!" Maybe add in a fun "hurry up" title to play on the challenge or journal about how your family was/wasn't late to x-event.

#15. List : Crazy Good Top 5
The last two years have made all of us a little crazy! Let’s turn those frowns upside down by scrapping your top 5 crazy good things that have happened to you since Covid began.
This one I think has people overthinking....in the last two years, there have been multiple things that have been good -whether it was a birthday, birth, graduation, end of school year, family staycation, movie/family time, something!

For this one, I might be doing a pocket page with a journaling for my crazy good things because I don't have a lot of photos of the good things that did happen to me. But the point of this one is scrap 5 things that were good and came from a time of pandemic, chaos and uncertainty.

#16. Pop Culture : Peopling... Yay or Nay?!
Do you love big crowds or do they make you crazy? Sometimes getting yourself to venture out of the house can be challenging. Especially after so many of us have been pretty isolated for the past year and a half. How well do you [or a loved one] cope with social gatherings, braving shopping centers, attending school, or simply running errands? Create a page documenting your peopling skills.

This one? For me, I'm such an introvert and don't like people. This will obviously be a selfie. If you don't like people, scrap a selfie. If you like crowds, scrap a family gathering.

Remember the prompts are just inspiration. How you use them and scrap your layout is what matters because these layouts are supposed to be scrapped for you and your album. Passport Challenges are inspiration - how you scrap them is up to you and your own unique interpretation :wub:

I love all these ideas...got some work to do now... :) Thanks ladies.

I wouldn't have thought to google it! Thanks for the ideas. Some don't seem so bad. Even though I really prefer to scrap the photos I already have and not take photos FOR the challenge :D

Thank you all ladies. Some great ideas in there! Gotta learn to open our mind a bit.

I'm struggling with this month as well but I think that has to do with returning to work after being off for over a year due to illness. I'm just overwhelmed and beat, lol.

The perspective one has me all kinds of confused and not sure, I just can't wrap my head around it even with the examples.

Thanks for all the ideas.
For me it wasn't really about taking my own turn on the challenges, it was more about the overall feel of depression that was associated with some of these.
As said, if I scrap I want to feel happy. And if I scrap about feeling depressed or anxious, it's because I feel the need to scrap that, not because of a challenge. Now I feel forced into some thinking about something I just don't want to think about right now. Also, on days I don't feel happy/good, I don't take photos, especially not of myself.
Anyway, I think that's the hardest part for me with this month's challenges... feeling forced in a way I just don't want to scrap about...

When I think the late one I keep hearing my hubby singing It's not late...naw it's early...from spin doctors. LOL I feel like I live in a musical or constant repeat of movie quotes! LOL It is the only way hubby talks...Now the little one joins him in on it.
Romanjo I bet you can do a spin on the ones that make you feel sad and make them happy.

I suspect it's hard to walk the line between pleasing those of us who already have plenty of our own ideas about what to scrap and giving direction to people who need ideas. But yes, I find that about Passport challenges, too. Occasionally I decide I'm going to participate, then I get started and remember why I usually don't. I love the idea of challenges, but I already have a long list of things I plan to scrap and won't complete challenges that don't help me get through that list. I had so much fun with this summer's challenges that I decided to try the Passport again, but I'm running into the same problem. (Not a criticism of those who work so hard coming up with the challenges month after month--I dream of the perfectly tailored "Challenges for Rachel" experience, and of course that's never going to happen!)

You have had your plate full, my friend. :wub:

Hey guys!

Thanks so much for all of the feedback! There are some amazing ideas and interpretations in this thread, and that is what we really feel is the goal of our challenge system. I can't think of a single time we've looked through any of the layouts created for our challenges and thought "nope that doesn't qualify" because that isn't the point of this each month. The point is to get you to stretch your creative muscle, think outside the box and "challenge" yourself to scrap pages you may not have otherwise thought to scrap.

We really do encourage you to put your own spin on our prompts to make them your own! Here are some of my ideas if I were going to tackle some of this month's more challenging "challenges"...

For the peopling challenge, I've honestly had quite a bit of nerves sending my kids back to school in the classroom... the crowds of cars each day for pick up and drop off are insane... I'd probably scrap a page about that. I also might scrap about my dislike of crowds and my preference to do things earlier in the day or on weekdays when places are a bit quieter. 4:30 dinner out with my husband at our favorite restaurants... yep! that's me!

