December Thirsty Thursday's

Given the holiday season, the extra cooking and family time we thought it best to leave you with the existing Thirsty Thursday prompts for December and would remind any of you wanting to enter the draw for an ATDML gift for December you have until Midnight this Sunday. As a reminder here are the December challenge posts (click on links)

The letter M
The letter N
The letter O

Your next challenge will be posted next Thursday, Jan 5th 2012 when we bring you letter P prompts! In the meantime be sure to check out our sale items on the website and grab a bargain or two while you can.

December festive inspiration

Our December design team gallery is up now for your viewing pleasure. The team were joined by Helen Salthouse this month and we have a bulging gallery with over 50 festive papercraft images.



Have a browse through and bookmark any you like ready for some speedy scrap lifting to get you back in the crafting zone after the holiday celebrations.

*O* Thirsty Thursday (Belated)

With less than two weeks to go we move to our penultimate challenge this side of the big day. Of course you will all be busy with your festive preparations, but if you do squeeze in some crafting time we hope that you will join in our challenge this week as we seek inspiration from the letter O.

O is for OCTOBER AFTERNOON - New in the store recently we saw the latest seasonal collection from this popular manufacturer. All the Holiday Style papers can be found here in the shop, or maybe you will create a project this week using existing October Afternoon papers. Mel shares an October Afternoon layout with us this week.

O is for ORANGE - Not always a prominent colour on pages unless you are scrapping the Autumnal season or maybe your pumpkin photos but why not try it as an accent colour on a winter page? Maybe scrap that winter sunset image you took?

O is for OPPOSITE - Naughty or Nice? The question Santa is asking himself this very minute as he receives news from his elves as to the childrens' behaviour. Will you create an interactive page for this challenge showing opposites?

O is for OUT OF PRINT - A bit of a fab collection from Basic Grey, this paper is sure to please. The 6x6 collection pads flew out the doof but there are still a number oif 12x12 collection packs availble. I recently taught a CD Calendar class using these.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month simply link your creations using our Inlinkz tool below, or leave us a lovely comment with a link to your page and which of the O challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The O challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

Christmas Crop At Eclectic

Belatedly I thought I would post about the Eclectic Keepsakes Christmas crop I went to a couple of weeks ago. Organised by the lovely Karen Moss the Christmas crop included 3 classes. Two of them were taught by ATDML DT girls and the third was taught by Denise Holmes who has done a few guest DT spots for us.

I knew it would be a good day when on the way despite a cold day with grey skies my journey was brightened up by this sight :)

I was not very sensible and didn't manage to get many photos (I was having such a lovely time scrapping, chatting and eating that I forgot. I did get this one of Debbie teaching her fantastic Simple Stories Advent countdown layout which was such a clever idea and everyone loved it.

Ann taught a lovely CD Calendar class using Basic Grey Out of Print which was also very popular. I haven't finished mine yet but when I do I will upload it! Denise's class was using Tim Holtz Distress inks and stamping to make a stunning card which featured an envelope made with patterned paper using a score board. Denise makes using the distress inks look so simple and urged us to "Just Commit!" Apparently this was Mr Holtz's favourite phrase when she attended one of his workshops!

Lunch was a bring and share style buffet and there was oodles of lovely food. I did remember to take photos of Karens beautiful Christmas cupcakes... I might have indulged in a peppermint one with a candy cane top!

All in all a lovely day was had by all - I worked on a couple of pieces for the Christmas DT gallery which will be going up on or before Sunday 18th December so keep an eye out for that appearing.

Trying To Forget That It Is So Cold!

Back in September I spent a fun day in Trumpington near Cambridge at a crop and class day with two classes by Ifa Xainon. The layouts were summer themed and it was the perfect way to capture some of the fun memories we had from the summer.

I really enjoyed making this layout called "Summer Adventure" and because my photos were from several events and locations I opted for my favourite technique of turning them black and white so I know that they will go with anything!

More inspiration and new in store

Welcome to the weekend everyone! Just wanted to let you know we have the latest wintery offerings from October Afternoon in the shop now, they can all be found here if you haven't seen them already.

I took the liberty of popping over to the October Afternoon blog as well to see what the design team had been creating with this new line. Absolutely love this page and have bookmarked it for a scraplift in the new year when I have my Christmas day images.

The page could so easily be created for a non Xmas day page as well, maybe the date of a birthday, or an anniversary... the possibilities are endless! I certainly feel inspired by this page and also they have a bow making tutorial as well on the blog here - perfect for using up scraps of paper to embellish your presents. Great ideas which I saw and wanted to share!

More inspiration to be found

Two of the manufacturers we stock have teamed up to bring some fabulous crafting inspiration for the season to their blog readers. If you haven't already stumbled across these why not pop over to Simple Stories blog or Maya Road and see what they have been up to. The design team have been working with a variety of Christmas papers ready to inspire you later this month, and these include the Simple Stories 25 days of Christmas paper which can be found here in the store.

*N* Thirsty Thursday

Moving in to the second half of the alphabet today as we look to the letter N for inspiration. You know the challenge rules by now (there are very few) but read back onto any earlier Thirsty Thursday post if this is all new to you. So what do we have for you this week?...

N is for NATIVITY - Yes it is the season for all aspiring Mary and Josephs, Angels, Wise Men and more to have our camera shutters on overdrive! If you are lucky enough to snap a half decent photo of the prestigious event that is the school nativity, or you have an un-scrapped photos from years gone by why not use it in this weeks challenge.

N is for NAVY BLUE - Use Navy Blue cardstock as your background, or as a feature colour on your card/layout this week. Maybe dig out some denim to include on your creation?

N is for NATURE - Maybe a lovely scenery shot depicting the wonders of nature will make it on to your scrapbook page this week. Dig out your leaf stamps, maybe even holly and ivy? Show us how you are inspired by Nature. I created a layout for the October DT gallery here focusing on Autumn or maybe this page by Debbie will inspire?

N is for "NOT" CHRISTMAS - A bit of a fun one this! We challenge you this week to use a Christmas paper collection to make a non-Christmassy project! Karen Moss did exactly that this week and shares her creation below.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month simply link your creations using our Inlinkz tool below, or leave us a lovely comment with a link to your page and which of the M challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The M challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

November Thirsty Thursday Winner

Congratulations go to Naomi for her entry into the Thirsty Thursday challenge last month. She was the lucky winner drawn using random.org with her letter L entry below.

Naomi please contact mel@atripdownmemorylane.co.uk with your details and she will let you know what you have won! Thanks for taking part everyone, another prize up for grabs for our December challenges which will close on middnight Jan 1st 2012.

*M* Thirsty Thursday (Sunday!)

As promised yesterday we are back with the next instalment of Thirsty Thursday (albeit Sunday today!) and this week we are looking to the letter M for inspiration. Make a layout, or a card or another crafty project and then share a link to your project to be in with a chance to win a prize.

M is for MY MINDS EYE - We stock over 200 different MME products in the store including the divine Lost and Found ranges. This week use your MME products as part of this challenge.

M is for MONOCHROMATIC - Create a project this week where you focus on different shades of the same colour to achieve a monochromatic look or just stick with predominantly one colour on your creation.

M is for MEL - Once again we challenge you to scraplift a member of the design team, this time the Mel and we have chosen this layout for you to lift.

M is for MUSIC - Have you pictures of a concert you have been to, or of someone playing an instrument? Maybe you have music note paper or stamps you haven't used for a while. Your favourite Christmas Carol maybe and why you love it so? Time to be inspired by music for this week's challenge

M is for MAYA ROAD - Hard not to love the array of wonderful chipboard this company make so why not use some on your project this week.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month simply link your creations using our Inlinkz tool below, or leave us a lovely comment with a link to your page and which of the M challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The M challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

Thirsty Thursday Delay

Many apologies one and all for the slight delay in bringing you the next challenge but I have been sadly under the weather this week. Rest assured it will be here tomorrow and following quickly after on Monday with a blog post to announce our winner from November's participants.

Today several of the DT joined the ladies on Eclectic Keepsakes crop for the December celebrations. Both Debbie and I taught classes along with a retreat regular Denise who had us getting inky with Distress Inks to make a fabulous unique card for the season. Here is my version.