Hello folks! It is the third Monday of the month and that means that it is time to present the midway for
Challenge #53.
As we are a unique kind of challenge blog, please be sure to check out the
START POST FOUND HERE,
for all the rules and details you need to know in order to enter. For
now, here is a refresher of what our theme is all about:
Challenge #53
Optional Theme:
SURROUND YOURSELF...with MUSIC
We
continue this month with the final challenge in a series of three all based on the intriguing concept to Surround Yourself with Positivity in the form of the arts! Katrina, one of my amazing team
members came up with this unique idea. Over the course of three months we have been exploring the positive
influence of three different artistic concepts: Art, Literature and
Music! So far, we have covered art and literature and this month we are wrapping up our series with the concept of
Music!
How does music affect you and your mood? What music do you pull up on
your phone, radio, I-pod, cassette player, stereo, 8-track, boom box,
victrola? (Did I go back far enough for you?) When you’re feeling
unmotivated and sad, do you pull out a Symphony by Beethoven, “Ode to
Joy” for example; get rocking with the Beatles' “Here Comes the Sun”; or, do you get
“Happy” with Pharrell Williams?
Music has a profound way of changing our attitude, making us feel
anxiety, calming us, or making us dance. For example, have you ever
considered how affective music is in horror films? Think back to the
movie “Jaws” or “Psycho”; we all know those themes and grit our teeth
when we hear them! How many times have you felt the urge to cry hearing
an old love song…you know the one you listened to a million times way
back when.
Then there are the times you’re out in public and a great song comes on
and you have to fight to keep your feet still or your mouth quiet!
Possibly the elevator is not the place to burst into your favorite
Broadway tune or break out a Disco move!
Keep in mind, we are thinking about how different kinds of art affects
us as individuals. It’s not necessarily about doing something “visually"
music related. For example, if “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is a
positive song for you, a rainbow image is perfect. Obviously, there is a
lot of positive Christmas music to go with images as well.
If you would like a chance to win the prize for the
Most Inspirational Creation, the challenge this month is to Surround Yourself with Music.
Choose a song that inspires positivity in you and share the song (or music genre) and the
inspired project with us! We can't wait to feel the upbeat vibes you
have to share with us!
If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your
name so that we include you in the draw for the prize for Most
Inspirational. Remember, we also ask that you please leave a comment letting us
know how your creation relates to the concept of music and what you learned about yourself along the way, if it isn't
clearly written somewhere else
in your post. While you may easily see how your creation ties into the theme, 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 or paragraph 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.
Remember,
in order to be considered eligible for this month's prizes, ALL creations must be
positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature. You don't need to follow the optional theme if you simply want to have a
chance at the Random Draw prize of a $10 gift certificate from
Imagine
That Digistamp, one of our sponsors this month. You only need to follow
the theme
if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $10 gift
certificate from
Limited Runs, provided by the second of our guest
sponsors this month.
Talking of our guest sponsors...
To learn more about this month's guest sponsors, be sure to check out the
START
post; and of course, also pay each of these generous companies a visit.
Below, you will find the watermarks for the sets and/or images that the team worked with for the midway. Just click on any watermark to find that set's or image's location in its respective store.
Elvis Bear
Impossible Hearts
Snappy Sandy
Hula Girl
Christmas Carolers (Category: Christmas, Section: 41 -50)
Juggling Snowman (Category: Christmas, Section: 61 -70)
Christmas Door Set (Category: Christmas, Section: 31 -40)
Thank you so much to these awesome companies for allowing us the
opportunity to work with such incredible images during the midway!
To help inspire you further down the path of
SURROUND YOURSELF with MUSIC,
check out the
wonderful
projects my Design Team had the opportunity to create. Don't forget that
I have included a brief synopsis from each of the team members tying
their projects into
the theme so that you can see how they have interpreted this
unique concept. Clicking on each team member's name will take
you to their blog where
you can check
out further details on their inspirational creations.
Please note that due to a bit of a mix up within the team, the split
between sponsors is a bit lopsided this month. We have just two projects
featuring a Limited Runs image and the remaining projects
feature Imagine That Digistamp. During the start it was the reverse.
"I love winter, Christmas and especially Advent and Christmas carols."
Tie in to theme:
"There's a story here and you'll need to visit my page and read it to
understand my journal page! However, I'm influenced by a song that
makes me laugh and move every time I hear it! ; )"
Tie in to theme:
"I grew up in the 60's and 70's, when Rock n Roll was king, so any
classic rock gets me going!"
Tie in to theme:
"It's funny how one little song can bring back a thousand memories. Ever
since our 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii, I have loved slack key guitar
music. Every time I play it, I am taken back to the islands. I can
still feel the ocean breezes and hearing the waves lap against the
shore."
Tie in to theme:
"I was inspired because Christmas isn't Christmas without all the lovely
holiday music. In the stores, people smile more. In traffic, drivers
seem more courteous. And at home, I seem to get more "in the spirit"
while the music's playing."
Tie in to theme:
"My song for inspiration is In Case You Didn't Know by Brett Young. This is the link to the You Tube video of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qaHdHpSjX8"
"I'm following on with the Christmas music theme but this time it's more
traditional Christmas music including of course carols. The sentiment
with this set reminds me of 'Deck the Halls' - a perfect Christmas song."
Thanks again to my incredible design team! As always, each of them have
their own unique styles and ideas which amaze me to no end. Each of
these projects has showcased the
concept of surrounding oneself with music, in various forms and manners and I hope we have
inspired
you throughout this challenge. Be sure to go and visit these talented ladies so you can see how their
projects tie in to the theme.
Why not join us, if you haven't entered already? Create a project and/or post that is
positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some nature and join our link up. If you've opted to follow the theme of
surrounding oneself with music, for
the chance to win the Most Inspirational prize, 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. Also, don't forget to
leave FT after your name so we know to include you in the running for
the prize. 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!
Don't Forget...
You have until 11:59 p.m. SATURDAY to vote on your favourite entry for
Challenge #52.
Voting is quick, easy and painless so I hope
you will consider casting your vote if you haven't already. Winners for
challenge #52 will be posted next Monday if everything goes according to
plan. You can find the Top Picks post
HERE.
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON SURROUND YOURSELF WITH MUSIC...
If you need some motivation to get you started, I've provided a quote
for you, which you can find below. Please note that this is the same quote that was offered at the start of the challenge.
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:
© 2017, 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
Click on the font names to take you to a download location. The first
font listed was purchased with extended licensing as part of a limited
time bundle but it is offered often so you might want to click
HERE
and see if the bundle is still available. If not it can be purchased
from the designer. The second font is offered under an open font licence
and thus may be used for commercial purposes. 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.
Additional Elements
I have also used a vector image from the public domain. This image is courtesy of
GDJ (Gordon Johnson) via
Pixabay. Items in the public domain may be used for commercial purposes.
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 find out the impetus
behind why I started this challenge 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). Additionally, you can find a
quick summary of the details related to this challenge, towards the
bottom of the start post.
Click HERE to head to the current challenge post & link up!
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 ongoing 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!
