So Long Croptober

Can you believe it, we're at the end of a great month of challenges, delicious, low-fat Treats and, hopefully, a ton of completed pages! Between the almost daily challenges and a weekend crop jammed with more inspiration, it would have been hard not to complete at least one page. One more challenge, a super easy one really, and something you're probably already doing tonight anyway. Take a photo for today and link it up by Sunday night to be eligible for the final Cookie Jar Treat of Croptober-fest. It could be your bowl of goodies, your goblins, your carved pumpkins, the preparations for tonight's festivities, decorations you set out for the season -- whatever, just snap a photo and link it up! I have a couple more winners from the past week to announce:

• 10/25's Color Challenge -- Linda R. (yes, this time I was paying attention :)
• 10/28's Sketch and Altered Sketch Challenge -- Nitasha

It's going to take me a few days to round up everyone's goodies from the month and get them send out. If you are a member, you'll be getting your Treats in your next shipment. If you aren't a member, you'll be getting your Treats as soon as I can get them pulled, boxed up and out the door.

Alrighty, I have some things to do today -- my daughter is having a "party," meaning she's invited a few friends to trick-or-treat with her and I need to have goodies (and a semi-clean house) for later. We have an indoor soccer game. Church with a rush home to deck everyone out in their finery and send them off with Dad.

I hope everyone enjoyed Croptober-fest and found some great inspiration to keep them cropping or get them going.

Happy Halloween!

5 on Friday

Well, it's still Friday and my clock says 8:35. PM. That's the unfortunate part -- but Friday is Friday and there's a 5 on Friday to kick off. Must be the kids heading back to school has thrown me off. Or maybe I just plain forgot. So, below are your ingredients to work with for today:

• 1 sheet brown cardstock
• 1 sheet patterned paper with swirl/vine pattern
• 1 acrylic item
• 1 set of brads
• 1 length of ribbon

Outside of any journaling and a title, only the above ingredients are allowed. Because of my lateness with this challenge, and the fact that tomorrow is Halloween, this is due to be linked up by Sunday evening.

Have a great evening and a fun Halloween!

Snow Day, Part Deux

We knew last night that we would be home bound again. After about 12" yesterday they were calling for another 5-8" today, and judging from the backyard, I'd say we have that. The kids were thrilled. Then my daughter realized she'd be missing her dance lessons for their Halloween dance at school and making sandwiches for the soup kitchen. My younger son realized he'd be missing a field trip. Then it got worse when they realized that school might be closed on Friday and they'd all miss Halloween festivities. Truly horrifying! But they're managing to make the best of it -- enjoying a non-Sunday "big breakfast," sledding in the front yard, building a huge igloo in the back and my daughter is being a total couch potato. It's too bad the 1 y.o. is a total pill!!!! OMGoodnes, he's going to drive me insane. The whining is still ringing in my ears and he's been in bed for 20 minutes. You'd never know it, looking at these winter land pictures, but the boys started their igloo yesterday (the top two photos - though you can't see the igloo) and had taken all the snow from the lawn, down to the green grass. They had even taken the snow from the back patio. The bottom two show you what it looks like today -- no sign of missing snow. As much as I love snow and being home bound, there is something to be said about constant clean-up. Holy man, they just move from one mess to another. Summer wasn't that long ago, but how quickly I've forgotten. Or maybe it's just lack of mental prep. You know, you have a heads up for Christmas break and Summer break. You can gear up to it. But a snow day just hits you square in the face like a snowball. Oh, well, what're ya gonna do?

So, for all of us snow bums, the Little Witch is here to dole out a Treat without doing anything, except following along. I love those kinds of Treats. Congratulations to . . . lundgren79! Send me (lori@apronstringsdesigns.com) your shipping information and I'll get something in the mail to you.

Alrighty, then, back to cleaning after people and maybe a few peace-filled moments. I hope.

Snow Day!!

