LM #731 - Deliberate Designs: Sketches

Hello, and welcome back to the Lasting Memories Challenge Blog for another year of exciting challenges. I know it's not quite 2025, but we're getting a jump start on our January challenges today! 

Before we get started with the challenge, we have some sad news: Brandi had to step down from the blog and will be sorely missed, and Maureen is taking a little break for personal reasons, so we wish her well until she can join us again. We hope to find a couple of scrappers who would like to join our design team, so please see the post regarding our design team call if you are interested in being a part of our team. Now, on to the challenge!

Sometimes I start a layout without thinking through my process, but often it helps to have some direction first. This month, we will deliberately focus on different aspects of our design in order to give some pizzazz to the finished product.

LM #731 - Focus on Your Arrangement - use a sketch as your starting point (be sure to share your sketch when you post your layout).

Here are the sketch inspired layouts from the design team, starting with our guest designer.

January GDT Barbara

Barbara used a sketch created by Rochelle Spears.

Sandy

I used a sketch by Laura Whitaker.

Cheryl

I used a sketch I recently designed for my blog!

Thanks to the Design Team for inspiring us with your lovely layouts this week! Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, February 1 at 10 PM PST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in the link-up description. Only one link-up per challenge, please.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Introducing Our January Guest Designer

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate, and were able to spend time with family and friends. 

Today we are announcing our guest designer for January. She is a long time participant in our challenges, and she is sure to inspire you with her beautiful work! Please help us welcome Barbara.

Hi everyone, I’m Barbara Greenberg and I live in Columbia, Missouri. I started scrapping back in 2008 while I was recovering from a broken ankle and staying at home a lot. I was addicted to it immediately.  Since I retired over 10 years ago, there has not been a day I’ve missed scrapping unless I was out making memories. I love to scrap about road trips, Christmas and of course my grandkids. All of that gives me plenty to do. I love following sketches and getting inspiration there or working from subject prompts & ideas. I love patterned papers and so many time that’s all I use other than cardstock to mat pictures or mat the patterned papers to let them stand out.

My layouts can be found on my blog at Barb's Blab and Creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! We will be back tomorrow with a new theme and a new challenge!

Design Team Call!!!

Good morning everyone! I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday season and are getting to spend time with family and friends.

Lasting Memories is excited to announce that we are having a design team call! We are looking to add a few new members to our already fantastic design team. If you love creating layouts using a challenge, then please consider applying. We are an easy going group who love to scrap and share our passion for it with our readers. No experience is necessary and international members are welcome to apply. Remember - we are layouts only!

Design Team Call

How to apply:

Email the following information to chereven26@gmail.com

• Your name and city/country

• Link to your blog, Instagram, or Facebook page

• List of design team experience - none is required

• Tell us a little about yourself and why you would like to be on the Lasting Memories team

• 2 recent examples of your work

Deadline for submissions is January 15th at midnight PST

DESIGNER DUTIES:

• Create 2 layouts per month. Challenges are posted at least one month in advance.

• Comment on participant entries.

• Know how to use Blogger - we have a Design Team Blog on Blogger where all of the challenges can be found and you will add your design team creations there, as well.

• Commit to a 6-month term (this could be very well be extended).

• You must post the challenge and your layout to your blog, Instagram, or Facebook page the day of the challenge with a link back to Lasting Memories.

• Host a challenge at least once during your 6 month term.

•  Promote Lasting Memories on social media and on your blog.

• Post the Lasting Memories badge on your blog.

Our new design team members will be announced on January 22nd, 2025.

We hope you consider applying - we would love to have you on our team!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you find time to create with us this week!

LM #730 - 2024 Second Chance!

Good morning, and happy December to you all. Our Lasting Memories design team is taking a break this month to spend time with family and to enjoy the season, so we will have just one challenge for December. Unlike other challenges, you may play along with this one up to three times!

LM #730 - create a layout using a favorite challenge from 2024 or a challenge you wanted to play along with but missed the deadline.

