Challenge #22--UNIQUENESS: January 5, 2015 - February 5, 2015

Before I start, I would like to wish every single one of you a very happy new year.  It is a brand new year filled with numerous possibilities. The road is set before us with many different paths throughout the next twelve months.  I wish you all much success on whichever paths you choose to travel.

 
Right now the path is set for the very first challenge of 2015.  This year we're doing things just a little bit differently where our sponsors are concerned.  Each month we will now have two guest sponsors sharing their incredible artwork and generosity!  For now, things will stay the same in terms of the prizes (although that could always change):  

• one of our wonderful guest sponsors each month will provide a prize for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• the other of our wonderful guest sponsors each month, will provide a prize for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• Even though the Creative Bug Digital SnapShots store is no longer selling their images, they are still generously allowing each person chosen as a DT Delight to choose one of the existing images in the store.

There will also continue to be:

• Badges for all the top picks, Voter's Choice, Most Inspirational, random winner, and for individuals chosen as a DT Delight. 
• One digital designer paper (made to order in a couple different ways) from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Our schedule will stay the same as well:

• First Monday of the month--Challenge goes live at 6:00 p.m. EST. 
• Second Monday of the month--Top picks for previous challenge are announced and voting for Voter's Choice honour begins. Voting remains open for seven days.
• Third Monday of the month--Midway post goes live at 6:00 p.m. EST.
• Fourth Monday of the month--Winners for previous challenge announced.
• Sunday Before Next Challenge Begins--'DT Delights' announced. If it happens that there is a month with five Mondays, the DT Delight post will probably go out the week before.

There will be one new thing:

• I thought it would be fun to open things up and have a draw every now and again for anyone interested in being a guest designer for a future challenge.  While it won't be every month, I will try and do it often throughout the year. 
• So, if you are interested in joining us for a future month as a guest designer, please add GDT after your name when entering. 

Now that we've discussed some changes, it is time to get on with the challenge.  This time around, for Challenge #22 the theme is "UNIQUENESS".  Show us your interpretation of what uniqueness means to you.  You can make any sort of project and/or post as long as it is positive in nature and relates to the theme.

YOU are unique.  So am I.  Each of us is unique in our own way.  There are of course some people who are more unique than others.  I love this fact about the world around us.  Can you imagine if we were all the same?  My goodness, how boring that would be!!!  Is there someone you know that should be reminded of just how unique they are?  Well, why not create a card celebrating their uniqueness and individuality and share it with us along with that special person?!

Don't forget when you link up your project and/or post, to please leave a comment letting us know how your creation relates to the concept of uniqueness if it isn't readily clear within the design itself or clearly written somewhere else in your post.  Remember, the creation must be positive/inspirational/motivational AND adhere to the theme of uniqueness in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.  While you may easily see how uniqueness relates to your creation, it may not be as apparent to me or the DT members.  That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere, whether here or in your blogpost.  You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge, if it would be easier.  We just need to know how your project ties into the theme.  Letting us know, clears up any ambiguity that may exist.

This month's guest sponsors...

We are very pleased to have some familiar faces as our guest sponsors for this month's challenge.  Each of the ladies behind these two stamp lines are both perfect examples of uniqueness and their images are very reflective of this concept as well.

First up, we have Scribbles Designs.  Here is a refresher of  what this company is all about...

Looking for a unique image or sentiment? Well then! Head on over to Scribbles Designs and check out Sandy's world of her funky imagination and quirky characters. Sandy has loved art, drawing, water colouring and doodling for many years... and with the digital image world she can now share it with all of you. Brrr (Penguin) was her first main character and her other quirky images followed not long after. We hope you enjoy the endearing images available in the store and add Sandy's images to your digital stamp collections.

Check out the rather unique images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their location in the SD store...

#128 Carrie Shopping Diva
 

#837 MoVember Boys Group Shot
 

#240 Brrr Chillin'

Next, that brings us to Ike's Art.  Here is a refresher of what this company is all about...

Hi there – I am Ike……a nickname that I got hooked with many years ago due to my surname, and in my profession at that time, …… they just loved  to give nicknames ☺.

I live in Greece and have a passion for kitties ☺
I am a complete nutter or should I say I’m ‘zany’ hahaha.  I have a very strange/sick sense of humour and I must admit I spend a lot of time talking to myself. !!  Well, I get more sense out of me.!  I reckon in a few years I shall be known as the “crazy cat lady”  ☺

I am an artist and have a strange mind when it comes to creating my art. I either go completely true to life… right down to the last hair… or I go totally surreal.   I have a passion for all things horror/Gothic etc. I’ve always loved horror films and books and I guess that’s why it creeps into my stuff !  Had I been a bit younger I swear I would have been a Goth……luuuuuv it.
Next time around I am gonna be a witch or a cat ☺

I started my Blog a couple of years ago and although I love crafting, my real passion is drawing, and now I just love making digital images.

