Challenge #41--LUCK...September 5th to October 2nd

Hello everyone! For those of our readers in the States and Canada, I hope you have enjoyed your long Labour Day weekend.  It is the first Monday in September and it is time for the next challenge to start. This time around, for Challenge #41, the theme is "LUCK". Show us your interpretation of what luck 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.

The free sentiment for the start of the challenge says, "Fortune favours the bold" (don't worry there is an alternate spelling for all our American readers that doesn't have the letter u in favour). Now while I do believe that there are some people who appear to have been born lucky, those whom seem to have an invisible horseshoe glued around their neck at all times, for the rest of us, I believe it is possible to create our own luck. For most of us, luck just isn't going to drop into our laps. We need to work hard and make sure that we line up everything we can so that luck may indeed favour us. Put yourself out there. You aren't going to win any contests, competitions or challenges if you don't enter them. It is important that we each do our parts and then maybe we'll be lucky enough to benefit from the hard work we've put in. Even if we aren't the lucky recipient who wins, our hard work isn't for nothing. Everything we do propels us along in whatever craft we work at. We can only get better from our efforts which may indeed lead us to further opportunities for winning down the road. Julie, one of my amazing DT members, used the following quote from Stephen Leacock on her card which sums up this idea perfectly, "I am a great believer of luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." So, keep working hard and you just may find yourself benefiting from a little bit of luck yourself.

This month, think of all the different opportunities where you could wish someone luck. Do you know of someone who is headed of to school or a new job? I'm sure they'd love to receive a card wishing them good luck in their new endeavours. Perhaps you know of someone who could use a little encouragement to create their own luck. Maybe you would just like to wish someone having a birthday a year ahead filled with love, luck and laughter. There are so many ways to showcase the theme of luck.

As usual my team, has come up with some interesting ideas so be sure to pop over to their blogs and see how their creations connect with the concept of this challenge. What direction will you go in? Whatever approach you take, 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 luck 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 luck in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes. While you may easily see how luck 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 two returning sponsors!

First up is Imagine That! Digistamp™.  Here is a refresher of what Kristy's company is all about...

Imagine That! Digis by Kris™ is a mother/daughter team bringing you our cutest hand-drawn images that you can flip, re-size, re-color, print & use in your crafting creations!  Almost all our digi sets include both color & outline formats & include sentiments for a great value.  In addition to carrying family-friendly digi stamps, we also offer digital papers and KD-Kits, all available as instant downloads!  You may want to check out our Free blogwear category, as well as find freebies on our Facebook Page and join in our monthly progressive challenge where everyone who plays, Wins!  You can read more about us here on our 'About the Arists' page.

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

 

Next, that brings us to Limited Runs. Here is a refresher of what Nikki's company is all about...

Limited Runs has a LARGE calorie free sweet shoppe filled with over 120 different cupcakes, something for almost every occasion. It's not all cupcakes there are tons of  Christmas, Halloween, Backgrounds, Fairies, Critters and More to see. The store has gone through a re-vamp with new digital stamps added in all the time so pop in an take a look around things. Everyone knows you can't enjoy a cupcake without a coffee so there is a place to even pick up a cuppa. There's always a little something for everyone to enjoy and grab the monthly freebie so you can sample before you buy and add to your collection.

Check out the fun 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 the Limited Runs store...

Swimming Turtle (Category: Amphibians 1-10)

Fence with Butterfly (Category: Backgrounds 1-10)

Snow House Set (Category: Backgrounds 21-30)

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.  Pippa is taking the month off but Pat has created an extra project for you all. 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 Sue, from The Bottle Cork and Crystal, as our guest designer for this challenge. Check out the great card she created....

My amazing design team and wonderful 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 the concept of luck 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 luck, 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 Monday when voting will start on the Top Picks for Challenge #40--at least I am hoping it will be out on Monday, it may end up coming out on Tuesday instead. It is a busy weekend for me next weekend as my hubby's sister is coming up to stay with us for several days and there is a wedding to go to on Saturday as well. I'm hoping I'll get it posted on Monday but the likelihood is that I won't. I just wanted you to know why, if it happens to be later than expected.

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

British, Australian, New Zealand & Canadian spelling of FAVOUR [did I miss anyone?]

American Spelling of FAVOR [sorry, that just looks so weird to me ;) ]

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.

Fonts used

• Butterscotch Typeface created by Nicky Laatz
• Botanica Ornaments created by My Creative Land

Click on the font name to take you to a download location. Both of these fonts were purchased with extended licensing which allows commercial use. As such, it is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others for free or for sale. 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 September 5th to October 2nd, 2016.
• Link up your inspirational post below using Inlinkz. You will be able to submit your link up to 11:55 p.m. on October 2nd.
• 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 #41, prizes will be the following:
• A $10.00 gift certificate from Imagine That! Digi Stamp, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the team deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on on posts published during the challenge time-frame.
• 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