Love . . . for Challenge YOUrself and Art Journal Journey Monthly!

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all having a great February so far.

If you’re on the East Coast of the USA like me, I hope you’re staying safe and warm. We’re in the middle of a deep freeze, with lots of snow on the ground. According to the weather forecasters, we have another week before our temperatures go above freezing. I, for one, cannot wait!

And it's time to reveal Challenge YOUrself's February challenge.

Challenge YOUrself #146 opens today and closes on March 4th at midnight:

This month’s challenge is LOVE, in honor of Heart Month and Valentine's Day. You can interpret the theme any way you like, as long as it depicts love and you remember to include a photo of YOU!

I decided to create a mixed media scrapbook page about my sisters:

When I think about love, I immediately think of them!  My sisters have been by my side through thick and thin, and nothing can ever break our bond.  After all, they have been with me my whole life! Even after my oldest sister, Cathy, passed away, my love for her only grew stronger. I’ve picked two photos that I think best capture the special bond we share.

I enjoyed creating this page for Challenge YOUrself!  I hope I have inspired YOU to join in on the fun this month.  (Don't forget, this is the first of their 5 final challenges.  It will close after June of this year.)

I’m also linking my page up at Art Journal Journey Monthly for February:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover are hosting this month, and their theme is "Anywhere, Anytime, Any Place, with Anyone."

Elizabeth says:  "I have never read any Shakespeare, nor seen any of his plays, but I once heard someone say the reason his plays were so long was because he chose to use 10 words when one would have sufficed.  Therefore, in that same vein, Bleubeard and I give you this month's theme: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Place, with Anyone." 

Thanks so much for hosting this month, Bleubeard and Elizabeth! I absolutely love your theme.

Now, I’d love for you to visit Art Journal Journey Monthly’s blog and see all the stunning artwork made by so many talented artists. You won’t be disappointed!

And thank you for stopping by my blog today!

#Love . . . for More Than Words and Art Journal Journey Monthly!

Hi everyone! It's February1st  and time for some new challenges . . .

First, the February Challenge at More Than Words opened today!

More Than Words has simplified their challenges this year and the challenge will no longer have two parts. Instead, it has one main theme to inspire you - this month it's all about LOVE LETTERS and LOVE.   Feel free to be inspired by the theme in any way that speaks to you.

More Than Words is looking forward to seeing what you do with their challenge prompt this month, and if you need more inspiration, their new digital magazine is amazing.   Inside there are weekly prompts as well as details of where to download the free printables available for the February challenge.  You can check it out at their blog post here.

Please note - they made the decision to cancel the Mini Challenge from the schedule.  If you are sad about this, they would like to hear from you because if there is enough interest, they may consider bringing it back.

And without further ado, here is February's Challenge:

Here is is my finished art journal project:

When I saw that the February theme is love, I just had to use a photo from my wedding day. We met on a blind date 33 years ago and were married 2 months later. I guess when you know it's love, you know! LOL.  (John was in the Army when we first met, and we actually wrote many letters to each other during that 2 month period!)  I used the lyrics from Elvis Presley's beautiful song "Can't Help Falling In Love."

The background paper that I used is from the 49 and Market "Spectrum Sherbet" collection, specifically the Sherbet Foundations pack.

I hope that you get a chance to check More Than Words his month!

I am also linking my page to the February Art Journal Journey Monthly challenge: 

 

This month is hosted by Erika from BioArtGal!  Her awesome theme is "Seeing Red."

 

As you know, my page is all about love, and I have included a red heart next to the photo that definitely stands out!  Thanks so much, Art Journal Journey and Erika, for the inspiration this month.

And thank you for stopping by my blog today.  Have a wonderful February!!

Happy Moments . . . for More Than Words!

Hi everyone!  It's the 12th of the month and time for the second More Than Words Main Challenge design team reveal.  (That's me!!) 

For those of you who don't know, More Than Words is a challenge site that has a Main Challenge and a Mini Challenge every month.

The Main Challenge runs the entire month and contains a word inspiration and a creative challenge that both need to be incorporated into your project.  The Main Challenge is open to any type of project like layouts, canvases, art journal pages or OTPs.  

The Mini Challenge always runs the last 2 weeks of each month and contains one word inspiration and must appear on your project. 
The Mini Challenge is open to cards, tags, postcards, and ATCs only.

The More Than Words rules page can answer all of your questions!

This month's Main Challenge:

As you can see, the Word Inspiration is Romance and the Creative Challenge is Rose!

I am also linking my page up to Art Journal Journey Monthly's February challenge:

 

The host for February is Valerie  and she chose "Heavy Metal for her theme."  I placed a Prima a metal rose right next to the shutters, some metallic bling on the photo, and also placed metallic silver pearls in varying sizes on my layout in different areas.  Thank you, Valerie, for the awesome theme for February!  I love it!!

Here is my page:

I used to spend hours looking through my mom's scrapbooks and photo albums. To me, my mom and dad's love story was the epitome of ROMANCE. I loved to hear how my dad came home from Germany (he served in the army) to see my older sister's birth. This photo of my mom holding my sister, with my dad's arm around her from 1950,  is one of my favorites! In addition, my mom loved roses, so using ROSES on my page just felt natural to me. I fussy cut roses, used "Winter Rose" patterned paper, a prima metal rose, and paper roses throughout my layout. I hope you get some inspiration to make a romantic page with roses, too!

Here are some different views:

And now the fun part . . . there are wonderful prizes to be won at More Than Words! This year, MTW has changed to a Regional Prize structure, whereby there will be multiple Main Challenge Winners, one or more for each Region as follows: "Aussies and New Zealanders," "Europe," "USA," and "The Rest of the World." There are now prizes specifically for these 4 different regions.

I hope that you get a chance to check out the More Than Words Main Challenge and Art Journal Journey's February theme this month.  I know you will enjoy it!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.  HUGS!