December 18th Challenge

We've got a nice easy challenge this week that should hopefully provide some inspiration for those of us still shopping for Christmas presents! 

Create a layout about the best present you've either given or received

Anna

One of the most memorable presents I was given was this dolly and cot when I was 6, I loved it so much! It doesn't have to be the biggest presents that mean the most.

Julie

Christmas 2007, we surprised our two daughters with a trip to London & Paris with me, my niece & great-niece. So 5 girls on a big trip in February of '08! :) They were SO surprised, and we had a wonderful time...lots of good memories. :)

I will never forget the looks on their faces when they realized where we were going.

Valerie

The best gift I ever received was the item that came in this little blue box with the red ribbon tied around it:

It contained my engagement ring from my husband. It feels like it was just yesterday but it was so long ago. On the page I call it 'the gift that changed everything' because it really did. Christmas was never the same after I opened that box and said yes.

Jules

Last year my husband completely surprised me with a DSLR, it was completely unexpected and such a thoughtful gift - he's definitely a keeper! 

This month's sponsor is The Scrapbook Garden, an online scrapbooking store based here in the UK. Ann, the owner, has donated a fabulous Christmas kit full of papers, alphas and embellishments ready for your Christmas layouts!

To be in the running, simply create a layout that satisfies the challenge, post it on your blog or in a gallery, and leave a direct link to your layout in the comments below. Happy scrapping!

December 4th Challenge

Happy December! Jules here with your challenges for this month. 
I love this time of year, as I love all of the Christmas collections that the different manufacturers bring out, but I have to admit that I'm struggling to justify buying any new stash, as I've still got loads from last year! I know I'm never going to use it all for scrapping Christmas photos, so today's challenge is to use up all that old Christmas stash in different ways. 
Use your Christmas themed stash to create a non-themed, everyday layout
Anna:

I used Echo Park's, Everyone loves Christmas papers for this layout of my nephew and his love of bugs!

Tessa:

I focused on finding a Christmas line with non-traditional colors and decided on this sheet of patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather line. The lavender color was fun to pull out in complimentary embellishments and I added navy blue to the palette to tie in better with my photos.

Valerie:

Fortunately, holiday lines usually have lots of brown and green - making it 'not too difficult' to use them for non-holiday projects. For my page I used SEI holiday collections:Christmas Mint (the brown paper) and Kris Kringle (the green). I added some less-Christmasy elements to reinforce my story.

Jules:

I also used Echo Park for my layout, but I chose the 'Merry Christmas' line. I also managed to break into the Tim Holtz tissue tape that I've been saving for 'just the right project'!

This month's sponsor is The Scrapbook Garden, an online scrapbooking store based here in the UK. Ann, the owner, has donated a fabulous Christmas kit full of papers, alphas and embellishments ready for your Christmas layouts!

To be in the running, simply create a layout that satisfies the challenge, post it on your blog or in a gallery, and leave a direct link to your layout in the comments below. Happy scrapping!