Yep. It's true. We have a snow day. We knew there was a big storm coming, anticipating a lot of snow. 8-14" over the next day and a half. Naturally, this happens on a day my daughter was to be in school by 7:30 a.m., so everyone was up EARLY, and they were actually on track to get out of here on time. I checked the school closing, saw the local public schools were closed and our school usually follows them. My first check online didn't produce our school's name, but I checked another station's website and there it was! The kids were so excited, they ran upstairs to change back into their pajamas. I'm going to make a batch of potato soup in the slow cooker and maybe toss some stuff into the bread maker to make garlic bread to go with it. I think I have some ham, too. Perfect snowy day meal. AND if it's in the slow cooker, that means there's time to do something scrappy! I think it's a great day for a sketch challenge. Below is the current sketch from Nuts About Sketches. I love it because it's a one-pager (I don't do many of those) and it has six photos on it! How great is that. There's a twist with this challenge, though . . . create two layouts to be eligible for the Cookie Jar drawing. One layout use the sketch as is and then on the other one alter the sketch; make it a 2-pager, rotate the layout, adjust the photos sizes, etc. However you choose to alter it.

Link up your layouts in the comment section by Friday to be eligible for a Treat.

The Croptober-fest is coming to a close soon. I'll try to cram in a couple more things before Saturday, but hopefully you've enjoyed the month of challenges, games and the crop and that your pile of completed layouts has grown.

Have a great day -- even if its not a snow day. :)

Quick Clarification

Just a quick clarification on winners I posted yesterday.

• Linda R. won the 5 on Friday and Sketch Challenge
• Linda (no R.) won the Go Green Challenge -- Linda, I'll need your address to ship out your goodies -- lori@apronstringsdesigns.com

Sorry for the confusion girls.

Monday Challenge #13 - Fall...Beautiful Fall

Happy Monday, ladies! How was your weekend? Did you get a chance to scrap? Well, I have to say that fall is my second favorite season. The crispiness of the air, the beautiful colors of fall, and kids playing with piles of leaves are some of my favorite. So, this challenge is to let fall inspire your LO or card. Put on a LO or card whatever speaks to you Fall. Here's my take on this challenge:

Remember, you have until next Sunday evening to link your LO or card for a chance to win a cookie jar treat...and talking about yummy delicious cookie jar treats...the winner for last week's challenge is Leighann. She did a beautiful LO. Thanks for playing, and a cookie jar treat will be heading your way.

Happy week,

Bessie

More Winners from Croptoberfest

I've been a bit of a slacker this week in terms of getting winner's names out for challenges this week, and I forgot to do the "overall" winner from the crop last weekend. So let's just get right to it:

• 10/16's 5 on Friday winner -- totally spaced because I was wrapped up in the crop, but Molly -- you've got a goodie coming your way!
• 10/20's Sketch Challenge -- selected by Random.org, winner is Linda!
• 10/22's Go Green Challenge -- some great project came in for this challenge, so Random.org selected Linda, again!
• 10/23's 5 on Friday -- hmm. . .this winner is going to be one happy scrapper -- Linda! Linda, looks like this was your week! Holy cow, Random.org loves you. I think I'll just send you a larger-than-normal Cookie Jar Treat to cover you for this week's winning.

Finally, I've sorted through the layouts from the crop last weekend and have the following three scrappers who completed all of the challenges:

1. Rebecca
2. Michelle
3. Bessie

Random.org selected --- Bessie! Congrats Bessie -- you'll be receiving one Gi-normous Cookie Jar Treat.

All the layouts from the various challenges during the crop are simply amazing! I have found a way to get them all in one place, I just haven't had time to gather the photos and upload them -- hopefully this week.

Now, yes, Linda and Bessie are big winners, but that doesn't mean the challenges are over and that the Cookie Jar is empty. Far from it. We have a week left of challenges and prizes. Don't stop the cropping! :)

Color Challenge

A big thank you to Apron Strings' designer, Gloria ,for your challenge today. Gloria is like queen of the challenge and has combined upwards of, what, six challenges on to one card;probably more. She's amazing and I love to check out what she's worked on lately and how many challenges she ticked off while doing so. See for yourself at Gloria's Blog, Scraps of Life. On to today's challenge: Using only the colors shown in this photo (thank you Pottery Barn catalog), create a page layout, card, or altered project. The colors you may use are: eggplant, orange, gold, tan, brown, green.

You do not have to use ALL the colors, but you must pick at least THREE of the listed colors for your project. NO OTHER COLORS may be used, except black, gray, white, or cream - the neutrals. Here are a few examples.

Since it's Sunday, you'll have until Tuesday night to get something completed and linked in the comment section to qualify for a Cookie Jar Treat.

Thanks, Gloria, I love a good color challenge.

