Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 1st Challenge

**HAPPY NEW YEAR** everyone! May the year ahead be your best one yet. On behalf of my team and my self I wish you all a happy and healthy 2012. 

Our very first challenge for 2012 is here. 

January 1st Challenge 

Journalling Criteria/themeNew Years Eve!

Our theme this time is New year's Eve. We would like you to journal about your feelings around this time of year, or tell us about your most memorable New Year's Eve. Where were you? Who were you with? What did you do? Why is this one memorable? Note: the photo that you use for this challenge does not have to necessarily be from New Years Eve. For example, if you spent New Years Eve with your family you can have a photo of your family taken ANY time of the year.
Remember that you are allowed to also create a card or altered project based on this sketch and instead of the journalling criteria you need to use a quote.

You must combine our journalling criteria/theme with this sketch.



Guest Designer s

We welcome 2 people to our blog this month. The first is uur winner from our November challenge who could not participate in December.

Melenia Agapides (Greece)

Hello everyone! My name is Melenia Agapides and I live in Greece (yes, the country that's usually in the headlines of the news lately). I'm a mother of two, a wife to a sweet Canadian guy
and an airport authority officer. I have been scrapping layouts since August 2009. My style is constantly evolving, due to the fact that I'm the kind of person that gets bored very easily and wants to change and be renewed by trying new things often. What I always strive for when scrapping is to achieve balance and harmony in my creations both colourwise and stylewise. I'm a sucker for sketches and challenges, as they help me improve my style and scrapping skills. If you want to see more of my work you can visit my blog melenia313.blogspot.com.


The next layout comes from the winner from our previous challenge.



Hi! My name is Erin Blegen and I am 28 years old. My husband Josh and I have been together for 5 years and we have 3 beautiful children together: Wyatt (4), Gunner (17 months), and Aspen (4 months). We make our home in a small cabin in the woods in northeastern Minn
esota, USA. We love ANYTHING outdoors! But indoors, my passion is most definitely scrapbooking! I first tried it out when Wyatt was born in 2007, completed one album, and then quit until July of 2010 when Gunner was born. Since then, I've been HOOKED. I scrap daily, and get rather irritated if I do not, lol! I am passionate about documenting my family's history, taking beautiful photographs, and making sure I never forget the small things that are so special :).
Feel free to check out my blog Scrappin' Sisters, which I share with my sister and best friend, Kelly :).
Finally, a big THANK YOU to Nadia for this wonderful and fun opportunity! It's an honor being able to create alongside your incredibly talent
ed team!


Erin says - My journaling is hidden, you can see the pull tag on the right and reads:
"I used to believe that New Years Eve had a curse on me as every one of them ended badly...I grew to highly dislike the holiday. But that was in my "party
girl" days...before I was married and had children. Now the holiday is spent with family, visiting, playing games, drinking wine, and watching movies while the kids play...these are the memories I enjoy creating.

Thank you SO much to our wonderful Guest Designers for their awesome work!


Design Team
(please click on their names to be directed to their blog) 

Patti Hamil (USA)

***Imaginarium Designs chipboard clock, butterfly and title***
This page was very hard for me, last New Year's Eve we spend reflecting about my husband's Dad, and our beloved Bulldog who we lost on the 27th and 28th of December. But the page was theraputic!


Irini Liolia (Greece)
****Imaginarium Designs chipboard "Me and You" title


Gerry Van Gent (The Netherlands)
****Imaginarium Designs chipboard clock


Mahlin Wiggur (Sweden)

Translation of Journaling: Every year is the same. I feel the need to go back and see what happened the past year, what was good and what went wrong.  I make lists for the upcoming year, for what I want to accieve which goal to aim at. 


Vicky Varvadouka (Greece)
***Imaginarium Designs: Small frame, numbers, clock, frase (Moments in time), house.



Lene Neby (Norway)
***Imaginarium Designs chipboard butterflies, title and frames


Pamela Young (USA)
***Imaginarium Designs chipboard flourishes and clock piece

Natalie May (Australia)
***Imaginarium Designs chipboard leaves and title used

***Imaginarium Designs chipboard "Forever" title, "2006" numbers and the frame


Sponsors

We are so excited to welcome some new sponsors to our blog this month!


The Craft's Meow
The Craft's Meow offers a variety of photopolymer clear stamps designed by some of the best artists in the paper crafting world! This means there is something for everyone! We pride ourselves on great customer service and the lowest possible shipping cost. Come see what the buzz is all about! Visit our store blog and follow us on Facebook!



Feature Art is an art paper designing company located in South Australia.
CREATING THE UNIQUE DESIGN is our company mission. We offer unique patterned paper that help to develop the versatile craft projects for the craft industry. All our paper product is designed and printed in Australia. We will continue to provide our customers with excellent products and best service always.




