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!

November 20th Challenge

Tessa here again, ready with the next challenge! Around this time of year, many people wax poetic about being thankful for their blessings. Your challenge is to create a layout about something you are grateful for. However, rather than the typical answers of family and health, you must choose something superficial, silly, or something you could easily live without. 

Ready to see what the design team is grateful for?

Julie

Such a little, silly thing...but I love my Starbucks hot chocolate. (If you can still call it hot at 140 degrees!) And like I wrote, I love that they know what I want before I even say anything. :) It helps that I order the same thing every time. ;)

Valerie

It seems like such a small, frivolous thing but it's almost like a security blanket for me; my favorite brand & color of lipstick. I always have it with me and I'm thankful for the little splash of color it provides every time I wear it.

Anna

I do try and be grateful for the little things in life like when you are making cakes for a special event and they turn out just as well as they were planned!

Jules

Having IBD means that there is a long list of food that I can't eat - I will be forever grateful that chocolate isn't on that list!

Tessa

While thinking about what I would scrap, I realized that my little blessings still have a big impact in my life. For example, I'm grateful that my husband doesn't mind when I steal his comfy athletic socks to wear to work as a hip hop dance teacher. He's a keeper :).

By playing along in November you could win $25.00 from Precocious Paper in the form of the Very Merry line, the Vintage Poinsettia line, or a shop credit (your choice). We can't wait to see what blessings you count - happy scrapping!

November 6th Challenge

Happy November! Tessa here, and I'm excited to be hosting the challenges this month. Ready for a new one?


Your challenge is to use hand-cut shapes in a layout. Whether you cut hearts, stars, or even just circles, no die-cutting tools are allowed! Scissors only :).

Julie:

Such a fun challenge! I didn't realize how often I was reaching for border punches. :)

For this layout I hand cut two layers of border scallops, as well as the hearts.

Jules:

I had fun hand cutting the pennants underneath the photo - you can tell they're hand cut because they're all wonky - never mind!

Anna:

This was a great challenge for me as my scissors are my best friend!! I used them all the time to cut things, I don't even own a cutting machine! Everything on my layout is hand cut!

Valerie:

I love my die cutting machines so this was definitely a challenge for me! I hand cut my title, which I made by first priting the letters from my computer, then using them as templates to cut around. I also hand cut the little mixed banner from a strip of scrap. 

Tessa:

I hoard punches and use my die-cut machine on a daily basis, but I loved the freedom of sitting down with just a pair of scissors and my patterned paper. I kept it simple with circles (well, round-ish shapes - they're far from circles!).

We hope you'll join us! Your scissors will appreciate the attention :). Should you choose to play, you could win your choice of the Very Merry line, Vintage Poinsettia line, or a shop credit for $25.00 USD from Precocious Paper:

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!

16th October Challenge

Today I challenge you to create an altered background for you layout, you can used anything paints, mists, inks, stencils stamps anything to create some pattern.
The design team have done a great job with it!

Amanda

I altered my background by scrunching up a piece of tissue paper (I used a vintage sewing pattern) and pasting it onto my cardstock. I then painted over it with gesso and used a variety of mists and masks to create a random design.

Anna

 I was inspired by the mixed media canvases you see around at the moment so I used my background as one! I used lots of different techniques mostly using paint!

Jules

I created my background using a mask with white acrylic paint.

Julie

I altered my background with mist (love that stuff!) and a cute stamp. Don't worry about lining up the stamp edges perfectly...and it's fun to use the stamp a couple of times without re-inking.

Tessa

I challenged myself to alter my background with something I don't use very often - rub-ons! I used gold metallic rub-ons in a punchinella (sequin waste) style by Glitz Designs. I moved the rub-on sheet around as I went, so the transfer is more free-form than the design on the sheet. I misted a bit over the rub-ons, too

Hope you like the challenge and enjoy creating! Please link up your creations in the comments section for a chance to win The Make and Create shop's Old Type kit.

Winners!

Hi folks! It's about time we announced our winners for the August and September challenges! So, I'll get straight to the point...

The August winner is...

Wendy Crowe! Congrats Wendy! Email me (amanda@amandajonesdesigns.com) to claim your £15 Scrap Rat GC :)

And the winner of our September Ella Publishing $20 voucher is....

Sherri! Congratulations :) Drop me an email and I will hook you up with your prize :)

Thanks to all of our players, can't wait to see your creations this coming month!