5 on Friday Witch

After a couple of days having my head tucked deeply into dozens of catalogs trying to decide what to put in kits for December, I have surfaced for air once again. I'm too dazed to know what to think about the December kits, except . . . they'll be great! I know there are some things I need to get to - prize wise - and I will, with luck get to them tomorrow. I see by the calendar it's Friday and with Friday, comes the five ingredient challenge:

• 1 sheet of cardstock
• 1 sheet of patterned paper with purple in it
• 1 sheet of patterned paper with black in it
• 1 set brads
• 1 set of flowers

As always, outside of a title and journaling, only the above items are allowed on your page. Have your layout linked in the comment section by Saturday night to be eligible for a Treat.

This little cutie only has a short time left here. But she's made several people very happy! She'll probably make a couple more happy, too. Who's going in the boiling cauldron today? Linda Richmond!! Linda, Congrats -- I have your information and you'll find a goodie tucked in with your next shipment.

For now -- that's it for me. I'm mentally exhausted and there's a tiny little guy here with three teeth coming in at once and he's not giving me a break. How come the baby books never tell you how whining will suck the very life out of you?! They really should tell you that. Really.

Keep those layouts coming ladies!! The work has been amazing.

Go Green Challenge

Good morning ladies and happy Thursday! Today we have another Go Green challenge. In the tough economy that we are living, we have to find alternatives...and instead of spending we can reuse ;-) So, get your juices flowing and reuse something that other way you would throw in the garbage. Anything goes...be creative...and have some fun. You have until tomorrow evening to link your creation here for a chance to win a yummy cookie jar treat. Lets get scrapping, Bessie

Croptober-fest Sketch Challenge

It was a lovely weather day here yesterday, mostly sunny, comfortable and I got a marginal amount of things done. So between the two it was a pretty good day. I do, though, have two baskets of overflowing laundry sitting beside me waiting to be folded and I need to rotate out one more load before I head up to bed. Today looks to be a cooler day (change is coming) with an ortho appointment and soccer practices - if the weather holds, but basically another stay-at-home-mom day with cooking and cleaning, with some Apron Strings work thrown in for good measure. On the surface, if the baby cooperates, it seems like it will be a light enough day and an opportunity to maybe get in some cropping time. That's definitely a day for a sketch. When I saw this one on Nuts About Sketch, I really liked that it was on the bias. If you need some inspiration, there's plenty of it on the blog; about halfway down the page, "Week 77."

To be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat, link up your layout in the comment section by Thursday evening.

Hope your day is a quiet one and you get to enjoy a feeling of accomplishment.

Monday Challenge #12 - Pleating Technique

Hello ladies, how was your weekend? Here in New York the weather is so yucky...it's cold and raining. Not a fan of the cold, gotta tell you. Anyhow, congratulations to all our winners...and a big thank you from Lori and the crew for hanging out with us last weekend. So many amazing LO's that were just jaw dropping. Thanks again.

Well, today I have something new on my end. I've seen a lot of LO's and cards lately with the paper or ribbon pleating technique...and I think it looks lovely. I googled for a tutorial and came up with this ... a tutorial in case you need a little help like me ... and this was my result:

I pleated paper and ribbon as well. So, let the pleating begin and make a LO or card using this technique. Upload or link to the comment section here on or before Sunday evening for a chance to win a cookie jar treat.

Thanks for all that played last week, and the winner was Jeni J. Isn't it amazing how she managed to use 14 pictures? Kuddos for you Jeni. Here's her LO:

Hope you all have a lovely week; and I hope you keep enjoying our croptober-fest.

Bessie

Winners Galore!

Alrighty -- the long awaited winners list! First a quick note. If you are an Apron Strings member you'll get your goodies in your next kit shipment. If you are not an Apron Strings member, why not?? Just kidding, if you aren't a member I'll be shipping Croptoberfest prizes at the beginning of November. Since Croptoberfest is month-long, if you continue to play and are a multiple winner, hurray you, but shipping all the goodies in one shipment will save on shipping for me and it'll be like Christmas for you! Without further ado (winners selected by Random.org):

• 10/7 - Ad Inspiration -- Rebecca Kvenolden
• 10/9 - 5 on Friday -- Charlene
• 10/9 - 1st Sketch Challenge -- pnpwags aka Heather Jarrett
• 10/9 - Naked Chipboard -- Bessie
• 10/10 - 5 on Friday-style -- Jen J.
• 10/10 - Journaling -- mommy2darlings aka Amy Crockett
• 10/10 - Little Witch drawing -- Jess_pickle
• 10/10 - 2nd Sketch Challenge -- scrapweaver aka Michelle Houghton
• 10/10 - Embellish Me -- leighann
• 10/10 - Unscramble Game -- Charlene
• 10/11 - Go Green -- leighann - it paid off to have four entries :)
• 10/11 - Subject/Theme -- scrapweaver aka Michelle Houghton

Congrats to everyone! And to all who played -- THANK YOU, I hope you enjoyed the challenges and have a nice little stack of completed pages.