For the photography challenge, we do try to come up with prompts that actually challenge you to take photos with a new idea in mind. Birds Eye View, Interesting perspective, visual triangle, etc. Part of being a scrapper is being a good photographer, so I think taking a photo with a photography tip, trick or creative idea in mind is a fun "challenge". If you already have a photo that works for the challenge, great! If not, try to have fun experimenting with something new! I absolutely love this idea and would probably try to pull something like this off if I were doing the challenge myself. Not sure if it would work, but I think it would be fun to try!

https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-conten...eet-art-1.jpeg

I'm never late... I hate it. I would absolutely scrap about the fact that I'm never late. Another twist would be to use a title or quote like "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date", and scrap around that idea. Both are different ideas. Both fit the concept and may work for you in a way you didn't expect.

As much as we would love to just say "scrap 18 layouts of whatever you want to earn 40% off" that isn't much of a challenge system in my view. It is difficult for us to come up with so many challenges each and every month, all with a different theme in mind, and some may be stinkers, but we do our best in an effort to bring you something that hopefully inspires and pushes you to new heights!

Like Loni mentions every month...

These prompts are written and created with fairly broad themes/concepts in mind and I think that personal interpretation is key. You can certainly approach a prompt literally, or I encourage you to think about it in a different way ... take a creative approach on ways to apply prompts so that they'll work for you and your family.

I really think this is key! You don't have to take our challenges literally and interpret them word for word. Get creative, have fun and get those pages scrapped! I promise we aren't going to punish you for putting a different spin on a monthly prompt <3

Seriously though, thanks for the feedback! We will continue trying to brainstorm fresh new ideas that are broad enough for you to really play with.

Much love,

R

Robin,
I think you and the team do an AMAZING job with the challenges. I actually print off little 6x6 photo books of the monthly challenges, complete with my filled challenge passport (I am behind on that though) because I like all the different themes and how they are pages I wouldn't necessarily create if it were up to my brain. I look forward to these challenges and they have resulted in some of my most favourite pages.

I know for me personally this month I am just overthinking due to returning to work, which happens to be a school. I'm not worried about the virus, just nervous everything is going to shut down again and I do not want to do my job virtually.

I certainly never meant to hurt anybody's feelings while bringing this thought to the table and I hope that didn't happen. I know you all work really hard to come up with brand new challenges every month.

I was just voicing my frustration. Just like in real life sometimes I can be really blunt and hurt others' feelings. Maybe I'm just in a rut and it's hard for me to think outside of the box. Anyway...

I appreciate all your help with this. I love seeing everybody's ideas and how everyone is so creative!

Not at all Lea! I love seeing everyone's ideas and suggestions, and I suspect that was the intent of your post! Lots of people shared your concerns and lots of people helped troubleshoot them too. I think it's worthwhile to have a chat about it and it gives us food for thought which we appreciate <3

:hugs:

Love this Robin!! Thanks for the extra feedback. I am with Jaye I think this month has just been crazy adjusting to a new routine. For me I am taking a kiddo to school and picking him up bc no bus runs to it for us. I am also balancing the big kid and his schedule with school and work...We are getting a car for him next month so that will be a lot easier... :hugs:

Lea, I am glad you voiced your concern and it gave us a chance to bounce ideas off each other. :wub: It helped me think outside of the box. I sometimes think to literal on things.

I love the challenges and how they help me get my scrapping done and I love the extra push each month to try something different as well. If I finish a month and need more push to scrap then I go and look at the older passports that I have never done and use them as jumping off points. :thumbup:

Thanks for the ideas, everyone, and for your thoughts, Robin! I read everything initially and was excited to look at the challenges with fresh eyes, but then I started getting paper assignments for my grad school class on top of the reading we'd had until then. It's been almost 20 years since I was in school, and I fooled myself into thinking it would be less time consuming this time since I'm already so familiar with the subject. Ha! I should have known better--I can't do school halfway. So I think I'll be sitting the Passport Challenges out until Winter Break, but it isn't because of the challenges themselves!

I just wanted to pop in and say I really like it when people are having trouble and ask for help here. After all that's what the FAQ is for, so we can all help each other.

I did struggle this month with a few challenges but that's why I do them because they make e think :) I actually just realized I only have 3 or 4 left now!

As a template scrapper I leave the scraplifts til last lol.

I was at a loss with the word delirious but once I kept thinking and looking at my photos I ended up being happy with my layout :)

Also the pie chart ...again no template but BAM! I was even proud of that one lol

Anyway, ty for challenging us every month. I look forward to maybe talking more about prompts amongst us too to help each other. :wub: