JUGs 13...a template challenge

Hey there!  Welcome to the final JUGs challenge of 2009!  Can you believe it?? 

It's "Just Us Girls" here so can we dish a little about templates?  Do you love them?  Have you never tried them?  Are you looking for something new to add to your template stash?  Templates are a wonderful jumping off point to your paper crafting projects.  From gift boxes, bags, party favors and ornaments... templates can really give your creativity a boost.

You can find a previous template challenge here at JUGs #9 for more inspiration and this time around we are so excited to welcome

Kelleigh Ratzlaff

of Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs as our challenge sponsor and guest designer this week!  Welcome Kelleigh!  We are so glad you are here.  Kelleigh offers a huge variety of templates in her store at the Digichick Boutique.  Each one is unique and economically priced at $3.99.  Each download comes in four different file types depending on the program you like to use for printing your project...the most common being a .pdf file that opens in Adobe Acrobat.  EVERYONE can use these.

The Blog Candy:  Kelleigh has generously donated a $15 gift certificate for one lucky challenge participant AND everyone who links up to our challenge in the Mr Linky below will be emailed a coupon code for 40% off when they have a minimum order of $15 (making a $15 order only $9!).  To get your coupon code, email Dana at paperdaydream at aol dot com after you link up via Mr Linky.

The Challenge:  Make a project using a template of your choosing (bonus points in the world of good karma if you use a Kelleigh Ratzlaff template ;) ).  Bonus challenge, make it something BLUE.  (The blue is just for an additional challenge but not neccesary to play.)

Let's PlaY!  Here's a little Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs template inspiration from the creative lady herself and the rest of the Just Us Girls team!

by Kelleigh using the Squared Off Correspondence Box and Envelope

by Alicia using the Candy Dispenser

by Pam using the Hexagon Box

by Dana using the Sassy Purse #3

by Kristin using the Hexagon Box

by Lisa using the Triangle Tube

by Mona using the Take Out Box

by Maria using the Treat Bag: Scalloped

by Tracey using the Hexagon Box

How to Play: Upload your project using this week's challenge to your online blog or public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of this post. If you upload to an online gallery, please use keyword or tag, JUGS13. After you post to Mr. Linky, please also leave us a comment here. We ♥ love hearing what you think of our challenges!

Deadline to be considered for "Chic of the Week" will be 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 31st. Our "Chic of the Week" will be announced on Friday morning following the deadline. (You may still post to the Mr. Linky after the deadline, but your project won't be eligible for the "Chic of the Week" spot.)

Can't wait to see what you make this week with Just Us Girls! 

Chic of the Week #12!

Here we are...it's THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS!  YIPPEEEE :).  I think I'm just as excited as my kids are, lol.  I want to send a shout out to you all that played along with my challenge this week -- THANK YOU!!  I know it's a crazy time, and for you to have made the time to play along -- I appreciate it!

I hope it helped you reach outside that box and play with a color combo you might not ordinarily use.

There were LOTS of great entries this week - definitely a tough choice for Chic of the Week - I saw an adorable mini album, a Cutesy Cover (the new FREE template released by Lauren Meader earlier this week!) and lots and LOTS of beautiful cards!

So, without further ado.... *drumroll please*

our Chic of the Week for this week's color challenge is........

Sue Lelli!!

Here's Sue's wonderful card, it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

Here are a few other great creations to check out - in case you haven't gotten to make the rounds...

Ann Cox chose green as her main color - it's bold and fabulous - and I just LOVED the title of her post - lol.

Sav O'Gwyn came up with this cute all occasion card with a great balance of all of the colors

Teresa Kline made this beauty.  Clean lines, elegant, and perfect!

Rebecca Grohall created a lovely Damask patterned creation, great layout & ribbon treatment Rebecca!

Melissa H. created this fun card - and under duress ;-)...I gave her colors that she just wasn't "feeling" and she made a TERRIFIC card -- Bravo!!

Thanks again to all who played, and all of you who come and play on a regular basis.  We're so happy to have such a loyal following.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, and a Peace filled, healthy, happy New Year!!!

Be sure to come back on Saturday (yes this Saturday!) and play along with a 3D challenge from Dana - you WON'T want to miss it...there's blog candy involved, and we have a special guest designer this week too -- just think - what better way to break in any new goodies you may have gotten for Christmas!

Until Then -- Have a happy!
--Tracey

JUGS12 - A Color Challenge!

Well HELLOOOOO out there!