I'm looking for a way to link to a photo-share site and load the layouts there so you only have to click once. In the meantime, browse the comment section of the challenges to view all the wonderful layouts.

Special thanks goes out to my crop-partners-in-crime, Bessie and Jennifer, without who the weekend wouldn't have been possible. THANKS GIRLS!

Make sure you keep playing during Croptoberfest, there's still plenty of goodies to win!

I'm Here . . . Now

Man, you'd think after 5 years of doing this, I'd get used to the chaos that is shipping week. But NO. No, I'm not. I try to temper it, change it, plan for it, adjust for it, expect it and it just stays its crazy-chaotic process. Maybe next month. :) Given that I've found a temporary lull in the madness, I've got some planned Croptoberfest things -- I'll get to winners from the crop later, hopefully today; I KNOW you can't wait. First 5 on Friday. Now, did any of you try this for the first time during the crop? If so, I hope you'll play along today. For you regulars, who love this challenge, here are your ingredients for today:

• 1 sheet patterned paper with large graphic
• 1 sheet cardstock
• 1 alphabet set (any kind: stickers, chipboard, rub-ons, etc.)
• 1 set of buttons, must have at least 5
• 1 frame

Outside of the above listed items, only journaling and title are allowed. You may however, alter the ingredients to create other elements; i.e. the alphabet can be leftovers that you create a background with, the buttons could be combined with cardstock to create paper flowers -- but you can only use the amounts listed. The layout is due, linked in the comment section, by Saturday evening. Have fun!

She's baacck. . .and she brings great things -- Cookie Jar Treats! Who is she going to be tossing into the pot? Congratulations -- Angels Way! Please email me at lori@apronstringsdesigns.com with your shipping information.

With the cooperation of a teething baby, I hope to list the winners from the crop later today -- stay tuned.

Quickly, I'm a Masochist

It's true. I am. Otherwise, why would I have planned a weekend crop on the weekend that my billing and shipping occurs? And from the number of layouts completed and layouts linked and uploaded, it was a successful crop for you all! Go you!! However, I need to get kits out of here, so I will be going through links and layouts and awarding prizes, but it'll be a couple days before I post all the winners. Stay tuned! Plus, there's still Croptober-fest going on all month long. So, while the frenzy has passed, there's still plenty of opportunity to get pages done and win some goodies. TTFN --

Monday Challenge #11 - Picture Mania

Good morning, scrappers! How is your cropping going? Did you get a lot accomplished? If not, don't worry you still have one whole day to rock those challenges. Remember that you have until Tuesday morning to link your creations for each challenge.

Today's challenge is to use 8 pictures or more. Holidays are coming and we need to bring that stack of pictures down to make room for more. :-) So, grab a pile of photos and lets get scrapping.

ETA: Here's my take on the challenge:

I used June '09 Recipe (PageMaps sketch) for inspiration.

Last week's winner is Linda. Thanks for playing along. Don't you think that's the sweetest LO?

Happy Scrapping,

Bessie

Blog Candy Giveaway During the Crop

Want a chance to win an ASD kit and a bonus RAK? Head over to my blog and leave a comment on this post: http://write-now-remember-later.blogspot.com/2009/10/apron-strings-designs-crop-tober-fest.html Also, to get bonus entries in the drawing for every challenge you complete this weekend simply leave another comment letting me know which challenge you completed. No limit on how many comments you can leave for chances to win. Just let me know where you linked up your layout (either in the Gallery or on the blog). You can leave comments up until 11:59 PM Tuesday October 13. Can't wait to see everyone's work from the crop! Maria

