Design Team Delights for Challenge #24--SERENDIPITY

It is time to share our favourite entries for Challenge #24.  As always, in each challenge you, the readers, get to voice your opinion by voting for your favourite and so it is only fitting that my Design Team get to do so as well.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to join along our Path during the month of March for Challenge #24.  While it is always a difficult decision, most of the team members managed to find a particular entry that really caught their attention.  Take a look...

Cheiro (Veronika)--chosen by Vicky...

Vicky had this to say:
"My DT Delight choice would be # 5 Cheiro (Veronika). I love how she reminds us to just appreciate little glimpse of perfection that you can see in nature."

To see the details of Veronika's creation and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.

Penny--chosen by Monica...

 Here is what Monica had to say:
"My DT Delight choice is Penny (1st entry). I too love traveling an loved her card depicting an adventure waiting to happen."

To see the details of Penny's creation and read more of what she had to say click HERE.

Edwina--chosen by Sandy, Pat, and Suze... 

Sandy said this:
"I'm liking Edwina for my choice.   I love her statement, 'Serendipity is what happens every time we create something in art' - I think I feel that way every time! LOL"

This is what Pat had to say:
"I also choose Edwina as my DT Delight who says, 'Serendipity is what happens every time we create something in art'. I agree with her and often let serendipity guide my hands and my heart when I create a card or project."

Here is what Suze had to say:
"My DT Delight choice is also Edwina B.  I love the different textures in this card and the colour scheme chosen." 

To see the details of Edwina's creation and read more of what she had to say click HERE.

Teresa--chosen by Penny...

Penny said this:
"My DT Delight choice is Teresa: such artistic gorgeousness--I  love how it all came together." 

To see the details of Teresa's creation and read more of what she had to say click HERE.

AJ--chosen by Desíre...

Here is what Desíre had to say: 

"My DT Delight choice is AJ.  Her card design is just so colourful and fresh and I adore the feather theme and how she finished off the inside of the card too." 

To see the details of AJ's creation and read more of what she had to say click HERE.

Gloria--chosen by Lisa (that's me)...

My choice this time around is Gloria.  Not only is her creation gorgeous, I really like what she had to say about serendipity:

I have had a lot of serendipity moments in my life...I think we have to be open to these moments; for us to see and recognize them.  They are indeed miracles of everyday life."

Truly inspiring words to make one realize how important it is to be aware of how serendipity plays in our lives.  You never know when it will come into action so always be on the look out for it.

  
To see the details of Gloria's creation and read more of what she had to say, click HERE.

Creative Congratulations to all of you!

Thank you to everyone who played on our Pathway during the month of March.  As always we greatly appreciate you sharing your incredible talents with us.

For our DT Delights chosen for this challenge... 

Cheiro (Veronika), Penny, Edwina, Teresa, AJ and Gloria

  You are all entitled to one image of your choice from our on-going sponsor...

Please head to the Creative Bug Digital SnapShots store:  http://creativebugdigis.com.  Click to enter the digital snapshots area.  Once you are on the homepage for the digis, scroll down a little bit and you'll see a brown banner on the left hand side that says, "looking for digis".  There will be a Polaroid image right underneath it that says SnapShots (Digital Images).  Click on this.  You'll be taken to a page that lists all the categories of images available for you to choose from.  If you need to see the image a bit closer, just right click and choose 'view image'.  Once you've made your decision, please send me the name of the one image you want and let me know which section it came from.

Additionally, you are entitled to the special Challenge #24 DT Delight Badge. To claim both your digi and the badge (or just one or the other), send your requests to popwinners {at} gmail {dot} com (be sure to replace at and dot with the appropriate symbols) or by clicking HERE to bring the address up in your email program, with the subject, "PoP#24--DT Delight Badge and/or Digi Request".   I'm always running a bit behind these days, so your patience is appreciated.

Our special yearly prize package will also still be taking place.  Remember, if you are chosen as a DT Delight during any of our challenges, your name will be entered into a draw for some digital goodies.  You get one entry per choice; so, if two members picked your card, you will earn 2 entries, three members 3 entries, etc.  The winner at the time will be notified by email.   The next draw will occur sometime in the summer of 2015.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope to see you again tomorrow, May 4th, when we will be back with the start of Challenge #26.  We hope that you will join us then to learn what the newest theme will be.

