December 2019 Main Challenge - REJOICE & ANYTHING GOES

"When you appreciate the blessings in life, your soul rejoices."

Lailah Gifty Akita 

This month, share with us how the word REJOICE inspires you!

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

Word Inspiration - REJOICE

Creative Challenge - ANYTHING GOES

What does the word REJOICE inspire you to create?

You can choose to use the actual word somewhere on your project 
or simply be inspired by it. Please explain in your blog post 
how it inspired you if it isn't obvious in your work.

REJOICE!  It's December, and ANYTHING GOES at More Than Words!  
Yes - create anything you like so long as you are inspired by the word 'Rejoice', and you create a layout, canvas, art journal page or planner page.  Set your imagination free!

Please check out all our challenge rules in the RULES tab above.

Now let's see what our fabulous DT has come up with, 

inspired by the REJOICE & ANYTHING GOES Main Challenge!

FRANCE RINGUETTE

FRANCE:  REJOICE! Traveling the world is what brings me the most joy. I love seeing the architecture, exploring the culture, and discovering new food. For ANYTHING GOES I have chosen to stencil my background with modelling paste, using mandala and honeycomb stencils.

ROSALIE DUKE-STANLEY

ROSALIE:  REJOICE ‘in the small things in life’!   A beautiful picture of my son and granddaughter Amelia, building sand castles, brings me joy.  

For the ANYTHING GOES part of the challenge, I chose to use a mixed 

media beach theme.

DI GARLING

DI:  Although there are many ways to interpret the word REJOICE, 

I was inspired to create a Christmas themed layout.  

For me, Christmas is a time for family and celebrating health and happiness.  

This is a photo of two of my grand babies taken last Christmas.  

I have been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to scrap it, 

and I think this is the perfect opportunity to do so!  

For the ANYTHING GOES part of the challenge, I chose to use traditional Christmas colours and embellishments & I even added a couple of little pinecones to keep with the whole festive vibe.

DAISY RAMSAY

DAISY:  For this challenge, I was inspired by a photo of my nephew Nolan. 

 I REJOICE greatly in being an aunt again!   

For the ANYTHING GOES creative part of the challenge,

I stayed in my comfort zone and made my background 

using a 13 arts stencil and 3D matte gel, 

Lindy’s sprays, and my favorite stamps... Design by Valerie.

HEATHER McMAHON

HEATHER:  Thinking about what makes me REJOICE, I realised how much I have enjoyed working with Nicole Doiron at More Than Words for the last four years.  

She is taking a break next year and I will miss her enormously.

For ANYTHING GOES I based my page around a scrap piece of paper that 

I used to clean my gelli plate with. I loved it so much 

that I pulled it out of the rubbish bin and used it!

DARIA SCHUKINA

 DARIA:  Free creativity inspires me, and makes me REJOICE!  

For the ANYTHING GOES creative part of the challenge, 

I let inspiration flow through me and onto my page to share with you! 

ANAT WEKSLER

ANAT:  To REJOICE is to Celebrate! 

I’ve chosen to celebrate life with this fabulous picture I found. 

The butterfly reflects tenderness and strength at the same time.  

That will be my inspiration for 2020!

 This month, the creativity challenge is ANYTHING GOES.  

I decided to use a wooden block, instead of a canvas, to create my project on. 

I am looking forward to seeing all of your creations xoxo  

ALICJA STASZAK

ALICJA:  For the word REJOICE, I choose a photo of magical, holiday time 

that always brings much happiness to me. 

For the ANYTHING GOES challenge,

I created a festive layout with many details and shiny embellishments.

CAROLINE ELLIAM

CAROLINE:  Christmas is a season to REJOICE to me, 

and it begins with decorating my home.  

We take a day in early December 

and decorate our home together with our children.
I love how placing our decor starts the Christmas spirit!

For the ANYTHING GOES creative portion of the challenge, 

I chose to do stenciling and watercolouring in the background, 

and added thread for texture.

EDITH CLOUTIERE

EDITH:  Spending time with the girls in my life, 

is the real reason to REJOICE for me.