Subject or Theme Layout Challenge

We all have events or subjects that we scrapbook a lot. And I don't mean we do a page of that event every year. I mean we do PAGES of the event or subject every year. These subjects are definitely worth recording and we snap lots and lots of photos, so we end up with lots of choices and, thus, more than just a 2-page layout to document it. For instance, the Christmas season for me has lots of opportunities and I take full advantage of them all. We start off with decorating the tree, St. Nick's Day, Christmas pageants at school, Advent Calendar activities, Annual Cookie Bake, Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning and Christmas Day. Lots of photos means lots of Christmas-themed layouts, which means I get to play with lots of different Christmas papers, but when I'm doing albums for my kids and the family, well, that's just a lot of Christmas and I'm pretty over the excitement when the season is over. I don't cut down on the layouts, I love them all, I just spread it out over time. Sports seasons also produce lots of photo ops, birthdays are another. Whatever your multi-layout season is, we're tackling it today in a challenge. The challenge isn't just to scrapbook this particular subject or theme, it is to use NON-theme papers. It's one way I've found to still do all the layouts of the season I love so much, but break the monotony of it. And it makes it exciting again. So if Easter is a big photo taking time, with multiple layouts, you can't use Easter themed papers to create this layout. It's time to think off the page. This layout is Cookie-worthy and due to be linked in the comment section by Tuesday morning to be eligible.

Unscramble

Time for a break in the action and play a little game for a chance to win a Cookie Jar Treat. The goal is to unscramble these 20 words, which are scrapbook related of course, and when you are done just email them to me at: yabedash@optonline.com. You have until Tuesday morning to email me your answers for a chance to win. So, let the unscrambling beging. 1....2.....3....and go. 1. cbnookrsapig 2. uonsttb 3. wlrsoef 4. rapep 5. csssrosi 6. lgue 7. bbionr 8. akcrosdct 9. ipdhcaorb 10. iAnnrSrpogst 11. rusnbo 12. rktsceis 13. lrajnniogu 14. ohostp 15. tapmrrreemip 16. isectud 17. lritget 18. arsbd 19. syetele 20. prco Good luck! Bessie

Go Green Challenge

Hello, scrapping friends! Another challenge here, and this time is to help our environment and our pockets. ;-) Isn't that lovely? Use any recycled item on your LO or card. Let the creative side of you shine on this challenge. Anything goes! Can't wait to see what you come up with. Remember, all challenges are due Tuesday morning (unless otherwise specified). So, you have until then to link your creation here or upload it to the yahoo group. Lets get cropping, Lori & the Crop Crew

Embellish Me

One of my biggest challenges is using embellishments. My style tends to be clean and linear and embellishments, more often than not, are tough for me to work in. Don't get me wrong, I love embellishments and sometimes I'm on a roll and get them down on the page no problem. But there are other times where I just can't seem to use them. This challenge is about using embellishments, especially if you are embellishment-challenged like me. In light of that, use at least three different types of embellishments on the layout you create. Link your layout in the comment section of this post by Tuesday morning to be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat. This is the last challenge for today -- so crop away! Tomorrow we have a few more challenges and then we'll wrap up our weekend. Hopefully, you've gotten several layouts done and in your completed stack.

Sketch Challenge

I love sketches. You love sketches. We all love sketches. They make for fast work whenever you sit down to crop and they are just so versatile. It's a nice little mid-crop no-brainer. This one is again brought to you by Nuts About Sketches.

If you need to use less of your brain, and on a weekend who doesn't, you can catch a little designer use of this sketch here, scroll to the very bottom. Link your layout in the comment section by Tuesday morning to be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat.

Stay tuned, there's one more for today . . .

It's 20 degrees and Snowing

Yep, that's right. 20 degrees! And snow. It's actually quite pretty with the golds and reds of the trees all dusted with crisp, white snow. It's the soft, floaty kind of snow, that just drifts slowly down. It's like movie snow. To answer a quick question: sure, if you can complete more than one layout within each challenge, you are welcome to do so. Please link each layout in an individual comment so that Random.org has an accurate count. Next, the Little Witch is making a special appearance today, during the crop, to toss another unsuspecting follower into her boiling cauldron. Today, something warm and bubbly sounds pretty good, actually. I think I'll be tossing some Thai Chicken into the slow cooker for later tonight. Anyway, who did she choose?? Jess_Pickle. Well, Jess_Pickle, please email me at lori@apronstringsdesigns.com with your shipping address and I'll get something in the mail to you.

Keep on Croppin, Ladies! I'm off to pack some more kits, brown some chicken and maybe write some recipes down for my Big Picture class. Baby is asleep, so it's all about how fast can I work and how many things I can get started.