See you again soon!

 

The People Have Spoken: Winners From Challenge #24

It is time to announce the winners from Challenge #24.  We had 42 people vote in this challenge which I think is one of our highest turnouts yet!  And, by a landslide, we ended up with a clear cut winner in the Voter's Choice category.  Who are all the lucky winners? Well, let's find out.

Without further ado, here are the choices...

Drum roll, please....BBBbbbrrrrrrrrr pish

The people have spoken and their choice for Challenge #24 is....

DENYSE

Denyse, you will be getting a cool and awe inspiring personalized badge for your blog as the Voter's Choice for Challenge #24.

In the category of Most Inspiring, our winner is...

VERONIKA (Cheiro)

Veronika, you have won a $12 gift certificate from Sami Stamps, one of our guest sponsors during Challenge #24. 

Veronika, you will also be getting a lovely, one of a kind personalized badge for your blog as the Most Inspiring choice for Challenge #24.

The Random Winner for this challenge (chosen by Random.com), based on all eligible participants is:

 PENNY

Penny, you have won a $15 gift certificate from Lunagirl, our second guest sponsor during Challenge #24. 

We also have a prize available for a voter who left a comment.  Our winner this challenge chosen by MiniwebTool.com is... 
 

Edwina who was the only person who left a comment:

 

 I voted for #4 Veronica's photo. I was surprised I liked her reason best. I love photo and flowers, but the serendipity explanation of chance that they got to see these flowers meant so much to me. I could just imagine them coming upon them and the joy they felt when they saw them. Yes, I can imagine it easily. I looked at and read each person's post. They all are great! Wish I could put in a vote for you all.

Edwina, you have won a selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles.

Big Congrats to...

Denyse, Veronika, Penny & Edwina

Please click HERE to send us an email with the subject, "WINNER PoP Challenge #24" to make arrangements to receive your prize and badge (where applicable).  Please note that it may take me a few days to get back to you.  Thank you for your patience. 

All entrant's in Challenge #24 are entitled to a special digital sentiment based on the theme for the upcoming challenge.  So, if you were one of the individuals who entered Challenge #24 and would like to receive a free sentiment based on the theme for Challenge #26, which starts Monday, May 3rd, please click HERE to send us an email with the subject line, "PoP#24 Entrant Quote Request for #26".

There is still one week left to enter into our challenge on GROWTH.  Click HERE for details.  If you haven't linked up already, I hope that you will consider coming over to play with us.  As always, we'd love to have you join our Path!

Don't forget to join us this coming Sunday for our DT Delights post.  We look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Challenge #24 Top Picks: Voting Open April 13th to April 20th, 2015

Welcome to the Challenge #24 PoP ToP!

It is time to get on with showcasing the top picks for Challenge #24.  As we only had twelve participants enter Challenge #24 (and only 10 qualifying for the theme), we will be opening things up so that those ten entrants have the opportunity to be chosen as the Voter's Choice.  We do this any time we have less than 14 participants.  And while we may not have enough participants to have our usual top seven, we certainly have enough to have a top three.  Therefore, it is time to get on with showcasing the three projects that the team feels were the best of the bunch.

So, without further ado, please let me introduce you to the Top Picks for Challenge #24 (in no particular order)...

Congrats Ladies...

As a participant who has been chosen as a Top Pick, each of you is entitled to a special Top Pick badge. Please send an email to popwinners {at} gmail {dot} com, or by clicking HERE to bring up the address in your email program, with the subject "Challenge #24 Top Pick" and I'll email your badge to you.  Please note that it may take me several days to get back to you, so I really appreciate your patience.

Now as I mentioned earlier, each of the participant's who entered Challenge #24 AND FOLLOWED THE THEME are eligible to have their project and/or post voted on.  Here is a list of those participants.  Each of the entrant's names is linked up to their blog post (order is reflective of how they entered the challenge and nothing else). 

~DEANNE~

 AJ

Maarit

Veronika (cheiro)

Edwina B

Teresa

Gloria S

Penny #1

Penny #2

Denyse

Please Note:  If you entered and don't understand why your project isn't listed here, it is because we didn't understand how the project tied into the theme of SERENDIPITY.  That is why we ask that you clarify it somewhere when entering, whether a simple statement on your blog next to the link up, or by coming over and leaving a comment on the start post.  If we don't understand the connection, and you don't clarify it somewhere, your post/creation is not eligible for voting or prizes.

