January 2016 Mini Challenge - BE

Hello everyone and welcome to our very first Mini Challenge! 

Here is our Mini Challenge board for January:

Here's how it works:

The Mini Challenge runs on the last week of each month and is for

cards, tags and ATCs only. (ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards, are small works of art, about 2.5 by 3.5 inches or 64 x 89mm). This challenge requires you to use a specific word on your project. We must see the actual word. You have only one week - until the last day of the month - to enter, so be quick!

Entry for the Mini Challenge is only via our Facebook page 

under the relevant post. 

The winner will receive a $25 voucher from Dusty Attic, 

our fabulous Mini Challenge sponsor.

And just to sweeten the deal, all our prizes 

include free shipping to anywhere in the world!

You can see all our rules under the Rules tab at the top of this blog.

To kick off your inspiration, here is what some of our Design Team created!

Rachael Funnell - Tag

Nicole Doiron - Card

Di Garling - Card

Elena Tretyakova - Tag

Lilibleu - Tag

Pamela Ellis - Tag

Heather McMahon - ATC

Valia Katzaki - Tag

Mona Pendleton - Tag

Julia Kissel - Card

We hope this inspires you to give the challenge a go!

You have until 11.55pm EST on Sunday the 31st of January to get 
your entries in right HERE so get your crafting on!

Special Guest Spotlight on Helen Tilbury

Every month at More Than Words, we are committed to bringing you
the best inspiration out there, and to do so, we have decided to invite
 the cream of the crop to play along with our Main Challenge
and inspire you with their talent and unique style!


Introducing our very first SPECIAL GUEST...

"Hi! My name is Helen Tilbury & currently I live in Durban, South Africa, although I am currently in the midst of a major relocation to the UK so hope to be there shortly! I am a 40 something mom to 4 gorgeous grown ups (nearly) & 4 purry, furry creatures too. I've been passionate about all things creative my whole life & got into memory art 12 years ago, started my blog 5 years after that, and it's been full steam ahead since then! I have had the pleasure of designing for many teams over the years as well as founding & managing Scrap Around The World until I closed it down last month due to my exciting 2016 plans coming up! However, I am still a loud and proud Prima Marketing Flowers designer & would be until the day I die if that were allowed! I would love for you to keep up with my messy crafting adventures if you like by visiting me on my blog or my social media sites. Thank you so much to More Than Words for inviting me to be your first ever Special Guest!"

Visit Helen here:

BLOG  -  INSTAGRAM  -  FACEBOOK

As you know, all of us from the More Than Words Admin Team
have worked and created alongside Helen at Scrap Around the World.
Helen was an outstanding team leader who has taught us so many useful
tips and skills when it comes to running a successful challenge blog.
It seems very fitting to have her join us on our first month as
our Special Guest.

Here's a reminder of our January Main Challenge
followed by Helen's interpretation!

Here is what Helen has to say about her layout:

"I had such fun creating this layout!  I am NOT a selfie taker at all - I admit to having tried a couple & cringed!!! But my 2 daughters are absolute PROS at it & occasionally they pull me in! Selfies do make for the most hysterically funny & personal images & combining them with personality traits is just pure genius & makes for an amazing challenge. I really did just use the first {flattering} words that came to mind when thinking of my personality - there are many "bad" words to describe me too but those would be for an art journal page instead hahaha!  I kept everything free, easy & boisterous which is the way I am (when I'm in a playful  mood, that is!)"

Huge thanks to Helen for this gorgeous piece of inspiration! 

Now if you're inspired as we are, we hope that you will play along

and show us your Personality & Selfie project!

You have until January 31st to link up!

New Followers' Contest WINNERS

As promised, we have WINNERS for you today!

First of all, we were overwhelmed with your positive reaction
to our new challenge blog and we thank each and every one
of you for following More Than Words, whether it be
on the blog, or any of our social media sites!

In just a little over a month, More Than Words
has gathered a tremendous amount of followers,
and we only wish we had prizes to give away to each one of you!

We do have 6 very lucky winners to announce!!
(2 from our blog, 2 from FB, 1 from Pinterest and 1 from Instagram)


Rachel Lowe
you have won Prize #1 donated by Di Garling

Kathy Bradley

you have won Prize #2 donated from Nicole Doiron

Olga Iopukhova

you have won Prize #3 donated by Rachael Funnell

Kim Ewins
you have won Prize #4 donated by Heather McMahon

Joi at RR

you have won Prize #5 donated from Pamela Ellis

Vinita Jain

you have won Prize #6 donated by Valia Katzaki

Congratulations ladies!!


Please send us your shipping address at 
mtwchallenge(at)hotmail(dot)com

Thank you all again for your support!

For more chances to win some fabulous prizes,
we hope that you will play along with our January Challenge.
All details can be found HERE!

We will be back on January 16th for a Special Guest Spotlight
and on the 23rd for our first Mini Challenge reveal.

January 2016 Main Challenge PERSONALITY & SELFIE

It's finally here!

The 1st day of 2016 (HAPPY 2016 EVERYONE!)

and thus the reveal of the first More Than Words Main Challenge.

Our Main Challenge is based on a Word inspiration and a Creative Challenge.

This challenge is open to layouts, canvases and art journal pages only.

What does the word "PERSONALITY" inspire you to create?

You can choose to use the word somewhere on your project or
simply be inspired to create from it.  Please explain in your blog post
how it inspired you, if not already obvious. 

The creative challenge is to use a "SELFIE".

It is as easy as that!  All of the DT have used a selfie of themselves

on their project in order to introduce themselves to you during our very first
 challenge, but for your project, you can use a selfie of yourself
or anyone else (kids, husband, best friend, etc).

Or, if you have no selfie, any photo of you will be fine.