Lets keep Cropping - Journaling Challenge

Morning, ladies! Another challenge to keep you going with this weekend crop. Some of us have a hard time journaling on our pages...and although sometimes pictures and expressions on those pictures are worth more than a thousand words...it is also good to have a little bit of journaling. So my challenge to you is to journal on your page. Journaling has to be no less than 5 sentences and here are three prompts to choose from: I believe... Forgiveness (write anything you like aboug forgiving yourself, forgiving someone else, etc) A funny story (write any funny story that you want people to remember) - I'm sure that WE mothers have lots of these. :-) Have fun and let the journaling begin. Remember, all challenges are due Tuesday morning (unless otherwise stated); so link your creation here or upload it to the group (either or, not both please) on/or before Tuesday morning. Lori & the Crop Crew

This One's Due Today

Hello and good morning, How was cropping last night? Did you get either of the challenges done? Hope so. Let's not waste any time and get right into it today. This challenge is based on the 5 on Friday challenges that are on the blog. The difference with this one is you have an hour and a half from the time you start the challenge to complete it. Because of time zone issues, there will be a six hour window for this challenge -- so this is one challenge that will NOT be due on Tuesday, it will be DUE TODAY. Obviously, we need the honor system with this one, so I need to you to "punch-in" when you begin your challenge by posting a comment along the lines of "I'm starting my layout now at 1:30 MDT," and then when you post your link to the completed layout, post your finish time. You'll need to have your layout completed and linked up in the comment section by 3:00 pm MDT to be eligible for a Cookie-Jar Treat. As I started saying, this challenge is based on the 5 on Friday challenges that run regularly on the blog. I give you the ingredients, you create the layout using only those items. You can alter the items; i.e. tear cardstock, create borders from patterned papers, make your own elements by combining ingredients, but you are limited to what is listed in the quantities listed. So if you can make three cardstock flowers AND mat your photos with one sheet of cardstock - go for it and good for you. Now, here's your list:

• 1 sheet cardstock
• 1 sheet patterned paper
• 1 set of buttons
• 1 transparent/sheer item
• 1 length of ribbon

Outside of journaling and a title, the above items are all you're allowed to use. Remember there's a six hour window to complete the challenge in -- it is due to be linked in the comment section by 3:00 pm MDT. However, once you start your layout you only have an hour and a half to complete the layout.

Good luck and we'll see you again for the next challenge.

All Naked All the Time Crop Challenge

So, how's that sketch layout coming along?? I'd love to be working on some scrapbooking tonight -- it's the perfect night, the wind is bringing in some seriously cold temperatures for tomorrow. And snow! We had snow yesterday, but it didn't stick. It was sure pretty to watch coming down though. So, the nippy weather outside has me cozying up inside; the Red Socks are on the TV, the two older boys are downstairs, DH is asleep on the couch, baby is in bed and my daughter is out at her first Haunted House. I'd LOVE to have pictures of that! Now, I just need something to motivate me. I think it's time to get naked. Or rather, have your chipboard get naked. Oh, sure, you can dress it up to go anywhere, but can you work with it au natural? Whether it's white, black or kraft there is no "dressing" the chipboard in this challenge. You may, however, accessorize it with bling or rub-ons, but no paper, paint, stamp ink, glimmer mist and the like. Just like Lady Godiva, this chipboard is going out just how the creator made it. I think this is Cookie-Jar worthy. Have your layout linked in the comment section of this post by Tuesday morning to be eligible. Snuggle in, get some great croppin' in and come back tomorrow for a day of challenges.

Holy Schmoly, it's a crop!

Taking a little license from Kevin Bacon in Footloose -- "LET'S CROOOPPPP!!" Hey, I've already said I'm a child of the 80's! What do you expect? :D So, kicking of this weekend's crop is a fan favorite -- a Sketch Challenge. This one, comes from Nuts About Sketches (Thank You, Shawn). Click here if you need a jumping-off place for this sketch.

Now, all crop challenges will be due on Tuesday morning, October 13th (unless otherwise specified). So, add your link for this challenge in the comment section of this post by Tuesday morning.

