February 2020: 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 : Zeal
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 : Templates
Create a page using one of your favorite templates from SSD.

#3. Featured : Meagan & Misty
Our featured designer articles have been expanded since we started our alphabet inspired series, and are showcased on the blog each time a new designer goes into the spotlight. Your challenge is to use any solo product from one of our featured designers this month PLUS discover something from either Meagan or Misty's interviews this month to use as inspiration for a layout, be sure to tell us what inspired you in your gallery comments!

The following are a few ideas on how you may glean inspiration from a FD interview... Using this interview with Meg [featured in December] ... You might be inspired by the red and white cookie jars in her kitchen to scrap a red & white layout. Maybe you'd like to include the quote she shared “The Best Thing About Memories Is Making Them” on your page, maybe you were inspired by the letter “G” to scrap your own OLW starting with the letter G... or perhaps you might simply want to lift one of the layouts created by the Babes to show off the FD freebie. It’s totally up to YOU to decide how you'd want to be loosely inspired by one of our FD blog posts.

#4. Inspired By : Sweet Shoppe’s 14th Birthday Party Game-A-Day
Scrap along with any of this month’s PGAD layout challenges!

#5. List : How Do I Love Thee... Let Me Count[List] the Ways
Include a list to highlight all of your favorite things about someone close to you.

#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 : Silhouettes
Use this simple tutorial to create your own stunning silhouette photographs and then scrap them.
https://www.linkedin.com/media-proxy...Go69LcLmY4Yx3A

#8. Quote : That's What They Said...
Capture a favorite quote/saying from someone close to you and scrap about it.
You can also creatively incorporate quotes into your page using journal cards or including the quote within your journaling.

#9. Seasonal : Leap Year
2020 is a Leap Year! So take this opportunity to either leap back 4 years to document a favorite memory, leap forward 4 years and scrap about your long term goals, or simply scrap about how you plan to celebrate this year's festivities.

#10. Typography : Handy Ink Font
Download and use this font on one of your layouts this month.

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

#12. Composition : By Thirds
Divide your page into thirds. Keep your journaling in the first third, your photos in the second third and your elements/clusters in the last third. Some minor overlap is ok, but your layout should obviously be split into thirds using the guidelines.

#13. Journal : What are you truly passionate about?

#14. Currently : Obsessing About...

#15. Color : Scrap with this month’s color swatch.
It should be obvious that the page you've created was inspired by the colors featured in the swatch image posted below.
** You don’t necessarily have to use all of the colors shown [use 2, or 3, or all 5] **
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...72c2538870.jpg

#16. Pop Culture : Award Shows
This time of the year is always overflowing with an abundance of award shows. So with that in mind, create a page to celebrate the achievements and success stories within your own family.

#17. Details : Textures
Create a page that focuses on the use of texture found on papers, emphasize the visual appeal of texture via clustering or some combination of the two.

#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.

Sounds pretty awesome!! And I actually just grabbed that Handy Ink font a couple of hours ago LOL

Okay...I am new to this so I have some starter questions….I read 'download' your passport but I have no idea if I really need to download something, and if yes, where I can find it.

Where do I post the link to my layouts….do I add them to one post that I will make or do I post over and over again…. Thanks for helping me out.

Hi Miranda! Welcome to SSD!

You can view and download your passport jpeg on the first post of this thread: https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92002.
If you scroll through the thread, you will see other participants post a post on that thread, edit and add their challenge page link on their post. I hope that helps.

Yes..this was what I was looking for. I was a player of bingo in the past so I knew there was some place that I need to go....thanks!!

Yay - what a great lineup for the February Passport!

Can our products be "retired" or do they have to be current in the store?

Hi Leah, you can use retired products, as long as the designer is still at SSD .

I think I downloaded the passport correctly but do I just open it in Photoshop Elements and add the pages each time I complete one?

At the end of the month you add your layouts to that passport, upload it to the gallery and then post the passport in the challenge thread so they know how many you completed and what prize you earned. This was what mine looked like at the end of the month in January:
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...t_FINISHED.jpg

Each layout that you complete for the passport, you upload it to the gallery, select "passport to sweet stuff challenges" and add your layout there.

If you want, once your layout is uploaded, you can post your layout in Inspiration Portal thread as well as use that thread for inspiration for a challenge you might be stuck on
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...ad.php?t=91990

Thanks! One more question for Number 4, do we make 2 different layouts one for the birthday challenge and one for here?

oh my gosh I am so lame. I had no idea there was so much description out here. Not really knowing what to do with the one word for each day kept me from working in previous month. I thought these were just answers to questions. Well, now I know! lol!! Thank you so much for the all the work done!

