Change brings opportunity.

In the past, the blog post on the first Sunday of the month was reserved for our Scraplift Challenge, which fulfilled square #18 on the Sweet Shoppe Passport. But with the advent of This or That?, our new monthly challenge-and-reward system, we no longer have a Scraplift challenge to issue each month.

No scraplift challenge … no Scraplift Sunday. So this month, we’re doing something new!

I call it Show off & Shout Out with the Sugar Babes.

Over in the This or That Challenges forum where you’ll find a thread for each month’s challenges (the ones that can earn you a discount in the Shoppe as well as a chance to win a $50 gift certificate) you’ll also find a companion thread for the month titled “Show off & Shout out!” Here’s how it works:

Reply to the thread to claim your spot. Throughout the month, update it with

• links to 15 pages in the Gallery on which you’ve left a comment (we call it “leaving love”),
• an image of a layout you created this month and posted in the gallery you want to show off,
• a sentence or two about why you’re proud of the layout you created or why you love it so much,
• an image of a layout someone else created and posted in the gallery to which you want to give a shout out, and
• a sentence or two about why their layout inspires you or what you love about it.

That’s it! Leave love for 15 layouts in the gallery, share your Show Off, and share a Shout Out, and you could win a free kit or mini bundle up to $15 in value.

I asked some of the Sugar Babes to share their Show Off and Shout Outs to wrap up our January This or That? Challenges. Here’s what Jacinda, Krista (norton94), Kim (kim517), Kiana, Dalis, and Sarah (Saar) had to say:

Jacinda’s Show Off

Why Jacinda is proud of this layout: “I’m a template scrapper, so creating pages WITHOUT a template is a challenge for me. I wanted to use the bright colours in this kit but I didn’t want them to overwhelm the photos. Random spots on white was the perfect balance, and the white photo mat with doodled lines & elements helped ground everything. It’s really a fairly simple page, but I’m so pleased how it turned out.”

Jacinda’s Shout Out

Why Jacinda loves “Let It Gogh” by ArmyGrl: “This is a fantastic use of the background paper. To place the cluster where she did makes it look like the paper was created specifically for this layout. Just the right amount of embellishments and a great photo to compliment the page. I love it.”

Krista’s Show Off

Why Krista is proud of this layout: “I am pleased with my layout because it’s really capturing the here and now at a pivotal time in my son’s life. He’s deciding where he’ll spend the next 4 yrs for graduate school. The page required some research on my part of each school’s website and socials, which allowed me to learn more about the possibilities he’s considering. I now have more of an opinion about the choices! Since then he’s been scheduled for interviews at all of these, interviewed at two and admitted to both!”

Krista (norton94)’s Shout Out

Why Krista loves “My Kids Are Awesome” by Kellie (joelsgirl): “I love the color and diagonal flow of this page!! The subtle horizontal accents of the butterfly print and hearts on the journal cards add just a little pause over the photos and journaling to linger a moment. I love her b&w photo treatment. Kellie is a wonderful storyteller and keeps it real in her documentation. Her pages always make me smile!”

Kim’s Show Off

Why Kim is proud of this layout: “I love flowers and clusters on a layout and I feel like the arc of flowers in this layout just came together perfectly. I actually didn’t start with the idea to have them wrap around the journal card in that way. This was definitely one of those layouts that just developed as I went and I am really happy with how it turned out. I also love the memory recorded here and the reminder that even when something disappoints, there are opportunities to grow and learn from it.”

Kim’s Shout Out

Why Kim loves “2021 Books” by AmieN1: “I love the use of this template to record the books she read in a year. It takes a lot of thought and detail to put together a layout like this with so many pieces, and this one is perfect because each piece works together and adds to the effect of the layout. I especially like how she made the journal cards smaller to fit the scale of the other items in the layout. Everything about this is perfection!”

Kiana’s Show Off

Why Kiana is proud of this layout: “I’m loving this recent layout I created because it’s creative and artsy. I feel like in looking at this one it draws you in just like the quote I found about poetry being a “painting that speaks”. I feel like this page is speaking to the viewer to look deeper just as my poetry does. Add the fun quote included in the kit about normality and this page becomes an exploration in creating what you want and being totally yourself when you do.”