Happy Saturday to you all, and thanks for stopping by to check out the latest Just Us Girls Challenge.  I wanted to give a little push to you all to use some colors you might not traditionally put together on a card, but I've been seeing them together all over the place, especially with Christmas ornaments!!

What do you think???  Good stuff, eh??  C'mon you KNOW you want to play -- lol.  I got a few sneers from my teammates, but just LOOK at what they've done with this challenge!! WOWZA!!!

Alicia Weiman

 Dana Gustafson

Kristin Bueter

Maria Levine

Mona Pendleton

Pam Imholz

Lisa Kind

and me...Tracey Cuccia

Now -- the "rules":

How to Play:

You need to upload your project using this week's challenge to your online blog or public photo gallery.  Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of this post.  If you upload to Online galleries, please use the keyword JUGS12.  After you post to Mr. Linky, you can also come and leave a comment here.

Deadline:

I think we'll move the deadline up to be considered for "Chic of the Week" to Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 9:00pm, EST.  You are still welcome to post after that, it just will not be in the running for "Chic of the Week".  Chic of the Week will be announced Thursday morning this time around.

So, without further adieu, Let's GET STAMPING!  Go create, and share with all of us what YOU can do!  Can't wait to see YOUR take on these colors!

Have a great weekend!

Chic of the Week #11

Wow, ladies!  You definitely gave us some great examples using the Chalkboard technique this week!!  I LOVED ALL of your projects...TRULY!!  It's soooo hard selecting a favorite when I want to choose all of them!  I eventually narrowed it down to four, which seems appropriate considering we had fewer players this week.

Out of the four, the card that REALLY caught my eye belongs to Ms. Andrea Matthews:

The subtle, soft brown leaves in the background lend a certain elegance to her overall design.  I love her vintage flower and the large, scalloped, double border accented beautifully with buttons!  I just think this is sooo pretty!  HUGE congrats, Andrea, on being selected as our Chic of the Week #11!!  I'll email your badge shortly :O)

The following ladies' projects also caught my eye!

• fancypants ~ She used our alternative to chalks - powdered makeup, and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY!  No halo effect here!  I think I'll try eyeshadow next time ;]
  
  
• Laurel Seabrook ~ She made the apples on her card come to life with the technique, and her gorgeous stitching is just the perfect, finishing touch :]
  
  
• Chupa ~ She made two cards using the technique, but her "Wish" card really stuck with me.  She applied several different colors of chalk to give her flowers and leaves amazing dimension!!

Thanks for participating in Just Us Girls' 11th challenge!  We are so grateful to have such loyal followers ;]  If you played along and would still like to receive a copy of my digital stamp set, please email JUGS and we'll send it your way ;]

I wish you all an amazing holiday season filled with love ♥  Hope you have time to play along this week with an absolutely STUNNING color challenge hosted by Tracey!  Check back tomorrow for all the deets! 

Just Us Girls Challenge #11

**UPDATE 12/16**
If you don't own chalks, try using any powdered make up like eyeshadow or blush!  Works like a charm ;]  BIG thanks to Ms. Lauren Meader for that neat tip!

Welcome to week #11 with Just Us Girls!  This week we bring you a simple technique challenge with no fancy catches!  I hope you own colored chalks, because this week's challenge is the Chalkboard Technique! 

I selected this technique for two reasons.  1 - I've NEVER tried it before, and 2 - It's EASY!  So, if you have ANY chalk and a little time during the final Christmas shopping stretch...we sure hope you'll join us and share your unique take on our challenge!  You can view a well scripted tutorial on this technique over at Splitcoaststampers by clicking HERE.

BLOG CANDY!  A few of you have requested the digital stamp set I designed in October and gave away to all of the participants of the Wild Card challenge I hosted.  WELL...I decided to give those of you who want the set but didn't receive it the first time around another chance!  All you have to do is create a project using the Chalkboard Technique, link it to Mr. Linky below and email that link to Just Us Girls.  Please take a minute and stop by Tammy Hershberger's blog to leave some love...she wrote that beautiful, "Happy Holidays" sentiment for me!  I think it's the icing on the cake ;]  Okay, here's a snapshot of what you will receive:

How to Play: Upload your project using this week's challenge to your online blog or public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of this post. If you upload to an online gallery, please use keyword or tag, JUGS11. After you post to Mr. Linky, please also leave us a comment here.  We ♥ hearing what you think of our challenges!


