January 2017 Main Challenge CELEBRATE & BLING

Happy 2017 everyone!

May the new year give you loads of reasons to celebrate 

and have wonderful days that are filled with laughter, love and creativity!

We have a whole new set of challenges ready for you this year

and we cannot wait to share them with you starting with this one for January:

Our Main Challenge is based on a word inspiration and a creative challenge.

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

Make sure to read our instructions below carefully!

Word Inspiration - CELEBRATE

Creative Challenge - BLING

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

More Than Words is not only celebrating this month the start of a brand new year.
We are also celebrating our first anniversary in the blogosphere!
We have lots of reasons to party, and nothing screams 'Let's Party!' better
than BLING!  Whether it be sequins, gems, rhinestones, pearls, chunks of glitter glass... we want you to 'bling' it up on your project!

VERY IMPORTANT!
You have to incorporate both requirements of the challenge, the word inspiration AND the creative challenge, on your project to be eligible to win.  Just look at our designers' creations and descriptions as example.  Also, remember that you must include our board image and a link to our blog in your entry post.

Please check out our challenge rules in the RULES tab above!

AGA BARANIAK

 Aga: "I chose this picture for my layout since it was taken last year when my husband and I were travelling to the mountains to CELEBRATE New Year's Eve.  The same day my husband gave me my dream sunglasses so double happiness!  For the BLING creative challenge, I added shiny stars and lots of sparkly gold paint."

ANGUREE VAN RENSBURG

Anguree: "I was inspired by these photos of my cousin in law and her bridesmaids CELEBRATING her wedding day.  I incorporated BLING by die cutting the word 'celebrate' 3 times out of gold foil paper and used the same paper to mat my photos.  Gold flowers and sequins were added to mimic the festivities and capture the magic of this wonderful day."

CAROLINE ELLIAM

 Caroline: "Valerie and I live a 4 hours drive from each other so whenever we meet, it's always a big CELEBRATION!  Here's a picture we took on our last scrapbook retreat.  For the BLING creative twist, I added a lot of sparkling gold 

to make this layout shine as we do!"

DI GARLING

 Di: "I decided to use the word CELEBRATE in a slightly different way to the obvious and put a bi of a twist on it by using these pictures of my grandson and his new hat!  For the creative challenge, I have added some black BLING."

EKATERINA ZENEVICH

Ekaterina: "What's the best part of CELEBRATING Christmas and the New Year?   

The presents, of course!  This is the most magical time when children and adults look under the tree for boxes of cherished gifts!  I added BLING on my layout 

with glitter, rhinestones and shiny powder."

ELENA MARTYNOVA

Elena M.: "I didn't use the word CELEBRATE as the title, but I used the idea and sense of the word as inspiration.  On my layout, I chose of me at 2 or 3 years of age.  I am standing near the Christmas tree with the gift that Grandpa Frost (as we call Santa Claus in Russia) gave me.  It was a very fun New Year's celebration.  The BLING on my page consist of many gold stars.  I also covered the chipboard pieces 

in red and gold glitter."

   

ELENA TRETYAKOVA

Elena T.: "My project is about the CELEBRATION of Christmas.  It's a relatively old photo of my children at a Christmas party.  I enjoy these sweet little moments in our life!   For the BLING effect, I added some gold glitter and crystals.  It was fun!"

HEATHER MCMAHON

Heather: "One of the biggest CELEBRATIONS I've had in my life was a week-long party on a small Greek island last year.  I used heaps of colour to represent the fun we had and added BLING in the form of sparkly alphas, stars and rhinestones.  Woohoo!"

JENNIFER MARIE

Jennifer: "This page represents the CELEBRATION of brotherly love.  The photo depicts well the love that these brothers carry for each other.  The BLING on my layout is on my paper as well as half beads here and there."