For ANYTHING GOES I created a background using watercolor, 

a little texture, and lots of my favorite color... pink!

NUNEKA BOX

NUNEKA:  Winter is my favourite season of the year.  

I love the cold air and the snow falling on my hair. 

It makes me feel as joyful as this little fox 

who is clearly full of REJOICE at the moment!

For the ANYTHING GOES part of the challenge 

I decided to use natural elements on my project.

PRIYA MISHRA

PRIYA:  This has been an amazing year for me 

and it has given me great REJOICE! 

I am so thankful for everthing that has happened to me 

and my layout was inspired by this.  

I look forward to the future with a great deal of positivity!  

For the ANYTHING GOES part of the challenge, 

I chose to use combinations of the rose and mocha colours in the texture, 

Lindy's sprays, flowers, and embellishments.

NICOLE DOIRON

NICOLE:  The word REJOICE (and it being December), 

made me think of Christmas.  

For me, Christmas is definitely 'the most wonderful time of the year'!

It is a time for families to take joy in spending quality time together...  

a time for peace, love, and harmony.

For the ANYTHING GOES creative part of the challenge, I decided to create a canvas using a snowflake shaped wooden plaque.  

The plaque is 10x10 inches in diameter.  

I added lots of sparkly snowflakes and festive poinsettias as embellishments.

Our design team has shared beautiful projects inspired by the word REJOICE!

We hope that they will have inspired you to play along 

and share with us how the word 'Rejoice' resonates with you!

Here are the fabulous prizes up for grabs!

MAIN CHALLENGE WINNER

(as voted by our DT)

$50 USD value prize from MINTAY PAPERS

4 RUNNERS UP

(as voted by our DT, in no particular order)

$25 USD value prize from 2CRAFTY

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

$25 USD value prize from KORA PROJECTS

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

$25 USD value prize from LINDY'S

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

$25 USD value prize from MAJA DESIGN

RANDOM WINNER

(picked at random from all eligible entries)

$25 USD value prize from THE VINTAGE CHICKS CLUB

MYSTERY WINNERS

(hand picked by our Admin team - two entries not in our Top 5,

but that have that special something that captured our attention)

$25 USD value prize from FABRIKA DECORU

$25 USD value prize from AB STUDIO

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER

One participant, with a high number of votes and handpicked by our Admin team, 

will be invited to be our February 2020 Special Guest Designer.

We are very grateful to all our generous sponsors for these fabulous prizes.

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

We are looking forward to seeing your entries into our

December Main Challenge REJOICE & ANYTHING GOES!

Link up your projects using our LinkyTook in the right sidebar

by December 31 at 11:55 pm EST.

Introducing The More Than Words 2020 Design and Administration Teams!

A new year is fast approaching and we have some very exciting changes
happening at More Than Words in 2020. You'll have to wait until January 1st to find
out how we're changing but, for now, we'd like to announce that we've selected not only a new Design team but a new Admin Team as well!

Our teams are filled with fabulously talented ladies who
we hope will inspire you in 2020. Some current members are staying on with
us for another year, and some are brand new.
We are very excited to introduce you to them all!

First of all though, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who took the
time to apply to our Design Team Call.
We were truly impressed with all the talented applications we received.
It certainly made our job very difficult!
Although we weren't able to pick everyone, we do hope that those of you who missed out will apply again when the next Design Team Call is made.
Thank you SO MUCH for your support of our challenge blog!

Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to our 2020 teams:

New and Returning Admin Team Members

DANA TATAR - United States

ELLE WILSON - United Kingdom

HEATHER MCMAHON - Australia

HEIKES AUGENBLICK - Holland

LINDA PEKRUL - Canada

PRIYA MISHRA - India

New and Returning Design Team Members

ANASTASIA TVERITNEVA - Russia/United States

ANNA IWANOWSKA - Poland

CECILIA ZERTUCHE - Mexico

DAISY RAMSAY - Canada

DI GARLING - Australia

HEMA - India

JOLANDE VAN OOSTERHOUT - Holland

KATRIN MERAGLIA - Italy

LANUSIA - Ukraine

ROSALIE DUKE-STANLEY - Australia

SABRINA PERNA - Italy

SARAH DORGERE - France

YULIA POPKOVA - Russia

There have been some significant changes behind the scenes

of the More Than Words teams. DI GARLING has moved from the Administration Team to the Design Team, and PRIYA MISHRA has moved from the Design Team to the Administration Team. You will continue to see inspirational projects from them both!

