Challenges and tools websites

Leontine78

Leontine78

New member
Hi,

I am curious what are you favourite digital scrapbooking sites? For challenges, journaling prompts, etc.

I like the monthly portfolio threads here, but I want to know more!
So show me your favourites! :thumbup:
 
I barely have time to keep up with SSD, so I stick here at home :) Lots of the designers here have challenges on their own blogs, which I follow in google reader.
Since lots of the other sites/stores require you to use their product (like we do here), I almost can't participate elsewhere to earn points. I couldn't tell you the last time I bought scrapping stuff outside of SSD, lol.
 
Ok I undestand! When I still made cards, there are lot of card challenges all over the internet....
But I haven't found much about digital scrapbooking....
I like SSD most....but I feel a bit lost sometimes in the portfolios as some challenges are so American. I need to be creative but sometimes I just can't...:(
 
I used to have a whole list of sites that hosted challenges... but ever since I found SSD, I've let it all go by the wayside. This is my home now, and I don't really go anywhere else! My second favorite site closed about 6 months ago, so now I'm just an SSD girl...
 
Leontine78 said:
I like SSD most....but I feel a bit lost sometimes in the portfolios as some challenges are so American. I need to be creative but sometimes I just can't...:(
Click to expand...

You know I'm a fan of "tweaking" the challenges, even though let's say this month it takes a lot of imagination for me to be able to do it.

Like Colleen, I only stick to SSD because I spend too much time online anyway, so basically if I feel like it, I do the challenges on the designer's blogs, or just scrap what comes to mind. So I'm no big help to you, I admit.

Anyway - anytime you feel like chatting about way to overcome the American-ness, just drop me a line. ;-)
 
P.S. Leontine, just to give you a laugh - yesterday I got this wonderful inspiration by the challenges, only to find, when finished, that not only it didn't contain any SSD product (that happened to me in the past and I just let it be, because I feel the artistic part is more important than the points) - but what's more, it actually didn't use any scrapbooking product at all! It was just pure graphics, nothing to do with scrapbooking. I never realised it when I was working on it, only when I wanted to post it to the gallery and it dawned on me there was nobody to credit. So much for my points. :-)
 
Leontine78 said:
Ok I undestand! When I still made cards, there are lot of card challenges all over the internet....
But I haven't found much about digital scrapbooking....
I like SSD most....but I feel a bit lost sometimes in the portfolios as some challenges are so American. I need to be creative but sometimes I just can't...:(
Click to expand...

One of the challenges this month was to use a song from the Billboard Top Ten (a music chart that follows sales of records in the US). How about using a European music chart instead? That one seemed the most Americanized. Another one that might be sort of Americanized is the recipe challenge, so you could maybe try a European recipe site.

I'll bet you could turn a lot of the challenges they have into a card challenge.

I don't really bother with challenges on other sites mainly because I'd have to buy kits from the other sites, and honestly, I can't find another site that has the same level of quality of design. Sweet Shoppe seems to have the most consistent designers!

I think they mainly want to give us the challenges as a starting point, but it seems like they are pretty lenient about customizing the challenges to make them meaningful to you.
 
origami said:
One of the challenges this month was to use a song from the Billboard Top Ten (a music chart that follows sales of records in the US). How about using a European music chart instead? That one seemed the most Americanized. Another one that might be sort of Americanized is the recipe challenge, so you could maybe try a European recipe site.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, the Billboard Top Ten was my limit - I looked at the lyrics and I was like - WHAT should inspire me here? It wasn't even about US vs. non-US, it's just that those songs are totally crap (I even like Lady Gaga, but I don't find her lyrics that great). I have a big imagination, but that was really my limit. :-) I like things more general, so I'd prefer something like - use the lyrics or part of the lyrics of your favourite song in your LO / be inspired by your favourite song.

origami said:
I think they mainly want to give us the challenges as a starting point, but it seems like they are pretty lenient about customizing the challenges to make them meaningful to you.
Click to expand...

So true. I find the challenges very often make me step out of my comfort zone and try something different (design-wise), sometimes they help put life into a project of mine that was sleeping.

And yes, they are totally tolerant here about tweaking the challenges to our needs, this is a nice place. :-)
 
Last edited:
adrianka said:
Oh yes, the Billboard Top Ten was my limit - I looked at the lyrics and I was like - WHAT should inspire me here? It wasn't even about US vs. non-US, it's just that those songs are totally crap.
Click to expand...

Tee Hee...I looked at the list, and it was all of my favorite songs!
 
adrianka said:
Oh yes, the Billboard Top Ten was my limit - I looked at the lyrics and I was like - WHAT should inspire me here? It wasn't even about US vs. non-US, it's just that those songs are totally crap. I have a big imagination, but that was really my limit. :-)
Click to expand...

I didn't like any of the songs on the top 10, either. I scrapped a page about how I didn't even understand what one of the musicians was saying in the song. He said something about "I want to bathe my ape in your milky way." I think it might be about sex, but that makes NO sense to me, and *supposedly* the song is in my native language! :P
 
Jengerbread88 said:
I didn't like any of the songs on the top 10, either. I scrapped a page about how I didn't even understand what one of the musicians was saying in the song. He said something about "I want to bathe my ape in your milky way." I think it might be about sex, but that makes NO sense to me, and *supposedly* the song is in my native language! :P
Click to expand...

