Welcome to the AAM Challenge! This week’s challenge is going to fun. And we’re going to reveal some deep, dark secrets about ourselves. Are you ready?!

This week’s challenge is to empty out your purse, photograph it, and then scrap it! Eeek! This is scary for some of us, isn’t it? But, it’s also fun to share this side of you and it may just reveal a part of you that you hadn’t thought about. If it intimidates you a bit or you don’t want to share all of the details, then just choose 10 things you found in your purse and tell us about them. It’s also fun to make a list of what you find.

This week, I was joined by two other Creative Team members in this challenge.

Anke’s layout just makes me drool with envy. LOVE that new bag! And love her organization.

Supplies: Understated frames, Pickadilly Paper Pack, Artfully White Paper Pack, Fasten Its! , Reed and Cleaver Paper Pack, Handbag Heaven Rub Ons, Title Lines Brushes and Stamps No. 02, Metal Brads, 2nd Hand Memories Element Pack, Tied Fasteners No. 03, Little Plastic Flowers No. 01, Date Tags No. 04, Collageables No. 02

Julie’s layout is hilarious! And feels very familiar.

Supplies: Classic Cardstock: Hoops, Classic Cardstock: Christmas, Wire Rimmed Alphabet No. 01, Tabbed Dates, ArtPlay Palette Find My Way ValueSet, Stitched by Anna White No. 02, Staple Its!

The contents of my purse actually contained some fun items and that doesn’t happen very often.

Supplies: Cathy Zielske’s Layered Template No. 35 (modified), Caught Red Handed Kit, Oversize Hipsters Plumes No. 1, 2010 Month Set Brushes and Stamps, Cut Ups: Everyday

Can’t wait to see your layouts in the gallery!

~Steph

Welcome to the All About Me Challenge! Every week, I am amazed by the pages in the AAM Gallery and I just love to see how many people are joining me in this challenge. It’s a lot of work to be introspective and to write about yourself and I’m proud of everyone for taking the time to focus on themselves. However, we all lead very busy lives and spring weather has hit most of us, so spending time on the computer has to take a backseat to other events for all of us at times. So, I decided to make this week’s challenge a catch up challenge - the goal is to simply catch up on previous assignments.

Here are 6 challenges we’ve had so far:

AAM Challenge No. 1: Me Now
AAM Challenge No. 2: How Did I Get Here?
AAM Challenge No. 3: What Makes Me Smile
AAM Challenge No. 4: When I Was Your Age
AAM Challenge No. 5: A Day In The Life
AAM Challenge No. 6: I Am So Good

And check out some of these products that are perfect for this challenge:

All About Me HandDrawn Brushes and Stamps

CreativePrompt Overlays No. 1

Journaling Labels: All About Me

All About Me Outline Value Pack Brushes and Stamps

I can’t wait to see your layouts!

~Steph

Welcome to the All About Me Challenge! I’m going to jump straight into the assignment today and then I’m going to show you some amazing layouts from the All About Me Gallery and two examples of this weeks’ assignment.

The title of this assignment is “I Am So Good.” One of my goals with this whole series is to encourage women to take time to focus on who they are as individuals and to realize how important they are to their families. So, this week’s focus is to tell the world what you are good at - what your strengths are and how they play a role in your life. Women often find it hard to accept compliments or to sing their own praises so this might be difficult for some of you. If it makes it easier, create the layout with the knowledge that you are a role model for your children, your grandchildren or your future children. You lead by example so don’t be afraid to talk about what you’re good at.

Some examples to help and remember that it can be silly as well as serious: I have a green thumb, I can put my babies to sleep better than anyone else, I am a great organizer, I am a master cardshark, I take great photos, I am a wonderful mother and wife and my parents know how much I appreciate them.

Because this assignment is all about highlighting our strengths, I want to showcase some of the amazing layouts that our community members have done with previous assignments and celebrate them.

The 1st layout was made by Tiff. What I love about this layout is not only the way she used Katie’s block numbers, but also the way she cropped her photos with perfect proportions to highlight both the number and the photo. All of her credits can be found with the layout - Typical Tuesday.

The second layout was created by Ellan. I was blown away by the design of this page. It is a perfect example of why journaling is so important and how to make a stunning layout without photos.  All of her credits can be found with her layout - When I Was Your Age.

The third layout was created by Carollee and I just love it. She has included so many details while still keeping the photos front and center - just a beautiful job telling her story. All of her credits can be found with her layout - Then and Now.

And now onto this week’s layouts. The amazing Mel from our Creative Team created this phenomenal layout showcasing what she’s good at. And she is so good at it!

Supplies: Forecast Kit, Krafty Tags: Celebrate, Howdy Cowboy Stickers, School Daze Stickers, Chipper Chores Epoxies Element, Hemp Ribbons No. 01, Vintage Journals No. 02, Buttoned Up, Buttoned Up: Vintage, Emergency Mega ElementSet, Felt Board Friends: Oh Snap!, Colored Filmstrips, LoopDaLoop ArtStrokes No. 01 BrushSet, Wynken, Blynken and Nod Kit, Dipped Chips: Travel Elements, Messy Stamped Alphabet No. 06 Brushes and Stamps Value Set, Eat Cake Element Pack, Wild Weekend Kit, Roughed Up Notebook Paper Pack, Mariska Solid Paperie, Naturally Krafty No. 08 Paper Pack, Flossy Stitches: Red

My layout is partially tongue-in-cheek but it’s all true! And I can be good at being funny sometimes, too!

