Goodbyes Stink!

I’m quoting Michael Scott when I say that goodbyes stink! If you are an Office fan, you know what I mean!

This is the last scrapbook challenge for the Challenge YOUrself scrapbook blog!

Like all goodbyes, this one is bittersweet!

I started on the Design Team in 2020 a few months after I retired from teaching. I have been part of the team for 6 years! I have loved every minute of it! It was the first scrapbook design team that I had ever been on! I had been on some card making DTs, but this was my very first scrapbook focused team. It takes a lot of courage to create and put your work out on your own little blog, and even more courage to hand over photos of your work for a blog that belongs to someone else!

I created about 72 ish scrapbook layouts over that period of time, just for the challenges. I had to learn to take selfies since I needed to be in the photos and I’m usually the one taking the photos. I also learned to make layouts that are just about me and what I’m doing. I started making layouts of my favorite things, books I’ve read recently, movies that I love, my favorite DIY projects and so on. Once you scrap all the photos of your kids, you need a new focus if you want to keep scrapbooking!!

I also learned that I want to fill my time doing things I love that matter to me. Being creative and making pretty things is on that list. It fills my soul to do creative things. Collecting beautiful moments and documenting small moments is a perfectly acceptable way to use your creative time.

Being on the Challenge YOUrself DT took me out of my comfort zone. My selfies have improved and I scrapbook regularly now and I’m in some of the photos!

Here is my layout for the final challenge:

I used some Stampin’ Up! Mixed Up Patterns. They have started doing 12 x 12″ patterned paper packs that have easy to use background patterns that coordinate with several of the current Designer Series Paper suites that they have available. The base page is Cloud Cover card stock. I used Cloud Cover, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Calypso Coral. The pink is mostly Bubble Bath.

I also pulled out some of the new Mix and Match Ephemera sets, a bunch of stamp and die sets, and two very old sets of alphabet stickers. My layout was inspired by a sketch I found in the Stampin’ Up! demonstrator resource library. I changed a few things and added a few things to make it my own.

I also used a 3×3″ Flip Flap to add way more documentation to my layout. I included my top 5 favorite themes of the months, 5 ways I grew from being on the DT, and a heartfelt message about what I felt being on the DT for 6 years.

A BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Sharon Fritchman for giving me the opportunity to be part of the team when I had no scrapbooking team experience at all. You have been so positive and encouraging over the years and I truly appreciate that. I loved the challenges you created each month, and I loved how they always pulled me out of my comfort zone! Thanks for the memories! (I have them all documented!)

My 5 Favorite Challenge Themes: