After the holidays where we give so much of ourselves to others, January gives us a welcome chance to look inward and see how we can refill our own buckets.
It’s also the time of year at the Lilypad when we host a “Month of Challenges” where each day a different memory keeping challenge is posted everyday for you to complete. A workout for the creative spirit you could say.
January is a busy month for designing as well- there are new projects and products on the drawing board and believe it or not- Spring print designs are already being planned. I always wish I could jump in 100% in the MOC, but after a day of working with graphic designs, sometimes it’s hard to unwind unless I physically unplug from my gear.
That doesn’t stop me from being a fan in the galleries though! And a few times during the month I will play along, just for myself with the challenges that are especially outside my comfort zone just to push myself. Almost all of these layouts stay on my hard drive- but I think their value goes beyond the four corners of their 12×12 square.
When I try new techniques and go outside my comfort zone I always come away learning something. I either find a new trick, or reaffirm how much I love my old ones. Even better- the more I make time to enjoy this hobby of memory keeping- it seems the more time I find to do it. It goes back to what we learned in High School physics. Energy creates energy. Taking a little time to create every day- even for myself- even in the form f just jotting down the day’s story in a journal- for no one other than myself- that is what keeps me moving forward and enjoying this craft.
There are a few layouts from my gallery at the shop I wanted to share with you from December and this first week of Month of Challenges- they stood out to for different reasons- yet all are equally inspiring. I’d love to hear your thoughts- and if you have a project you’d like to share, link me up to it in the comments section below!
Interested in playing along with the 2019 Month of Challenges or just peeking to see if there is a challenge you would like to play along with just for fun? Check out the details here.
Aww Cassie! My pleasure! I loved your work! 🙂
I agree- journaling is the hard part- but it’s also what i treasure most when I look back on past layouts! 🙂
Thank you for featuring my pages! It is such an honor to find myself among such talented scrappers! <3
Renne, im glad a couple of mine caught your eye! Im always impressed with the journal-heavy pages because its something I aspire to do better.. Photos are important..but adding journaling, or just a journaling page…records even more of the story. Im continually inspired by fellow scrapbookers