I am thrilled to be a sponsor for Once Upon A Sketch.Not only do I love the sketchesand the incredible design team interpretations, but I am also proud to sponsor a site that my scrappy friend Nadiacreated. It is one of the top sketchchallenge sites in industry and definitely embraces the true meaning of preserving memories. You can find a selectionof chipboard in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto. Please note that I have ordered and will bereceiving the newest released chipboard styles towards the end of January.I will also be restocking my site with the most popular pieces at thistime. They sell out very fast so be sure to check back often! Youcan follow my personal scrapbooking blog at http://simplypaperandcreativity.blogspot.com where I post updates about chipboardshipment arrivals.



Prizes

How would you like to be our Guest Designer for February? This is the challenge where you have the chance to win a spot on our design team for the whole upcoming month simply by winning this challenge. As well as being our Guest Designer, as chosen by our Design team, you will also receive.....

An in-stock stamp set from The Crafts Meow of the winners choice..

Fly Free Stamp Set

*example of stamp set the winner could choose. 


We also have 2 prizes to give away to two randomly chosen entries.

Our first RANDOMLY chosen winner will win 2 paper collections from FeatureArt.

Our second RANDOMLY chosen winner will receive this Dusty Attic chipboard pack from Vicky Alberto's Etsy Shop


Things to consider when playing along...

**This is an international blog, so anyone can enter
**You are allowed to create a card, layout or off-the-page item based on the provided sketch and additional journalling criteria. If you are creating a card or altered item you only need to include a quote.
**You are also allowed to flip or rotate the sketch or alter it to suit your needs, but please make sure its still recognisable.
**Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery and link it on the right hand side of this blog using the Link tool. Please provide a direct link to your post, not your entire blog.If the link tool is down, please leave a comment on the comments section and link your layout there.
** The deadline for this challenge is midnight January14th, Australian Eastern Standard Time . The Design Team will vote and the winners and the Top 5 project will be announced soon after the challenge has finished.
**You may enter as many times as you like and combine this with other challenges.
**Also, please consider turning off word verification for comments on your blog. 


For a complete list of the rules please see the top of this page.

December 15th challenge **WINNERS**

Hi everyone. Its time to announce the winners of our last challenge. Thank you all for playing along during the busiest and craziest time of the year. It was wonderful and nothing short of interesting reading your journalling about how you all spend Christmas time. 

We saw some stunning entries but there can only be one winner as hard as that truly is. Before I announce the winner there is something important I need to remind everyone. 

**IMPORTANT NOTE:   Remember that journalling is part of the requirements at Once Upon A..Sketch and it must be included on your layout in order for it to be a winner , random winner or a featured project. If your journalling is hidden please make sure you tell us WHERE it is hidden and that it is in fact hidden. We unfortunately had to overlook many beautiful entries because they included NO journalling. Please remember that a quote is ONLY to be used on cards or altered projects and NOT on layouts as it does not count as your own journalling ***

Now without further delay our winner from the last challenge is..


Well done Kay. Your layout is simply stunning. The way you matted the photo and the creative way you used the corner punches, as well as the all the gorgeous pop of colour all over your page made this a winning layout!! You have won 2 paper collections from Les Papiers De Pandore. Could you please email Patti at phami@live.com to claim your prize? Don't forget to grab your winners badge from the left sidebar of the blog. 

Top 5 featured projects
(in winning order) 
Michelle Roncon ( India) 
Hilde Aaslund (Norway) 
Sarah Groen (Australia) 
Erin Blegen (USA) 
**Erin's journalling is hidden in a tag behind the photo


Assol - Olga (Lithuania) 

Well done ladies! Don't forget to grab your featured badge from the sidebar of the blog!

We also have 2 randomly chosen winners to give 2 prizes to..


Michelle Roncon you are Number 26 and and as well as being featured this time you have also won a chipboard pack from Imaginarium Designs! Well done! Please contact Patti at phamil@live.com to claim your prize. 


Number 42 is Jean Green!! CONGRATULATIONS Jean, you have won 2 embossing folders from Handmade By Suzanne. Could you also please contact Patti at phamil@live.com to claim your prize. 

Thank you all for playing along with us. We cant wait to see what you come up with this time around. 

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

More Inspiration From Our Sponsor!

Hi everyone. Today I wanted to share with you some more layouts created for our current challenge by the Design Team from one of our sponsors Handmade By Suzanne who we invited to be Guest Designers for us this month. 

December 15th Challenge

Journalling Criteria/themeOur Christmas traditions. 

We would love to hear how everyone spends Christmas Day. Even if you do NOT celebrate Christmas, what do you do on Christmas Day?