Crop-stuff

Hopefully your fingers are limbered up, your photos are stacked at your elbow, adhesive has been stocked up on and your kits are at the ready, because it's crop time!! WooHoo! It's going to be a great weekend of challenges, a game or two and prizes to be had. The first challenge will be issued in just a little bit, but here are just a few things to note:

1. The crop officially runs today, Friday October 9th, starting with the first Challenge at 2:00 pm and ends on Sunday, October 11th, with the final challenge late in the afternoon.
2. Unless otherwise stated, all layouts will be due by Tuesday morning, October 13th.
3. This crop is running concurrently on the Yahoo Group. As there is some overlap of followers here and members there, I ask that you post your layouts to only one or the other. If you start linking your layouts here, please do so for all the challenges. If you start by uploading to the album on the Group, do the same. It'll just make it eaiser to award prizes if there's no duplication of entries.
4. There will be one overall prize to the person who completes all, or the most, challenges from the weekend. In case of a tie, Random.org will be used to select a winner. Here's an example of a super-deluxe Cookie Jar Treat. This particular treat was awarded during the Chillin' Winter Challenges earlier this year.



5. Other Cookie Jar Treats will be awarded during the weekend and will be noted in the post when that challenge or contest is Cookie Jar Treat-eligible.
6. Have fun. Complete page. Have more fun. Complete more pages.

That's it! Let's have one heck of a weekend.

5 on Friday

Yes, I know there's a crop going on! Isn't the whole point of a crop to get pages done via inspiration? Well, just consider this your inspiration:

• 1 sheet of cardstock
• 1 sheet of patterned paper with swirls
• 1 swirl or flourish element
• 1 circle element
• 1 length of ribbon

Remember, outside of the above ingredients, you can add journaling and a title. I've had a question about this challenge that I'll answer here quickly -- no, the cardstock doesn't have to remain as a sheet, nor does the patterned paper. It can be cut, torn, chopped and/or made into other elements. However, the amount can only be whatever is listed.

This layout is due on Saturday night, linked up in the comment section of this post.

Now . . . go. . . create . . . complete.

Ad Inspiration Challenge - Croptober-fest

Hey ladies, another challenge for this amazing month long croptober-fest. Hope you all having a ball. Today's challenge is to let this ad inspire you in any type of way you like. It can be the colors, the texture, the stripes, the circles, whatever you like. I was inspired by the beautiful colors on this ad. If you want to see my take hop on over to my blog so you can see how I was inspired. You have until Friday evening to upload your creation in the group or link it here for a chance to win a yummy cookie jar treat....so can't wait to see what you create. Bessie

Witch's Cauldron Drawing

The appearance of this Little Witch can only mean one thing. . .she's here to toss someone else into the pot. Who will it be?? Let's see: Libby Hineman! Congrats, Libby. I think I have your address, but can you email me to verify it, please? lori@apronstringsdesigns.com

Let's see, oh yes, the Scavenger Hunt Challenge is due tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing how you filled in the spots.

Monday Challenge #10 - Think Pink

Morning ladies! Are you having fun with this month long fest. I'm sure enjoying your creations. Well, the month of October is Cancer Awareness month...so I thought it would be a nice challenge to use pink on your LO (as much or as little as you like). Here is my take:

Remember, you have until Sunday evening to upload your creation to our group or link it here in the comment section for a chance to win a yummy cookie jar treat. Now, on to this past week's winner: Molly. She also did a beautiful card. Isn't this the cutest LO? Thanks for playing along, Molly...and the rest of the girls as well.

Happy Monday,

Bessie

Croptober-fest Scavenger Hunt

I told you, fast and furious with the challenges. But just think of all the great layouts you'll get done this month! Today's challenge starts with a little hunting on your part. I'll give you the list of things to scrounge around for in your stash and you create the layout incorporating them:

• Circles
• Rub-ons
• Some of your oldest paper
• Left-over stickers

Now, go off to scavenger hunt through some of your nearly-forgotten supplies. You CAN use other supplies, but the four listed above have to be included on your layout. Link up your work in the comment section of this post by Tuesday evening to be eligible for a Cookie Jar Treat.

Croptober-fest Challenge #1 Winner

I'll make this short, so you can go back to finishing up your 5 on Friday layouts and get them linked-up by this evening. Thanks ladies for your wonderful layouts for Challenge #1, based on the Nuts About Sketches sketch. Random.org has selected Molly -- Congrats, Molly. The layout of your daughter getting ready for a ride reminds me of similar photos I have. Two little kiddos with helmets bigger than they were getting ready for a ride with Dad. Keep playing ladies -- plenty of challenges to do and plenty of goodies to grab.