Deadline to be considered for "Chic of the Week" will be 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 17th. Our "Chic of the Week" will be announced on Friday morning following the deadline. (You may still post to the Mr. Linky after the deadline, but your project won't be eligible for the "Chic of the Week" spot.)

And now, "Just Us Girls" presents a little inspiration to get you started!

Kristin

Alicia

Dana

Lisa

Maria

Mona

Pam

Tracey

Thanks for stopping by!  We hope you have a relaxing, enjoyable, SAFE weekend!

Chic of the Week #10

To ALL the girls who played along with this week's Just Us Girls sketch challenge, I say thank you! It means so much to all of "Us Girls" that you come - and you play! We hope that means that you are having fun and are inspired!!!

NOW for the fun part this week's Chic of the Week! There were SO many beautiful and fun entries - it's really hard to pick just one. After much deliberating over the entries I finally decided on this fabulous card by Teresa Kline. I just loved the colors, the soft plaid, the warm and inviting cups of hot cocoa (or coffee!) complete with whipped cream :-)

Teresa, I will send you your Chic of the Week badge right away. I hope you will "Wear it Proudly."

I also want to recognize these additional entries as real eye catchers this week... Way to rock the challenge, girls! Thanks from the bottom of my heart for your participation and your sweet comments.

• Melissa Craig with her ADORABLE snowmen.

• Chupa with her BEAUTIFUL birthday card.

• Kym Weber with her SUPER FUN ice skating scene.

• Andrea M with her the FABULOUS Christmas light bulb card.

See you tomorrow for our next technique challenge by the ever-talented Kristin!

Just Us Girls Week 10 - Sketch Challenge!

Hi girls - it's already Saturday (only 2 more of these before Christmas - EEEK - are you ready?) We are all SO happy to have so many regulars coming to play each week - thank you! We hope that means you are having fun with Just Us Girls *grin!*

It's time for a new sketch challenge this week. I have not ever created a sketch before so I hope you have fun with this, my first attempt! Thanks, Kristin for making it pretty. Remember, a sketch is for inspiration - you may rotate the sketch, substitute a shape etc.

How to play: You need to create a card using this sketch then upload your project to your online blog or public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Mr. Linky form at the bottom of this post. If you upload to online galleries, please also use the keyword or tag, JUGS10. After you post to Mr. Linky please leave us a comment here. We love to read your thoughts!

Deadline to be considered for our weekly "Chic of the Week" will be 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 10. Our top pick, "Chic of the Week", will be announced on Friday morning following the deadline. (You may still post to Mr. Linky after the deadline, your project just won't be considered for the "Top Pick" spot.)

And now "Just Us Girls" presents a little inspiration to get you started.

Pam


Mona

Dana

Kristin

Maria

Lisa

Tracey

Alicia 

We are so excited to have Alicia back - she took a little break after the birth of her son Kale!

Her blog post will be ready for you all mid-morning Saturday

 Can't wait to see what you do with this sketch - have a LOVELY weekend ladies (and gents!)

Chic of the Week #9 & Blog Candy Winner

Hello Ladies! Thank you so much to all of who could play along with us this week in the Holiday Gift Packaging Template challenge! Each and every template gift box/bag were decorated so spectacurly! While I would LOVE to showcase all of the entries, I have to narrow it down to just one winner! Before the announcement of the Chic of the Week, I would like to share with you the randomly selected winner of the blog candy pictured below:
The winner is participant......#19 DianeCongratulations Diane! I will be contacting you soon to get your mailing address so I can send your prize to you! Thank you so much for playing along with Just Us Girls!

After revisiting all the entries, I had to narrow it down to one. The Just Us Girls Chic of the Week #9 goes to the super creative, Cindy from Royal Things, who entered this amazingly detailed gift box bottom bag:

Cindy REALLY put her imagination to work when she created this gift bag. There is so much eye catching detail: from the glittered snowflakes & melting snow, to the fun flock on the penguin's chest! I think this gift bag is a gift all in itself! Congratulations Cindy! I will be sending you your winner's badge right away. We hope you'll wear it proudly :)

I would also like to share a few of my other favorite Holiday gift packaging:

Andrea
Lisa
Davi
Mary Anne
Donna

For pure inspiration & for your viewing pleasure, I highly recommend that everyone takes the time if you haven't already, to view all the entries! You just may see a template you want to give a try!

REMEMBER: Saturday morning Just Us Girls will bring you an entirely new & exciting Sketch Challenge! The lovely Pam will be our Hostess. Thank you for all of your support this week!