Remember that you are allowed to also create a card or altered project based on this sketch and instead of the journalling criteria you need to use a quote. 





Thank you SO much ladies. Your work is so inspiring. 


Sponsors and Prizes


We welcome one more sponsor to our blog this month!



Les Papiers de Pandore is a small French manufacturer, born in early 2010.
Earth friendly, we try to respect our environment by using recycled papers, vegetable inks, and by printing locally in Provence.
Proud of its "French touch", the brand features classical designs in soft colors.

It is SUPER exciting to have you sponsor us this month!The winner of this challenge, as chosen by the Design Team will receive these 2 paper lines from Les Papiers De Pandore!

                 




****


One more sponsor for our November 15th challenge is the amazing Australian chipboard company Imaginarium Designs . They have been so generous to sponsor us all year with their beautiful chipboard and you can purchase it through Seriously Scrpabooking. They are giving away this gorgeous chipboard collection to one randomly chosen winner. 



***


One lucky person, chosen randomly,  will receive this prize from Handmade By Suzanne!
Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Folder Set (Dot Matrix)


Thank you Les Papiers De Pandore, Imaginarium Designs and Handmade By Suzanne for sponsoring our challenges this month! We couldn't do this without you. 


****


Things to consider when playing along...

**This is an international blog, so anyone can enter
**You are allowed to create a card, layout or off-the-page item based on the provided sketch and additional journalling criteria. If you are creating a card or altered item you only need to include a quote.
**You are also allowed to flip or rotate the sketch or alter it to suit your needs, but please make sure its still recognisable.
**Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery and link it on the sidebar of this blog using the Link tool. Please provide a direct link to your post, not your entire blog.If the link tool is down, please leave a comment on the comments section and link your layout there.
** The deadline for this challenge is midnight December 31st, Australian Eastern Standard Time . The Design Team will vote and the winners and the Top 5 project will be announced soon after the challenge has finished.
**You may enter as many times as you like and combine this with other challenges.
**Also, please consider turning off word verification for comments on your blog.

Monday, December 19, 2011

December 1st Challenge **WINNERS**

Oh you girls simply love making it SO hard for us to choose the winners don't you? LOL! Voting was once again SOOOOOO close. There only a couple of points between the winner and the rest. 

Before I announce the winner, the Design Team would like to acknowledge this beautiful layout by..


As beautiful and pretty this layout is, it is more the sentimental theme behind it all that touched many of us here at Once Upon A..Sketch. I have always said that my aim for this blog is to get people to journal more and more about things they normally wouldn't. Well, Maria is a lovely person, who is always so cheery, supportive and positive. I see her leaving comments on many people's blogs and you need to know that this  layout was created a few days after a very tragic event ..a life changing event. I hope she was able to find some solace in creating this page and I hope we can all find 30 seconds out of our day to visit her post HERE to find out the meaning behind this layout and maybe leave her some love. It takes a lot to share this sort of thing with the world, but THANK YOU Maria for sharing your story with us. 

Now, the winner of our December 1st challenge, that was a HUGE fave amongst the Design Team was..

Erin Blegen from the USA


WOW Erin! Your take on the sketch is awesome. The Design Team loved your title! We thought it was SO cute. The way you also distressed the edges of your page give this layout a winning look. The effect you also used on the photos was perfect! Well done. 

For your efforts you have won a spot on our Design Team in January and a $20.00 gift voucher to use at Handmade By Suzanne. Please contact Patti at phami@live.com with your details to claim your prize and please also contact me, Nadia , at nadiac78@hotmail.com and I will give you all the details about next month's challenge. 

Here is your badge to display on your blog..



Top 5 Featured Projects
(in winning order) 

Brises (Poland)

Marylin Rivera (Puerto Rico)

Leanne Nankervis (Australia) 


Anita Tillman (Australia) 


and tied for 5th spot were...

Agneja (Lithuania) 

and

Eila Sandberg (Sweden) 

OUAS 1DEC2012 main

Well done ladies. Your layouts were ALL amazing and were all so very close. Here is your badge to display on your blog..


Now we have 2 RANDOMLY chosen prizes to give away. 

The person that wins the Tim Holtz Embossing folders from Handmade By Suzanne, is ..



Number 19 is Maja Stokk (Sweden) who entered this gorgeous layout..


And the person who wins the collections from My Mind's Eye is

Number 13 is Patricia Cugnod from France who entered this beautiful page
P1030017

CONGRATULATIONS girls. Maja please contact Patti at phamil@live.com to claim your prize and Patricia please email me,  Nadia, at nadiac78@hotmail.com to claim your prize. 


Well done to everyone! We cannot wait to see your entries for our current challenge. Bye for now.