Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Some Changes...+ something exciting coming on April 1st!

Hey everyone. How are you all going with the current challenge? We have seen some great entries so far...lots of deep and meaningful journalling and you still have 4 more days to enter. 

OK..I need to tell you all of some changes that are taking place. Nothing too major, but you all need to be aware. 

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, the MAJOR change is that we will now have just 1 challenge per month. This means that a new challenge will go live on the 1st of the month and you will have the entire month to complete the challenge. I hope to one day go back to fortnightly or even weekly challenges, but right now life is too busy and I love OUAS too much to let it go completely or to keep going as I was and burn out. SO I hope you understand my decision. This will start on April 1st. 

We will still have a pretty big Design Team who will provide you with inspiration on the 1st and 15th of the month, with a layout based on the 1 sketch and journalling criteria. 

Also, I have decided that from April 1st we will have just LAYOUTS permitted and our challenges will no longer be open to card makers, digital layouts or altered projects. This is due to the overwhelming support we have had in the last year for layouts. 

We had some very deep discussions behind the scenes about whether we should keep the journalling criteria here at OUAS or not. Some of us felt that people like JUST the sketch and that they find the journalling criteria too hard. Other Design Team members felt that the heart and soul of OUAS IS journalling and taking the journalling criteria away would take away everything OUAS stands for and also my INITIAL idea for this challenge blog. I agree. I was debating with my self for a while about this, but my ever professional and deep thinking Design Team made me realise that the one comment we ALWAYS get here at OUAS is that people were pushed out of their comfort zone and expressed themselves in ways they never thought they would on a layout.

We have seen some AMAZING journalling here over the last year, and we always look for deep and meaningful journalling when picking our winners. SO the journalling will stay and we hope to see more and more of you journal on your pages and express your thoughts. What will change, is that we will no longer call it Journalling "CRITERIA" but rather a Journalling "PROMPT" and you can interpret it ANY way you like. We will also not necessarily request any particular length of journalling. You will be able to write as much or as little as you like, as long as you have somehow expressed your self and not just used the sketch alone. 

Lastly, we have a very exciting event happening here this Sunday..April 1st, which is our 1 year anniversary! It is a blog hop to celebrate our 1 year birthday :) and there will be lots of prizes coming your way from a major sponsor PLUS from the Design Team members blogs. Be sure to stay tuned. 

See you then everyone! 

19 comments:

  1. I agree Nadia!!! Journaling is the heart of OUAS!!! Your sketches and your wonderful ideas for journaling are the best way to keep our memories alive!!! Thank you so much and keep going! Happy blog anniversary!!!

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  2. Perfect for me, just love OUAS, so hope I will join in more this year. Good Luck girls and good job sticking to your guns. Debbiexx

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  3. I like the journaling criteria...
    xx
    Leila

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  4. Ναντια και εμενα μου αρεσουν τα journaling...αν και στην αρχη δυσκολευομουν στο τι θα γραψω...τελικα στο lo ειναι απαραιτητο.....!!!

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  5. I`m so happy journaling will stay. It`s a special part about OUAS!

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  6. Has it been a year already?! It has definitely been a year full of inspiration. I'm glad journaling will stay as I do believe it makes our LOs more meaningful. Can't wait to see the surprises you have for us coming on the 1st!

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  7. I totally agree: the journaling criteria is one of the best parts of this challenge blog:) I don't journal very often, except for when I participate on the OUAS challenges. It's just a perfect occassion for me to think outside the box! Thank you so much for making this such an amazing challenge blog, Nadia, Patti and all the other girls:) You're the best!

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  8. I agree with the other comments, what I love from this blog is not just the inspiratin, I love the journaling criteria, because it is always so meaningful! Congrats on the first year, I will be here on Sunday for sure!

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  9. Same here - the journaling can indeed be v challenging & thought provoking, but that's what makes it great...glad it's staying...congrat's on reaching the one year mark, too:):)

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  10. Thank you for not abandoning your fabulous challenge blog Nadia, and thank you for not abandoning the journalling aspect. After all isn't that what the "once upon a " part relates to ? I love this challenge, I don't get the time to participate as often as I'd like but I always visit and keep an eye on the beautiful creations that people come up with. Once a month challenges certainly suit me better, thank you and your team for creating such a wonderful place to participate in creative expression. xx

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    Replies
    1. Gayle, this is exactly what I said to Nadia!! "Once upon a...." refers to a story!!!! Thanks for the feedback and your support!!!
      xoxo

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  11. Thank you SO much everyone for your feedback! I am so HAPPY to hear your thoughts :) THANK YOU!

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  12. Love OUAS - congratulations on the one-year anniversary - can't wait to play along with some more sketches in Year 2! SO happy you're keeping OUAS going!

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  13. Fantastic changes Nadia - so very glad to hear that you are keeping the journalling very much a part of OUAS - congrats with the one year anniversary too!! Well done on a wonderful challenge site :)

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  14. Thank you and congrats with a year of great challenges. I love once a month challenges as I can spend more time on them and do them justice. And the journalling, that is what prompted me to take up your challenges, so glad you left it in. All the best to you and the whole DT team, your LOs are always inspirational.

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  15. Ι think that the journaling criteria are important ,We base our Lo on these !

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  16. Sounds good! I think while the journalling has made me think, in the long run when i look back on these layouts, or even when my children look back, then it will be the journalling that will explain the layout more than the photos ever will!! and wishing OUAS a very Scrappy Birthday for the 1st!!

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