Have Your Say!

Now the really hard work starts.  It is time for you, our readers, to vote for your favourite entry.  Which participant most inspires you?  Remember, you are not necessarily voting on a creation that was made.  You might simply find what the person had to say in their post to be inspiring and optimistic and in line with the concept of serendipity.  In fact, Veronika's entry is what she had to say in her post.  Therefore, please be sure to go and check out the entries first and not just make your choices off of the thumbnails.  Once you have checked all the entries out,  let us know who your favourite choice is by placing your vote below using the Inlinkz feature.

Voting open for 7 days:
April 13th to April 20th

Come have your say in determining the Voter's Choice for Challenge #24!  Don't forget to leave a comment after you have voted.  There will be a prize for one lucky voter who leaves a comment (chosen randomly).  If you haven't had the opportunity to visit each of the entries already, please go and check them out a little more closely before placing your vote.  Once you have made your decision, why not go back and let them know how they inspired you.

Good luck everyone!

Important Note:

Please note that in order for this to work, I must add all the entries but I can only do this AFTER I have published this post.  So there will be some overlap time between when this post is published and when you will be able to vote.  Once I have uploaded the entries there will be a total of ten images below on which to vote.  As soon as all ten are uploaded, I'll enable voting to begin. If there are less than ten, it means that I am still in the process of adding the images and you should come back in a little while to make your vote.  Thank you for your patience!

Link Up Below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Challenge #24--Midway Reflection & Voting Reminder

Hello everyone! We have reached the midway point of Challenge #24. The theme for this challenge is all about SERENDIPITY.   As usual, I am going to share a little introspection with you all that I am also presenting on my own personal blog in my "Motivational Monday" feature.

Sweet Serendipity

Ah sweet serendipity... that fortunate hapenstance where luck has us finding valuable or pleasant things that we had not looked for or anticipated.  Today I'm going to do something a bit different.  I'm going to share a personal story of how serendipity worked in my own life.

A long time ago, in a small town in central Ontario, a young girl dreamed of what her future might be.  She had always been fascinated with sign language and hoped one day to learn it.  Now when this young girl applied for college she found only one program that she was interested in, among all the courses available at all the colleges in Ontario.  That program would teach her how to work with children who had exceptional needs.  Just after her 19th birthday she received a letter stating she had been accepted into the college of her choice.  With deep joy she let out a little 'whoop'.  However, the next sentence took it away.  While she had been accepted into the college, unfortunately the program she chose was no longer available.  Her poor heart was broken.  Now what was she going to do?  There was only one program she had been interested in.  However, as she kept reading, the letter went on to recommend other programs that might be similar and her heart started to re-mend.  She read through the first two and no interest sparked but then she got to the next one in the list.  As it happened, a new program was being implemented that very year.  The program was called, 'Sign Language Communicator'.  At first she did a bit of a double take and had to read it again.  Sign Language?  Really?  If she'd seen that one listed, it would have been her first choice off the bat.  It seems that serendipity stepped in at just the right moment.  So, this young girl, full of dreams for her future enrolled in the Sign Language Communicator program and toddled of to college that very fall.

Now let me tell you another story.  This time it is the story of a man who was not satisfied with where his life was and decided to go back to school.  This man had always been fascinated with sign language and the deaf community.  In fact, he volunteered regularly with The Canadian Hearing Society in the city he lived in, in western Ontario.  He applied for and was accepted into St. Mary's college in Michigan into their sign language program.  He was very excited.  Unfortunately, it turned out that the tuition was going to be outrageously expensive and since the college was in the States, he could expect no help with funding from the Ontario government.  His poor heart was broken.  Now what was he going to do?  There was only one program he had been interested in.  As it turns out, he soon found out about a new program being offered in his home province and his heart started to re-mend.  He applied to the college offering it and was accepted into the college.  It seems that serendipity stepped in at just the right moment.  So, this man, full of dreams for a different future enrolled in the Sign Language Communicator program and toddled of to college that very fall.

