DELIGHTful Inspiration...

I don't know about you, but I have been finding a great deal of delight in the springtime this week.  The sky has been blue and the temperatures mild, with birds singing and more people outside and smiling.  (I will admit, however, to NOT taking delight in the bugs that are coming out in droves.)

I'm also very excited for the upcoming online crop we're hosting over at the Inside Out community starting TOMORROW!  We would be DELIGHTed if you would join us!  In the meantime, let's get inspired... let's get our creative juices flowing... let's look at some of the DELIGHTful layouts our design team has produced, along with a few quotes to inspire and DELIGHT you...

Jennifer Matott

"The pleasures which we most rarely experience give us the greatest delight."

Desiderius Erasmus

Guest Designer Julie Tucker-Wolek

"Our choices add up; each one influences others, and cumulatively a series of delightful short-term choices can leave us much worse off in the long run."

Daniel Akst

Melissa Elsner

"Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage --
it can be delightful."

George Bernard Shaw

Bonita Rose

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

e e cummings

Nicole Martel

Hope to see you joining in on all of the DELIGHTful games, challenges and chats this weekend! 

Digging Deep at Our Cybercrop!

Wow, what a great weekend!  We are having a blast over on our community boards while our first CRAFT retreat is winding down in Santa Monica.  It's not too late to take part, though!  We've got many challenges in our online crop, mirroring what was being done at CRAFT.  Come join us and dig deep.  Here's a peek at what some of the wonderful women have been coming up with in response to our challenge to delve into your inner world...

Connected by Suzanna

Letting Go by Martine

Dear Renee by Nicole

This Moment by iscrap

Be Creative by  Diana

It's not too late if you'd like to join us!  Our challenges for our online crop are open for response until Wednesday!  Please come on over and join us - it's so much fun, and SO rewarding.  Plus, if you like it, maybe you'll stick around and continue to scrap our monthly challenges.  Connect with us! 

CRAFT Beach Retreat Online Crop

Hey Y'all!

(Did you hear that?  My best Paula Deen imitation ever!)

If you are not one of the fortunate who are heading out to beautiful Santa Monica this weekend for our CRAFT Retreat, but you still want to take part, JOIN US over at the Inside Out message boards for our Online Crop.

I can't share here all of the details of what's going to happen at our online crop, but I can tell you there will be plenty of fun to go 'round.  There will be challenges, along the lines of our CRAFT retreat... there will be games... there will be sharing and caring... and the best part? It starts TODAY!

Our CRAFT Beach Retreat Online Crop starts today and will go through next WEDNESDAY so you have plenty of opportunity and time to join us.  Our first game is already up... hurry on over and sign up to play before 10am PT today.  If you don't make it in time for this game, don't worry, our Crop Hostess Melissa has more fun in store - check out her schedule of events on the boards, if you don't believe me.

So, what are you waiting for?  Head on over to our message boards and sign up (it's free) if you haven't already.  Then head on down to our "It's All Fun and Games" section to see our CRAFT Beach Retreat Online Crop forum.  Hop on in and start delving deep!

I really hope to see you there.  While Rachel is actually at CRAFT, we're going to play... you know what the old saying is... "when the cat's away..." 

*grin*

Hope to see you there!

Two Meaningful Layout Challenges about PASSION

In the Inside-Out spirit of looking at emotions in different ways, here are the first two challenges this month on the theme of PASSION. I'ts not all about roses and candy...there are some important lessons to be learned looking at what makes our hearts pound...

February Challenge #1, First Love/No Direct Photo

Now listen, all you married ladies...this challenge is a bit different...made for you to explore some of your past, potentially NOT about your current spouse.

Remember the first time you REALLY fell in love? How your heart would practically pound out of your chest when you saw the object of your affection?

Please create a LO about that feeling. What was it like, what did you learn from that first love, and how has that experience influenced your life today.

If you don't feel that you've been in love that way (yet), what do you imagine it to be like in your perfect world?

Design twist: DON'T use the person's picture...find a creative way to tell the story w/o it to keep the focus on YOUR experience. After all, this is SFTIO...all about YOU.

February Challenge #2, Drive/Road

You've got to follow your passion. You've got to figure out what it is you love--who you really are. And have the courage to do that. I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams. Oprah Winfrey

Passion is the genesis of genius. Anthony Robbins

Drive: In a perfect world, we’d all get to create a life that beautifully represents our passions. Do you do a job, or do you spend your days, in a way that truly speaks to your passions? If not, why? How did you get to do what you do? Did you follow your inner voice, or did someone else tell you what you should be? What pushes you to create a career, or life, that you love? When did you start to hear that inner voice? If you don’t hear it, how do you feel about people who have that drive and pursue it?