KAREEN DION

Kareen: "I have chosen a picture of my son when he was 3 years old.  It was the New Year and we CELEBRATED with the family.  I still remember this picture as if it was yesterday!  For the BLING part of the challenge, I added sparkles and some sequins."

KAVITHA

Kavitha: "Amidst our busy day to day life and chasing our dreams, we often forget to pause and enjoy the little things around us which gives us the real happiness.  So I made a page to remind myself to 'CELEBRATE the little things'!  For the BLING part, 

I have added lots of art ingredients and glitter."

LILIBLEU

Lilibleu: "To showcase the CELEBRATE theme, I chose to use a picture of my son taken on his 8th birthday just before he blew his candles.  For the BLING aspect of the challenge, I added sequins on chipboard stars and foliage as well as silver microspheres on the flowers.  I finally added some rhinestones stickers."

  

NICOLE DOIRON

 Nicole: "These pictures date back a few years, but were taken at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.  We had, and still have, a lot to CELEBRATE, especially our happy life together.  The BLING creative challenge was so much fun!  As you can see, I have gone a little overboard with the rhinestones and the jewels.  

But the instructions did say to 'Bling it On!' and that's what I did!"

PAMELA ELLIS

Pamela: "Commemorating one's birth in my eyes is always cause for a great CELEBRATION, especially when it is your oldest grandchild.  She seemed especially happy in this photo and we had such a great day!  This is BLING all over the page from a fine glimmer mist to Prima druzy stones.  I even heat embossed my alphas with glitter embossing powder.  It may be hard to see, but this page 'blings it on'!" 

SANDERIJN DE BRUIN

Sanderijn: "When I think of this month's word, I can use a lot of different actual celebrations, but something that really makes my heart full of joy is the smile of my daughter.  So I wanted to CELEBRATE her beautiful smile!  I added lots of glitter and holographic sparkles and I also used glitter on my background, mixed with modeling paste.  I covered the doily die cuts with glitter and BLING.  I use them all the time 

on my pages so this was an easy challenge for me!"

VALERIE OUELLET

Valerie: "The word CELEBRATE made me think right away about the few moments we celebrate at home.  My children's birthdays are some of these moments that are really important to us.  We never forget the cake, of course!  I added a bunch 

of sparkling glitter and sequins to BLING up my project."

WOW!  We couldn't be prouder of our new DT's first reveal for 2017!

We hope that all these gorgeous creations will inspire you to join in the celebration

and play along this month!  Here is what you could win...

All our prizes include free international postage!!

MAIN CHALLENGE WINNER

a $50 USD store credit from THE 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 love seeing what beautiful creations our customers have made with our products."

Next, 4 runners up, in no particular order, will each be awarded a prize, as follows:

RUNNER UP 1

a $25 USD prize package from 7 DOTS STUDIO

(Image below is for illustration purposes only)

RUNNER UP 2

a $25 USD prize package from MAJA DESIGN

RUNNER UP 3

a $25 USD gift certificate from THE SCRAPBOOK DIARIES

RUNNER UP 4

a $25 USD gift certificate from MAGENTA

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

RANDOM WINNER

a $25 USD prize package from LINDY'S

(Image below is for illustration purposes only)

Each month, we hand pick an entry who has not made it into our Top 5, but who has captured our attention someway, somehow. We might pick a project due to its original use of a certain product, the cleverest title, the most beautiful photo, etc.  

We call it our...

MYSTERY WINNER

a $25 USD prize package from FABRIKA DECORU

And lastly, we will randomly award a prize to one lucky blog follower 

who has commented on any of our January blog posts.

LUCKY COMMENTER

a $25 USD prize package from CUTS2LUV

(image below is for illustrations purposes only)

We are so very grateful to all our generous sponsors for these amazing prizes!

To learn more about all of them, click on the SPONSORS tab above.

We are so looking forward to see your take on our

January Main Challenge CELEBRATE & BLING!

Link up your project using the LinkyTool in the right sidebar

by January 31st at 11:50 pm EST.