Change brings growth, and we are very excited to see 

the creativity our new teams bring in 2020!  

***

Unfortunately, along with happy hellos, also come sad farewells.  

Firstly, it is with great sadness that we say farewell 

to two members of our Administration Team:  

NICOLE DOIRON is one of our founding members and has been a crucial cog 

in the workings of More Than Words. She has worked tirelessly to bring our 

challenges to you for four years now. Her ideas and knowledge were always 

greatly appreciated and respected.

Also taking a break is CAROLINE ELLIAM.  

Caroline joined the Administration Team nearly three years ago and has been 

a reliable and highly-valued member of our team ever since. Her knowledge of all things to do with the online world has been a great help to all of us.

We will miss you both enormously!

The following 2019 Design Team members will be heading in new 

directions at the end of December. We send our best wishes along with them!

ALICJA STASZAK - Poland

ANAT WEKSLER - Israel

DARIA SCHUKINA - Russia

EDITH CLOUTIER - Canada

FRANCE RINGUETTE - Canada

HINA MIRZA - India

JESS MACKENZIE - Australia

MARY TZALLA - Greece

NUNEKA BOX - Spain

A huge THANK YOU to all these departing designers!

You are the best and will always be considered part of the MTW family.

***

There's only a few more days before we release 

our next Main Challenge on December 1st.

Be sure to come back then and check it out!!

November 2019 Mini Challenge - GREAT

We love our sponsors and contestants here at More Than Words.  
We think you are all GREAT!  Share with us what you think is GREAT!

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

 cards, tags, ATCs and postcards only.  

ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards, are small works of art, about 2.5 by 3.5 inches

 or 64 x 89 mm. Postcards are usually an A6 size, which is a quarter

 of an A4 ie, around 4 x 6 inches or 105mm x 148mm. If your postcard

 is bulky, you could always pop it in an envelope to mail it. 

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, as voted by our DT, will receive a $25 USD value prize

from THE DUSTY ATTIC, our fabulous Mini Challenge sponsor!

You can see all our rules under the RULES tab above.

Is this word inspiring you to make a mini creation? We sure hope so!

CAROLINE ELLIAM

ROSALIE DUKE-STANLEY

HEATHER McMAHON

PRIYA MISHRA

NICOLE DOIRON

DI GARLING

We've had a GREAT time coming up with this challenge and hope you are inspired to play along with us!

You have until 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, November 30th,

to share your entry on our Facebook page.

November 2019 Main Challenge SUCCESS & KEY

November is here, and with it comes a brand new More Than Words challenge!

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

Word Inspiration - SUCCESS

Creative Challenge - KEY

What does the word SUCCESS inspire you to create?

You can choose to use the actual word somewhere on your project 
or simply be inspired by it. Please explain in your blog post 
how it inspired you if it isn't obvious in your work.

We all strive for excellence in some way. To achieve success in this challenge, you need to add a KEY, whether metal, chipboard, wood, stamp or paper, to your project!

Please check out all our challenge rules in the RULES tab above.

Now let's see what our fabulous DT has come up with, 

inspired by the SUCCESS & KEY main challenge!

FRANCE RINGUETTE

France:  My SUCCESS in 2019 was to complete a 240 km bike ride for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. This was a massive challenge for me and training was the KEY to my success. The event was amazing and it was so inspiring to have completed this personal challenge. It truly got me out of my comfort zone.

ANAT WEKSLER

Anat:  "Believing in yourself is the secret to SUCCESS “.  I would add, it is the KEY to success! I found this gorgeous image and thought it was suitable to use on my Art Journal which features the path, KEY and door to success. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

EDITH CLOUTIER

Edith: Our key to SUCCESS is devotion, listening to each other, and being there for each other, no matter what life has in store for us. For the creative challenge, I added a metal KEY to my page.

