Some Ideas for the Hosted Months of 2011

I started to write this in the comment box as a reply but it got a little long.

Claudia asked if I had any ideas about what to do for the other two months:

Yep, I sure do.

Here are some ideas, but please feel free to get creative and come up with your own. The idea is to give the rest of the group (and yourself, of course) a challenge that seems fun and interesting to you. Then we get to use whatever tools we want to complete the challenge. Some of the materials we use may be restricted to certain colors or we may be required to include a specific item depending upon what the host decides (see below for examples), but we will be free to use whatever tools we want (cricut, border punches, cuttlebug, etc.) to create our projects.

For the ORMV classic kit months, we'd stick to the rules we currently have since I think Rachel really likes them and since it won't feel so constrained since we'll be able to use whatever tools we want 2/3 of the year.

So here are some challenges you could pose to the group or you can create your own:

Song Title

Have everyone use a title from a song as the title to their layout.

Another twist to this would be to require a specific word or type of word in the song title:

Use “Wild” in the title:

Real Wild Child

Born To Be Wild

Ride The Wild Wind

The Wild Side

Wild One

Wild Thing

Use an emotion in the title:

Love is All You Need

Happy Ending

Sad Eyes

Use a color in the title:

Lady in Red

Big Yellow Taxi

Brown Eyed Girl

Red Red Wine

Etc.

Unused, Unloved

For this one, the host has each of us go through our own stash and pick an embellie or sheet of paper or a mix of things we hate or that are outdated. (Haven't we all had those moments where we wondered, "What was I thinking when I bought this?") Next, we could take a photo/s of what we’ve chosen before we use it. Then we make a craft with it challenging ourselves to make something ugly beautiful. I think the key is setting this up early so that when you get to the month, you're really challenged and not just reaching for something you suddenly have an idea for.

A twist on this is to be more specific.

Use an ugly sheet of paper

Use an outdated sticker

Use an ugly alphabet

Etc.

Ugly Made Pretty (or Pretty Ugly)

A different version of the one above, for this one the host picks an embellishment or sheet of paper at a store that is ugly, buys 4 and sends the others what they've chosen. (For this idea it's more like, "What were they thinking when they made this? Who on earth approved this idea?") We could cap it at $3 to $5 per item. (But I was thinking even cheaper, like $1 at Dollartree or Big Lots. They have some pretty ugly, cheap things.) It'd be kinda like a white elephant crafting club, where you open the item, grimace and start thinking about how it can be used in a new or fresh way to make it interesting or pretty.

My Precious (Must-Have Embellie)

Sort of the reverse of the one above. For this one, I thought we could all use the same beautiful embellie or paper and see how each of us uses it differently. We've all had that moment in the store where you see something you simply must have then you go home and don't know what to do with it. This would be a fun way to see how others use what you have fallen in-love with. We could do it so that the person who has that month heads to Michael's or Joann's, buys one of something that seems to be plentiful and lets us know what they've chosen by posting a pic so that we can go get it or they can buy 4 and send us each one. We could cap it at $5 per item. I like the idea of having each of us buy our own so that the host could save on shipping, but really, it would be up to the host to decide.

Half-Baked

For this one, we start a layout and send it to someone else (the host gets to pick who gets who) to add the finishing touches – imagine those scenes in movies where people get together and start a story and each person adds the next sentence. (Okay, so I can't think of a single movie where that actually happened, but you know what I mean.) That’s the idea behind this one. I start it and you surprise me with how you finish it, using your own supplies or ones I package up and send to you - again this would be up to the host.

You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours

Sort of a twist on the one above, this one is where you simply send your photos to one of the other members and they will do the entire layout. This is great for that group of photos where you just can't figure out how to arrange them - well, let someone else worry about it. Again, the host gets to choose who gets who.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

For this one you make a list-themed layout.

There are lots of variations for this:

The top ten things you love about your spouse or child

The top ten things you want to do before you die (Bucket List)

If I had a million dollars, I would buy…(truly fantasy-based stuff for you and you alone – we all want world peace and a fully-funded retirement account, but what fun frivolous big-ticket items would you buy for yourself if you had the money – #1 on my list would be a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette convertible in pink and white – it’s soooo cute. :-)

Your morning routine

Your top ten proudest (or stupidest or most memorable) moments

The ten things you regret the most or are happiest you finished/did

Activities you love

Favorite movies/TV shows (this is a fun one because your taste does change over time and it becomes a snapshot of right now)

Favorite foods

Favorite music or Most meaningful songs

Favorite places

Favorite famous people

The people you admire the most

The top ten people you’d like to meet one day

The top ten things on your to-do list this moment, right now, today (another fun snapshot-of-my-life type of layout)

Take a Spin on the Color Wheel

So for this challenge, the host would choose three colors to use in a layout, which we all try to stick to religiously. They should be distinct colors, not just red, blue, green. For example, they should be: Deep Red, Navy, and Olive Green or Rust Red, Hot Turquoise, Lime Green.

Then either post photo blocks of the color, photos that are predominantly that color (see below), or a snapshot of a color wheel.

Here’s my favorite color wheel. It took me a few moments to figure it out, but once I did, it was super fun to play with.

http://colorschemedesigner.com/

Photo Inspiration

So I came across this neat idea where a woman posts a photo to her blog and people use it as the inspiration for a card (we could do any papercraft – layouts, cards, etc.).

Here's one of her challenges (I hope you'll see what I mean):

Sparkle's Challenge 4

To see some of the other cards that were made using this photo as inspiration, click on the blog links in lime green below the Mr. Linky Note

Photo Assignment

The host decides on a specific photo task and we do a layout around that.

Some ideas:

What you’re going to eat for dinner tonight

Your scrap space

Your bedroom

Your favorite place outside the home

Your favorite building in your city (I love old buildings.)

