Challenge #24--SERENDIPITY: March 2nd - April 5th, 2015

It is the first Monday in March and that means it is time for the next challenge to start (it is also my momma's birthday and my surrogate niece JoJo's as well--happy birthday gals).  This time around, for Challenge #24 the theme is "SERENDIPITY".  Show us your interpretation of what serendipity 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.

Now I'll be interested to see what kind of response we get for this challenge.  If we get less than 10 people playing along when the theme is laughter (any kind of humourous project would have fit perfectly), I can only imagine what the response will be with the theme of serendipity.  However, it is a challenge after all, and challenging you, we most definitely are this month.

Given that one needs to think a bit differently about the theme for this challenge, I thought I'd provide you with a definition and some examples:

• luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/serendipity)

• Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise". It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to a friend Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes, he told his correspondent, were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity)

Examples of SERENDIPITY (1-3--http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/serendipity)

1. They found each other by pure serendipity.
2. If reporters fail to keep these files, they seldom luck into bigger stories. Their investigative work typically happens only by design—analyzing the news, for instance—not by serendipity. —Michael J. Bugeja, Editor & Publisher, 13 Jan. 2003
3. A week earlier, the doctor would have had no recourse but to make an incision in the baby's skin to get to a vein—a precarious option now, since time was running short and it would take nearly half an hour to assemble the necessary equipment. But in an extraordinary bit of serendipity, Hanson had attended a seminar on emergency medical care for children just a week before. —David Ruben, Parenting, December/January 1996
4.  The world conspired and two people found each other.
5. Serendipity brought us together, friendship/love keeps us together.

 I hope that helps you out a bit.  My team certainly did a lovely job with their creations.  If the connection to the theme is unclear, remember that you can always check out their blogs to find out how their project ties into the theme.  I know that once you work it out for yourself a bit, that you'll come up with something great as well.  Serendipity is all around us.  Maybe there is someone special in your life that you'd like to tell, how lucky you are that you found them, or maybe you have a wedding coming up.  This month's theme is perfect for wedding cards.  Whichever route of serendipity you go down, why not design a creation and not only share it with the recipient, but us as well?!

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 serendipity 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 serendipity in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.  While you may easily see how serendipity 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 two new companies as our guest sponsors for this month's challenge.

First up, we have Sami Stamps.  Let's learn a lit bit about Sami's company shall we?!

Hello! I'm so happy to be here as a Sponsor for The Path of Positivity! Sami Stamps provides a variety of high quality Digital Stamps in both JPEG and PNG formats. I hope you enjoy crafting with Sami Stamps images as much as I enjoy illustrating them!
If you're having fun here, please feel free to come check us out!

Main Blog: www.samistamp.blogspot.com
Blog Shop: http://samistampsshop.blogspot.com/
Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SamiStamps

Check out the lovely 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 category page they can be found on in SS store...

 Two Smiles (Baby and Parents category)

Lovely Native Fairy (Thanksgiving and Fall category)

Umbrella Love (Valentine's Day and love category)

Wild Flower Beauty (Spring and Easter category)

On Your Arm (Valentine's Day and love category)

Next, that brings us to Lunagirl.  Let's now learn a little about Karen's company and what she has to offer...

My name is Karen, owner of Lunagirl Images. In 2004, after collecting vintage ephemera for most of my life, I started digitizing and restoring images and designing digital supplies for artists and crafters (my husband collected antique books and prints, so we had quite a house full!) We are proud to have been the first company to offer digital vintage image collections of this size and quality at prices affordable to the home crafter.

At Lunagirl.com (and in my etsy shop) I currently offer you several hundred unique digital collage sheets and dozens of themed craft CDs -- over 30,000 images so far! They are a great resource for card making, scrapbooking, jewelry making, and much more, easy to use, carefully researched and curated, all thoughtfully organized and lovingly cleaned up, ready to you to use in your projects. I love altering and embellishing these beautiful and fascinating images and seeing what my customers create with them.

In addition to digital art and design, I enjoy painting on wood, creating assemblage icons and shrines, reading history books, bellydancing, cooking, and sewing with my vintage Singer. I'm also blessed to be the mom of two teenaged boys.

If you're looking for something in particular in vintage style, feel free to email me at info@Lunagirl.com!

Main Blog:  http://www.LunagirlMoonbeams.com
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lunagirl-Images
Pinterest:    https://www.pinterest.com/lunagirlart/
Store:         http://www.lunagirl.com/
Etsy:          https://www.etsy.com/shop/Lunagirl

Below you will see the fabulous collage sheets that team members used images from for their projects for the beginning of this challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their location within the LG store...

 Backgrounds: Interiors Digital Collage Sheet

Vintage Romance #1

 

Travel Posters Digital Collage Sheet

 

Steampunk Girls: Ready for Adventure Digital Collage Sheet

Once again, 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.  I even had the time to create a project for the start of the challenge.  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 Stephanie, from Steph's Scrap Happenings, as our guest designer for this challenge...

I’m a Florida native currently living in Kentucky.  I have been married to my wonderful husband for 30 years and we have been blessed with a son and a daughter. Both of them are married and our son and his wife are the parents of our precious grandson.  While I have been doing crafts of all kinds most of my life, my love of paper-crafting started in 2004 when I wanted to make a scrapbook for our son’s high school graduation party.  From my scrapbooking roots, I gradually transitioned into making cards and altered items.  Due to design team commitments, I work a lot with digi stamps but enjoy getting inky with “traditional” stamps as well.  Many of my cards feature Scripture verses.  I view card-making as not only a wonderful hobby but also as a ministry tool to use to encourage others.  I was very happy to find the Path of Positivity Challenge a couple of months ago.  I really like the purpose of the challenge and am very excited to be a Guest Designer this month.

Here is the beautiful creation she came up with for the start of the challenge...

Once again I am blown away by the quality of projects from my amazing design team and wonderful guest!  Each of these projects has showcased serendipity in various forms and manners and I hope we have inspired you.

So what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to serendipity, 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, March 9th when voting will start on the Top Picks for Challenge #23.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON SERENDIPITY
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided a quote for you, which you can find below.  The quote has been divided into two just in case you want to split it up and put the first part in a different area.  You can easily pull the two parts together to use them in the same area, as I did for the inside of my card.

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:
© 2015, 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:

• Windsong  font created by Bright Ideas
• Libre Caslon font created by Impallari Type 

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 March 2nd - April 5th, 2015.
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on April 5th.
• 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 #24, prizes will be the following:
• A $12 gift certificate from Sami Stamps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $15 gift certificate from Lunagirl, 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 (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.

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 Below:

An InLinkz Link-up