Hey Chicklets!!
The new year is upon us! Can you believe it's January 2011? Time for a fresh start, and new perspective! It's also the best time to start on a few projects that you can build upon throughout the year! This month's portfolio has so many wonderful ideas from our entire team and even the community as a whole so take a look at all of the challenges we have for you below, and get started creating your portfolio for the month NOW!
For ease of reference, we've created a printable checklist of this month's portfolio. Click the link below to download and print!
As always, you MUST use primarily Sweet Shoppe products to complete your challenge layouts.
January 2011: Sweet Shoppe Scrapper's Portfolio
One Point Tasks - 20 Primary Points Possible
1 - Lift a layout by heathergw, our
Treat of the Month for January, and get to know her better in this month's
special feature.
2 - January is a time to start anew, reevaluate, begin, make changes etc. Scrap a page using the word FRESH.
3 - A popular New Years Resolution is to lose weight. We challenge you to lose a little weight on your pages. Create a page using 3 elements or less. No repeats!
4 - Pull inspiration from
this album cover. Create a page inspired by the image.
5 - It's a new year and a clean slate. Let's create a really clean page by not using any patterned paper on the page.
6 - One Word Photo Challenge: Chill - take a photo that represents the word 'chill' to you and scrap it!
7 - January is National Soup month! Create a recipe card featuring your favorite soup recipe.
8 - New Year, New Beginning - lots of people start the year with significant plans like moving, redeveloping, dieting, changing jobs, going back to school. Whats your Big Plan? Journal about its beginning, and add a little about why you're going for it in 2011!
9 - Use the journal prompt "What if..." let inspiration lead you!
10 - National Handwriting day is in January! Scrap a page featuring a handwriting font - or your own writing!
11 - Check out the inspiring journal prompts at
Project Reverb. Chose one prompt and scrap a page! Let us know which prompt you've chosen!
12 - For many of you, January means SNOW! Embrace the white out and create a layout featuring a white background.
13 - Take a spin on the popular
8 random facts style blog posts. Make a list of 8 things you're thinking about right now. Keep it simple, don't over think and scrap it!
14 - Anti-Resolutions. Everyone else is making lists to make 2011 different. What do you plan on NOT changing?
15 - Lots of people choose a positive word/mantra/motto for a new start, New Year - whats yours? Create a LO to look back on throughout the year to refocus yourself on that one little word.
16 - Sometimes you just can't get your layout right.. Try combining TWO templates together to create one layout. Mix it up, Be creative!
17 - We're all changing, every minute of every day life grows and moves forward. Scrap about how you, or a loved one has changed over the past year.
18 - Create a layout based on
this ad. Take inspiration from the layout, the doodles, the colours, whatever pushes you to create!
19 - Inspiration! "My fondest memories of the past year are the ones that include you." – Bill Vaughan Create a layout inspired by this quote.
20 - January 23rd is Measure Your Feet Day - scrap some photos of feet...in your fuzzy socks, running through the grass, nestled in front of the fireplace or in your favorite pair of shoes.
Two Point Tasks - 20 Primary Points Possible
21 - Get creative! Use the title ONE and create it using no alphas or fonts. Check out
this inspiration.
22 - Check out this
rad pillow create a layout using 12 descriptive words to describe what 2010 meant to you.
23 - January 27th is Punch the Clock Day - scrap your day with time stamps for each photo...maybe this will inspire you to do a whole Week in Your Life series.
24 - Use one of the quotes on
this ad image as a starting point for a layout. You can use the line in your layout or just be inspired by the sentiment. Let us know which statement you chose!
25 - Swing by
Print Pattern & check out all the gorgeous inspiration. Don't be afraid to go bold! Create a layout featuring a bold print background. (Ex. Florals, bright doodles etc. Don't always rely on those polka dots & simple stripes for patterned backs!)
26 - 12 on the 12th. Take 12 photos on the 12th of January! Scrap them & tell your story!
27 - Tell your story in just one sentence. Take inspiration from
One Sentence. Capture the most interesting aspects of your story with the fewest number of words. Sometimes the most powerful statements are the simplest.
28 - 1 thing 6 times. Be inspired by
Ali Edwards December Daily, Day 23. Create a layout that showcases 1 thing in six different pictures. Maybe it's a person, or what you wore this week, or what you ate for dinner...the choice is yours. Your layout has to feature 6 different pictures of your 1 chosen thing.
29 - What have you done today, this week, this month that you're proud of? Take a moment for a little self esteem boost and scrap about something that you're proud of, and inspires you to keep going. From the simple, to the huge.. you know you have plenty to be proud of in yourself!
30 - Throw your hand in at some extracting! Check out
Digi scrapping tutorials for some how tos (note: enter extract in the search bar & it will pull up the PSE extraction tutorial, Photoshops version is easily found in the pull down). Feature some extraction work on your layout, be it a full photo, just a person, an object, you name it! Get creative!
Five Point Tasks - 10 Primary Points Possible
31 - The way we see ourselves is often different than the way others see us. Perception changes the way people interact with you, and how you carry yourself. Scrap three pages each featuring a different perception: The way others see you, The way you see yourself, and The way you wish you were.
32 - Life Lessons 2011 - this year SSD is encouraging you to create a Life's Little Lessons Album! One of the greatest things we can pass along to our loved ones is the stories of lessons we've learned in our own lives, so this year we're challenging you to do a little soul searching and create an album of these little learning experiences. Pick 3 of the 5 topics below and scrap 3 layouts to earn 5 points:
32a - look at the world through the eyes of a child
32b - live in the moment before today becomes a yesterday
32c - every dream is a reality waiting to happen
32d - you hold the key to change
32e - take every opportunity to say i love you
Ten Point Task - 10 Primary Points Possible
33 - Birthday Book 2011 - January is the perfect time to get all those birthdays and important dates organized! Try your hand at making a birthday planner, so you never forget someone's special day again! You could create a page for each month with pockets on the back to house the cards for each birthday jotted down on the front. You could even break it down by season and only have 4 pockets (see christmas planner example). Dive in and give hybrid a try while organizing yourself! Here are some examples of different types of planners that may inspire you! While the topics aren't always the same, they'll give you some neat ideas!
Sample #1
Sample #2
Sample #3
Sample #4
Flex Tip - Be Creative! If the challenge is asking for a TOP 10 of your favorite TV shows, feel free to scrap your husband's or child's favorite shows instead! If it's asking a question, feel free to ask the question of a loved one and scrap a page for them instead. The only time this wouldn't apply is to your Book of Me album which should be a stunning tribute to YOU!
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DON'T FORGET! As you complete layouts for our challenges, you'll be tracking them yourself in one post that you'll update throughout the month.
For January, all layouts and points need to be posted by 11:59pm EST at the end of the day on January 1st. If you're joining us for the first time this month, have a look at the amazing portfolio tracker threads from throughout last year to see how it's done!
1) Post to claim your tracker spot for the month.
2) When you finish a layout for a challenge, upload it to the gallery and right click to get the image information for your layout.
3) Return to your tracker spot you claimed in this thread, and click edit to add the image of your layout to your portfolio. You'll want to add your layout in order of the numbered list above and include that number and the points earned above your image.
4) At the very end of your portfolio, please keep a running tally of the total points earned to date.
PLEASE NOTE: Portfolio points may NOT be carried over into the following month as each month begins anew with a fresh set of inspiring challenges! Additionally, you may NOT use the same layout for more than one numbered task - each task requires a new layout.
Please don't post chatter or comments in this thread as we'd like to keep it clean and easy to check at the end of the month. If you want to give praise to your favorite prompts or layouts, feel free to chatter as much as you like in our General Info & Chatter Forum. Thanks!!
Can't wait to see what you have in store for us this month!
Robin