I SAW that layout! I was planning to come back to it and comment! It's fun. :-)
 
if you click on "charts" you can find top tens for whatever kind of music you listen to... there's even one called "songs in the UK"... so if you listen to Latin music, choose that one... or country music, choose that one...

or challenge yourself to think outside the box... just because it's a song doesn't mean you have to scrap about music, kwim? maybe just a small part of the lyrics would make for a great title, that has nothing to do with what the song is actually about.
 
heathergw said:
if you click on "charts" you can find top tens for whatever kind of music you listen to... there's even one called "songs in the UK"... so if you listen to Latin music, choose that one... or country music, choose that one...

or challenge yourself to think outside the box... just because it's a song doesn't mean you have to scrap about music, kwim? maybe just a small part of the lyrics would make for a great title, that has nothing to do with what the song is actually about.
Click to expand...

I do know. I normally tweak things a lot. But they really didn't mean anything to me, not even a smallest portion (and yes, I was going to use them for a non-music LO). I had no idea we could choose any top ten. I don't mind if it's songs that I don't listen to, but those ten just didn't even have a half-sentence that would speak to me. :-)
 
well... I guess that's the beauty of the portfolios in that there are lots of options and you don't have to do all of them to get the discount... so if it doesn't speak to you... you don't have to do it... ;)
 
P.S. Just in case - it's really not a big deal to me if one challenge isn't that great for me! It was just an opinion, and others might have totally different ones. There are plenty of other challenges for me to choose from, and you just can't make everybody happy. Just wanted to make that clear; I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. :-)
 
heathergw said:
well... I guess that's the beauty of the portfolios in that there are lots of options and you don't have to do all of them to get the discount... so if it doesn't speak to you... you don't have to do it... ;)
Click to expand...

We were writing at the same time - I basically wrote the same thing. :-)
 
And Leontine, sorry to have spammed your thread. I think I need to go to bed anyway. First, I'm spamming, second, while a big fan of adjusting challenges, I still managed to end up sounding like I'm totally inflexible. :-)
 
Last edited:
I personally adore the Grow With Love prompts which you can find here:

http://plantyourstory.com/grow-with-love-archive/

Other sites I have not personally checked out but they are on the site as recomended by the girls who do the GWL series.

http://captureyour365.com/
http://www.fridayletters.com/


Here are some I personally like:
http://photohuntchallenges.com/
http://www.mesoscrappy.com/
http://projectsforyournest.blogspot.com/ (love the photo challenge she started on June 1st)
http://kcbdesigns.blogspot.com/ (she sometimes has challenges but since she is my favorite designer I check out her blog often :))

I guess those are my favorites. Hope they inspire you somewhat!!
 
adrianka said:
And Leontine, sorry to have spammed your thread. I think I need to go to bed anyway. First, I'm spamming, second, while a big fan of adjusting challenges, I still managed to end up sounding like I'm totally inflexible. :-)
Click to expand...

No problem Adrianka...you made me laugh about it though.

And yes, you don't have to do the challenges. But I like to be challenged. If it is a colour or a word or a theme, I don't mind. January and February were easy months for me....30 points in no time! But recently I just have more problems translating the challenges to me. So it could be a lack of inspiration also.

Most important thing for me is: I do not scrap for discount in the first place, I scrap for relaxation and joy of remembering things. So I don't mind not having the 30 points at the end but you do need a click with challenges. Maybe July is a better month for me?
 
Leontine78 said:
No problem Adrianka...you made me laugh about it though.

And yes, you don't have to do the challenges. But I like to be challenged. If it is a colour or a word or a theme, I don't mind. January and February were easy months for me....30 points in no time! But recently I just have more problems translating the challenges to me. So it could be a lack of inspiration also.

Most important thing for me is: I do not scrap for discount in the first place, I scrap for relaxation and joy of remembering things. So I don't mind not having the 30 points at the end but you do need a click with challenges. Maybe July is a better month for me?
Click to expand...

Glad you could laugh! I felt like a total moron yesterday. :-)

You see, I totally get you. Like you, I'm not American and I don't have kids. Lots of challenges seem out of question because of that. I used to go around it by scrapping for friends, but some time ago I decided I would scrap for myself more (even though I still scrap for friends, when I see a nice photo, I can't resist).

I never do a challenge for challenge's sake, which cuts a lot of possibilities as well. I want to enjoy myself, not fret about points. I'd rather want the LO I want it to be than to get points.

That said, doing the challenges DOES help heaps with inspiration in the sense of that you step out of your ordinary way of scrapping and try new things. If it wasn't for the challenges, I would never have started making cards, and what a pity that would be. :-) And yes, it's fun to be challenged, very much so. I get that, too. I don't even care that much about the discount, it's just the "adrenaline" part is so stimulating from the creative point of view.

Don't worry about June, it's not that great for me either. If I stretch it I can do 20 points, but it won't be as easy as before. Maybe we just need a break. Happily the challenges are here every month, so it's not the end of the world.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top