ROSALIE DUKE-STANLEY

Rosalie:  I have chosen a picture of myself relaxing. I need to remember to find the key to achieving a balance between work and home which will lead to SUCCESS... health, happiness and love. I have added KEYS as embellishments to my butterflies.

HEATHER MCMAHON

Heather:  The greatest SUCCESS I've experienced recently is when our football team won the grand final! It was an amazing day - and night! We call our team "The Tiges" and I felt that all the fans had the KEYS to the city that night! To represent the creative challenge, I added real keys dangling from my title.

DAISY RAMSAY

Daisy: A picture of my son, Billy’s, first hip-hop dance show was my inspiration for this challenge.  The show was a great SUCCESS, and at this moment Billy discovered his real passion for hip-hop dance.

I added wings to the chipboard KEY I used in my creation.  They symbolize my son’s uplifting flight as he discovered his new passion.

CAROLINE ELLIAM

Caroline:  For a couple of years now, I have had huge SUCCESS with my little winter hat business. It makes me really proud to see my hats selling in so many stores. For the creative challenge I used an ornate keyhole and KEY.

DI GARLINGDi:  My interpretation of this challenge came from the little quote (which I have framed) at the side of my photos. I think they truly are words of wisdom. I have also used a selection of KEYS around the page. Keys being symbolic of SUCCESS made for such a fabulous challenge combination.

PRIYA MISHRA

Priya: "If you can't find the KEY to SUCCESS, Pick the Lock" is my inspiration quote behind this project. For the Creative challenge, I used a picture of KEYS and also used keys in my project.

NUNEKA BOX

Nuneka:  To me the word SUCCESS means the path we take in life, and how hard we need to work to make our dreams come true.  I placed a hanging KEY that opens the heart, near the photo where I keep my deepest wishes.

ALICJA STASZAK

Alicja:  I created a fall layout with a quote that is related to the word SUCCESS. In this creation I've scattered a few little black metal KEYS as a matching part of the composition.

DARIA SCHUKINA 

Daria:  The KEY to SUCCESS is every pair of lovers. I wanted to capture a happy moment in the life of my friends. I added a very ornate KEY as the creative challenge.


NICOLE DOIRON

Nicole:  A very important milestone in life, and a proof of one's SUCCESS, is the purchase of a brand new house. I was inspired by this month's word to create this mixed media canvas as wall decor for a special person's new home. As you can clearly see, I have added a large chipboard KEY to my canvas as well as a couple dangling metal keys.


MARY TZALLA

Mary: ''The key to SUCCESS is to hold on tight to your dreams'' is a quote that I strongly believe in. For the creative challenge I've added a metal KEY.

Our design team has shared their life stories of SUCCESS, with the KEY being wisdom, hard work, and dedication.

We hope that they will have inspired you to play along.

Here are the fabulous prizes up for grabs!

MAIN CHALLENGE WINNER

(as voted by our DT)

$50 USD value prize from THE SCRAPBOOK DIARIES

4 RUNNERS UP

(as voted by our DT, in no particular order)

$25 USD value prize from THE DUSTY ATTIC

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

$25 USD value prize from 7 DOTS STUDIO

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

$25 USD value prize from EXPRESSIONSCRAFT

$25 USD value prize from CREATIVE EMBELLISHMENTS

RANDOM WINNER

(picked at random from all eligible entries)

$25 USD value prize from 49 AND MARKET

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

MYSTERY WINNERS

(hand picked by our Admin team - two entries not in our Top 5,

but that have that special something that captured our attention)

$25 USD value prize from FABRIKA DECORU

$25 USD value prize from AB STUDIO

(image below is for illustration purposes only)

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER

One participant, with a high number of votes and handpicked by our Admin team, 

will be invited to be our January 2020 Special Guest Designer.

We are very grateful to all our generous sponsors for these fabulous prizes.

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

We are looking forward to seeing your entries into our

November Main Challenge:  SUCCESS & KEY

Link up your projects using our Linky Tool in the right sidebar

by November 30 at 11:55 pm EST.