Hey everyone!  LuAnn here hosting my very first ScrapMatters Hybrid challenge!  Woot!  Can you believe it’s October already?  Even harder to believe is that there are only 70 days until Christmas!!

This month I am hosting the I’ll Pencil You In challenge.   This monthly challenge is about creating our 2010 calendars one page at a time.  Some are printing each page as soon as it’s finished while others are waiting to have them printed and assembled at the end of the year.  And if you haven’t started creating your calendars, it’s never too late to join in!  Our goal is to have our calendar pages done and ready to assemble for gift giving in December!

Creating calendars is one of the easiest ways to break into Hybrid – It’s really as simple as creating your calendar page or topper with your favorite program and then printing it!   And believe me when I say that parents and grandparents LOVE getting these as gifts!

So now let’s see some inspiration from the Creative Team:

To create my calendar topper, I used  Everyday Elegance by Stolen Moments, Denise Beatty’s All Squared Away Template Set and Chelle’s Creations’ So Krafty Alphabet to create my calendar page – all available in the ScrapMatters Shop.

I also used Jan Hosford’s Time Saving Calendar Topper Template and a journal tab from Sugarplum Paperie’s Summer Delight kit.

Cristina completed this beautiful calendar topper using  Off the Beaten Path by Jennifer Barrette and Lauren Grier and Simple Templates Double Pages by gwenipooh:

And Jami played along with this vibrant, color popping calendar topper created using Enjoy the Moment kit & Enjoy the Moment add-on freebie by Sahlin Studios, In The City Alpha be Sahlin Studios, Happiest Kit on Earth by Britt-ish Designs, Delicate Mickey Sprinkles by Britt-ish Designs, Miss Kitty add-on freebie by Britt-ish Designs.

And last but not least, one from Kim (tgmousechick)

Just remember – it doesn’t matter which month you complete, as long as you get one page ready for your 2010 calendar!

As always, here are the guidelines for the challenges at Scrap Matters:

- entries must be posted in the hybrid challenge gallery, and you must post in the corresponding thread in the forum with a preview and a link to your project in the gallery
- entries must be posted before the end of the month (October 31)
- you’ll get 1 point for completing a month of your calendar and posting it. Plus, you can get an additional point if you use a new product within 7 day from its release. Also, I’ll select one entry for a bonus challenge point at the end of the month.

Can’t wait to see what you create!

LuAnn

Hello Everyone, and Happy Thursday!  Tgmousechick Kim here to present to you a brand new monthly hybrid feature- I’ll Pencil You In

Calendars are a great way to dabble in hybrid, and they make wonderful gifts!  However, unless you do the Holiday Grand Plan (and maybe not even then), by the time you start thinking about gifts for the holidays, you could end up scrambling to get your calendar done in time.  The Hybrid Team here at ScrapMatters is here to make your holidays easier: to provide you with the tools and ideas to plan your 2010 calendars now!  Work on them slowly throughout the year, and have a great gift (or several) at year’s end!

Today’s hybrid lesson is a “Get Organized” primer.  The SM Hybrid Team Leader, Heather (hedderlee), has designed a fabulous planning sheet to get your project off the ground, and the Creative Team has gotten together to give you some great ideas for your calendar pages.

When designing a calendar, one of the first things you want to think about is the format.  Do you want to have it bound, either professionally or with the long-forgotten Bind-It-All in your home?  Do you want a traditional calendar that runs from January to December, or perhaps you want to appeal to the teacher on your gift-giving list and set up a calendar that spans the school year from July to June?

I have two calendar projects that I will develop using the “I’ll Pencil You In” feature.  One is the standard January to December calendar that I will keep on my desk in my lab.  The other is a gift for a friend that I work with.  She’s expecting her first child in August, so I’m going to give her a calendar that will span the first year (a 13 month calendar from August to August), so she can record some of those major milestones.  The projects should showcase the wealth of options you have before you.

First, let’s start with the typical January to December calendar page.  I designed this one as a 4.75″ square to create a CD Jewel Case Calendar:

This page was made using the recent ShamROCKS kit by AnnaBV Designs.  The calendar came from “Save The Date” by Simply Sweet Designs (she’s retiring, so run to the store and grab this while it’s still available!)

You have a couple of calendar options out there.  In addition to the planning sheet, Heather has also created a nifty brush set to customize your own calendar.  You can download that set from here.  And in the months to come, you will also see new calendar releases from our SM designers.

For this month, just start slowly.  Take some time to think about your project, and fill out your planning sheet.  To help you pull your ideas together, the Creative Team have been working on the planning sheets as well!  Here are the sheets that I’ve completed- one that will include a 2010 version of the March page shown above, and the other for Danielle’s baby calendar:

The Creative Team has been hard at work as well.  Here’s one from Hybrid Team Leader, Heather (hedderlee):

I can’t wait to see the plans you come up with!  For this month, the “I’ll Pencil You In” challenge is simply posting your completed (or mostly completed) planner page in the gallery and in the challenge thread to be found in the forums.  Here is the blank form to copy:

Starting in April, your completed calendar pages will count for challenge points.  If you are using photographs, you will have a certain measure of flexibility- you can use this year’s photos for next – ie. January 2009 photos for the January 2010 calendar page – or random photos.  The plan is to have as many of the photos chosen now as much as possible.  Obviously, everyone’s photo stash will be limited to March 2009 at this point.  Choose them at each month’s end!  Plus, you can make notes for the pictures you would like to take!

As always, here are the guidelines for the challenges at Scrap Matters:

- entries must be posted in the appropriate challenge gallery, and in the corresponding thread in the forum
- entries must be posted before the end of the month (March 31st) to be counted toward that month’s point total
- you’ll get 1 point for completing the planning page and posting it.  Plus, I’ll select one entry at random for a bonus challenge point.

Have a great Thursday!  If you’re a college basketball fan- enjoy the Madness!

Good morning and Happy Chinese New Year too!

I wanted to talk a little about dates today.  What dates are important to you?  Most would say: birthdays, holidays, anniversary’s…you know those big marked events.  I think we are all pretty good at scrapping those… we mark them on our calendars and look forward to that special day with anticipation.  Now those days are great…but so is every day really, right?

I went through my scrapbook just last week because I was getting ready to print my book. I was reviewing the pages and doing spell checks, and pixel checks, etc.  Then came time to arrange them in chronological order.  I noticed so many of my typical day LO’s were missing dates.  I couldn’t believe that I would forget something so simple and yet so important.  In the Webster dictionary one of the definitions of “date” is:  “A particular point or period of time at which something happened or existed, or is expected to happen.”  Something happens every day!  We exist, we spend time with our friends and family, we create, we think, we breath, we love… we take pictures and then we preserve them.  Besides the photo and journaling, the date should be an important and crucial inclusion on our layouts.  We want to remember, that is why we do this.  Okay, so am I getting to deep now?  I think I was just pondering the fact that I think those special, big days are highlights in my scrapbooks, which is fine too, but I also really treasure those simple moments too.

We have seen many project 365 layouts out there.  I love this idea; I started my family’s just last week (I know I am behind), but what a great way to remember and record each day and its importance in your life.  There are some fabulous products in our store for dating your layouts (some of my personal favorites are below) but there are a ton…fast, easy, simple and just what you need to complete a page.  So, my challenge to you today and everyday:  Don’t forget the date!  It matters…it matters now and it will matter 100 years from now when your children’s children are looking through your scrapbooks appreciating that simple and profound detail.

(Images are clickable)

Have a fantastic day!

Kim