Kiana’s Shout Out

Why Kiana loves “Wonderful Fall” by Kimberly27: “Kimberly always has the cutest photos on her pages but I chose this one because of the earthy colors on that wood background. I really like her great use of the blues, reds, & yellows and how they coordinate with his shirt. The clusters create the visual triangle that hold your focus on all the best parts of this page. The great big title with the scatter of leaves and those butterflies were the perfect finishing touch.”

Dalis’s Show Off

Why Dalis is proud of this layout: “This is such a soft page, which is not my usual. I love how I am looking into her feeling the music. It’s delicate and a very calm palette for me. There is a lot of OUTSIDE my box on this page.”

Dalis’s Shout Out

Why Dalis loves “Winter Fun” by HeatherH: “Heather’s page is one attention-grabbing page for sure! I loved it the second I saw it in the gallery. I even went and bought the template set (I already had the kit). Heather doesn’t shy away from bright and fun colors, or from patterns. Her bold choice of colors and patterns is what makes this page a favorite of mine. Even though the background is bold it does not take away from the photo, it enhances the sensation of fun and happiness. WELL DONE!”

Sarah’s Show Off

Why Sarah is proud of this layout: “I saw Lorie posting her new Photo Focus series behind the scenes and I immediately knew I wanted to do something artsy with them. Ru’s new collection turned out to be the perfect fit for the job. I started adding papers and journal cards. I added my photo with no clear direction of where I wanted to go with this layout. I just wanted to scrap and have fun. I love how it turned out with all the layers, the clusters, the messy-ness. I just get happy looking at this layout.”

Sarah’s Shout Out

Why Sarah loves “Pizza Night” by iScrap: “I love all of Jenny’s work. I think her clusters and shadows are always spot on. Her layouts always jump right out in the gallery. Not to mention her photography skills. I esp. love this layout because of the dark background paper. It really makes her layout stand out even more. I love the photos and how she used the journal card. She did such a great job with the kit and template.”

 

And this was just so much fun, I had to join in, so here’s my Show Off & Shout Out:

My Show Off

Why I am proud of this layout: “The moment I saw Kristin’s kit, Be A Trailblazer: Go Easy on Yourself, I knew I needed to use it to scrapbook photos of my two granddaughters. The primary colors in the kit are precisely the shades my daughter-in-law chose for their nurseries: Amelia Grace’s is a rosy pink and Evangeline’s is a mint green. I don’t usually get super symbolic in my scrapbooking, but this time, I couldn’t help it. I took the two ribbons from the kit and worked them across the page, behind the photos, and entwined them as a symbol of my hope that these two sisters, no matter where life takes them, would cling to and support one another their whole lives long.”

My Shout Out

Why I love “Story of My Life” by MrsPeel: “Sometimes a piece of art speaks to you on a visceral level; you can’t always verbalize why, you just know that it does. This layout by MrsPeel does precisely that. From a design perspective, I love the amount of whitespace she chose to leave around her centered vertical cascade of elements. She’s added various levels with shadowing and types of textures with the smooth paper, rough stitching, bumpy paint, raised metal pieces, and more. But I think it’s the fact I can identify with her subject matter (I, too, battle chronic pain and chronic illness) and I see the way her design so brilliantly reflects things only we might identify. Like the silhouette of the head being blended and feathered into the page evokes the ever-constant brain fog we battle. This is an outstanding design and, for me, evoked some very deep emotions, making it a definite stand-out layout.”

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I know many of us feel like, more than ever, we’re living in a hostile world filled with negativity. Remember the words of Mother Teresa: “Just do small things with great love.” Our monthly Show Off & Shout Out thread is a perfect way to immerse yourself in a positive environment and do lots of small things with great love! So what are you waiting for? Get over to the This or That Challenges forum, reserve your spot in the February 2022 Show off & Shout Out thread, and start leaving love throughout the Gallery right now!