Supplies: Cathy Zielske’s Layered Templates No. 20 (modified from a 2-page template to a 1-page template), Naturally Krafty No. 1 Paper Pack, Cabana White Paper Singles, Letter Box Clusters No. 4 Brushes and Rub Ons, Journal It! No. 1 Brushes and Stamps

I can’t wait to see your layouts this week!

~Steph

Welcome to the next All About Me Challenge! This week’s assignment is not a new idea but it’s a great way to capture those tiny bits of your life that make up who you are right now. It’s entitled “A Day in the Life.” We will also repeat this assignment towards the end of the year.

It’s a very easy assignment but one that takes just a bit of planning. Choose any day of the week and photograph your activities as you go about your regular routine. You will want to take at least 3-4 photos that day but you may want to take a lot more. A layout might include photos such as these: your kitchen as you cook breakfast, the kids as they leave for school, your cup of coffee, the drive to work, a meeting with your co-workers, the laundry, a grocery run in the afternoon, your hubby coming home, the kids going to bed and then you logging onto DD as you settle into your evening. The point is to take photos of the everyday routine that you have and to focus on the details that you might otherwise overlook.

We were very lucky this week to have community member Denise Gormish help us out on this challenge. I have known Denise for years and her gallery is one of my absolute favorites! She is a master of clean and simple scrapping and every layout that she makes is an inspiration to me.

Denise’s layout is entitled “It’s So Typical” and her photos tell such a great story of her daily routine. And I also love that she included two photos of herself - we often forget to put ourselves in front of the camera and I love that she included these photos.

Supplies: School Album Layered Template Set (12 x 12 ), Drawn Blossoms No. 01, Negative Sleeves No. 03, Drop Shadow Styles Collection, This Is The Day Word Art, Just Linens Paper Pack No. 04, Weathered Neutrals Paperie No. 05, Absolutely Acrylic: Arrows

Creative Team member, Kari, documented her daily routine for us, also. Kari’s photos are full of color and fun and her journaling is detailed and goes through her entire (very long!) day. Fantastic glimpse into her life right now!

Supplies: The Story Word Art + Hand Drawn Brushes, The Story of Today Overlays, Grid No. 02 Layered Templates

My daily routine is not entirely typical right now since we’re in the middle of buying a new house but I’m hoping that my family will enjoy looking back on this time as a new adventure for us.

Supplies: Ali Edwards Layered Template No. 33, Caught Red Handed Kit, La Cremerie: Fruits Noirs Kit, This Is The Day Word Art

I hope you’ll join in with us on this challenge and preserve a day in your life. I can’t wait to see your layouts!

~Steph

Welcome to the 4th All About Me Challenge! I’m so enjoying seeing all of your pages in the AAM Gallery- the last challenge was just full of joy and smiles.

This week’s challenge is a bit different than last week’s and will help to connect your past with your present.

AAM Assignment #4: When I Was Your Age

The assignment for this challenge is to scrap a page with the subject, “When I Was Your Age.” It can be in the form of a letter to someone you care about, it can be funny, it can be serious, it can be advice-driven or it can simply be a page about your childhood. You can choose to tell your kids something about your life as a child or give your adult children some parenting advice. It can also be addressed to a friend or a younger sibling. Anything goes! If you need some journaling prompts, you can start with a list like this:

When I Was Your Age:

I wished…............
I wore…...............
I listened to…......
I loved…..............
I was scared of….
I was friends with…..

This week, I was honored to work with Doris (aka echogirl). Her gallery never fails to amaze and inspire me and this layout is no different. Doris chose to write a letter to her 5-year-old daughter.

Supplies: Pure Kit, Little Shores Kit, Going Away Collection, Naturally Kraft No. 8 Paper Pack, Vintage Sun Prints Paper Pack, Engraved Birds Paper Pack, Spot Dots No. 18 Paper Pack, Letter Box Brushes and Stamps No. 3, Taped Photo Masks No. 1, Stamped Stitch Flowers Brushes and Stamps, Flossy Stitches: White, Mixed Bag Brushes and Stamps No. 3, Paper Flowers No.4, Paper Textures No. 2 BrushSet, Stitched by Anna White No. 2, Worn Page Edges No. 3, Nanyang Paperpack, Stitches and Flowers, Laying It All Out No. 09: Blending In and Standing Out, How’d They Do That? No. 06: Offset Stamping

Our next layout comes from Creative Team Member, Jodi. I gasped out loud when I saw this. What a cool layout! Jodi’s layout is addressed to her daughter and since Jodi didn’t have any photos of herself at her daughter’s age, she asked her daughter to draw a picture of what she thought Mommy might look like at that age.

Supplies: Help Haiti Collaborative Collection, Curled Photo Frames 4x6

My layout is a comparison of me at 12 and my daughter at 12. The inspiration for this challenge came from my daughter, Emily. She’s constantly asking me what kind of music I liked at her age or what was school like at her age. So, I went with a simple list format to show her. And, like Jodi, I don’t have any photos of myself at this particular age so I simply took a photo of my daughter and used it by itself.

Supplies: Ali Edwards’ Believe Layered Template, Caught Red Handed Kit, Colorful Clusters Brushes and Stamps, Le Marche Kit (staples), Round A Bout Felt No. 2, PiRATS of the Caribbean Kit (brad), Whimsy Titles No. 1, 31 Days Circle Numbers

I can’t wait to see your pages this week!

~Steph