July 2011: Scrapper's Portfolio & Tracker

[*Celeste*]

Hey Ladies!

July! I don’t know about you but around here we all look forward to July. July means weekend trips to Cape Cod, day camp for the boys, barbeques, weekends filled with outings to the pool, bike riding, and jaunts to the shore. Fun fun fun! We have a fabulous list of challenges for you this month. Here’s hoping July is your month to complete the portfolio!

For ease of reference, we've created a printable checklist of this month's portfolio. Click the link below to download and print.

July 2011: Sweet Shoppe Scrapper's Portfolio & Tracker

As always, you MUST use primarily Sweet Shoppe products to complete your challenge layouts.

One Point Tasks - 20 Primary Points Possible
1 - Lift a portfolio layout by one of the Sugar Babes! This month the Sugar Babes created pages based on this July Portfolio. These layouts can be found in the gallery or rotating on the site’s home page. Your challenge is to lift one of the Babes' portfolio layouts!

2 - Quote Inspiration! "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong spoke these famous words on July 18, 1969. Use this quote or a part of it on your page.

3 – 365 Days of Bliss! We’ve been sharing 365 Days of Bliss on the blog with you. Create a page inspired by one of the blissful posts found on the blog! Alternatively, create a page that showcases your bliss whatever that may be!

4 – Color inspiration! Look at this color chart and choose a description that fits you - then scrap using the color and description on your page!

5 – Fourth of July, Canada Day, Bastille Day…use your country’s colors and create a page centered on your country’s patriotic day even if it’s not in July!

6 - Poster Inspiration – use this poster to inspire your page – maybe use spokes of journaling or lots of yellow or scrap something A to Z!

7 - Scrap your (or your child's) first name. Discover the etymology behind your name and scrap a page about it, how does it fit you? does it? What name would you rather have based on the etymology?

8 – Visit curlygirl’s shop and use the inspiration you find to create a page. Use a quote, paper piecing, the blocking on her prints or anything else you find inspiring.

9 – Choose one of these album covers as a starting point for a page!

10 – Living on the edge - design a page (or card) using only the edge of your page. If you split your page in thirds - nothing can cross into the second third.

11 – Use frames on your page – but leave a lot of white space inside of them like this photo display.

12 – Al fresco! July means picnics and barbecues around here... scrap a picture of you or your family eating outdoors!

13 - One Little Word Challenge: Sunshine! Scrap a layout based on that word (use it as your title!)

14 – Keepin' Cool - scrap a page that shows how you keep cool during the hot summer. Maybe reading inside, going to the movies, making a tent with the kids, having a cool treat or drink. Let your "coolness" shine!

15 – Many people go camping in the summer. Create a layout inspired by the outdoors with plaids, browns, khakis, and some greenery!

16 – In honor of International Joke Day scrap a page that highlights a joke you've played on someone or someone played on you...or...use your favorite joke on a scrap book page.

17 - It's time for one of our steady favorites again! Paper 2 Digi! Browse Elizabeth Carney’s gallery and lift one of her amazing layouts! Paper 2 Digi is always a blast and a great chance to try out some new techniques!

18 – WATERMELON!! Be inspired by the colors of watermelon to create a colorful fun page.

19 – July 16th is 'Stick Your Tongue Out' day - so take a fun photo of yourself & show off your silly side then scrap it!

20 - Are you keeping up with your recipe book? July is National Blueberry Month! Create a recipe card featuring blueberries! Need some ideas? Check out the Blueberry Council for loads of yummy recipes!

Two Point Tasks - 20 Primary Points Possible
21 - Technique – Paper Tearing - read through this tutorial and create a page using the technique you learned.

22- What are your 13 happy things?

23 – Go on location-search for a brand new space to use for a mini-photo shoot. Shoot and Scrap.

24 – Take two photos so that your two subjects interact without actually being the same frame. Here’s an example. Now scrap those photos.

25 – Interview! Create a set of interview questions and interview at least two people – then scrap photos of them and their answers!

26 – Photo challenge – choose one of the challenges from this great list and use the photos you take on a layout!

27 – Calendar pages! Do you give calendars for Christmas every year? It’s time to get started on those pages! Create your first calendar page for your 2012 calendar!

28 – If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities. Take a photo of the items that you would bring with you and scrap a page that lists them and explains why! See this website for inspiration!

29 – Head on over to the Daily Post and choose one of the journaling prompts. Now scrap your journaling!

30 – Create a page that tells about what your creativity means to you.

Five Point Tasks - 10 Primary Points Possible
31 - Pick 3 topics around “What was the last…?” and scrap 3 layouts to earn 5 points:
31a – What was the last thing you did that was brave?
31b – What was the last book you finished?
31c – What was the last thing you ate?
31d - What was the last song you listened to?
31e - What was the last thoughtful thing you did for somebody?

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 – “In life, you should always keep it real…even when it doesn’t make you look the best.”
32b – “When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.”
32c – “Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious”
32d - “You can only be young once, but you can always be immature.”
32e - “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Ten Point Task - 10 Primary Points Possible
33 – It's summer and it's time to celebrate! You know what all the best celebrations have, don't you? Fireworks! It's in that spirit of celebration that this month's challenge is to create an explosion box. There are lots of shapes you can create, and the sky is the limit for the subject of your box. Just make sure it has at least 3 layers and you're good to go. We can't wait to see what you create!!

Heather Roselli has a set of templates in the Shoppe that can help you complete this challenge.

And here is a tutorial in case you want to try to do it by hand.

And here are some inspiring examples:
Sara
Rebecca
Ms. Jo
Hybrid Babe Juli

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.
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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 July, all layouts and points need to be posted by 11:59pm EST at the end of the day on August 1st. If you're joining us for the first time this month, have a look at the amazing portfolio tracker threads from throughout the 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. For more information, visit the Portfolio FAQ.

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!!