For our next challenge, tell us about whether what you do all day (career, homemaker...) reflects your passions. If not, what's stopping you from achieving that?

For the design twist, please use a road image for your path toward your best life.

Every month we help you Explore Your Inner World like no one else can. And kit, or no kit, you can play along with your evocative challenges, learn about yourself and create on a deeper level. Although you really do want the kit...:)

Just ONE more left:



Look at these lovely LOs created by our DT:

Nancy Doren, DT Coordinator:


Rita Barakat:


Arlene Camacho:


Stacey Hansen:


Cristal Hobbs:


Diana Kennedy:


Our girls are getting pubbed ALL OVER the place...stay tuned to future issues of Scrapbook Trends and Creating Keepsakes to see Nancy, Arlene and Stacey in action!

Congrats!

Hope to see you all at our cybercrop tomorrow. Details on this post.

Love,

Rachel

In Love with Me Cybercrop on Saturday

Come join us this Saturday for our first ever SFTIO Cybercrop!

We're celebrating a new holiday...all about you! I was so excited to find out about this, as it is SO very Inside Out...



The awesome and inspiring Christine Arylo has created a special celebration of women and self-care. And what better day to celebrate than Feb 13...because if YOU don't put YOU first, who will?

This is a great time to give yourself permission to scrapbook about your heart, your mind and your feelings. You're worth it! This day is the PERFECT fit for what we do at Scrapbooking from the Inside Out every day. Ours is a kit community like no other. Your journey begins with our emotion-focused kits overflowing with inspiration, and continues with tutorials, journaling prompts, quotes, music, evocative challenges and deep, caring members. We show you how to use color, design, and journaling to take deeper approach to the one subject you know best: your own heart. Join us and Explore Your Inner World.

Make sure to join us for games, challenges, prizes and, of course, deep and meaningful creating, all about you. Our event will be hosted by our lovely Design Team member Cristal Hobbs, AKA Pinky...go check her out!

Just log in to our Message Board to play along, from 8 AM to 7 PM Pacific. Click here for an easy time conversion. We can't wait to 'see' you there!

The prizes?

Six awesome packs of brand spankin' new CHA-W release paper from SEI, American Crafts and more, and huge packs of die cut 12x12 sheets - lace, fancy edges, and more!

The fun?

'In Love With Me' Bingo

Self-Love Layout Challenges
- when you've ignored your intuition
- what's hardest to love about yourself
- comparison to others and how damaging it is to our self-esteem.

Iron Scrapper - we'll give you the secret ingredient - an evocative photo, and you'll create your way

and an amazing Sketch Challenge

The best part?

Making time to focus on YOU. Your needs, your dreams, your future. Aren't YOU worth it? If you haven't joined us yet at SFTIO, this is a great and fun introduction to what we share, and a chance to win great prizes while making art and hanging out with our deep, kind, caring members.

So before you do the important work and play on Sunday of showing those you love how you feel, make sure to shed a little love your own way with us!

Love,

Rachel

Another Deep Challenge, CHA, and Cyber Crop Coming!

Here's challenge #4 on the theme POSSIBILITY:

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next. Ursula K. LeGuin



I found this quote really interesting...for me, it's true that not knowing some things for sure gives me the space to create possibility and future good news...how about you? What do you forget, or not believe, about yourself or the world that helps you keep going?

Please create a LO about what you DON'T know for certain...and why that might be good, or not.



For the design twist, let's pay homage to the new movie (which I haven't seen, anyone? anyone?) since I like the title. Please float some stuff up overhead on your page to show what's up in the air for you.

Remember - post your LO in our at gallery for a chance at a great prize from Crate Paper.

We still have a few lovely POSSIBILITY kits left...yum, yum. Click here to grab yours!



In other news:

Stay tuned! Three members of our fantastic Design Team will be attending the Craft and Hobby Association tradeshow and the CHA Craft Supershow and will be posting here with their impressions, first looks, celeb sightings and more...check in here this Friday to hear from Rita, Stacey and Diana!

Our lead designer Nancy Doren and I will be hard at work sourcing our next kits...it's LOADS of fun but crazy! We're really looking forward to developing brave new packages to excite and motivate you to explore your inner world...

And:

We're celebrating a new holiday...all about you!



The awesome and inspiring Christine Arylo has created a special celebration of women and self-care. And what better day to celebrate than Feb 13...because if YOU don't put YOU first, who will?

We'll be playing along with our first ever Cybercrop. Details to follow...

So many great things to share...don't go anywhere!

Love,

Rachel


Explore Your Inner World.