Your favorite outfit

A pic of your make-up case and everything inside of it

A shot that includes every item in your purse

Your favorite restaurant

Your loved ones – although we all do a lot of those already

Your most beloved possession - an actual possession, not your loved ones (although I definitely own Spencer…as he owns me.) :-)

Scraplift

The host will post a photo of a layout she loves (you can do a google search, go to an online gallery like Two Peas, or steal one from a magazine website) and we’ll all use the basic layout design to create our own version.

Or do a google search for “scrapbook layout sketch” and you’ll find plenty of photos of sketches for layouts. Pick one you like and we’ll all use it as a map for our layout.

Other Ideas

Really, though, you could do anything. Here are just some random other ideas:

Scrapbook a mistake photo - one that's out of focus, one where the subject is cropped strangely, or one where you captured your thumb, too, etc.

Use at least 3 papers or embellishments that contain stripes.

Create a layout capturing your average weekly activities.

Scrapbook a picture of distant relatives from 2 or 3 generations ago.

Create a layout using a photo from your childhood.

Scrapbook a secret, a quirky part of your personality, or a weird habit you have.

Etc.

The idea is just to create a challenge and see how each of us interpret it.

So those are some ideas, but I am sure with the creativity in this group, many more abound. Have fun!

Theresa's October Results

Layout (4 pages): Steve Skalle

I was quite ambivalent when I started to look through the October kit. I was giddy because there were so many possibilities! Conversely, I was also a bit confounded because I had *no* idea what to do with any of it. The main reason is that I didn't have much in the way of Halloween inspired photos to scrap. None, in recent memory. From this - and a fortuitous trip to BL - the idea of Steve Skalle was born. Did I mention recently developing a crush on the show "Bones"? Ah well - that was part of it too, I suppose.

We carried Steve all around with us the week prior to and of Anthony's birthday. He got jiggy at Anthony's birthday party and hitched a ride all the way to South Lake Tahoe for Halloween weekend. It's a shame he didn't get into the Rock Sugar concert. What I've shown here are the antics that arrived with Steve - giving Anthony and I some of the most unforgettable photo moments this side of 30. In these 4 layouts I was challenged to stretch that 24 inches of black spider border to the full 32 outside inches of the project. Not my favorite end result this year - but I so do enjoy those pictures. :-)

Pages 1 and 2

Pages 3 and 4

Card (1/1)

I couldn't stop with the layout because there are so many more nifty elements in the October kit! Instead, I went ahead and made a birthday card for a good friend. I know it's unconventional - but so is she (so I hope it's a hit!).

Marieke's October Results

Okay, so I know my layout isn't new, but I did manage to get a few cards done this month, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, another one for Kurt's album, which you've all seen.

No, his album will never be done. I have come to realize and accept this.



The outlining was done with my white Sukura Souffle gel pen. Not really much else to say about this one.


And some Halloween cards:



I drew the ghost and cut him out - I used an image I found online and hand-drew him looking from computer screen to paper.

I did an image search in google for the sheet music and printed out a pic of it onto the lavender paper by copying and pasting it into a word doc. I think it came out pretty cute and I might just do this again in the future.

For the white circle with "Happy Halloween!" written on it, I made the circular text in paint.net (which is a freeware program very similar to photoshop - hey, when you're budget conscious, you gotta know where to go to get the free stuff!). I had to go to the paint.net forum and download a special package of plug-ins to get the the text to go in a circle, but I'm glad this club is pushing me to do more things like that. Might I just say that, like most forums, you'd better use the search function there. People get so snippy when you ask a simple question about curved text. No, I didn't post a question (I know how to use the search function on forums as I've been a member on some where they're equally bitchy about such things) but I ran across some newbies who got chastised for daring to ask about curved text on a help forum. Hello. You're supposed to ask questions on a help forum.



Yeah - not my favorite, but whatever. Done is better than never, as they say.




I came across this thank you paper while doing a search for something totally unrelated - I can't remember what now, but I remember thinking, "What is that doing here?" I liked it and it reminded me of some of the text stuff T has done, so I decided to go with it. Plus, I wanted to make something unrelated to Halloween, so this is it. I used my circle punch for the petals, I just folded under part of the circle, which worked well because it gave the card a 3-D look. Again, I used my Sukura Souffle gel pen to do the dots.

Here's the image of the thank you paper in case one of you wants to make a thank you card with it. First, I made it big by clicking on it, then I just right clicked on it, copied it, and pasted it into a word document. Easy peasy. Next, I hit print. It comes out a little larger than what you need for a 4.25 x 5.5 card (which is one of the most common sizes).

Claudia's October Results

I *loved* this kit. I have wanted to make a Halloween album, and I took the kit as a sign from above (or up north) to get started. Thank you, Marieke! The album is 8x8, and I was able to make 1 single page layout and 4 double page layouts. (Yes, I went a little crazy.) I used the minitags to label the year, one layout per holiday.

2001: I hid the journaling; the second picture shows the page with the flap open. This was the first time I've used clear stamps, which I really liked. I don't do a lot of stamping, but I can definitely see myself getting into it.



2006: I used the yellow cardstock in to kit to "light up" the felt jack-o'lanterns.



2007 - I used the clear stamps to make the spider border. And I really loved the spiderweb punched border! I used every last bit.



2008: The right side didn't turn out how I had hoped. I know I kept the green cape I made for Gavin, but I can't find it. I had hoped to use some of the fabric on the layout. (Shaughn suggested making a mini-cape as an embellishment, which I thought was adorable... I knew he had the makings of a scrapper!)



2009: Here's the rest of the spiderweb border!



Thank you again, Marieke! Your kit really inspired me.