A couple of the design team members missed challenges, so here are their layouts for your inspiration!

Maureen

My missed challenge was LM #728 - inspired by the colours.

Cheryl

I missed LM #717 - color inspiration.

Don't you love the inspiration from the design team? Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, December 28th at 10 PM EST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in your link up description. This month only, you can submit up to three entries to our link-up.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

LM #729 - Artist Inspiration: Amy Genser

Good morning, and we are so glad you're checking in with us to hear about our final challenge for November!

It's design team member Lisa, and since I am an art teacher, I really want to use some artwork as inspiration for the month of November. In August, I visited the University of Iowa Children's Hospital with my daughter and grandson. I was very excited about the artwork that is on display there, so I have chosen 4 artists whose works gave me scrapbooking ideas. Be inspired by the artists' use of color, pattern, icons, and the like. Pull whatever inspires you out and use it in your layout for the week.

LM #729 - be inspired by Amy Genser's mixed media work that uses rolled paper pieces (like quilling) and paint, entitled "Urchin Underbelly."

Here are the wonderful layouts from the design team, starting with our guest designer:

November GDT Nelya

Sandy

I was inspired by the variety of the colour blue and black accents.

Jill

I was inspired by the colors and many layers.

Cheryl

I was inspired by the fun layered circles.

Lisa

I was inspired by the repeating shapes and the spiraled paper. I cut thin strips of red foam and spiraled it into red circles.

Thanks to the Design Team for inspiring us with your beautiful layouts this week! Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, November 30th at 10 PM PST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in the link-up description. Only one link-up per challenge, please.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

LM #728 - Artist Inspiration: Nathaniel Mather

Greetings, and welcome back to the Lasting Memories Challenge blog. It's time for another fun challenge! Are you ready?

It's design team member Lisa, and since I am an art teacher, I really want to use some artwork as inspiration for the month of November. In August, I visited the University of Iowa Children's Hospital with my daughter and grandson. I was very excited about the artwork that is on display there, so I have chosen 4 artists whose works gave me scrapbooking ideas. Be inspired by the artists' use of color, pattern, icons, and the like. Pull whatever inspires you out and use it in your layout for the week.

LM #728 - be inspired by Nathaniel Mather's mixed media work entitled "Helping Trunk."

Here are the creative layouts of the design team, starting with our guest designer:

November GDT Nelya

Sandy

I was inspired by the vibrant colours!

Cheryl

I was inspired by the colorful water streaming from the elephant's trunk.

Thanks to the Design Team for inspiring us with your lovely layouts this week! Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, November 30th at 10 PM PST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in the link-up description. Only one link-up per challenge, please.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

LM #727 - Artist Inspiration: Alexandra Ackerman

Good morning, and welcome to another Lasting Memories challenge! If you missed it, please scroll down to the next post to see the Top 3 winners for September and October.

It's design team member Lisa, and since I am an art teacher, I really want to use some artwork as inspiration for the month of November. In August, I visited the University of Iowa Children's Hospital with my daughter and grandson. I was very excited about the artwork that is on display there, so I have chosen 4 artists whose works gave me scrapbooking ideas. Be inspired by the artists' use of color, pattern, icons, and the like. Pull whatever inspires you out and use it in your layout for the week.

LM #727 - be inspired by Alexandra Ackerman's mixed media work using watercolor, colored pencil and gouache, entitled "Hovering Orbs on a Blue Grid."

Here are the layouts from our design team, starting with our guest designer.

November GDT Nelya

Sandy

I was inspired by the colourful orb like shapes.

Lisa

I was inspired by the colors and circles in the artwork, and the plaid, which I hand painted.

Cheryl

The orbs inspired me to cut my photos into circles.