DI GARLING

Di: "I was inspired by the "personality" word to list what I feel are my personality traits, the main one being that I am a very happy person so I took a whole bunch of HAPPY selfies (I had to take about 20 to get 2 that I was happy with!!).  I think this layout depicts my personality perfectly."


ELENA TRETYAKOVA

Elena: "My selfie has been taken during a wonderful time at a wedding at the coast.  Being a very happy person overall who loves to have fun, I had an amazing time! A lot of sun, beautiful flowers and good mood inspired my project!"


HEATHER MCMAHON

Heather: "My title, 'I make my own destiny', came about from realizing that I'm happy with my life right now because I have planned and worked hard to achieve what I have. This page has all my fave scrappy things - the teal colours, white background and gorgeous Dusty Attic chippies."


HELEN HAPSI

Helen: "I tried to reveal some aspects of my personality such as being creative, always wanting to discover new things and trying to be true to myself!"


JACQUELINE MOORE

Jacqueline: "The selfie photo I have used for the January challenge is of me at the beach in Margaret River.  To me, this says so much about my personality.  I love the beach, the sun, the heat and I could spend the whole day in it!  I have added shells to my page to represent this and have chosen colours that to me 

feel very calming and laid back."

JULIA KISSEL

Julia: "This is my 'Summer Memory' layout, or 'How I learned to do a selfie!'  Bright greens, warm sun and blooming garden fragrances inspired me to use
such a bright palette, as bright as my personality!"


KAREEN BH

Kareen: "I'm always saying that I have 2 personalities. Today, I show you in this layout, my bubbly personality.  I love selfies!  I'm always taking one so this part was a piece of cake for me.  I have created a colourful background with texture to represent my way of making things in life more magical, more wonderful and more colourful!  I'm always dreaming about everything.  

I also added flowers and bright pink because I'm a real Princess! haha"

LILIBLEU

Lilibleu: "The picture has been taken just after I moved to my new home.  I took it especially for this challenge since I pretty much never take any selfies.  I think it represents me quite well, for it allows the viewer to get a catch of my enjoyment of life as well as my quiet and gentle nature."


MONA PENDLETON

Mona:  "I was inspired by the word 'personality' to share my adventurous side!  I love the great outdoors so I took this selfie while on a mountain hike,
getting my daily dose of nature and exercise."


NICOLE DOIRON

Nicole: "I had so much fun creating this layout using a selfie I took during a Summer stroll in the woods a couple years back.  I used several kraft stickers with different adjectives that describe a few aspects of my personality and what I strive to be every day of my life.  Considerate, honest, humble... that sums me up pretty well!"

PAMELA ELLIS

Pamela: "I really dislike having my photo taken, let alone selfies!  I am very insecure about my looks so I tend to avoid photos all together or fade into the background if I can.  My page reflects my character.  I used bold papers, a side of me that is rarely seen but exists, and then whitewashed them to make them more subtle which is more like the person I am in public.  The quote is something that I am striving for everyday to live my life the way I imagined it should be, or will be."


RACHAEL FUNNELL

Rachael: "I'm a REAL homebody so for this 'selfie' challenge, I have used this photo that I took where I love to be... my home!  The quote by Katy Perry is one of the many ways to describe my personality."


VALERIE OUELLET

Valerie: "I don't take selfies often, but I used the idea behind the word 'personality' to have a retrospection about my scrapbooking inspiration and my life.  I'm a simple girl with a simple life  who loves watercolor, doodling and bright colours."

VALIA KATZAKI

Valia: "I probably am the last dinosaur on this planet who doesn't take selfies!  I had to take 50 or more to get one partly right.  I may look wild because of the platinum pixie hair and the tattoos, but there is a softer side in me, which I strive to conceal.  Those who know me are aware of its existence.  So I go wild with graphite paste and scissors, but I am also a sensitive girl with pink, glitter, 

and what else? Prima flowers!"

We hope that all these wonderful creations from our DT will inspire you to play along!

Be sure to check out our RULES
to make sure that you are eligible to win one of our monthly prizes.



All our prizes include postage!

MAIN CHALLENGE WINNER
a $50 USD store credit from DUSTY ATTIC

Here is more information about our 1st place sponsor this month:

"The Dusty Attic is an Australian owned and operated laser cutting business, which designs and manufactures craft items and embellishments.  Founded in July 2009 and located in Perth, Western Australia, we are proud to be able to make our mark on the scrapbooking and craft industry with our great range of products.  We are continually designing so we can bring our customers new and fresh designs.  We love seeing what beautiful creations our customers have made with our products."

Next, 4 runners-up will each be awarded a prize valued at $25 USD.

1st RUNNER-UP
this prize package from COLOUR BLAST
(exactly as shown below)



2nd RUNNER-UP
this prize package from COUTURE CREATIONS
(exactly as shown below)



3rd RUNNER-UP
a gift certificate from THE SCRAPBOOK DIARIES



4th RUNNER-UP
a prize package from 7 DOTS STUDIO
(image below is for illustration purposes only)



In addition, we will draw 1 random winner from all eligible entries.

RANDOM WINNER
a prize package from STUDIO 75



And last, but certainly not least, we will randomly award a prize to
1 lucky blog follower who has commented on any of our January blog posts.
There is no need to participate in our challenge to be eligible for this prize,
but you do need to be a follower and leave us some comment love.

LUCKY COMMENTER
this prize package from GRAPHIC 45
(exactly as shown below)


To learn more about all our wonderful sponsors,
click on the SPONSORS tab above!

We cannot wait to see your interpretation of our
January PERSONALITY & SELFIE challenge!

Link up your project using the LinkyTool in the right sidebar

by January 31st at 11:59 pm EST!!

Come back in a week when we reveal the winners of our
New Followers' Contest!  Be sure to follow if you haven't already!!