There were twenty some odd students in the program.  Mostly females but there ended up being two men.  One was married and one was single.  Since the class size was so small, everyone got to know each other well although groups started to form.  Mostly, the more mature students hung out together and the younger ones in there own click but everyone knew everyone and all were friendly.

During the second year of the program, the young girl started to struggle with the actual signing part of the program while the man struggled with the other components.  It seemed natural that these two come together to help each other out and so they did.  Within a month though, their friendship started developing into something else and a few weeks later they became a couple.  Three months later they became engaged, and fifteen months later they were married.  On April 29th of this year they will celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary together.  Neither of these people expected it to happen.  As the man often stated, "he didn't go to college to end up with a wife but somehow it worked out that he found one anyway".

Ah sweet serendipity...that fortunate hapenstance where luck came into play and directed the future of two people's lives.  Neither us these people had anticipated that the college program of their desire would come into existence.  Without that happening, these two people would never have met, never fallen in love and married.  Had it not been for the program opening up at just the right time, their lives would have taken very different paths.  Instead serendipity stepped in and they both found pleasant things that they had not looked for nor anticipated.  The quote by Lawrence Black that I used on the front of my card says it all as it could apply to both circumstances--their college program and their subsequent love:

 Serendipity: 

Look for something,
find something else, and
realize that what you've
found is more suited to your
needs than what you thought
you were looking for.

All I know is that without serendipity coming into play, I would have had a much different life.  Thank you serendipity!

As a reminder, here are the watermarks and links for the wonderful images that the team worked with for the midway.

 From Sami Stamps...

With You (Valentine's Day and love category)

Umbrella Splash (Spring and Easter category)

A Little Bit O' Luck (St Patricks Day category)

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

From Lunagirl...

Dance Digital Collage Sheet

Wind Roses Compasses (Turquoise) Digital Collage Sheet

Wedding Day Digital Collage Sheet

Owls Digital Collage Sheet

We are fortunate and blessed to have the chance to work with all these fabulous images during the midway.  Thanks so much to our amazing sponsors.

To help inspire you down the path of serendipity, check out the wonderful projects most of my Design Team had the opportunity to create.  I even had the chance to participate as well...

Finally, that leaves our...

Stephanie, from Steph's Scrap Happenings, who is our guest designer this month, created this gorgeous card...

Clicking on the team members name (or in the case of our GDT, the blog name) will take you to their blog where you can check out the details for their inspirational creations!

So if you haven't entered already, 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!  You can enter our latest challenge by clicking HERE.

Also, I know that the participants would love for you to go and pay them a visit.  Remember we're creating a Path of Positivity to follow one project at a time and we'd love to see you somewhere on that route even if it is just by leaving a comment on an entry from someone who has touched you somehow with their project and/or post!

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).

Don't Forget...

You still have until 11:55 p.m. tonight, to vote on your favourite entry for Challenge #23.  Voting is quick, easy and painless so I hope you will consider casting your vote if you haven't already.  Don't forget, if you leave a comment after voting, you have the opportunity to walk away with a selection of digital papers created especially with your interests in mind. To check out all those eligible and cast your vote, click HERE.  Winners for challenge #23 will be posted next Monday.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON SERENDIPITY?
If you need some additional motivation to help inspire you, I've provided another sentiment on this month's theme (the first is available HERE), free for you to download.

 Left click to bring the image up into the lightbox in its full size and then right click and scroll down to 'save as'.

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 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 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. 

This word art creation is in png format and published at 300 ppi. It is quite large in order to accommodate different programs that people work with.   If you are a card maker you can always resize it smaller without distorting the quality.

Font Information:

• Foglihten font created by gluk
• Butterscotch font and Butterscotch_Alt_p_to_z created by Nicky Laatz

Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  The first font was listed as free for commercial use at the time this project was made.  The second one is one I have purchased as part of a bundle and the licence states that it may be used for commercial purposes.  As such, it is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others.  Please refer to my full terms of service for what you can and cannot do with this digital creation.

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. You can enter the challenge by clicking HERE to take you to the current challenge post where you can also find a quick summary of the details related to this challenge, towards the bottom of the post. 

GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY...

Please show your support to our wonderful guest sponsors by going over and checking out their work and saying hi if you have the chance.  As mentioned above, this month our guest sponsors are...

Our regular sponsors include...

 

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

We look forward to seeing you participate!