I have a problem visualizing this in my head. I think Im thinking wrong, help lol

#12. Composition : By Thirds
Divide your page into thirds. Keep your journaling in the first third, your photos in the second third and your elements/clusters in the last third. Some minor overlap is ok, but your layout should obviously be split into thirds using the guidelines


So elements by themselves a photo by itself and journaling by itself ?

Nope. Just one of the layouts you create for the birthday challenge will work for that particular prompt. :)

Yes. For example, if you divide the page horizontally, you can place the journaling on the top, the photo in the middle and the clusters/elements on the bottom section. I hope that makes it much easier to understand.

Can we use the retired "freebies" that were offered in the shop? For example: a freebie that was in the shop in 2018 or 2017??

Yes you can use any freebies as long as the designer still sells here.

I should know this, but I'm second-guessing myself

#12. Composition : By Thirds
Divide your page into thirds. Keep your journaling in the first third, your photos in the second third and your elements/clusters in the last third. Some minor overlap is ok, but your layout should obviously be split into thirds using the guidelines.

It doesn't have to take up the ENTIRE page, does it?
I'm thinking no, and I already have a layout planned, but I don't want to do it and not have followed this rule exactly! :D

I'm not the boss, but since the guidelines doesn't EXACTLY say it has to take up the ENTIRE page, it doesn't have to take up the entire page. I hope I make sense. :huh:

I'm sorry -- I have another question? I just want to be clear so I don't have to recreate a layout (I'm a very slow scrapper)...
Can we use the Sweet Shoppe collabs that were given in past Christmases; like the 20_20 collab?

Yes you can use store collabs.

You do. I thought it didn't have to take up the whole page because it wasn't specified, but i also wanted to make sure before I did it wrong. You know me, always overthinking rules! :D Thank you Sarah! :wub:

Thanks so much!!! I was wondering since I couldn't find it in the store.

Unrelated to a specific challenge and I know the answer is here somewhere, I just can't remember. It's been like 3 years since I completed challenges so I really no longer remember...

When are the coupons sent out for the challenge rewards and how long are they valid for? I remember something about the first or second full week and valid through that week or something but its been way too long. I need to plan my budget better so I have to be aware of such things. ;)

Coupons earned during the January challenge have been sent out by Lyd.
Look in this thread: https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...ad.php?t=91839

I believe (please someone correct me if I'm wrong) from Monday to Friday (untiel the new releases go live).

yes coupons have gone out and they are valid Monday until the new releases go live on Friday :). Have to use mine still ♥

What does it mean when I’m trying to leave a comment on a lo and I get this message “You did not fill in the comments or rating field.”?

I had a comment typed in the comment field

It's possible you used a "strange" symbol?
It could be one of these : ; ( ) ! -

pretty sure only periods were used. I got it on several different comments last night, all various people. I will keep trying.

Did you get it to work?

Can someone link me up with the interviews we are supposed to get inspiration from for #3, please!!

Here's Meagan's: https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/i...s-creations-2/

I don't think Ru's has been posted yet :)

Ru had computer problems, so Meagan will be the next FD. Her interview should be up tomorrow I think.

Okay, thanks!!

Thanks so much!

So with Ru having computer issues can we use a Studio Basic Kit but get inspiration from Meagan's interview? ;)

No. Ru was intending to be FD, but due to circumstances outside of her control it ended up being Misty. The instructions clearly state to use products by the featured designer; "Your challenge is to use any solo product from one of our featured designers this month..." so in this case it is definitely Meagan or Misty. We've updated the first post to clear up any confusion.

Will there be winners posted for February? It's usually posted sooner. Just wondering if you forgot? :)

I'll ask around for you Lea!

thanks Sarah!:)

Hi Lea!
Please hang on a little while. As I had to rush to leave Beijing to escape the coronavirus crisis last month, I have no way to get on computer to check and choose the winners.
I have asked Robin to do this for me, but, as you know, she has her hands full with the Babe applications too at the moment, so it might be awhile until she’s able to announce the winners.

I’m truly sorry about the delay. As to the out of the box layout winners, regretfully, it’ll have to wait until I return. Again, sorry for the inconvenience.


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I saw that you were able to get to it! It could have waited! I'm so sorry you had to evacuate Beijing! Are you safe?

It took a few glitches and a lot longer than the usual, but I did it. Yes, My son and I are OK in Indonesia in my parents’ care. Thank you for asking.


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I'm glad you're safe with family, Sherly. I've missed seeing you and your beautiful pages around here! I'm happy to hear from you and hope you are well.