Thanks to the Design Team for inspiring us with your lovely layouts this week! Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, November 30th at 10 PM PST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in the link-up description. Only one link-up per challenge, please.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

September and October Top 3 and Guest Designer Picks

Greeting, everyone, and welcome back to another "winners" post. This past week in the USA, we voted for some candidates to lead our country, and not everyone is overjoyed with the results, but one thing I can say for sure: here at Lasting Memories, we are excited over every scrapper who participates in our challenges! Let's dig in and see who got some extra kudos for the past two months.

In September, Maureen hosted some delightful color challenges, and we had 12 fabulous entries. Thanks to all our participants for sharing your lovely artwork with us.

Here are the Top 3 for September in numerical order:

#1 - Wendy

#2 - Julia

# 11 - Nelya

And the pick for Guest Designer from September is:

#12 - Bridie

In October, Brandi hosted some Autumn inspired challenges, and we had 9 wonderful entries. Thanks to all our October participants for sharing your great artwork with us.

Here are the Top 3 for October in numerical order:

#2 - Heidi

#5 - Wendy

#9 - Bridie

And the pick for Guest Designer from October is:

#4 - Barbara

Congratulations, Bridie and Barbara! Email Cheryl at chereven26@gmail.com to accept your guest designer spot and for more information.

Thanks again to everyone who played along with us in September and October! Be sure to check back tomorrow for another fun challenge.

LM #726 - Artist Inspiration: Jen P. Harris

Hi, and welcome back to the Lasting Memories Challenge blog! It's design team member Lisa, and since I am an art teacher, I really want to use some artwork as inspiration for the month of November.  In August, I visited the University of Iowa Children's Hospital with my daughter and grandson. I was very excited about the artwork that is on display there, so I have chosen 4 artists whose works gave me scrapbooking ideas. Be inspired by the artists' use of color, pattern, icons, and the like. Pull whatever inspires you out and use it in your layout for the week.

LM #726 - be inspired by Jen P. Harris' mixed media work entitled "Parte Incognita."

Here are the artistic layouts from the design team, starting with our guest designer.

November GDT Nelya

Nelya was inspired by the lines radiating out from the center section.

Lisa

I used three diamonds to make hexagons like the artist did. 

Sandy

I was inspired by the hexagon shape and the colours.

Maureen

I took my inspiration from the hexagons.

Cheryl

I was inspired by the color palette and the diamond shapes within the hexagons.

Thanks to the Design Team for inspiring us with your lovely layouts this week! Now it's your turn - link up your layouts to the linky below by Saturday, November 30th at 10 PM PST for a chance to be our guest designer for an upcoming month.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. We can't wait to see what you create!

Please include your name and the challenge number in the link-up description. Only one link-up per challenge, please.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Introducing our November Guest Designer

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday to you!

Today we are announcing our guest designer for November. This lovely lady has guest designed for us previously, and she is sure to inspire you with her beautiful work! Please help us welcome back Nelya.

November GDT Nelya

Hi, everyone!

 My name is Nelya, and I’m originally from Ukraine. I’m a mommy of 4, and I love to scrapbook. I mostly got into it after having our first baby. My style has definitely evolved since then! I love to glean inspiration from other crafters; I think that’s how I was able to grow so much. Lately I’ve been loving using up my stash. The satisfaction I get from using up the last sticker on a sticker sheet, or paper from a paper pad is probably greater than I get when shopping for new supplies! I don’t have a space of my own yet, but I hope to in the future. Rarely do I complete a layout from start to finish in one sitting. Sometimes it takes me a few days or more, as often I’m only able to craft for small intervals at a time. I love to join in challenges! I’ve also focused more of my attention on journaling and story telling rather than a photo itself. I love to hear stories from my childhood, and want to make sure my kiddos have that too. I scrap in a variety of sizes: 12x12, 8.5x11, 6x8, and TN - as well as an occasional pocket page in any of those sizes!

My layouts can be found here on Pinterest, as well as here on Scrapbook.com. I’ve also started making YouTube videos of my layouts: Nelya's Youtube.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! We will be back tomorrow with a new theme and a new challenge!