My SHOP is IkesArt found at www.ikesart.com
My Blog is Ikes World and is at http://suzy-ikesworld.blogspot.com
Exclusive designer for Smeared Ink  www.smearedink.com

Below you will see another great selection of unique images, used by team members in their projects for the beginning of this challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their section within the IA store...

Teenager is in the 'People' section

Vaguely Goth is in the 'People' section

Yay!  is in the 'My Latest Designs' section

We are fortunate and blessed to have the chance to work with all these awesome images this month.  Thanks so much to our fabulous sponsors.  Be sure to come back at the midway when you'll get to see more beautiful projects created with images from these wonderful companies.

Now check out what my amazing design team came up with to inspire you.  Clicking on the team members' name will take you to their blog where you can check out the details for their inspirational creations...

 

We are very pleased to have Mimi, from Crafty Animal, as our guest designer for this challenge...

Hi peeps, oh how hard is this, being asked to write something about myself. Now normally I have no difficulty in talking but this is a bit different :) :) :) OK, here we go. I live in Saudi Arabia at the moment as hubby is working here and just loving every minute of it. I am a born a bred expat and spent much of my life in Africa so it is not surprising I just love living in different places, being able to live amongst different cultures and gain a well rounded experience of humanity is truly a great privilege. My family have always been great crafters, mainly in the needlework area but I like to be different hahaha and my passion is paper. I started card making several years ago as a way to use my photography and ventured into the area of blogs, challenges and hand coloured images a couple of years ago, now I can’t stop. In the crafting world I often go under the name of Mimi but in real life my name is Jane, it seems these days I answer to both as Mimi is the name my Grandson calls me :)

Here is the absolutely unique card she came up with...

Once again I am blown away by the quality of projects from my amazing design team and wonderful guest!  There are so many ways to be unique and each of their projects are such wonderful examples.

 
So what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to uniqueness, provide an explanation of how your project and/or post relates to the theme somewhere in your post or come over and leave a comment with the explanation.  Easy, peasy!

If you have some time, please visit other people participating throughout the month.  I've included the summary of the challenge details below.  If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

I hope to see you back on Monday, January 11th when voting will start on the Top Picks for Challenge #21.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON UNIQUENESS
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided a quote for you, which you can find below.

Please be sure to click on it to bring it up into the lightbox in its proper size before saving it.

Credit Notes For This Creation:
© 2014, Lisa L. Décosse. PUO. However, you are allowed to use the sentiment on handmade projects that you intend to sell on a small scale basis provided credit is given. You also need to include a credit note and a link to this blog or my personal blog, Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, should you use any of my images in your creations and post them on your blog. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with my full terms of use found in the 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of this page. Of important note:  Please do not share my images with family, friends, etc. Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc. Instead, please direct people to my blog(s) so they can grab the image for themselves. If you would like to post a watermarked version of the image, please contact me to obtain one.

Font Information:

• Allura font created by TypeSETit
• 2Peas Gift font created by Two Peas

Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  These fonts were listed for commercial use at the time of this creation.   It is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others for free.  Always check to make sure the terms haven't changed before using the font on something you sell.

You will notice that the sentiment may appear huge depending on what software program you download it into.  You can always reduce the size without distorting the overall look.

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Whether you are new and need to familiarize yourself with all the details,  or a returning participant and just need to refresh yourself, you can always find out everything you need to know in order to enter this challenge in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page. I've provided a quick summary below.  Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:

• Each Path of Positivity challenge will remain open for approx. a full month.  Entries for this challenge will be accepted from January 5th – February 1st.
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on February 1st.
• When you link up, leave a comment summarizing what it is about your post that you feel is inspirational  / positive / motivational and how it fits into the theme if you have not included this information somewhere within your post.  You can simply add a sentence or two right next to the link for this challenge if you want.
• Don't forget to come back throughout the month and visit others that have participated. 
• You can link up a total of three (3) creations.
• Voting for this challenge will begin once the top picks have been determined.  There will be a separate post detailing those picks.  You will then have the opportunity to vote on the creation or post that you have found to be the most inspirational of the chosen picks.  Be sure to leave a comment telling us what it was that inspired you or something in general if you uncomfortable disclosing any details of your vote. 
• For Challenge #22, prizes will be the following:
• A prize package worth $10 of digi images (digital papers not applicable) from Scribbles Designs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $10 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.
• There will also  be:
• One digital designer paper from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

If you ever have any questions be sure to EMAIL ME or just leave me a comment.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link up:

An InLinkz Link-up