2nd October Layout Challenge

Hi everyone it's Anna here with you for October! For this challenge I've created a colour pallet for you to create with, here it is: 

Grey, pink and yellow, I love these colours together!

Here's the layout I created:

Amanda



Jules

Love this colour palette! I'm sure there are plenty of current collections that fit the colour scheme, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to use the Crate Paper 'Restoration' collection - it's one that I come back to time and again, I just love it!

Julie

This was a different color pallete for me. I have two daughters...but for some reason, don't scrap with a lot of pink! So much fun to put together colors you wouldn't usually. :) Thanks for making me go outside my box Anna!

Tessa

Val

I love grey and yellow together - particularly with a little pink thrown in!

The prize for this months is this kit from my shop The make and Create shop!

It's called Old Type and it's vintage inspired!

So please link up your creations in the comments, using my colour pallet for a chance of winning it!

Sunday Layout Challenge

Hi Everyone - welcome to another Sunday challenge at The Studio Challenges! This week's challenge is to make a page that incorporates a list of some kind. As usual, the design team did a super job and I loved seeing all their interpretations. I'm sure you will agree there is lots of inspiration here...

Amanda

I made a layout documenting 3 things I wish for my son's future :)

Anna

I created a list of my nephew's favourite things on his 3rd Birthday.

Julie

I love making lists...so this challenge was so much fun! In case my handwriting is too small (or unreadable!) 3. take a picture 4. eat some bacon 5. read a book 6. go out for dinner 9. love a cat 10.. just be you.

I could have kept going and going...make a list, go shopping, drink iced tea, go to Starbucks, sleep in, watch an NCIS marathon... :)

Jules

When I first saw this week's challenge, I thought about creating a layout based on a list of my favourite things, but then I decided it would be more fun to create a list based on my dog's favourite things. Turns out those are (in no particular order) morning cuddles, food, walks, swimming, bones, posing for photos and evening cuddles :D

Tessa

I decided to document what a typical day in my life looks like right now. List journaling was the perfect way to get the words onto the page.

Valerie

List format journaling is definitely my favorite kind of journaling! Sometimes I just number photos and let them be the list, avoiding writing altogether, but for this page I listed my kids favorite rides at a local amusement park.This page came together super fast with the help of a sketch and a club kit.

Now it's your turn. Make your list based project and link it up to this post. You could be the lucky winner of this month's prize: a $20 gift certificate to Ella Publishing Co., publisher of inspiring eBooks for scrapbookers. 

Can't wait to see what you make!

Sunday Layout Challenge

Can you believe it's already September? That means a fresh month of challenges here at The Studio Challenges. It also means 'back to school' time in many places. For me, September always brings to mind the smell of new books and shiny new school clothes - what does 'back to school' mean to you? This week we challenge you to make a school-related page - maybe about your favorite classes, teachers, etc....your kids experience...anything school-related.
Here's a little design team inspiration to get you started....and check out our the great prize that is up for grabs this month....

Anna

Here's my take on the challenge, this is old Primary School, it's changed quite a lot since I went there but I do go and help out there with art and craft now!

Jules

I was lucky enough to spend 7 years of my school life, from 11-18, in this gorgeous old building. I don't have a photo of it, (shockingly for a scrapbooker!) so I used a postcard of a painting of the building as it was in the 19th Century - it doesn't look that much different today.

Julie

When I think of school (or back to school)...right after school supplies comes first day of school pictures. This year I had these cute little signs for the kids to hold (even my high school senior cooperated!) When I sat down to edit the pictures 80% of them had disappeared. Gone. Poof. Not in the file...nowhere. I was frustrated. I was mad. I thought bad words.

And then I made the kids hold the signs again the next morning and have a second-first day of school so I could take more pictures.

And when I went to edit THOSE pictures, 40 out of 50 had disappeared. AGAIN. So now I knew something rotten was going on. Long story short, (too late, right?) the files were just hidden...not deleted. yay! So now I have them all back, and my kids are happy not to have to pretend for a third day in a row that it's the first day of school. :)

Tessa

Valerie

The first day of school is always bittersweet for me. Last year especially, since it marked the end of the pre-school days for our family. The journaling about this day is in the little pocket of my layout. 

We hope you will play along with us. Just link your projects in the comment section of this post. Up for grabs this month is a great prize: a $20 gift certificate to Ella Publishing.

You can use this gift certificate to download some of the great eBooks available by Ella. While you are there, check out the lineup for Boot Camp, a special series of  18 inspiring videos by 4 expert instructors starting on September 19.
Can't wait to see what you make!