Project 12, 2011 (and December in January)

Hello my friends!

January 1 marks the 3rd year in the Project 12 challenge.  Woot!  I am so excited about the longevity of this challenge, the participation, and sketches from Becky Fleck.  Hooray!
The great news is that this challenge will carry on, and Becky has created a whole new set of sketches that will stretch your creative brain this year.  So much FUN ahead!

If you are new to the challenge, I have added a tab at the top of my blog that will give out all the details on participating, and where to post if you want to enter for a monthly prize.  My Project 12 button will also link to that tab page, where I will keep links updated so you will know where to link your projects at the appropriate time.  Clear as mud?

Take this challenge to your local scrapbook store.  Make it a monthly crop!  At the many events that Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine has attended, there has continuously been buzz about local scrapbook stores taking this challenge and creating a way to bring customers together in their stores.  I am a huge fan of this idea!  So go forth, and craft!  hahaha.

For those who have been participating in 2010, our year is not over.  This is the post where I will highlight some favorite layouts and ideas submitted since the last challenge, and share the next sketch.  Right now, we are talking about layouts created in December that highlight the month of November.  Does that make sense?  You can't talk about your life until you have actually lived it.  And then I've given 20 days to create a layout about it.

A big change for 2011 is an extension of the deadline, from the 20th to the 28th.  This was made to make it easier for SCT and their blog posting the prizes too.  More time to procraftinate, I say!  :)

With all this said, first, some favorite layouts:

Shelly J

::sigh::  someday I hope to be as good as Shelly with the two page layouts.  LOVE.  Two things to note here.  That title work.  I'm going to be more creative with my titles in 2011 and not stick to one idea, and I'm absolutely using this title idea for one of my layouts.  Love it to bits.

Another thing about Shelly's work that has always inspired me is that in 2010, she has been documenting 2008, I think.  This is a great way to go back in time and summarize things before the memories are lost.  2006 was that year for me.  It's really hard to get anything done when you have little bitty babies, and I had Morgan, 2, and new Payton.  I need to go back to that year. 

LOVE the use of the Restoration line from Crate on this one from Stephanie: 

I love love love the way the doilies were used on this one in the white space.  I am doing this myself.  Such pretty detail.

JENNIFER: 

Okay, this one is full of details I am currently obsessing over.  I get excited when Jennifer participates because I adore every little thing she does to her layouts.  The zig zag stitching around the perimeter is divinte.  Those leaves that are stitched on there... heavenly.  And Lily Bee!  Now I know what to do with those 12x12 rubons sheets from Lily Bee.  It looks so great here!  I love the punch of color with the orange on the right with the dark and textured green ribbon on the left.  I also love her use of extra photos on this one.  I had to include it!

The last one I wanted to share is Jen's: 

She called it "rushed" and "simple" but those tickets, hearts, and clouds have my heart.  Such a simple and easy detail that just pop off the page and are perfect along her journaling column in the right side where you have the least amount of photos.  I Love this!

I hope you are inspired by the the little details I shared today.

You should know that I read every comment and go to every link that is posted on my challenge post.  If you don't see a comment from me, that means I wasn't able to leave one.  Linking from a gallery at another site is totally fine, but if I don't have membership, I can't leave a comment.  But one of the goals for myself in hosting this challenge is to take a peek at everything I've been linked to, and I hope to keep doing that.

For those who are still working on 2010, here is the sketch that Becky created for December, if you'd like to use it:

Lots of photos on this one.  Looks like fun!

If you are just starting the challenge, here's a peek at the January sketch for 2011 (which will be made in February and linked to my February blog post by February 28)  Take a peek at this sketch and if you'd like to use it, think about it as you take photos of your life this month:

There are some fun details here!  I'm digging the idea of border punches on one side.  I definitely like that part the best.

I have seen all the sketches for 2011 and think we are going to have a lot of fun this year!  I hope you will make time to play along! 

As always, link your layouts to this thread.  This time, by the 28th.  On the first of the month I'll post the next challenge, and there will be a link on my Project 12 tab for SCT and the prize winners.  There is always a winner chosen from participants on my blog, so be sure to check out the SCT blog posts to see if it's you.