Challenge #29--OPPORTUNITY: August 3rd - September 6th, 2015

It is the first Monday in August and that means it is time for the next challenge to start.  This time around, for Challenge #29 the theme is "OPPORTUNITY".  Show us your interpretation of what opportunity 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.

We are given so many opportunities in our life and it is up to us to figure out which ones we should hold on to and which ones we should let go of.  Even when things are difficult, opportunity still exists--we just have to look a little harder to find it.  Is there someone you know that needs a little encouragement to seek out their dreams and goals so they can climb the ladder to success?  Or maybe someone in your life needs a little reminder that life is all about taking chances.  You could even create a birthday card as my team member and good friend Desíre did, adhering to the idea that every birthday holds the possibility of wonderful opportunities for the year to come. 

The concept of opportunity provides you with the chance to explore a number of different avenues.  We look forward to seeing your interpretation on this month's theme. 

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 opportunity 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 opportunity in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes.  While you may easily see how opportunity 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...

This month we have one returning sponsor and a brand new one!

First up is our newest sponsor, the Oddball Art Co.  Let's get to know what Lizzie's company is all about, shall we?!

 Lizzy has always loved the stranger, quirkier side of life and that is exactly what she loves to create. Her art described as a perfect combination of sweet and sour that glitters up the grunge! As a lover of all things whimsical, kawaii and creepy cute, she throws in some Pastel Goth with a touch of glam, punk & rockabilly pinup!

She has certainly never been a mainstream type of girl and definitely won't fit into your stereotypical cookie cutter artists role;  but rather she finds beauty in the truly unique, big eyed creepy little cuties with a bittersweet sadness. She is never truly happier then when she is in her art studio painting or sewing, creating a whimsical dream world easily recognizable as her signature style of creepy yet cute, all the way from the haunting darkness to the rainbowtastic, Lizzy’s creations are lovingly sprinkled with a heartbreaking sweetness.

Growing up a child of the 80's, pop rocks princess, with an extreme fondness for anything candy coated, Kawaii Kitten & Ziggy Stardust, all of which had a major influence in the work that she is creating today.  Lizzy employs many different mediums when she creates, anything from mixed media painting to sewing with many different textiles, the end result always being the same;  A whimsical dream world filled with big eyed beauties, creepy little cuties and quirky monsters of all shapes and sizes. 

Company Website:  http://www.oddballartco.com
Etsy Store:              https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/OddballArtCo
Challenge Blog:       http://oddballartco.blogspot.com
Facebook:              http://www.facebook.com/oddballartco

Check out the great images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge. Clicking on the watermarks below will take you to their location in the Etsy store.

Bonnie Bookworm Image No. 24 & 24B

Skylar & Friends in Signs of Spring Image No. 204/B

Frazzled Fran Needs Her Coffee Image No. 154

Next, that brings us to Deedee's Digis.  Here is a refresher of what Deedee's company is all about...

Deedee's Digis offers wholesome digital "stamps" and printable digital papers that are the original creations of Deedee Anderson. All of our sets include both outline and pre-colored images, in both JPG and PNG formats. Our products are offered in high 300dpi resolution so that they are fully resizable to meet your crafting needs. We are a Christ-centered company, and you will find that many of our sets include KJV Scripture verses, in addition to encouraging sentiments of all sorts. We feel very blessed to be part of such a talented community of paper crafters, and thank you for allowing us to sponsor this challenge!

Main Blog:   http://www.deedeesdigis.com/
 Store:          https://shop.deedeesdigis.com/

Check out the sweet images the team worked with for their projects for the beginning of this challenge.  Clicking on the watermarks below will take you to their location in the store.

Once again, we are fortunate and blessed to have the chance to work with all these amazing 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 Veronika, from Cheiro Urgia, as our guest designer for this challenge...

I'm Veronika, I'm a 27-year-old medical student from Slovenia.

As my mother was a kindergarden-teacher, me and my two sisters have spent all our childhood being creative with different techniques and materials. 5 years ago I started crafting again by making greeting cards. I especially like paper embroidery, but there might be times I put all my papers away and work with decoupage or jewelry. My other hobbies include hiking, cooking and photography.

I started my blog cheirourgia.blogspot.com one year ago to have a diary of my projects, and since then it became a fun place of challenges and seeing what other crafters are up to. I have already had the chance to be a GD in a couple of challenge blogs and I'm part of the DT at Fadengrafik Challenge this year. Now I'm excited to be a GD at Path of Positivity, too.

Thanks for inviting me to be part of the team for the challenge "Oportunities". It's a great honour for me and I hope you can use my project for a little inspiration.

Check out the beautiful creation she came up with....

My amazing design team and guests never disappoint!  They each have their own unique styles and ideas.  As always I am blown away by the quality of their projects!  Each of these projects has showcased opportunity in various forms and manners and I hope we have inspired you.  Be sure to go and visit each of them so you can see how their projects connect to the theme.

So what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to opportunity, 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 next week when voting will start on the Top Picks for Challenge #28.  Normally it would be published next Monday but this month that post is going to be delayed by a few days.  I hope this will not inconvenience anyone.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON OPPORTUNITY

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:

© 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:

• Speedball No 3 font created by Nick's Fonts
• Dollar Bill font created by Twicolabs

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 August 3rd - September 6th, 2015.
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on September 6th.
• 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 #29, prizes will be the following:
• 3 images from Oddball Art Co., one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $25 gift certificate from Deedee's Digis, 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 or three existing papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on on posts published during the challenge timeframe.
• 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